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A-Rod nearly tops Royals' payroll

The Kansas City Royals are barely making more than Alex Rodriguez this year.

The salaries for Kansas City’s 27 players on its opening-day roster and disabled lists total $36.1 million, according to an analysis of major league contracts by The Associated Press.

A-Rod alone makes $32 million atop the New York Yankees’ $201.7 million payroll. He is baseball’s highest-paid player for the 11th straight year.

Kansas City’s payroll was cut in half from $72.3 million at the start of 2010. The Royals traded Zack Greinke, and Gil Meche retired.

Philadelphia, once considered a small-market team, was second at $173 million following the offseason signing of Cliff Lee. Boston is third on the salary list at $161.4 million, followed by the Los Angeles Angels ($139 million), the Chicago White Sox ($129.3 million), the Chicago Cubs ($125.5 million) and the New York Mets ($120 million).

Pittsburgh’s payroll went up from a major league-low $35 million to 27th at $46 million. San Diego’s increased from $37.8 million to $45.9 million.

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