Yesterday, a mega deal was handed down to shortstop Carlos Correa by the San Francisco Giants which saw him become the top-paid middle infielder ever.
It’s part of a growing trend in Major League Baseball, which consistently produces some of the largest contracts in the history of sports.
While only two MLB contracts are in the top-five biggest deals in sports, baseball players can claim 15 of the top 20 contracts among all athletes.
Yesterday, the San Francisco Giants agreed to the fourth biggest contract in baseball history
Currently there are 52 players on nine-figure MLB contracts, and while Correa’s deal isn’t the largest, it does rank first among shortstops.
It also sets a standard that other free-agent shortstops can use to gauge their value.
All-Star shortstop Dansby Swanson, for one, could draw similar offers this offseason as he continues to remain unsigned after seven seasons in Atlanta.
And if he can match Correa’s deal, Swanson will find himself among baseball’s 10 largest contracts ever, all of which are currently active:
10. Gerrit Cole, SP, New York Yankees / nine-years, $324m / AAV: $36m
The most expensive pitcher in baseball is a five-time All-Star and the first of many Yankees on this list.
After falling with the Astros in the 2019 World Series, the California native inked a deal with New York – a team that had drafted him in high school.
In 2021 with the Yankees, Cole led the American League in wins and was selected to the All-MLB first team. Last season, he led the league in strikeouts for the second time in his career.
Gerrit Cole got the biggest deal for a pitcher in baseball history signing for the Yankees
T9. Giancarlo Stanton, OF, Miami Marlins / 13-years, $325m / AAV: $25m
This is the oldest contract on this list, having been signed by the slugger all the way back in 2015. At the time, it was the richest contract in professional sports
Stanton was coming off his first Silver Slugger honor and his first Hank Aaron Award as the National League leader in homers.
By the 2017 season, he added another Silver Slugger and another Hank Aaron award alongside National League MVP honors.
That offseason, the Marlins changed ownership and Stanton was traded to the Yankees in a doomed effort to rebuild Miami’s clubhouse. Since that trade, Stanton has hit over 100 home runs for New York.
The deal Giancarlo Stanton signed in 2015 was the richest in professional sports at the time
T9. Corey Seager, SS, Texas Rangers / ten-years, $325m / AAV: $32.5m
Signed just last season, the 2016 NL Rookie of the Year found himself a payday with the Texas Rangers.
While Texas is nowhere near a World Series just yet, Seager did win a batting title with the World Champion Los Angeles Dodgers in 2020, with the shortstop earning MVP honors during that pennant run.
Last season, Seager batted .245/.317/.455 after signing the biggest contract in Rangers history.
After finding success in Los Angeles with the Dodgers, Corey Seager took the money in Texas
7. Bryce Harper, OF, Philadelphia Phillies / 13-years, $330m / AAV: $25.3m
Harper was by far the biggest name on the market in 2018 and he stirred up controversy by relocating within the NL East.
After spending most of his career in over two hours to the south in Washington, Harper chose to pack up and move to Philadelphia while he watched his former team win a World Series in 2019.
Harper nearly got his own title this past season, but Philadelphia ran out of gas against a superior Astros team in the World Series.
A World Series run this past postseason could be a sign of things to come for Bryce Harper
6. Fernando Tatís Jr., SS, San Diego Padres / 14-years, $340m / AAV: $24.2m
In 2020, Fernando Tatís Jr. was one of the most exciting players in all of Major League Baseball and the face of a fun young Padres team that fell in that season’s NLCS to the Dodgers.
San Diego didn’t want to lose him, so they shelled out a massive contract that broke the record for the richest contract signed by a player not yet eligible for arbitration.
However, Tatís missed the entirety of the 2022 season as he recovered from surgery and served an 80-game suspension for taking an anabolic steroid.
Tatís claims he took the medication to treat ringworm, but the league upheld his punishment and he won’t take the field until game 13 of the 2023 season.
After missing the 2022 season due to injury and suspension, Fernando Tatís is set to return
5. Francisco Lindor, SS, New York Mets / ten-years, $341m / AAV: $34.1m
The first major purchase of the Steve Cohen era of Mets baseball was given to Lindor, following the trade that brought the All-Star shortstop over from Cleveland.
He got off to a slow start in 2021, hitting .230/.322/.412 and putting up only 20 homers and 63 RBI.
But last year, Lindor seemed to pick it back up hitting a career-high 107 RBIs, albeit while striking out a career-worst 133 times. Mets fans hope he can find some consistency that kept him in the MVP conversation back when he was playing in Cleveland.
Mets fans hope that Francisco Lindor can perform at an MVP level and bring them a title
4. Carlos Correa, SS, San Francisco Giants / 13-years, $350m / AAV: $26.9m
While many teams were linked with Correa, San Francisco hopes this deal will extend their chances to make the playoffs and fight for a World Series title.
After winning it all with the Astros in 2017, Correa took a contract with Minnesota last year, but opted out to hit the free agent market this winter.
Correa also shares a distinction with three other players on this list: Like Harper, Seager and Cole, the shortstop is represented by super-agent Scott Boras.
Last night’s deal for Carlos Correa is the richest for a middle infielder in baseball history
3. Aaron Judge, OF, New York Yankees / nine-years, $360m / AAV: $40m
The highest annual earner on this list, Aaron Judge was the biggest name of the 2022 MLB Free Agency class.
Judge had just come off breaking the American League record for the most home runs hit in a season and was due for a big pay day.
After shunning the Yankees’ offer from the start of the season, the Pinstripes ponied up the money and brought back the slugger – much to the enjoyment of fans.
The Yankees got their man this offseason, securing Aaron Judge for the rest of his career
2. Mookie Betts, OF, Los Angeles Dodgers / 12-years, $365m / AAV: $30.4m
After being traded in a shocking move by the Red Sox – just one season after winning the World Series with Boston – Betts signed his megadeal extension in July of 2020.
That season, he won his second World Series title and continues to be a dominant force in the Dodgers’ outfield.
In Los Angeles, he won two Gold Gloves, two Silver Sluggers, and was named to the All-MLB first team twice.
A trade to Los Angeles led to a massive extension for Betts as he became the face of the team
1. Mike Trout, OF, Los Angeles Angels / 12-years, $426.5m / AAV: $35.5m
Not only is this the largest contract in MLB history, it’s the second largest active contract in all of sports and the third largest contract in the history of sports.
Trout is a perennial MVP contender when healthy and could go down in history as the greatest player of all time – or at the rate the Angels are going, he’ll at least be known as the best player to never win the World Series
Who takes the top spot in the world right now? That would be Kansas City Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes, who is set to earn $503m over ten years.
But even Mahomes lags behind the biggest contract in sports history: a four-year, $674m deal given by FC Barcelona to a little-known soccer player named Lionel Messi.
Mike Trout’s deal was the richest contract in American sports at the time he signed it in 2019
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