By agreeing to a ten-year, $252M contract with the Rangers, Alex Rodriguez will become MLB's highest paid player next season. Although the contract averages $25.2M per year, Rodriguez will be paid $18M next season ($16M in base salary and a $2M bonus) because certain payments will be deferred. The following is a list of the highest-paid athletes for each individual sport. The figures represent the compensation of each athlete in the listed season, either in terms of salary or prize earnings (THE DAILY): PLAYER SPORT SALARY SEASON Michael Schumacher Racing - F1 $37,200,000 '00Kevin Garnett Basketball - NBA $19,606,300 '00-01Alex Rodriguez Baseball - MLB $18,000,000 '01Jonathan Ogden Football - NFL $16,500,320 '00Paul Kariya Hockey - NHL $10,000,000 '00-01Peter Forsberg Hockey - NHL $10,000,000 '00-01Tiger Woods Golf - PGA Tour $9,188,321 '00Dale Jarrett Racing - NASCAR $5,225,449 '00Gustavo Kuerten Tennis - ATP $4,701,610 '00Martina Hingis Tennis - WTA $3,457,049 '00Larry Nelson Golf - Senior $2,708,005 '00Karrie Webb Golf - LPGA $1,876,853 '00
