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The 2015 Major League Baseball season is upon us. Opening day will feature the St. Louis Cardinals visiting the Chicago Cubs on April 5.

In celebration of the return of baseball, here are the top five richest contracts signed in the off-season. Please be advised, these astronomical figures are known to cause psychological damage. You have been warned.

Cue Jerry Maguire: SHOW ME THE MONEY!

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Kyle Seager, Seattle Mariners

Seager signed a 7-year $100 million dollar contract this past off-season. He is entering his fifth season as a major leaguer and has turned into one of the premier third baseman in the American League.

He enjoyed his best season as a pro last season. He hit .268 with 25 home runs and 96 runs batted in. He also was a defensive stud in 2014. He was award the Gold Glove for third base in the AL.

Is He Worth The Money?

While his power numbers are solid, his defense is stellar he only had 8 errors last season and his fielding percentage has gotten better every year since he became the full-time third baseman. At 27 years old, he’s in the prime of his career.

Mike Trout, Los Angeles Angels

The 23-year-old Trout is one of the premier power hitters in the game and he just got paid like one.The 23-year-old just signed a six-year $144.5 million dollar contract.

The New Jersey native hit .287 in 2014 with 36 homers and had 111 RBIs. He’s a young guy that can smack the cover off of the ball. Aside from his offensive prowess, this guy has a cannon for an arm.

Is He Worth The Money?

This is in the upper-echelon of hitters in Major League Baseball. Not only will this guy worth the money, the Angels got a bargain (again I know the insanity of saying 144 million dollars is a bargain). His youth states he will only get better.

Jon Lester, Chicago Cubs

After playing for the Boston Red Sox and being sent to Oakland to pitch for the A’s in 2014, Lester has struck gold. The 31-year-old left-hander has pitched about 200 innings since 2008. In that span he averaged 192 strikeouts and last season he had an ERA of 2.46.

Is He Worth The Money?

Lester has shown to be a quality pitcher throughout his career. A left-handed pitcher like him is a commodity that all teams want. That being said, he will be making a lot of money well into his late 30’s. That may not be a very smart investment long turn.

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Max Scherzer, Washington Nationals

New to the Washington Nationals, Max Scherzer will be enjoying his brand new seven-year $210 million dollar contract. The 30-year-old right-hander has been a workhorse for the last 6 seasons. He has pitched at least 170 pitches in each of those season, and last season he pitched a career-high 220 innings.

Scherzer struck out at least 230 hitter in the last 3 seasons. He also had and ERA of 3.15 with 18 wins, in other word you don’t want to face this guy.

Is He Worth The Money?

Max has shown that he is a reliable pitcher. The injury factor is always a worry, but he hasn’t shown to be injury prone.

The Nationals are pulling out all the stops in their mission to win a World Series. Scherzer is another talented arm added to an already crazy-good starting rotation. Pitching wins championships and he just may take them over the hump.

Giancarlo Stanton, Miami Marlins

The Miami Marlins dropped the biggest off-season bombshell of them all. The ball club has a history of short-changing and being straight-up cheap. So when the Marlins dropped a whooping 325 million dollars over 13 years the entire baseball world collectively dropped its jaw.

The contract, while guaranteed, is backloaded. That means that the majority of the pay out will come in the later years of the contract.

Skeptical Marlins fans had seen this before, but the difference this time is that Stanton has a no-trade clause in his contract. He won’t be leaving Miami anytime soon, unless he wants to.

How to describe this guy. He is a steroid-era type power hitter. To be clear, I am not saying he is taking any kind of PEDs. What I am saying is that the guy produces like one of those hitters from that era. He doesn’t just hit homeruns, he hits moon shots.

Standing a towering 6’6″ and built like a linebacker, he is a once-in-a-lifetime type. This guy absolutely crushes the ball. He had a .288 AVG, 37 home runs and 105 RBIs, despite having an injury shortened season. He was one of the favorites to win NL MVP before he was hit in the face with a pitch that ended his season. He also had 13 stolen bases and a rocket for an arm.

At only 25 years of age his best days are ahead of him.

Is He Worth It?

It’s always hard to reason how anyone person can be worth that kind of money, but if a team is willing to pay it, then who are we to argue. This guy has the potential to be a hall of famer.

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Millionaires’ Club: Meet The Highest Paid MLB Players In 2015  was originally published on theurbandaily.com