The Japan Professional Baseball Players Association announced the results of the annual salary survey for this season (730 players, excluding foreign players). For 2nd year in the row, Softbank Hawks became the team with the highest average paid player in NPB with $629,818.23 each. On the other hand, Orix became the lowest in the league for the first time in 2 years with average paid players of $239,861.53.
The average paid players for Hanshin Tigers who are 1st in Central League is appx 100k lower than the previous season. They are in 11th place this season with an average of $262212.26. The average pay was greatly reduced by the departure of veteran players like Fujikawa, Fukudome, and Nomi. Rakuten Eagles who are leading the Pacific League are in 3rd place in average annual salary which is the same as last season. But due to the return of Masahiro Tanaka the team’s average became about 75k higher of $534,873.04.
The average annual salary of the entire league was $1500 lower from last year, but it was the all-time 2nd highest with an amount of $ 379235.62.