Filthy rich: 10 biggest salaries in MLB history
Zack Greinke is on his way to the Arizona Diamondbacks after agreeing to a six-year, $206.5-million deal on Friday, which will pay him more money on a year-by-year basis than any other player in the history of baseball.
The 32-year-old right-hander isn't the first player to sign a shocking mega-deal in his career, and he's unlikely to be the last, with MLB's revenues setting record-breaking numbers with each passing year.
Here are the biggest average annual salaries in baseball, and the filthy-rich players who make the general public drool with envy:
Zack Greinke
AAV: $34.3 million
Total: 6 years, $206 million (2016-21)
Leave it to Greinke to play mind games with the baseball world, choosing the Diamondbacks over the Los Angeles Dodgers, and San Francisco Giants. Now he needs to prove he's worth the money while pitching in his 30s.
David Price
AAV: $31 million
Total: 7 years, $217 million (2016-22)
David Price's reign atop the salary charts was short-lived, but the Boston Red Sox are getting one of the most durable and effective starting pitchers of his era. Is he worth the money, or will other holes in their lineup keep them from a championship?
Miguel Cabrera
AAV: $31 million
Total: 8 years, $248 million (2016-23)
Arguably the best hitter in the game, Cabrera is a Triple Crown threat every season, and owns a career .326/.406/.574 slash line in a Detroit Tigers uniform. If anyone is worth the money it's him, but with his eight-year extension kicking in for his age-33 season, even this two-time MVP is a risk.
Clayton Kershaw
AAV: $30.7 million
Total: 7 years, $215 million (2014-20)
The Dodgers couldn't afford to keep Greinke in Los Angeles, but they still have one of the most dominant pitchers in baseball locked up long-term - and he's still only 27-years-old.
Max Scherzer
AAV: $30 million
Total: 7 years, $210 million (2015-21)
The Washington Nationals were in shambles in 2015, but that didn't stop Scherzer from proving his value, tossing two no-hitters (and almost three perfect games) in his first campaign in the nation's capital.
Roger Clemens
AAV: $28 million
Total: 1 year, $28 million (2007)
Clemens returned to the Big Apple for a second stint with the club in 2007, and while making a ridiculous pro-rated share of $28 million, but he only tossed 99 innings of work for the Bronx Bombers in what turned out to be his final big-league season.
Alex Rodriguez
AAV: $27.5 million
Total: 10 years, $275 million (2008-17)
A-Rod outdid himself when agent Scott Boras announced during Game 4 of the 2007 World Series that his client would opt out of his already historic contract, leading to his signing of an even richer contract with the New York Yankees.
Jon Lester
AAV: $25.8 million
Total: 6 years, $155 million (2015-20)
The long-time Red Sox ace left one legendary franchise for another - with a pit-stop in Oakland in between - and although Jake Arrieta owns the team's top spot in the rotation, Lester's first year in the Windy City was still a success.
Justin Verlander
AAV: $25.7 million
Total: 7 years, $180 million (2013-19)
Verlander's 2011 and '12 campaigns earned him the rich deal, which the Tigers have seen some value on, but dishing out that kind of dough may have cost them a younger, and harder-throwing Scherzer.
Alex Rodriguez
AAV: $25.2 million
Total: 10 years, $252 million (2001-10)
A-Rod's first monster deal in 2001 turned out to be a disaster for the Rangers after a steroid controversy, and subsequent trade to the Yankees, stained his impressive three-year run in Texas.