From Honus to Greinke: The history of big contracts.
The Diamondbacks made perhaps the biggest splash of the offseason when they signed Zack Greinke to a six-year, $206.5 million contract. This contract was the second-largest total for a pitcher in MLB history—and the annual salary of $34.3 million is the highest of all-time.
There’s no doubt contracts have grown exponentally over the years, especially over the last two decades. How did we get here? Here’s a little walk down contract memory lane.
1908: Honus Wagner forgoes his retirement plans when Pittsburg (that’s how it was spelt back then) Pirates ownership gives him baseball’s first $10,000 salary.