The highest paid baseball player right now is Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Dodgers, with an average annual value (AAV) of about 70 million dollars per year on his record-setting contract.

Quick Scoop: Who Is The Highest Paid Baseball Player?

In today’s MLB money race, Shohei Ohtani sits alone at the top. His massive multi-year deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers gives him an AAV of around 70 million dollars per season, making him the highest paid baseball player in history on a per‑year basis.

A big part of why his contract exploded past everyone else’s is that he is a true two‑way star, producing at an MVP level both as a hitter and (when healthy) as a pitcher, something MLB has basically not seen in the modern era.

A Bit Of Context (Why Ohtani?)

  • He signed a record-breaking contract that is the largest in U.S. team sports, with an unprecedented annual salary at the MLB level.
  • His deal is structured so that, even among megastars, no other player reaches his yearly number.
  • The Dodgers are betting on both his bat and his eventual return to the mound after elbow issues.

In other words, teams usually pay one superstar salary for an elite hitter or an ace pitcher; Ohtani is paid like both rolled into one.

Other Huge Baseball Contracts (Right Behind Him)

Here are some of the other mega‑paid stars often mentioned in the same breath when people ask “who is the highest paid baseball player”:

  • Juan Soto (New York Mets) – Signed a gigantic 15‑year deal worth roughly 765 million dollars, giving him an AAV in the low‑50 million range in some breakdowns and making him the clear number two behind Ohtani in many rankings.
  • Zack Wheeler (Philadelphia Phillies) – Extension pushing his AAV into the low‑40 million range.
  • Aaron Judge (New York Yankees) – Around 40 million per year on his long-term deal in the Bronx.
  • Alex Bregman (Boston Red Sox) – New contract putting him at about 40 million annually.

These players all live in the upper tier, but Ohtani still has clear separation at the top.

Quick HTML Table: Top Current MLB Earners by AAV

html

<table>
  <thead>
    <tr>
      <th>Rank</th>
      <th>Player</th>
      <th>Team</th>
      <th>Approx. AAV (USD)</th>
      <th>Note</th>
    </tr>
  </thead>
  <tbody>
    <tr>
      <td>1</td>
      <td>Shohei Ohtani</td>
      <td>Los Angeles Dodgers</td>
      <td>$70,000,000</td>
      <td>Highest paid baseball player by annual salary. [web:1][web:7]</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>2</td>
      <td>Juan Soto</td>
      <td>New York Mets</td>
      <td>≈$50,000,000+</td>
      <td>15-year, $765M contract, one of the largest in sports. [web:1][web:5]</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>3</td>
      <td>Zack Wheeler</td>
      <td>Philadelphia Phillies</td>
      <td>$42,000,000</td>
      <td>Top-tier pitcher with huge recent extension. [web:1]</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>4 (tie)</td>
      <td>Aaron Judge</td>
      <td>New York Yankees</td>
      <td>$40,000,000</td>
      <td>Face of the Yankees with a long-term mega-deal. [web:1][web:5]</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>4 (tie)</td>
      <td>Alex Bregman</td>
      <td>Boston Red Sox</td>
      <td>$40,000,000</td>
      <td>High-AAV deal with player opt-outs. [web:1]</td>
    </tr>
  </tbody>
</table>

Forum / Trending Angle

On baseball forums and social threads, fans keep circling back to a few themes when they talk about “who is the highest paid baseball player”:

“If you’re paying Ohtani 70 million, are you paying one superstar or two in one body?”

Some users love the idea, arguing that his global marketing appeal plus his two‑way talent justifies the historic dollar figure. Others point out the risk: if injuries limit his pitching long term, then a huge chunk of the value that made the deal unique disappears, yet the salary remains locked in.

At the same time, contracts like Juan Soto’s have sparked ongoing debate about how long a team should commit to a player in his twenties and what happens to roster flexibility when one deal eats an enormous slice of payroll deep into the 2030s.

A Quick Look At “Highest Paid” From Other Angles

When people ask “who is the highest paid baseball player,” they sometimes mean slightly different things:

  • Highest current-season salary (AAV) – This is where Shohei Ohtani dominates with about 70 million per year.
  • Highest total contract value – Massive deals like Juan Soto’s 15‑year, 765 million dollar contract are often cited here.
  • Highest career earnings all time – On a lifetime basis, former stars like Álex RodrĂ­guez still sit atop historical earnings lists, with over 455 million in MLB career money.

So, in the present tense , Ohtani is the clear answer, but historically and over full careers, other names enter the conversation.

Bottom Note

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.