Obviously not. They generate that amount of wealth or more from sales and they get paid for it. They make a lot of money, but "overpaid" suggests they're making more than they're worth, which clearly isn't the case or they wouldn't be paid that much.
They definitely make more than they're worth about 90 percent of the time. Why? Because teams like the Yankees and Red Sox who spend money made OUTSIDE of baseball pay heaps for average players. The Yankees spent more money singing players than they earned for an entire season, and the players are considered by many to be just average to slightly above average players in Carlos Beltran (who is also aging) and Jacoby Ellsbury.
Meanwhile Victor Martinez makes a fraction of the money but is twice the player as the above mentioned players. Basically you can blindly pick any player on the Yankees, Red Sox, Angels, Phillies, etc. and every single player will be making well more money than they are actually worth --- relative to stats, big time game scenarios, clutch hits, etc.
The reason players are starting to demand exorbitant amounts of money aren't because they deserve it, it's because they know that a team where money is no object will overpay them.
tl;dr: They're definitely overpaid. They do NOT generate the income to justify the amount of money they get - Like I said, the Yankees spent more on two signings last year than they made through business - which is ridiculous when you consider the MLB's ridiculously long season, and the Yankees being one of the most iconic teams in the league if not the most iconic.
Most overpaid baseball players-
Tim Lincecum
Alex Rodriguez
Robinson Cano
Albert Pujols
Ryan Howard
Joe Mauer
Carl Crawford
Future overpaid baseball players-
Giancarlo Stanton
Mike Trout
Ryan Howard gets paid 25 million a year to hit 23 homers. So if a homer is worth more than a million a piece, then yeah I guess he's not overpaid.
Joe Mauer made 20 million this year to hit 4 homeruns and 55 rbis. Lmao.
I don't see how anyone can say they're NOT overpaid. It's simply not true when Alex Rodriguez's contract is more than almost a dozen teams ENTIRE payroll.