Although not typically the highest-paid infielders, first basemen can earn lucrative contracts, typically based on offensive production and power hitting.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. leads all first basemen with his $28.8 million AAV. The Blue Jays’ marquee player signed a one-year deal in arbitration to remain at the club he’s played for his entire career.
Toronto faced an interesting dilemma of whether to trade Guerrero Jr. during the offseason while pursuing other big name free agents like Juan Soto. They decided to keep him as their franchise player for now.
Two Perennial all-star selections are tied for second. Freddie Freeman and Pete Alonso rake in $27 million annually. Freeman signed a six-year deal with the Dodgers worth $162 million in 2022. He’s coming off a World Series win with Los Angeles capped by an MVP performance.
Pete Alonso signed a two-year extension with the Mets in February. The deal includes a player option in 2026 and bonus incentives that could catapult his earnings.
Fourth on the list is Bryce Harper, who makes $25.4 million in AAV with the Phillies. The 2012 NL Rookie of the Year and four-time Silver Slugger signed a 13-year, $330 million deal with Philadelphia in 2019.
Making $21 million in AAV, Matt Olson of the Braves comes in fifth. Olson played seven years with the A’s before a trade in 2022 sent him to Atlanta.
The top five first basemen on the list earn a combined $128.9 million annually. And the top two combined still earn $14.5 million less than Shohei Ohtani in average annual value.
Ranking The Highest-Paid First Basemen in MLB
Here is the entire list of the highest-paid MLB first basemen of 2025, sorted by AAV. The list was compiled with data from Spotrac and Baseball-Reference.
- Updated: March 3rd, 2025
| Rank | Player | Team | Compensation |
| 1 | Vladimir Guerrero Jr. | Toronto Blue Jays | $28.5 million |
| T-2 | Freddie Freeman | Los Angeles Dodgers | $27 million |
| T-2 | Pete Alonso | New York Mets | $27 million |
| 4 | Bryce Harper | Philadelphia Phillies | $25.4 million |
| 5 | Matt Olson | Atlanta Braves | $21 million |
| 6 | Christian Walker | Houston Astros | $20 million |
| 7 | Wilson Contreras | St. Louis Cardinals | $17.5 million |
| 8 | Paul Goldschmidt | New York Yankees | $12.5 million |
| T-9 | Max Muncy | Los Angeles Dodgers | $12 million |
| T-9 | Carlos Santana | Cleveland Guardians | $12 million |
| 11 | Jake Cronenworth | San Diego Padres | $11.4 million |
| 12 | Josh Naylor | Arizona Diamondbacks | $10.9 million |
| 13 | Nate Lowe | Washington Nationals | $10.7 million |
| 14 | Josh Bell | Washington Nationals | $6 million |
| 15 | Andrew Vaughn | Chicago White Sox | $4.4 million |
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