Baseball is a sport that doesn’t guarantee money with any contracts that come along like in football, once the player signs the contract, they are locked in for that full amount no matter what happens which can make the players some huge salary if good enough. The team managers can make a decent amount too, albeit not nearly as much as the actual players, but if you can hold your own as a coach and prove that you can win, teams aren’t afraid to lock them down either. Here are the 10 richest coaches in MLB history
10. Ron Gardenhire (Minnesota Twins) – $1.5 Million per year
Gardenhire has been the head coach of the Twins for over a decade now and found some success with the team. They have had plenty of playoff runs under Gardenhire, who has proven to be a solid coach, but just can’t ever get things done when the playoffs come around. Aside from that, the Twins are now paying him at the rate of $1.5 million per year which currently goes until 2015.
9. Don Mattingly (LA Dodgers) – $2 Million per year
Mattingly has been one of the fastest rising coaches for the Dodgers who are currently one of the top teams out there. While the dodgers have always been competitors, Mattingly has really put together a solid team of stars on the field and in the bullpen. His team has held a winning record for the three seasons he has coached so far and that has already earned him $2 million per year.
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8. Joe Madden (Tampa Bay Rays) – $2 Million per year
Back in 2006 Joe Madden began coaching the Rays at a salary of only $500,000 each year. However, after a couple World Series appearances and plenty of winning records and awards, his salary has been bumped up to $2 million per year. Madden just knows how to come in and get the job done, which is backed up by him having over 700 wins as a manager.
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7. Terry Francona (Cleveland Indians) – $3 Million per year
Terry Francona is widely known for being the coach of the long awaited Boston Red Sox teams who won the World Series back in ’04 and ’07, so by doing that immediately puts him high up on the list of sought out baseball managers. Since then, he has found a home with the Cleveland Indians where he resurrected them to an over .500 record and won AL manager of the year, which is enough to earn him $3 million each year.
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6. Jim Leyland (Detroit Tigers) – $3 Million per year
Jim Leyland has been around for a long time at this point, but has really found a lot of success with the Tigers in recent years past. He has made plenty of consistent playoff runs with his current team and come close to winning everything multiple times. The team is loaded with talent at every position but still seeking out a championship under Leyland’s guidance.
5. Dusty Baker (Cincinnati Reds) – $3.5 Million per year
Dusty Baker was a phenomenal coach for the Reds that ended up earning them two NL Central titles but nothing more. Despite always finding success with the talent on his team, Baker could just never take them to the next level. The man was earning $3.5 million per year until the Reds finally cut the chord at the end of last year, but this puts him up there as one of the top earning managers in the league. His inability to adapt to modern ideas is what ended up losing him his job, but I’m sure he will end up finding another job in baseball sooner rather than later.
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4. Joe Girardi (New York Yankees) – $4 Million per year
Joe Girardi has been a Yankee for pretty much his whole life. The man used to play for the team back when he was active in the MLB and now has replaced the great Joe Torre as the team’s head coach. Girardi has already found success with the team and even won a World Series. This has been good enough to earn him a big pay raise that comes in at $4 million per year and at least goes until 2016; however, I’m sure the Yankees organization will want to lock him down for the foreseeable future.
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3. Tony La Russa (Formerly St. Louis Cardinals) – $30 million
Tony La Russa is currently done with coaching the game of baseball, but is easily one of the most popular and historic coaches around. He has one of the best coaches records around (2,728 wins -2,365 losses). Despite being out of the league, La Russa was able to build up a nice net worth of around $30 million which started with his managerial salary. He is still finding work within the MLB and recently left a position under Joe Torre to go sort out the problems of the Arizona Diamondbacks.
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2. Mike Scioscia (Anaheim Angels) – $50 Million
Scioscia is currently making the largest amount of money compared to any current MLB manager around. His contract right now is earning him $5 million per year and locked him down for 10 which equals out to a huge payday that puts him at or around the $50 million mark. Scioscia is considered one of the best managers in baseball, and the Angels may never see a roster like this again, so by locking Scioscia down it shows they want to get the most out of it.
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1. Joe Torre – $60 Million
Joe Torre is probably the best known coach in baseball. He was phenomenal with the Yankees and led them to more World Series wins than I can even remember. Before even leaving the Yankees Torre was making around the $5 million per year mark with an extra $1 million in bonuses waiting for him, which is the largest amount compared to other coaches. Torre is a baseball legend so hiring him isn’t cheap, but the results will follow if a team is decent enough, and that has been enough to earn him the top spot and the most money.
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