NPB Salary Guide by Performance (2026)

What this figure does and does not look at

Derived from the first-team official games of this season (2026).

• This is a guide figure derived from performance alone; it does not look at anything else. Popularity / merchandise / publicity / team circumstances are not included.
• Remaining years on multi-year deals and performance bonuses are not taken into account.
• Years in NPB and contract rights such as free agency are not taken into account. The guide comes from performance alone, so players with few years tend to come out above their actual salary, while players with many years or on a multi-year deal tend to come out below it.
• Injury information is not used. Time missed shows up only as fewer appearances.
• The figure is a guide (estimate) derived from performance, not a judgement of the player or the contract. Actual salaries are settled between club and player.
• Fielding (errors and range), the different demands of each fielding position such as catcher, and save and hold totals are not looked at. Only players who appeared in first-team official games are covered, and players with little playing time come out low. Only players whose guide comes out above the first-team minimum guarantee are listed.
• The payroll used as the yardstick does not include foreign players, so the guide for a foreign player is a reference figure worked out on the same yardstick. Players who moved during the season are shown separately for each club.

Players with the highest guide (top 20)

Scroll right for more

M means million yen

Ordered across all twelve clubs. Equal figures are ordered by playing time.

Central League / Pacific League

Guide total minus published payroll, by club

A positive figure means the published payroll is small relative to performance, a negative one that it is large. A gap by itself says nothing about whether contracts are good or bad. Foreign players are counted neither in the payroll nor in the guide total.

Club payroll and performance

Age and the guide

Band = the middle half of players of that age / Line = median

Age is the season year minus the year of birth. The chart shows only players who appeared in first-team official games; players of the same age who did not appear are not included. The chart and the table are built from the players listed on this page (those whose guide comes out above the first-team minimum guarantee), so the band and the line describe that same group. 2 players whose date of birth could not be confirmed are left out of the chart.