Salaries Take Significant Hike

Albert Belle can truly claim to be baseball’s first franchise player. His salary this season is higher than the payroll of the Pittsburgh Pirates’ entire franchise.

Less than two years after the end of the players’ strike, the average salary increased 17.6 percent to a record $1.38 million on opening day, according to an Associated Press review of all major league contracts.

In short, baseball’s salary boom is back.

Belle, the game’s highest-paid player this season at $10 million, is making $928,333 more than the whole Pirates payroll, which totals $9,071,667.

Belle was followed on the highest-paid list by Cecil Fielder of the Yankees at $9,237,500, but that includes $7.2 million in salary and one-fifth of his signing bonus of $10,187,500. Barry Bonds of San Francisco is third at $8,666,667, with Roger Clemens of Toronto fourth at $8.25 million and Jeff Bagwell of Houston fifth at $8,015,000.

Among pitchers, Clemens is followed by Florida’s Alex Fernandez and Atlanta’s John Smoltz at $7 million.

Gary Sheffield agreed Wednesday to a $61 million, six-year extension with the Florida Marlins, a record package for total dollars. But that deal doesn’t start until 1998, so it was not included in the study.

Figures for the study, obtained from management and player sources, include salaries and prorated shares of signing bonuses and other guaranteed income.

The World Series champion New York Yankees have the No. 1 payroll at $58.5 million, followed by Baltimore at $55.1 million, Belle’s Chicago White Sox at $54.2 million, Cleveland at $54.1 million, Atlanta at $50.5 million and Texas at $50.1 million.

Pittsburgh’s payroll is the lowest in the majors since Baltimore finished the 1990 season at $8.1 million.

More than one-third of the 774 players on opening-day rosters and disabled lists are making $1 million or more. A record 280 players are above the million mark, up from 241 at the start of last season and topping the previous record of 273 in 1993. Of that, 197 are at $2 million or more.

Increases are especially sharp at the top of the pay scale. The number of players making $7 million or more shot up from six to 15, the number at $6 million or higher nearly doubled from 18 to 32 and the $5 million club went from 40 to 49.

In 1994, before the 7-1/2-month strike, just two players made $6 million or more.

Graphic: Paying baseball