Juan Soto's $765M deal, highly-paid NFL & college coaches used as examples as MLB analyst calls out Dodgers, Yankees for underpaying managers

MLB players, especially those like Juan Soto, are paid highly. Currently, 15 contracts pay over $300 million and 24 players will earn over $200 million.

The same can't be said for managers, though. Craig Counsell of the Chicago Cubs makes $40 million on a five-year deal as the most expensive manager in baseball. That's far less than the 100th-highest-paid player in baseball.

Former GM Jim Bowden believes that's wrong and he can't believe that two specific managers are looking for new deals. He cited Soto's $765 million deal and the fact that football coaches make a lot of money as a reason that this needs to change in baseball.

Bowden said:

"The two World Series Managers, Dave Roberts of the Dodgers and Aaron Boone of the Yankees, are inexplicably unsigned past this year. Both are negotiating new deals. And, in an industry where the highest-paid player receives $765 million and high leverage relievers $76 million."

The MLB analyst said that managers need to be paid more for their work in baseball. 10 NFL coaches make over $10 million per season and none in baseball do. Bowden added that "it's a sad place when college coaches are making more than big-league managers" these days.

---

Is Juan Soto the highest-paid athlete?

Juan Soto makes a ton of money. After signing the $765 million deal to leave the New York Yankees and join the New York Mets, few athletes have ever been promised what Soto has.

In terms of total value, no athlete has ever signed for more than $765 million in the four major sports leagues in America. NFL, NBA and NHL contracts are subject to a salary cap and don't come close to Soto's deal.

Juan Soto makes $51 million per season (Imagn)

In MLB, no one makes more cumulatively than Soto, but someone does make more than he does yearly. Shohei Ohtani's $700 million deal isn't as big as Soto's, but the AAV is much higher.

Soto earns $51 million per season, whereas Ohtani's contract is $70 million per year. Soto is, however, the only other player who is paid more than $50 million per season in baseball.