"Oh my" MLB average annual salary of 7.8 billion won, 45 times KBO... Soto, No. 1 in annual salary - Yang's will is 21 times different

*This content was translated by AI.

He dramatically advanced to the quarterfinals at the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC), but suffered a shocking cold game defeat to the Dominican Republic, which is full of major leaguers. Maybe it was a scheduled result. The average annual salary of Major League Baseball (MLB) players was found to be 45 times higher than that of the KBO league.

The U.S. Associated Press released the average annual salary of 942 people on the roster and the injured list as of the opening day of this year's Major League on the 10th (Korea Standard Time). The average was $5.335,966 (about 7.93 billion won), up 3.4% from last year's $5.162,245 (about 7.64 billion won).

The average annual salary soared to nearly 8 billion won, the highest level ever.

The KBO League, which is set to open, tallied the average annual salary of 529 players excluding rookies, foreign players and Asian quarter players on the 18th of last month, which was 175.36 million won. It was the highest amount ever, up 9.1% from last year's average of 160.71 million won, but it was 45 times different from MLB.

This is also the reason why the baseball team, which was mostly composed of KBO league players, had to show an overwhelming power gap in the Dominican Republic, which is full of active players in the Major League, despite the participation of the most big leaguers ever, including Lee Jung-hoo (San Francisco) and Kim Hye-sung (LA Dodgers), Dane Dunning (Atlanta), Germay Jones (Detroit), and Shay Witcom (Houston). A large salary difference can be seen as a difference in performance.

By club, the New York Mets ranked first in total annual salary for four consecutive years with $352 million (about 521.17 billion won). Ahead of this season, Juan Soto, who signed a 15-year, 765 million-dollar contract ahead of last season, seems to be largely influenced.

The Mets' total salary is more than five times higher than the Cleveland Guardians ($62.3 million), which is the least spent club.

The Los Angeles Dodgers, which won the World Series for the second consecutive year, are second with 316.6 million dollars (about 468.853 billion won), as most of Shohei Ohtani's annual salary, which signed a 10-year, $700 million (about 1.36 trillion won) contract ahead of the 2024 season, will be executed 10 years later due to a suspension of payment.

The Associated Press reported, "If the average annual amount is calculated without a delay in payment, the total annual salary of the Dodgers amounts to 395.2 million dollars (about 585.93 billion won)."

The New York Yankees followed with $297.2 million (about 440 billion won), the Philadelphia Phillies with $282 million (about 417.5 billion won), and the Toronto Blue Jays with $269 million (about 398.255 billion won).

Among the players, Soto was found to receive the highest annual salary of $61.9 million (about 91.59 billion won). Cody Bellinger (Yankees) followed with $42.5 million (about 62.89 billion won), followed by Jack Wheeler (Philadelphia) and Bob Bischet (Metz) with $42 million (about 62.156 billion won).

In the KBO League, Yang Eui-ji (Doosan) received the highest salary ever at 4.2 billion won, but it was 21 times different from the MLB's highest salary, Soto.

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*This content was translated by AI.