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Another quick note before we dive in: The MLSPA divides their payroll numbers into “base salary” and “guaranteed compensation.” Base salary is self-explanatory; it’s simply the amount a player is guaranteed in a given year, not counting any signing or other bonuses. The calculus behind guaranteed compensation is a little bit more involved. The MLSPA figure includes a player’s base salary and all signing and bonuses averaged over the full length of the player’s contract, including option years. Including option years means that calling it “guaranteed” is a bit misleading, but, thanks to certain cases in which a large portion of a player’s pay comes from a signing bonus, it’s a bit more accurate on the whole. Unless otherwise indicated, it’s the measure we use in this piece.