01:00 AM EDT on Thursday, April 6, 2006

Baseball's average salary soared 9 percent this year to nearly $2.9 million, with Alex Rodriguez topping a sport in which more than half the players on opening-day rosters make $1 million or more.

Rodriguez headed the list at $25.7 million and was No. 1 for the sixth straight year, according to a study of major league contracts by The Associated Press. He was followed by New York Yankees teammates Derek Jeter ($20.6 million) and Jason Giambi ($20.4 million).

San Francisco's Barry Bonds was fourth at $20 million, and Houston's Jeff Bagwell -- who might not play because of a shoulder injury -- was next at $19.3 million.

"Baseball had record crowds last year," Giambi said. "Probably with Barry going to break the (home run) record, it will bump it up and more people will come out and watch it. That makes players more popular, and in turn guys make more money."

This year's record $2,866,544 average was up 8.9 percent from last year's figure of $2,632,655.

The Yankees' payroll dropped a bit to $198.7 million from $205.9 million on opening day last year. Boston was second again at $120.1 million, followed by the Los Angeles Angels ($103.6 million), the World Series champion Chicago White Sox ($102.9 million) and the New York Mets ($100.9 million).

Payroll figures don't include cash transactions, such as money the Yankees are receiving from Texas for Rodriguez and the White Sox are getting from Philadelphia for Jim Thome.

At the other end were the Florida Marlins at just under $15 million, including 17 players making the $327,000 minimum. It's the lowest figure for any team at the start of a season since Pittsburgh and Montreal in 1998. It's also less than the top 12 players make and 1/13th of what the Yankees pay their roster.

ROUNDUP

DROP IN FOREIGN PLAYERS: The percentage of major league baseball players born outside the United States dropped slightly to 27.4 on opening day from last year's record of 29.2. Of the 813 players on opening-day rosters and disabled lists, 223 were born outside the 50 states, the commissioner's office said yesterday. The only years with higher percentages were 2005 and 2003 (27.8). The Dominican Republic had the most non-U.S. players with 85, followed by Venezuela (43), Puerto Rico (33), Canada and Mexico (14 apiece), Japan (nine), Cuba (six), South Korea (five), Panama (four), Taiwan (three), Australia and Colombia (two each) and Aruba, Curacao and Nicaragua (one apiece). The New York Mets (15) had the most foreign-born players, followed by the Los Angeles Dodgers (14) and the Los Angeles Angels (13).

LUGO SITS OUT: Tampa Bay shortstop Julio Lugo sat out last night's game with a strained abdominal muscle and the Devil Rays put his backup, Luis Ordaz, on the 15-day disabled list with bruising under his left kneecap. "We're not going to worry about it -- it happens," first-year manager Joe Maddon said. "We'll put it back together and move on." Nick Green started at shortstop for the Devil Rays against the Baltimore Orioles and could be in for more playing time depending on Lugo's health. Lugo hurt himself swinging at a pitch in Monday's opener at Camden Yards. Ordaz was injured sliding in an exhibition game last week.

PAVANO WORKING OUT: New York Yankees pitcher Carl Pavano threw yesterday for the first time since he bruised his buttocks last week during a spring training game. Pavano played catch for 10 minutes with injured teammate Aaron Small. "It definitely feels better," said Pavano, who was hurt when he fielded a grounder near the first-base foul line March 28 and dived to first for the out. Pavano missed the second half of last season because of a shoulder injury and finished 4-6 with a 4.77 E.R.A. in 17 starts. He missed much of spring training with an injured back.

LEITER JOINS NETWORK: Former New York Mets and Yankees pitcher Al Leiter joined the Yankees Entertainment & Sports Network as a game and studio analyst on baseball telecasts. Leiter, who worked as a postseason game analyst for Fox Sports and ESPN, will make his YES debut on pre- and post-game shows for the Yankees' home opener against Kansas City on Tuesday. His first in-game work will come two days later, the network said.

STADIUM GOING FORWARD: Plans for a new ballpark for the New York Yankees moved forward yesterday when the City Council approved several key aspects of the planned $800-million stadium. The 45-2 vote cleared the way for some of the team's land-use plans, including a takeover of two public parks as a site for the 53,000-seat stadium, which would be built adjacent to the current ballpark in the Bronx.

MULLING SURGERY: Padres first baseman Ryan Klesko is debating whether to have surgery on his strained left shoulder, which forced him to start the season on the disabled list. "This early in the season, you don't want to panic," Klesko said before lastnight's game against the San Francisco Giants. "I'm doing some soul searching, trying to figure out what I'm going to do. Do I want to play healthy for three months or ride this out?"