The Associated Press

NEW YORK - The Cincinnati Reds have the 17th-highest payroll ($56,979,777) among baseball's 30 teams, according to a study of salaries by the Associated Press.

The New York Yankees, of course, are No. 1 ($149,710,995).

Center fielder Ken Griffey Jr., the Reds' highest-paid player at $10,174,110, ranks 42nd among all players in Major League Baseball. Shortstop Barry Larkin ($9 million) is tied for 54th.

The other two highest-paid Reds are first baseman Sean Casey ($5.6 million, 129th) and pitcher Danny Graves ($5 million, tied for 148th).

At $22 million this year, Texas shortstop Alex Rodriguez makes more money than any other player - and more than the entire Tampa Bay team ($19,630,000).

Other findings:

• Baseball's average salary shot past $2.5 million for the first time on opening day this week.

• Five teams have payrolls of more than $100 million: the Yankees, Mets, Dodgers, Braves and Rangers.

• The average salary rose 7.2 percent to $2,555,476, behind the NBA ($4.54 million) but ahead of the NHL ($1.64 million) and NFL ($1.25 million).

In a sign of economic slowdown, the number of players making $1 million or more dropped to 385 from 413 last year and 425 in 2000. The median salary - the point at which an equal amount of players is above and below - dropped to $800,000 from $900,000 last season and $975,000 in 2000.

Baseball owners have cited the weak economy and the luxury tax as reasons some teams lowered payroll. The drop in the median and the decrease in millionaires could be a sign that much of this year's rise is due to old multiyear contracts with built-in raises.

Baseball payrolls

Team	Payroll	Average
N.Y. Yankees	$149,710,995	$5,346,821
N.Y. Mets	116,868,613	4,029,952
Los Angeles	105,897,619	4,072,985
Atlanta	104,622,210	3,874,897
Texas	104,526,470	3,484,216
Boston	96,631,677	3,578,951
Seattle	87,184,500	3,229,056
St. Louis	83,150,895	2,682,287
San Francisco	82,352,167	3,167,391
Chicago Cubs	80,743,333	2,883,690
Arizona	80,657,500	3,226,300
Anaheim	79,031,667	2,927,099
Philadelphia	70,780,000	2,440,690
Houston	70,489,840	2,711,148
Baltimore	69,452,275	2,394,906
Colorado	66,981,667	2,232,722
Cincinnati	56,979,777	2,034,992
Minnesota	55,605,000	2,138,654
Pittsburgh	54,542,098	1,947,932
Montreal	51,949,000	1,998,038
Toronto	51,279,000	1,899,222
Chi. White Sox	51,010,000	1,961,923
Oakland	50,360,833	1,936,955
Detroit	49,163,000	1,890,885
Cleveland	48,834,833	1,575,317
Florida	48,368,298	1,727,439
San Diego	45,430,000	1,514,333
Milwaukee	40,627,000	1,400,931
Kansas City	40,518,000	1,558,385
Tampa Bay	19,630,000	785,200

Reds salaries

Ken Griffey Jr.	$10,174,110
Barry Larkin	9,000,000
Sean Casey	5,600,000
Danny Graves	5,000,000
Aaron Boone	3,700,000
Gabe White	3,266,667
Ryan Dempster	3,250,000
Scott Sullivan	2,800,000
Jimmy Haynes	2,500,000
Scott Williamson	1,600,000
Kelly Stinnett	1,300,000
Jason LaRue	1,250,000
dl-Juan Castro	800,000
Wily Mo Pena	788,000
Jimmy Anderson	600,000
Felix Heredia	600,000
Kent Mercker	550,000
Josias Manzanillo	500,000
Paul Wilson	500,000
Adam Dunn	400,000
dl-Russell Branyan	395,000
dl-Luke Prokopec	390,000
Austin Kearns	350,000
John Riedling	350,000
Ruben Mateo	340,000
Felipe Lopez	334,000
Reggie Taylor	334,000
Brandon Larson	308,000

Source: The Associated Press.

Note: The Reds account Griffey's and Larkin's salaries as higher because of deferred payments.