How Much Did New York Yankees Pay for Legend Joe DiMaggio?

87 years ago, Joe DiMaggio joined the New York Yankees and went on to become one of the legendary faces of the franchise. To date, some of his records stay unbroken, as Joe had a stellar run during his career.

Notably, Yankees paid a hefty amount back in 1934 to acquire the baseball star from San Francisco Seals. That transfer made Joe one of the richest baseball players of his time.

New York Yankees paid millions for Joe DiMaggio

Joe’s older brother Vince was part of the San Francisco Seals in 1934 when Seals needed a shortstop and Vince recommended Joe to them. However, his outing with the Seals did not last long, as he was sold to the Yankees soon.

San Francisco Seals owner, Charlie Graham, sold Joe DiMaggio to the Yankees in November 1934 for $25,000 dollars and four players. The four players traded by Yankees to San Francisco Seals were Doc Farrell, Floyd Newkirk, Jimmy Densmore, and Ted Norbert.

However, because of his knee injury, DiMaggio made his official major league debut with the Yankees in 1936. Post that, he spent his entire 13 year MLB career in the pinstripes.

Nicknamed as the Yankee Clipper, Joe is renownedly known as one of the best players in history. Remarkably, he still holds a 56-game hitting streak record.

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Joe’s earnings with the Yankees

During his incredible career, and being a pivotal part of Yankees’ nine World Series victories, Joe earned millions. His total earnings in his 13 season career are around $632,250; after inflation, that is around $8 million today. Joe earned his highest salary with Yankees in 1949 and 1950 when he was given $100,000, which can be estimated to be around $1 million today.

As a baseball center fielder, Joe secured the All-Star award thirteen times and won the AL MVP award three times. He was also the AL RBI leader in 1941 and 1948 and is also a Hall of Famer.

Interestingly, his finances and net worth weren’t great until he met his lawyer, Morris Engelberg. Even though he was a star, he used to stay on a budget of  $10,000 per year and used to live in a small Florida apartment and drove a modest Toyota. Sadly, in 1999 the Yankees legend passed away, and his estimated $40 million $80 million worth was inherited by his grandchildren.

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