PHILADELPHIA -- Phillies third baseman Mike Schmidt will earn nearly $2 million this season, making him the highest-paid player in baseball, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported Sunday.
Schmidt, 34, a two-time National League Most Valuable Player and six-time National League home-run leader, will receive a base salary of $1,989,875, the Inquirer said in a copyright story.
Contract summaries obtained by the Inquirer indicate Schmidt's income could exceed $2 million if he collects MVP bonuses.
'But in base salary alone,' the newpaper said, 'Schmidt ... has passed such players as Steve Garvey of the San Diego Padres and Dave Winfield of the New York Yankees, who topped the major-league salary charts in recent years.'
Contract summaries show Schmidt will receive $2,096,967 next year, $1,903,000 in 1986 and $2,094,000 in 1987.
The Inquirer also reported the salary of four-time Cy Young Award winner Steve Carlton will hit the $1 million mark this year, while relief pitcher Al Holland's base salary is $500,000.
The newpspaper said the Phillies have the biggest payroll in the National League. Last year, records show the Phillies' player salaries totaled $11.5 million, behind the American League's Yankees and the California Angels.
The Inquirer said the Phillies' payroll and overall ranking in terms of salaries paid this year remains about the same.
Included among the Phillies obligations are checks they must pay to such former players as Pete Rose and Joe Morgan.
The Inquirer said Rose will receive $600,000 from the Phillies this year -- six times as much money not to play for the Phillies in 1984 as Joe DiMaggio got to play for the Yankees in 1949.
