Your Average Player Makes Almost $2 Million

These days, a $2-million baseball player is only average.

Just eight years after the average salary broke the million-dollar mark, it nearly reached $2 million on opening day, falling just short at $1,988,034, according to a study of all major league contracts by the Associated Press.

“I don’t know if it is negative or positive for the game,” the New York Mets’ Mike Piazza said. “It rewards guys with talent who have worked hard all their lives, rode the buses in the minors and now are getting paid very well for what they do.”

When Piazza first came up to the major leagues in 1993, he made $126,000. This year, he’s making $12,071,429, and that puts him sixth.

Dodger pitcher Kevin Brown is No. 1 at $15,714,286, only slightly less than the $16,519,500 the Minnesota Twins are paying their entire roster.

The average went up 15.6% from last season’s average of $1,720,050. Salaries have increased 85.6% from the end of the 1994-95, when the average was $1,071,029 on opening day.

The NBA’s average is $3.5 million this season; the NFL’s $1,043,000.

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In the wake of opposition from Gov. Jeb Bush, the Florida Marlins dropped a plan to use cruise taxes to help finance a new ballpark. The Marlins didn’t offer an alternative funding proposal but said they remain committed to building a ballpark in downtown Miami. Team owner John Henry said he’ll wait until the next home stand to discuss options for financing the project. Bush announced Monday that he opposed the funding plan being considered by the Legislature.

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Tony Gwynn was out of the San Diego Padre lineup Wednesday night because of an injured right elbow, but X-rays were negative, meaning no trip to the disabled list and he could play in a day or two. Gwynn feared a broken bone after being hit by a pitch from Al Leiter in Monday’s opener in New York against the Mets. . . . Marvin Benard, coming off his first full season as a starter for the San Francisco Giants, agreed to an $11.1-million, three-year contract extension through 2003. Benard, from Bell High and Harbor College, batted .290 last year with 36 doubles, 16 home runs, 64 RBIs and 27 stolen bases. . . . St. Louis’ Jesse Orosco became the eighth pitcher in major league history to pitch in four or more decades when he relieved in the sixth inning Wednesday night against the Cubs. He also extended his games-played record to 1,091.

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Shortstop Ozzie Guillen, released by Atlanta last week, signed a one-year contract with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and will join the team for a weekend series against Cleveland. . . . Baltimore’s Scott Erickson, striving for an earlier-than-expected return from the disabled list, tested his right elbow by throwing for 16 minutes off a mound. He earlier said he would like to return in May.