MLB

year contract he can terminate after one season. Los Angeles Angels outfielder Mike Trout is second at $37.1 million, followed by Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole ($36 million) and St. Louis third baseman Nolan Arenado ($35 million), who was acquired in an offseason trade with Colorado.

The World Series champion Dodgers topped the major leagues at $241 million, the highest big league total since the Dodgers set

the record at $270 million at the start of the 2015 season.

Players are unhappy with the slide in salaries under the current collective bargaining agreement, even before last year’s pandemicshortened season, and intend to press for changes during labor talks this year to replace the contract that expires Dec. 1.

The average was just over $500,000 when AP started its salary studies in 1989 and went down just twice before 2017: after the 199495 strike and between the 2003 and 2004 seasons.

The average has dropped 4.9% under the current labor

agreement, which started after the 2016 season. The average rose 15.3% under the 2007-11 contract and 32.6% under the 201216 deal.

This year’s average was depressed by the openingday absence of Houston pitcher Jake Odorizzi, who was left off the initial roster, and infielder Rougned Odor, who had been designated for assignment by Texas and later was traded to the New York Yankees. Their presence on opening day would have increased by average by roughly $24,000, cutting the drop over two years to 4.2%.

Add the money Boston owes second baseman Dustin Pedroia, on the voluntary retired list after missing most of the prior three seasons while hurt, and the average would have been down 3.9% to $4.2 million. Termination pay, option buyouts and portions of signing bonuses paid to released players are not included in the average.

In addition, the average likely was lowered slightly by the expansion of active rosters to 26, which probably caused teams to add 30 players making near the $570,500 minimum.

The New York Yankees

are second at $201 million and the New York Mets, under new owner Steven Cohen, third at $186 million. The Angels are next at $181 million, followed by Washington ($179.6 million), Boston ($179.5 million), Houston ($176.5 million), San Diego ($175.7 million) and Philadelphia ($174.8 million).

Twelve teams are under $100 million, with Pittsburgh at $46 million the lowest on opening day in a full season since Houston’s $44.6 million in 2014. Slightly above the Pirates are Cleveland ($51 million), Baltimore ($56 million) and Miami ($57 million).