MLB: The Highest (and Lowest) Paid Pitching Staffs in Baseball

	TEAM	2015 PITCHING PAYROLL	2014 RANK	2014 PITCHING PAYROLL	2015 CHANGE
1. (UP 3)	Detroit Tigers	$81,057,041	4	$64,276,161	$16,780,880
2. (DN 1)	Los Angeles Dodgers	$79,612,464	1	$79,579,761	$32,703
3.	San Francisco Giants	$77,279,944	3	$67,058,638	$10,221,306
4. (UP 8)	New York Yankees	$70,106,890	12	$40,551,316	$29,555,574
5.	Washington Nationals	$67,531,997	5	$58,176,100	$9,355,897
6. (UP 13)	Boston Red Sox	$54,541,721	19	$28,389,617	$26,152,104
7. (UP 11)	Chicago White Sox	$53,338,873	18	$30,973,949	$22,364,924
8. (UP 16)	Chicago Cubs	$52,539,953	24	$22,903,083	$29,636,870
9. (UP 12)	San Diego Padres	$52,376,209	21	$27,080,600	$25,295,609
10. (UP 5)	Baltimore Orioles	$49,815,661	15	$34,675,408	$15,140,253
11. (DN 2)	Seattle Mariners	$49,162,924	9	$48,368,242	$794,682
12. (DN 2)	Kansas City Royals	$47,366,229	10	$46,203,000	$1,163,229
13. (UP 10)	Pittsburgh Pirates	$43,796,488	23	$23,203,500	$20,592,988
14. (DN 12)	Philadelphia Phillies	$43,728,154	2	$72,720,166	($28,992,012)
15. (DN 2)	Milwaukee Brewers	$42,517,807	13	$39,366,889	$3,150,918
16. (DN 9)	Los Angeles Angels	$42,422,938	7	$53,353,464	($10,930,526)
17. (DN 11)	Toronto Blue Jays	$41,873,936	6	$55,601,200	($13,727,264)
18. (UP 8)	Houston Astros	$36,740,607	26	$21,300,300	$15,440,307
19. (DN 3)	Minnesota Twins	$36,336,228	16	$33,953,426	$2,382,802
20. (UP 5)	Texas Rangers	$36,277,020	25	$21,739,030	$14,537,990
21. (DN 10)	Cincinnati Reds	$31,853,876	11	$41,230,772	($9,376,896)
22. (DN 2)	Colorado Rockies	$31,217,394	20	$27,643,500	$3,573,894
23. (DN 1)	New York Mets	$27,394,361	22	$23,803,975	$3,590,386
24. (UP 6)	Miami Marlins	$27,049,562	30	$10,440,102	$16,609,460
25. (DN 11)	Oakland Athletics	$24,557,280	14	$35,896,606	($11,339,326)
26. (DN 18)	St. Louis Cardinals	$18,911,933	8	$50,418,166	($31,506,233)
27.	Arizona Diamondbacks	$18,859,668	27	$20,961,500	($2,101,832)
28.	Tampa Bay Rays	$14,853,802	28	$19,186,866	($4,333,064)
29.	Cleveland Indians	$12,352,696	29	$10,479,600	$1,873,096
30. (DN 13)	Atlanta Braves	$6,120,980	17	$33,352,683	($27,231,703)

Forbes’ 20 Highest-Paid Athletes in the World (2015)

Manny Pacquiao And Floyd Mayweather Combined To Make Almost Half A Billion Dollars

Floyd Mayweather bests Manny Pacquiao again – and for the second year in a row tops everybody on Forbes’ annual list of the 100 richest athletes in the world.

Mayweather made almost twice as much as Pacquiao in the past 12 months – both the only current nine-figure sportsmen in the world. Together, they brought in nearly half a billion dollars ($300M + $160M).

Tiger Woods is the third member of the nine-figure club – he earned $105 million back in 2010 before it all fell apart. Still, Woods ranks ninth today, raking in a “paltry” $50.6 million.

According to Forbes, “the blockbuster showdown between boxers Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao” had most to do with the two boxers’ earnings (duh) – and with the overall increase across the board for the top 100.

Mayweather earned nearly $180 million and Pacquiao $120 million for their May 2nd fight.

Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are next on the list. World football has the most members of the top 20, along with NBA Basketball, tied with four apiece.

Any MLB Baseball? Why, yes. What? Jon Lester is the highest paid player in the game.

For a look at all 100 rankers and their salary/endorsements splits, check out Forbes’ spread, here.

