Ranking The 13 Highest-Paid MLB Players Of The 2026 Season

The 2026 MLB season gets rolling this week with the start of Spring Training. I’ll be in the stands on Spring Training Opening Day to watch the Yankees face the Orioles as I make an effort to catch more games this year, and while I am there I will try my hardest to not focus on how poor I am compared to the highest-paid MLB players on the field.

Baseball players are paid handsomely for their contributions over 162 games. At the top level, the highest-paid MLB players earn life-changing money virtually every game. Two MLB players are set to earn over $50 million this season which breaks down to more than $308,641 per game.

Who Are The Highest-Paid MLB Players Of 2026?

New York City has a greater concentration of wealth than any other city in America and the same is true on the baseball diamond. Two of the top 5 highest-paid MLB players this year play for the New York Mets and two of the top 6 play for the Yankees. But what about the rest? Let’s take a look, counting down from #13 to #1.

t12. Corey Seager: $31,000,000

Coming in tied at #12 is Rangers shortstop Corey Seager who will earn $31 million this season. Seager has $163,690,784 in career earnings over 10 seasons in the bigs and Scott Boras has gotten him PAID throughout the years.

t12. Pete Alonso: $31,000,000

The top 13 highest-paid MLB players this season will earn a combined $516,825,000! That is insane. And tied with Corey Seager at 12th is Baltimore Orioles slugger Pete Alonso who will earn $31 million in 2026.

Pete Alonso, another Scott Boras client, has earned $74,982,649 so far in his MLB career after spending his first 8 seasons with the NY Mets.

11. Tarik Skubal: $32,000,000

Tarik Skubal bet on himself and won. He won his arbitration case against the Tigers this offseason and will earn a record-setting $32 million salary, the highest MLB salary ever awarded through arbitration.

The Detroit Tigers pitcher is an absolute stud on the mound. He had a 13-6 Win-Loss record in 2025 and 18-4 record in 2024, and a sub-2.50 ERA over the past two seasons over 387 innings pitched. Worth every penny.

10. Dylan Cease: $35,000,000

Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher Dylan Cease is the 10th highest-paid MLB player in 2026. He will earn $35 million this year which is legitimate life-changing money.

This will be Dylan’s first season with the Blue Jays after pitching for the Padres the past two season and the White Sox prior to that. Cease had a 4.55 ERA last season over 168 innings pitched, the second highest ERA of his career since his rookie season. Hopefully not a sign of things to come for the Blue Jays who just signed him to a 7 year, $210,000,000 contract.

9. Mike Trout: $35,450,000

A likely future Hall of Famer, Mike Trout will be the 9th highest-paid MLB player this season while earning $35.45 million. He has been plagued by injuries throughout his career but always produces and has been the face of the Angels for over a decade.

8. Gerrit Cole: $36,000,000

Yankees veteran pitcher Gerrit Cole is the 8th highest-paid MLB player of 2026, earning $36 million this season. Over the course of his 12 seasons in Major League Baseball, Gerrit Cole has raked in $228,222,046. Not too shabby!

In 2024, Cole had a 3.41 ERA with an 8-5 W-L split. He is currently on track to return around May or June this season.

7. Jacob DeGrom: $38,000,000

Rangers starting pitcher Jacob DeGrom is the 7th highest-paid MLB player this season. He will earn a cool $38 million in 2026 which brings his career earnings to $182,759,998 over 11 seasons.

6. Aaron Judge: $40,000,000

New York Yankees captain Aaron Judge, the face of the Bronx Bombers, is the sixth-highest paid player in baseball this season. He will earn an even $40 million in 2026 with career earnings of $156,115,671. The Yankees have Aaron Judge under contract through 2031 so he is in a very comfortable position at the moment.

t4. Zack Wheeler: $42,000,000

Two players are tied at #4. First up is Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler who will earn $42 million in 2026.

Wheeler has career earnings of $160,305,242 through 12 seasons. In 2025, he pitched in 25 games and had an ERA of 2.71 with 10 wins and 5 losses.

t4. Bo Bichette: $42,000,000

Tied with Wheeler at #4 is Bo Bichette who signed a 3-year, $126,000,000 contract with the New York Mets. He will earn $42 million this season which is wild considering his career earnings are just $37,133,790 thus far.

Bichette hit .311 in 2025 with 18 home runs, 181 hits, 78 runs, and 94 RBIs. The Mets will desperately need production like that from him in order for this contract to be worth it.

3. Juan Soto: $46,875,000

Mets right fielder Juan Soto is the third-highest paid MLB player of 2026. He will earn $46,875,000 from the Mets and get taxed out the wazoo on 81+ of those games played in NYC (not including the Subway Series games).

Juan Soto has $204,579,031 in career earnings through 7 seasons. Last year he hit .263 with 105 RBIs.

2. Cody Bellinger: $52,500,000

The second-highest paid MLB player of this season is Cody Bellinger, one of two players who will earn over $50 million. Bellinger is set to get paid $52,500,000 by the Yankees which will get added to his career earnings of $119,716,939. He is another Scott Boras client, of course.

1. Kyle Tucker: $55,000,000

At number one, the highest-paid MLB player of 2026, is Dodgers right fielder Kyle Tucker who will get paid $55 million this season. The entire Miami Marlins payroll this season is $78,106,666 and Kyle Tucker will earn $55 million. Let that sink in!

In 2025, Kyle Tucker had an even 500 at bats and hit .266 with an OBP of .377. Tucker hit 22 home runs, had 73 RBIs, 25 stolen bases, and scored 91 runs.

Is all that worth $55 million to put him atop the list of the highest-paid MLB players in the land? You be the judge! Let us know what you think in the Facebook comments or you can email me at cass@brobible.com anytime.