who is the highest paid mlb player in history
List of highest paid Major League Baseball players Rodriguez has signed two record-breaking contracts over the course of his career. First, he signed a $252 million, 10-year contract with the Texas Rangers in December 2000 ($350,462,609 inflation-adjusted from 2000 dollars).[6] Sandy Alderson called the deal "stupefying", while Sports Illustrated noted that Rodriguez's early salaries under the contract ($21 million) would be greater than the annual payroll of the entire Minnesota Twins team that year ($15.8 million).[6] The deal was the largest sports contract in history, doubling the total value of Kevin Garnett's $126 million National Basketball Association contract (the previous record holder) and more than doubling Mike Hampton's $121 million contract, the previous MLB record which had been signed just days before.[6] The Rangers later traded Rodriguez to the Yankees in exchange for Alfonso Soriano before the 2004 season, though they agreed to pay $67 million of the $179 million outstanding on the contract.[7] Despite this, he opted out of the remainder of his deal after the 2007 season and renegotiated a new $275 million, 10-year agreement with the Yankees, breaking his own record for the largest sports contract.[8] Under this deal, Rodriguez also receives $6 million each if and when he ties the career home run totals of Willie Mays (660), Babe Ruth (714), Hank Aaron (755), and Barry Bonds (762), along with another $6 million for breaking Bonds' mark.[8]
Major League Baseball All-Star Game Most Valuable Player Award As of 2017[update], NL players have won the award 27 times (including one award shared by two players), and American League (AL) players have won 29 times. Baltimore Orioles players have won the most awards for a single franchise (with six); players from the Cincinnati Reds, Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants are tied for the most in the NL with five each. Five players have won the award twice: Willie Mays (1963, 1968), Steve Garvey (1974, 1978), Gary Carter (1981, 1984), Cal Ripken, Jr. (1991, 2001), and Mike Trout (2014, 2015). The award has been shared by multiple players once; Bill Madlock and Jon Matlack shared the award in 1975.[4] Two players have won the award for a game in which their league lost: Brooks Robinson in 1966 and Carl Yastrzemski in 1970.[5][6] One pair of awardees were father and son (Ken Griffey Sr. and Ken Griffey Jr.),[7] and another were brothers (Roberto Alomar and Sandy Alomar, Jr.).[8] Mike Trout of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim became the first player ever to win the MVP award in back-to-back years in the 86-year history of the MLB All-Star Game when he accomplished the feat in both 2014 and 2015. Robinson Canó of the Seattle Mariners is the most recent MLB All-Star Game MVP, winning the award in 2017. Only five players have won the MVP award in the only All-Star Game in which they appeared; LaMarr Hoyt, Bo Jackson, J. D. Drew, Melky Cabrera and Eric Hosmer.