The New York Yankees have the highest payroll in baseball. Not surprisingly they have the highest-paid player in baseball in Alex Rodriguez. A-Rod will be paid $32 million for the 2011 season. That’s only $4.1 less than the entire Kansas City Royals team will be paid.

Does the production at the plate justify the investment?

I rated the performance so far this season for the highest-paid fielder from each major league team. The resulting ranking was based on offensive production—hits, runs, RBI and games played. The data was normalized for the salary of each player and then scored. 

Some readers may find the ranking unfair because the data was not averaged on a per-game basis and would lower the ranking of any player that has been on the disabled list. While injuries are a part of the game, the salary is still being paid and the player is not producing.

Here’s a look at how the top-paid fielders from each team stack up.

The results are through July 1st, marking the approximate halfway point of the season.

Who’s getting their money’s worth, and what teams should be asking for a refund?

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