Today, the Padres will face the Dodgers in their first game of the season, and it is very obvious who will be starting the game for the Dodgers, Clayton Kershaw. Kershaw has not lost in any of his six career Opening Day starts. We all know that Opening Day is exciting and sometimes strange, and of Kershaw’s six Opening Day starts this one is by far the most unusual.

The reason why it is unusual is because Kershaw not only makes more in 2017 than the starting nine players on the Padres, he makes more than the entire 25 man roster. Yes, you read that right, Clayton Kershaw makes more than the entire Padres 25 man roster.

The entire Padres 25 man roster makes a total of $28 million in 2017 while on the other hand, the great Clayton Kershaw will make a sum of $33 million which, as a matter of fact, is the highest salary of any player in the major leagues.

If you are thinking that Kershaw’s salary is too high, then let’s look at what he has done in his nine-year career… Kershaw has 1,918 strikeouts in his career and led the entire MLB in strikeouts in 2011, 2013, and 2015, he has 126 career wins (on pace for 300 in his career), Kershaw also has a career 2.37 ERA, and an amazing .677 Win-Loss percentage. Oh yes, I forgot to mention his three Cy Young Awards and his MVP in 2014. these are pitching statistics that have not been matched since Sandy Koufax and Kershaw is basically a lock for the Hall of Fame once eligible. Now you can see why he is making $33 million per year.

The average Major League salary is $4.5 million, according to the Associated Press, but that average has nothing to do with the ballclub in San Diego since the highest paid player on the Padres is will make $3 million in 2017. You should also know that the Dodgers have the highest payroll of all MLB teams in 2017 and the Padres has the second lowest in baseball.

I am not trying to bash the Padres here, and I know that anything can happen in baseball and that’s why it is possible for San Diego to completely wrap Kershaw like the Rays did to Tanaka yesterday and that is what makes this beautiful game so great, but sometimes it is fun to point out the ironic things in baseball, now I am no Dodger fan, but if there was a gun to my head, I would say that Kershaw outdoes the team the makes $5 million less than him combined in 2017.