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	ATHLETE	SALARY + ENDORSEMENTS	SPORT	COUNTRY
1.	Floyd Mayweather	$300M	Boxing	USA
2.	Manny Pacquiao	$160M	Boxing	Philippines
3.	Cristiano Ronaldo	$79.6M	World Football	Portugal
4.	Lionel Messi	$73.8M	World Football	Argentina
5.	Roger Federer	$67M	Tennis	Switzerland
6.	LeBron James	$64.8M	NBA Basketball	USA
7.	Kevin Durant	$54.1M	NBA Basketball	USA
8.	Phil Mickelson	$50.8M	PGA Golf	USA
9.	Tiger Woods	$50.6M	PGA Golf	USA
10.	Kobe Bryant	$49.5M	NBA Basketball	USA
11.	Ben Roethlisberger	$48.9M	NFL Football	USA
12.	Rory McIlroy	$48.3M	PGA Golf	UK
13.	Novak Djokovic	$48.2M	Tennis	Serbia
14.	Zlatan Ibrahimovic	$39.1M	World Football	Sweden
15.	Lewis Hamilton	$39M	Formula One	UK
16.	Ndamukong Suh	$38.6M	NFL Football	USA
17.	Fernando Alonso	$35.5M	Formula One	Spain
18.	Gareth Bale	$35M	World Football	UK
19.	Jon Lester	$34.1M	MLB Baseball	USA
20.	Derrick Rose	$33.9M	NBA Basketball	USA

Photo: Esther Lin / Showtime via boxingnews24.com

The Top 20 Highest-Paid Players in the NHL (2014-15)

The Highest Paid Player In The NHL? You’re Looking At Him: Nashville Predators’ Captain Shea Weber.

The first place Nashville Predators have the highest-paid player in the NHL, defenseman Shea Weber.

Weber’s making a paltry (by comparison to the other big three sports leagues) $14 million in 2014-15, a cool two mil over last season’s MVP, the Pittsburgh Penguins‘ Sidney Crosby.

Only eight players (seven skaters and New York Rangers‘ goalie Henrik Lundqvist) will make $10 million or more this season.

Wow. The NHL has its biggest salaries under wraps, unlike the NBA, which we looked at yesterday.

Only three of the 20 (21 with ties) highest-paid players in hockey play for a losing team (eight in the NBA do, including six of the top nine).

Thanks to spotrac.com where you can see every NHLer’s salary.

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	PLAYER	2014-15 SALARY	POS.	TEAM
1.	Shea Weber	$14M	D	Nashville Predators (39-12-6)
2.	Sidney Crosby	$12M	C	Pittsburgh Penguins (32-16-9)
3.	Ryan Suter	$11M	D	Minnesota Wild (28-21-7)
3.	Henrik Lundqvist	$11M	G	New York Rangers (34-16-5)
5.	Alex Ovechkin	$10M	RW	Washington Capitals (31-17-10)
5.	Philip Kessel	$10M	RW	Toronto Maple Leafs (23-30-5)
5.	Claude Giroux	$10M	C	Philadelphia Flyers (24-23-10)
5.	Pavel Datsyuk	$10M	C	Detroit Red Wings (32-14-10)
9.	Evgeni Malkin	$9.5M	C	Pittsburgh Penguins (32-16-9)
10.	Eric Staal	$9.25M	C	Carolina Hurricanes (20-29-7)
11.	Corey Perry	$9M	RW	Anaheim Ducks (35-15-7)
12.	Ryan Getzlaf	$8.75M	C	Anaheim Ducks (35-15-7)
13.	Steven Stamkos	$8M	C	Tampa Bay Lightning (35-18-6)
13.	Dion Phaneuf	$8M	C	Toronto Maple Leafs (23-30-5)
15.	Rick Nash	$7.9M	LW	New York Rangers (34-16-5)
15.	Marian Hossa	$7.9M	RW	Chicago Blackhawks (35-18-5)
17.	Henrik Zetterberg	$7.75M	LW	Detroit Red Wings (32-14-10)
18.	Duncan Keith	$7.6M	D	Chicago Blackhawks (35-18-5)
19.	Tuukka Rask	$7.5M	G	Boston Bruins (28-20-8)
19.	Anze Kopitar	$7.5M	C	Los Angeles Kings (26-18-12)
19.	Patrice Bergeron	$7.5M	C	Boston Bruins (28-20-8)

Photo: nhlbeat.blogspot.com