The Highest-Paid MLB Players 2026

After solidifying his status as the Babe Ruth of the 21st century with a second straight World Series ring and yet another MVP—becoming only the second MLB player ever to win the award three years in a row—Shohei Ohtani is also making history off the field. The Los Angeles Dodgers’ two-way sensation is set to collect an estimated $127 million in 2026 before taxes and agents’ fees, a record for a baseball player. The vast majority of the payday—an estimated $125 million—comes from endorsement deals, licensing, memorabilia and other business ventures, with roughly two dozen sponsors in the United States and Ohtani’s native Japan paying a heavy premium to associate with him.

Since Forbes began tracking athletes’ earnings in 1990, only one has surpassed the 31-year-old Ohtani’s projected off-field total in a single year while still active in his sport: MMA star Conor McGregor, who brought in an estimated $158 million over the 12 months ending in May 2021, almost all of it from the sale of his Irish whiskey brand , Proper No. Twelve. Ohtani has reached that financial stratosphere on a much more conventional route, through partnerships with American brands such as Fanatics and New Balance, which has given him a signature shoe line, and with a long list of Japanese companies.

Japan Airlines, for instance, uses a specially painted “Dream Sho Jet” for some routes, and Kowa markets both its pain relief patches and Syncron sports drinks with Ohtani. Throw in the $2 million Ohtani will get directly from the Dodgers this season—with $68 million in salary deferred for another decade as part of the ten-year, $700 million contract he signed with Los Angeles ahead of the 2024 season—and the major leagues’ only everyday designated hitter/pitcher has a comfortable lead on MLB’s second-highest-paid player this season, New York Yankees outfielder Cody Bellinger, who is set to rake in an estimated $56. 5 million.

Combined, MLB’s ten highest-paid players are expected to make $537 million in 2026, the second-highest figure Forbes has measured since it began publishing a baseball earnings ranking in 2011. This year’s total is a 7% drop from 2025’s $576 million , but the decline is almost entirely tied to New York Mets outfielder Juan Soto, who set an MLB record last year with his $126. 9 million haul but now falls to $51.