STICKER SHOCK
Who makes what among Chicago’s major sports teams? You might be surprised at the base salaries.
Whether you’re at a sports bar or shooting the breeze at work, it’s always fun to talk about how much money athletes make. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of sports salaries is the arbitrary value assigned to a player based on market demand, often in discordance with their performance ( see Mike Glennon). Once a certain skill level is reached, timing, more than anything, often determines a player’s fortune or misfortune.
For instance, if you asked fans to name the highest- paid Chicago athlete, most would probably guess Cubs pitcher Jon Lester. That would be wrong. With Dwyane Wade taking the buyout from the Bulls, Jason Heyward owns Chicago’s No. 1 spot at $ 21.5 million in base salary. Wade was slated to make $ 23.8 million had he stayed for the final year of his contract.
OK, so Lester isn’t even the top- paid Cub, but he has to be the highest- paid pitcher, right? Nope. That would be White Sox veteran James Shields, who makes a cool $ 21 million despite his 5- 7 record and 5.23 ERA this season.
According to base salaries compiled by Spotrac. com, 79 Chicago athletes can call themselves millionaires. That’s a far cry from three decades ago, when there was one — a retiring Walter Payton, who made exactly $ 1 million.
Here are some of the more interesting anomalies that jump out from the list:
With his $ 8 million in base pay from the Cubs, Jon Jay banks more than teammates Kris Bryant, Javy Baez, Addison Russell, Willson Contreras, Ian Happ and Kyle Schwarber combined.
Bulls center Robin Lopez makes $ 13.78 million. Bulls backup center Cristiano Felicio makes $ 7.84 million. Three- time Blackhawks Stanley Cup winners Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane each make $ 7.8 million.
Cubs pitcher John Lackey has a base salary of $ 16 million. That’s more than the entire White Sox roster makes, minus Shields, Jose Abreu ($ 10.8 million) and Avisail Garcia ($ 3 million).
Bulls guard Justin Holiday, who has started 13 games since joining the NBA in 2013, will be paid $ 4.6 million this season. That’s more than the combined base salaries of Bears linebacker and 2016 Super Bowl champ Danny Trevathan ($ 2 million), National League MVP and World Series winner Bryant ($ 1.05 million) and five- time NHL All- Star and three- time Stanley Cup champ Marian Hossa ($ 1 million).
Bastian Schweinsteiger is the seventh- highest- paid player in MLS and will make $ 5.4 million in his first season with the Fire. Four- time All- Star and three- time Stanley Cup winner Duncan Keith of the Blackhawks is in his 13th season and will make $ 5 million.
As for Glennon, who was demoted to backup this week, his base salary is $ 8 million, but he’s guaranteed about $ 18.5 million. New starter Mitch Trubisky has a base salary of $ 465,000, but his signing bonus as the No. 2 pick in the NFL Draft puts him at almost $ 20 million. The player they replaced, Jay Cutler, will make $ 5 million in base salary and $ 10 million guaranteed from the Dolphins. In addition, Cutler will collect $ 2 million from the Bears.