The 50 highest-earning American athletes

This is what Torii gets for being generous: During a rehab assignment in Triple-A, he took his teammates out to dinner and was rewarded with food poisoning.

The defensive end had no sacks and ranked 10th in tackles among Chiefs starters during his rookie campaign -- yet last year's No. 3 pick takes home $17 million in the second year of his deal.

The Boston ace is playing out the option year, but an extension inked in April netted him a $5 million bonus -- and means Sox have Beckett, Lackey and Jon Lester locked up through '14. The Red Sox need him to get healthy quickly.

Four-time defending Sprint Cup champ has done a lot of something Jr. and Gordon haven't lately: win. But some worry he's too laid back to reach the popularity of NASCAR's power duo.

Redd exercised an option to return to Milwaukee for $18.3 million, but the team isn't sure he'll ever be fully recovered from recurring ACL and MCL tears. Is he a tradeable asset?

The Orlando power forward would be higher on the list -- but his 10-game suspension at the beginning of the season for an elevated testosterone level cost him $1.6 million of his $18 million salary.

As if an early slump wasn't enough, Jay-Z is suing Big Papi for $5 million for naming his Santo Domingo nightclub "40/40," the same name as the rapper's hot spots in New York, Atlantic City and Vegas. Papi picked it up and won the Home Run Derby.

Sanchez's agent held off on big endorsements so the quarterback could focus during his rookie season. But visibility, success and bilingual marketing potential could boost his earning power to eight figures.

The four-time Pro Bowl linebacker wanted to be paid like a quarterback. His new deal isn't quite Manning-esque, but he does get $40 million guaranteed -- including $14 million of his signing bonus paid in March.

The Yanks' top four starting pitchers -- Burnett, Sabathia, Andy Pettitte and Javier Vazquez -- are earning a combined $63 million this year. That's nearly twice the Pittsburgh Pirates' entire payroll. Burnett better start performing; he was 7-7 with a 4.75 ERA in the first half.