Story, Castellanos among MLB's newest $100 million men

Then the owners have to pay even more money to the insurance funds that cover the highly likely eventuality that these star players get injured and are unable to play. While Shohei Ohtani was earning about $4 million USD carrying his team, Mike Trout was paid about $27 million USD from the day in May he went on the injured list and never played again (after about $7 million for his month of service in April). Ohtani's teammate Rendon also "earned" over half his $30 million USD salary after shutting down for hip surgery in July.

Today's players are so fragile, and the fact that teams have committed to paying them obscene amounts over many years, leads to coddling players and letting them get paid for repeated DL stints in the hope that the player will recover for future years of service.