JAPAN – The Yomiuri Giants opened the 2009 Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) season with the largest payroll – $45.30 million – in the Japanese league. The widely popular team also boasted the highest-paid player, Seung-Youp Lee, who will earn $6.2 million this season.

The Hanshin Tigers ($40.49 million) were the only other NPB franchise with player salaries surpassing the $40 million mark, and has one of only three league players earning $5 million annually – Tomoaki Kanemoto – who will take home $5.6 million this year. Nobuhiko Matsunaka of the Softbank Hawks will receive a salary of $5.1 million this season.

American slugger Tuffy Rhodes, who recently became the first foreign player to reach 450 home runs in the NPB, is being paid
$3.3 million by the Orix Buffaloes.

2009 NPB Team Payrolls:

40 MILLION CLUB
Yomiuri Giants, $45.30M
Hanshin Tigers, $40.49M

30 MILLION CLUB
Softbank Hawks, $34.11M
Chunichi Dragons, $30.02M

20 MILLION CLUB
Chiba Lotte Marines, $27.67M
Seibu Lions, $26.75M
Orix Buffaloes, $26.04M
Nippon Ham Fighters, $24.97M
Yakult Swallows, $23.77M
Yokohama Baystars, $23.03M
Rakuten Golden Eagles, $20.74M

17 MILLION CLUB
Hiroshima Toyo Carp, $17.71M

Photo courtesy of simcentral.net

Data courtesy of NPB Tracker.com

Tags: Japan