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The Oldest $100MM Players

By Ben Nicholson-Smith [February 27, 2012 at 9:40pm CST]

Kevin Brown signed the first nine-figure deal in baseball history after the 1998 season. 33 at the time, Brown had just logged 257 innings for the NL Champion Padres, striking out 257 and posting a 2.38 ERA (164 ERA+). Brown provided the Dodgers with some elite seasons before moving to New York, where he disappointed in pinstripes.

In the decade-plus since Brown finalized his record deal, all of the 30-plus players to sign for $100MM or more have been younger than 33. Here's the complete list of $100MM players sorted by age, courtesy of MLBTR’s Transaction Tracker (the list includes free agent signings and extensions, but does not include posting fees for Japanese players):

Kevin Brown, 33, signed a seven-year, $105MM deal on 12/12/1998.
Alex Rodriguez, 32, signed a ten-year, $275MM deal on 12/13/2007.
Cliff Lee, 32, signed a five-year, $120MM deal on 12/13/2010.
Jayson Werth, 31, signed a seven-year, $126MM deal on 12/05/2010.
Albert Pujols, 31, signed a ten-year, $240MM deal on 12/08/2011.
Ken Griffey Jr., 30, signed a nine-year, $116.5MM deal on 2/11/2000.
Jason Giambi, 30, signed a seven-year, $120MM deal on 12/18/2001.
Alfonso Soriano, 30, signed an eight-year, $136MM deal on 11/20/2006.
Carlos Lee, 30, signed a six-year, $100MM deal on 11/24/2006.
Ryan Howard, 30, signed a five-year, $125MM extension on 4/26/2010.
Matt Holliday, 29, signed a seven-year, $120MM deal on 1/7/2010.
Carl Crawford, 29, signed a seven-year, $142MM deal on 12/8/2010.
Mike Hampton, 28, signed an eight-year, $121MM deal on 12/12/2000.
Manny Ramirez, 28, signed an eight-year, $160MM deal on 12/19/2000.
Vernon Wells, 28, signed a seven-year, $126MM deal on 12/20/2006.
Barry Zito, 28, signed a seven-year, $126MM deal on 12/29/2006.
Johan Santana, 28, signed a six-year, $137.5MM deal on 2/2/2008.
C.C. Sabathia, 28, signed a seven-year, $161MM deal on 12/20/2008 (revised as a 31-year-old on 10/31/2011).
Adrian Gonzalez, 28, signed a seven-year, $154MM deal on 4/15/2011.
Jose Reyes, 28, signed a six-year, $106MM deal on 12/04/2011.
Mark Teixeira, 28, signed an eight-year, $180MM deal on 1/6/2009.
Todd Helton, 27, signed a nine-year, $141.5MM deal on 3/1/2001.
Carlos Beltran, 27, signed a seven-year, $119MM deal on 1/13/2005.
Ryan Braun, 27, signed a five-year, $105MM deal on 4/21/2011.
Matt Kemp, 27, signed an eight-year, $160MM deal on 11/14/2011.
Prince Fielder, 27, signed a nine-year, $214MM deal on 1/24/2012.
Ryan Zimmerman, 27, signed a six-year, $100MM deal on 2/26/2012.
Derek Jeter, 26, signed a ten-year, $189MM deal on 2/1/2001.
Joe Mauer, 26, signed an eight-year, $184MM deal on 3/21/2010.
Troy Tulowitzki, 26, signed a six-year, $119MM deal on 11/30/2010.
Alex Rodriguez, 25, signed a ten-year, $252MM deal on 12/1/2000.
Albert Pujols, 24, signed a seven-year, $100MM deal on 2/19/2004.
Miguel Cabrera, 24, signed an eight-year, $152.3MM deal on 3/24/2008.