Average player salary nears $3 million

NEW YORK -- Baseball's average salary soared 9 percent this year to nearly $2.9 million, with Alex Rodriguez topping a sport in which more than half the players on opening-day rosters make $1 million or more.

Rodriguez headed the list at $25.7 million and was No. 1 for the sixth straight year, according to a study of major league contracts by The Associated Press. He was followed by New York Yankees teammates Derek Jeter ($20.6 million) and Jason Giambi ($20.4 million).

San Francisco's Barry Bonds was fourth at $20 million, and Houston's Jeff Bagwell -- who might not play because of a shoulder injury -- was next at $19.3 million.

"Baseball had record crowds last year," Giambi said. "Probably with Barry going to break the [home run] record, it will bump it up and more people will come out and watch it. That makes players more popular, and in turn guys make more money."

This year's record $2,866,544 average was up 8.9 percent from last year's figure of $2,632,655.

The Yankees' payroll dropped a bit to $198.7 million from $205.9 million on opening day last year. Boston was second again at $120.1 million, followed by the Los Angeles Angels ($103.6 million), the World Series champion Chicago White Sox ($102.9 million) and the New York Mets ($100.9 million).

The Cardinals' payroll was listed at $88.3 million, an average of $3.4 million per player. Albert Pujols tops the team payroll at $14 million.

The Florida Marlins as a team have a payroll at just under $15 million, including 17 players making the $327,000 minimum.

It's the lowest figure for any team at the start of a season since Pittsburgh and Montreal in 1998. It's also less than the top 12 players make and 1/13th of what the Yankees pay their roster.