MLB ASG Missing Many Highly Paid Stars, Clearing Path for Youth

The rosters for the annual MLB All-Star Game, for generations a source of debate among fans and players alike, carry something of a new financial look this year. 

Led by the high-profile omission of Mets outfielder Juan Soto from the National League squad, something now riling much of the baseball world, this year’s All-Star teams leave out many of the sport’s highest-paid players. 

The second-, third-, and fourth-highest paid players in 2025 compensation—the Phillies’ Zack Wheeler, Yankees’ Aaron Judge, and Rangers’ Jacob deGrom—will be in Atlanta for the July 15 All-Star Game at Truist Park. No other player in the sport’s top 10, however, was named an All-Star, and just four selections came from players ranked Nos. 11–20. 

Instead, the 2025 All-Star rosters are heavily populated by younger players—21 of whom are ages 26 or younger—and many, such as the Pirates’ Paul Skenes and Reds’ Elly De La Cruz, who still have not reached eligibility for arbitration or free agency. 

The absence of many of MLB’s top-paid players derive from a variety of reasons, including significant injuries for players such as the Yankees’ Gerrit Cole, missing all of this season after undergoing Tommy John surgery in March, and Angels’ Anthony Rendon, and relative underperformance for other stars such as the Astros’ Jose Altuve and Twins’ Carlos Correa. 

Soto is beginning a 15-year, $765 million contract this year with the Mets, and after a rather difficult start to the season has shown his customary performance of late and was named the National League Player of the Month for June. 

The broader situation with the All-Stars, however, does not necessarily signal a changed economic order in the sport, particularly as MLB and the MLB Players Association approach a labor negotiation next year that is widely expected to be difficult, even by baseball’s historical standards. 

On a team level, long-term success remains closely tied to player payroll. Seven of the eight teams leading current betting odds to win the 2025 World Series are in the top half of MLB luxury-tax payrolls, including each of the top five and six of the top seven. The defending-champion Dodgers and their record-setting $406.3 million outlay lead that list.