$256,296,950

$256,296,950

The National debt? No, Just the aggregate salary of the 624 players on major league rosters for Opening Day. The per-player average: $410,732. Just think, back in 1911, Ty Cobb held out all winter to get a raise from $4,500 to $10,000. Babe Ruth's $52,000 salary shocked the nation in 1921, just as his $80,000 did in 1930. It was 1949 before Joe DiMaggio broke the $100,000 barrier. The modern escalation can be traced to an arbitrator's decision that outlawed the reserve clause and opened the free-agency era in 1975. Lately the upward trend has leveled off: This year the average salary on the Atlanta Braves actually dropped $159,003.

On these pages we list players' 1987 guaranteed base salaries, including signing bonuses prorated over the length of the contract. The players are listed alphabetically, from Don Aase ($625,000) to Paul Zuvella ($100,000), and not by salary, which would have been from $2.46 million ( Eddie Murray) to $62,500 (the rookie minimum). Special charts on pages 80 and 81 show some unusual incentive clauses; the salary averages for each team; the top-salaried player for each position; the salaries of 14 players who began the season on the disabled list; the salaries of nine former major leaguers being paid although they are no longer in the majors; and, finally, the modest salaries of the 26 major league managers.

DON AASE
$625,000 BALT.

JIM ACKER
$350,000 ATL.

LUIS AGUAYO
$325,000 PHIL.

RICK AGUILERA
$195,000 METS

MIKE ALDRETE
$75,000 S.F.

NEIL ALLEN
$1,260,000 W. SOX

BILL ALMOO
$240,000 PITT.