American League Stars Top Nationals Off Field With 45% More Pay

The American League All-Stars’ dominance of the mid-season baseball showcase extends to their paychecks: The AL team makes 45 percent more than the National League. The 33 AL players originally picked for tonight’s game at Angels Stadium in Anaheim, California, each make an average of $2.77 million more than their NL counterparts, according to the annual data compiled by USA Today. The New York Yankees boost the AL figure, with six players from the defending World Series champions making a combined $104.3 million, or 35.2 percent of the league’s total. The AL has been dominant since interleague play started in 1997, with more wins 10 of the 14 seasons. The AL has won eight of 13 World Series and 12 of 13 All-Star Games, with the one exception a tie in 2002.

Spending more money on players doesn’t guarantee victory -- the Chicago Cubs have the third-highest payroll this year and have lost 11 more games than they won -- but it controls 20 percent of a team’s wins, according to research by Andrew Zimbalist, an economics professor at Smith College who consults with Major League Baseball. “Payroll and salary are significant factors in determining team performance, they are not the only factor,” Zimbalist said in a telephone interview from Smith, which is in Northampton, Massachusetts. Boosting the AL average are the Yankees, who lead baseball with a $206.3 million payroll. Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez, at $33 million annually, is the highest-paid member of the AL team; Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard, 30, at $19 million is the highest paid on the NL squad.

Eight Yankees

The Yankees wound up with eight official All-Stars. New York left-hander Andy Pettitte replaced the injured Clay Buchholz of the Boston Red Sox. Outfielder Nick Swisher was added as the final player in fan balloting. Rodriguez, 34, is batting .269 with 14 home runs and 70 runs batted in. Santana is 7-5 with a 2.98 earned run average. The Tampa Bay Rays’ David Price, 24, ($1.83 million) and Colorado Rockies Ubaldo Jimenez, 26, ($1.25 million) were named the starting pitchers. “A rising tide moves all the boats, right?” said Dan Duquette, former general manager of the Montreal Expos and Boston Red Sox, who now runs a sports academy bearing his name in Massachusetts. “Some of that happens when the free agent market brings along the salaries of the top players. It also pulls along everyone else for the ride.”

NL Shortage

Even without the Yankees, the AL squad makes more. The average salary then for the AL squad would be $7.1 million, still higher than the NL’s $6.3 million. “Spending money on your roster doesn’t guarantee that you’ll have a successful team, but not spending on it tends to have an impact and perhaps the same thing applies with the All- Star Game,” said David Carter, executive director of the Sports Business Institute at the University of Southern California. “If you don’t have high-priced players, the chances of you succeeding are less.”

The following is a list of 2010 Major League Baseball All- Stars originally selected and their salaries this season as listed in USA Today’s database. Players selected to replace injured or unavailable players aren’t listed or factored into the averages:


NATIONAL LEAGUE
STARTERS:

PLAYER POS TEAM 2010 SALARY
-------- --- ---- -----------
Yadier Molina C Cardinals $4,312,500
Albert Pujols 1B Cardinals $14,595,953
Chase Utley 2B Phillies $15,285,714
David Wright 3B Mets $10,250,000
Hanley Ramirez SS Marlins $7,000,000
Ryan Braun OF Brewers $1,287,500
Jason Heyward OF Braves $400,000
Andre Ethier OF Dodgers $5,750,000

PITCHERS:

PLAYER TEAM 2010 SALARY
------ ---- -----------
Jonathan Broxton Dodgers $4,000,000
Chris Carpenter Cardinals $15,840,971
Matt Capps Nationals $3,500,000
Yovani Gallardo Brewers $450,000
Roy Halladay Phillies $15,750,000
Tim Hudson Braves $9,000,000
Ubaldo Jimenez Rockies $1,250,000
Josh Johnson Marlins $3,750,000
Tim Lincecum Giants $9,000,000
Evan Meek Pirates $413,500
Arthur Rhodes Reds $2,000,000
Adam Wainwright Cardinals $4,837,500
Brian Wilson Giants $6,500,000

RESERVES:

PLAYER POS TEAM 2010 SALARY
------ --- ---- -----------
Brian Mcann C Braves $5,700,000
Ryan Howard 1B Phillies $19,000,000
Adrian Gonzalez 1B Padres $4,875,000
Martin Prado 2B Braves $440,000
Omar Infante INF Braves $2,225,000
Troy TulowitzkI SS Rockies $3,500,000
Scott Rolen 3B Reds $7,666,666
Michael Bourn OF Astros $2,400,000
Marlon Byrd OF Cubs $3,000,000
Corey Hart OF Brewers $4,800,000
Matt Holliday OF Cardinals $16,333,327
Chris Young OF Diamondbacks $3,450,000


AMERICAN LEAGUE
STARTERS:

PLAYER POS TEAM 2010 SALARY
------ --- ---- -----------
Joe Mauer C Twins $12,500,000
Justin Morneau 1B Twins $15,000,000
Robinson Cano 2B Yankees $9,000,000
Evan Longoria 3B Rays $950,000
Derek Jeter SS Yankees $22,600,000
Ichiro Suzuki OF Mariners $18,000,000
Josh Hamilton OF Rangers $3,250,000
Carl Crawford OF Rays $10,000,000
Vladimir Guerrero DH Rangers $5,500,000

PITCHERS:

PLAYER TEAM 2010 SALARY
------ ---- -----------
Clay Bucholz Red Sox $443,000
Trevor Cahill Athletics $410,000
Fausto Carmona Indians $5,087,500
Neftali Feliz Rangers $402,000
Phil Hughes Yankees $447,000
Cliff Lee Rangers $9,000,000
Jon Lester Red Sox $3,750,000
David Price Rays $1,834,671
Mariano Rivera Yankees $15,000,000
C.C. Sabathia Yankees $24,285,714
Joakim Soria Royals $3,000,000
Matt Thornton White Sox $2,250,000
Jose Valverde Tigers $6,886,052


RESERVES:

PLAYER POS TEAM 2010 SALARY
------ --- ---- -----------
Victor Martinez C Red Sox $7,700,000
Miguel Cabrera 1B Tigers $20,000,000
Dustin Pedroia 2B Red Sox $3,750,000
Elvis Andrus SS Rangers $418,420
Alex Rodriguez 3B Yankees $33,000,000
Adrian Beltre 3B Red Sox $9,000,000
Ty Wigginton INF Orioles $3,500,000
Torii Hunter OF Angels $18,500,000
Vernon Wells OF Blue Jays $15,687,500
Jose Bautista OF Blue Jays $2,400,000
David Ortiz DH Red Sox $13,000,000

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Is A-rod (AL 3B reserve) really worth 3.3x David Wright (NL 3B starter). I think not.