Arkansas Sports 360 - ArkansasSports360.com

7/22/2010 at 11:27am

Pine Bluff's Torii Hunter and North Little Rock's A.J. Burnett are definitely living the high life as major league baseball stars. Sports Illustrated has ranked the top 50 moneymakers in the world of sports, and the Arkansans at least qualified for the last page (last 10), with Hunter 41st and Burnett rounding out the 50 highest-earning sports figures.

According to the SI.com article, Hunter makes $18.5 million annually, while Burnett's yearly paycheck is $16.775 million. This includes baseball salary and endorsements (Hunter earns a half-million from endorsements alone; Burnett about half that). Soaring salaries throughout the world of sports pushed Hunter down from his previous year ranking of 28.

Former Arkansas Travelers pitcher John Lackey, who made a stopover in Little Rock on his way to the big leagues with the Angels and now with Boston, is earning $21.7 million a year and ranks 21st.

This list is full of interesting reading. For example, NASCAR's big three of Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr. are far more dependent on endorsement money (Dale Jr. brings in $17 mil a year, Gordon $15, and Jimmie trails them) than winnings. Golfers Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson are 1-2 on the moneymaking list, and naturally they too make astronomical money in endorsement deals (Tiger does even after being dropped by several sponsors in the wake of his personal scandal).

Three guesses, before you look, on who is No. 3 on the list. It surprised us.

We fully expect Benton's Cliff Lee to jump into the top 50 after this season, when he becomes a free agent. That would give Little Rock sports agent Darek Braunecker another player on the list, though it would bump A.J. Burnett off.

Also, considering Detroit is paying ridiculous money to second-year quarterback Matthew Stafford, placing him in the upper half of the pack (No. 11, nearly $28 million a year), we figure Ryan Mallett could immediately jump into the list if he manages the season everyone is expecting of him with the Hogs and is the top quarterback picked in the NFL Draft.

And, what the heck is Deangelo Hall doing on this list? He's easily the most overpaid athlete in sports.

Imagine what these numbers will look like in five years. It's hard to see how we're in economic distress with "Fortunate 50" salaries that look like this.

Tagged: Ryan Mallett, Cliff Lee, A.J. Burnett, Torii Hunter, Sports Illustrated, Darek Braunecker, John Lackey