Designated Hitter career earnings
$1,725,153,887 across 17 careers, led by Miguel Cabrera on $393,188,684.
Every MLB career filed at this position, ranked by total contract money. It comes to 4.0% of the money on record, at an average of $101,479,640 a career.
Designated Hitter at a glance
What the position has been paid
- Career money
- $1,725,153,887
- Careers
- 17
- Per career
- $101,479,640
- Paid through 2024
- $1,684,153,887
- Still to be paid
- $41,000,000
- Rank
- 10 of 13 positions
The fifteen richest Designated Hitter careers
Total contract money, 1998 to 2026
Every Designated Hitter career
Ranked by total contract money
| # | Player | Club | Seasons | Span | Still owed | Career earnings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Miguel Cabrera Paid in 2024 | Detroit Tigers | 23 | 1999 to 2024 | - | $393,188,684$393.2m |
| 02 | Albert Pujols | St. Louis Cardinals | 23 | 1999 to 2022 | - | $341,710,741$341.7m |
| 03 | Robinson Cano | Atlanta Braves | 19 | 2001 to 2023 | - | $252,050,096$252.1m |
| 04 | Nick Castellanos Paid in 2024 | Philadelphia Phillies | 15 | 2010 to 2026 | $40.0m | $143,942,249$143.9m |
| 05 | Nelson Cruz | San Diego Padres | 20 | 1998 to 2023 | - | $134,257,784$134.3m |
| 06 | J.D. Martinez | Los Angeles Dodgers | 14 | 2009 to 2023 | - | $128,421,096$128.4m |
| 07 | Marcell Ozuna Paid in 2024 | Atlanta Braves | 14 | 2008 to 2025 | $1000k | $96,470,727$96.5m |
| 08 | Jorge Soler Paid in 2024 | Miami Marlins | 13 | 2012 to 2024 | - | $72,953,731$73.0m |
| 09 | Mark Trumbo | Baltimore Orioles | 15 | 2004 to 2022 | - | $66,529,000$66.5m |
| 10 | Khris Davis | Oakland Athletics | 10 | 2009 to 2021 | - | $58,127,317$58.1m |
| 11 | Luke Voit | San Diego Padres | 6 | 2017 to 2022 | - | $11,446,674$11.4m |
| 12 | Franmil Reyes | Chicago Cubs | 6 | 2011 to 2022 | - | $6,979,965$7.0m |
| 13 | Dan Vogelbach | Pittsburgh Pirates | 9 | 2011 to 2023 | - | $6,452,630$6.5m |
| 14 | Zack Collins | Chicago White Sox | 5 | 2016 to 2022 | - | $4,804,438$4.8m |
| 15 | Willie Calhoun | Texas Rangers | 7 | 2015 to 2022 | - | $3,055,820$3.1m |
| 16 | Matt Davidson | Arizona Diamondbacks | 7 | 2009 to 2022 | - | $2,957,493$3.0m |
| 17 | Rafael Ortega | Chicago Cubs | 4 | 2016 to 2022 | - | $1,805,442$1.8m |
Designated Hitter money by season
What these careers were paid, year by year
2019 is the biggest year on this chart at $178,344,588. The shape follows the careers filed at this position today rather than everybody who has ever played it.
Frequently asked questions
Who is the highest paid Designated Hitter in MLB?
Miguel Cabrera. His contracts are worth $393,188,684 across 23 seasons from 1999 to 2024.
What have MLB designated hitters earned?
$1,725,153,887 across 17 careers, an average of $101,479,640 each. That is 4.0% of every dollar in the MLB file.
How does that rank?
Designated Hitter is 10 of 13 positions by total career money, behind Catcher on $1,865,970,993 and ahead of 2nd Base on $1,627,903,406.
How many are still being paid?
4 of the 17 have a figure against the 2024 season, and $41,000,000 is written into deals that run past it.
What counts towards a position total?
Every career filed at designated hitter now. A man counts once, at the position he is listed at today, so a career that moved between two jobs sits entirely under the second.
The positions either side
The same table, 12 other positions
Starting Pitcher · Relief Pitcher · Shortstop · 3rd Base · Right Field · 1st Base · Center Field · Left Field · Catcher · 2nd Base · Outfielders · Pitchers · All-time MLB earnings
Where to next
The seasons, the clubs and the rest of the league
Every season
Every club
- San Diego Padres career earnings
- Los Angeles Dodgers career earnings
- New York Mets career earnings
- Atlanta Braves career earnings
- Philadelphia Phillies career earnings
- Washington Nationals career earnings
- Colorado Rockies career earnings
- Boston Red Sox career earnings
- St. Louis Cardinals career earnings
- Los Angeles Angels career earnings
- New York Yankees career earnings
- Texas Rangers career earnings
- Toronto Blue Jays career earnings
- Chicago Cubs career earnings
- Milwaukee Brewers career earnings
- Kansas City Royals career earnings
- Chicago White Sox career earnings
- San Francisco Giants career earnings
- Houston Astros career earnings
- Miami Marlins career earnings
- Minnesota Twins career earnings
- Arizona Diamondbacks career earnings
- Detroit Tigers career earnings
- Seattle Mariners career earnings
- Cincinnati Reds career earnings
- Baltimore Orioles career earnings
- Pittsburgh Pirates career earnings
- Cleveland Guardians career earnings
- Tampa Bay Rays career earnings
- Oakland Athletics career earnings