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Bad contracts. Professional sports are chock-full of them. You probably have that one uncle you see once a year at Thanksgiving dinner who complains about how overpaid athletes are nowadays compared to their day. After all, Michael Jordan didn't even make $100 million over his 14-year playing career with the Chicago Bulls, for instance, and now Shohei Ohtani is bagging $70 million for his 2024 salary alone with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Wild times, indeed.
Due to baseball's nature of not being as hard on the body as, say, football, you'll find some ridiculous contract lengths in the MLB. There have been 26 contracts in baseball history lasting at least 10 years, with 18 of them being active. That's a long time for a marriage to exist between a player and team, considering the general shelf life of athletes' effectiveness and how injuries can throw a monkey wrench into expectations.
Whether it be unfortunate injury luck, poor play, or perhaps just sheer complacency, each of these players have failed to hold up their end of the bargain in a big way for the organizations they're a part of. Let's take a look at some of baseball's biggest financial atrocities for the upcoming campaign.
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Giancarlo Stanton- DH-OF, New York Yankees
13 years (2015-2027), $325 million
When the New York Yankees acquired then-reigning NL MVP Giancarlo Stanton from the Miami Marlins for Starlin Castro, Jose Devers, and Jorge Guzman on December 11, 2017, the trade joined two of the game's preeminent sluggers and formed one of baseball's most feared one-two punches. As an avid New York sports radio listener, that was the move that would put The Evil Empire back on top following the celebrated franchise's World Series drought.
Well, at least until 2019 again when Gerrit Cole signed with them. And again when they reeled in Juan Soto in 2023. Fast forward to 2024 and the club hasn't been back to the promised land in 13 years, but I digress.
Aaron Judge has reached historic heights in the Bronx, but little did the Yankees know how much of an albatross Stanton's 13-year, $325 million contract would become. The crazy part is that the trade compensation ended up being a failure on the Fish's end. None of the three players they landed have appeared in the major leagues since 2021. They're obviously just grateful Stanton's bloated deal isn't their problem, but it's hard to fathom just how much of a disaster it's been for the pinstripes.
Stanton's first year with the Bombers has been his best with them to date, slashing .266/.343/.509 with 38 home runs, 34 doubles, 100 RBI, 102 runs scored, and five stolen bases in 158 games (705 plate appearances). The two-time Silver Slugger was great when available in 2019 and 2020, but he only appeared in 41 of a possible 222 outings. Post-2021 is when this all starts to get ugly. Really ugly.
While Stanton was an All-Star in 2022, he hit career lows across the board and played only 110 games. Looking like a shell of his former self and hitting rock bottom in 2023, the 34-year-old slugger slashed .191/.275/.420 with 24 homers, 13 doubles, and 60 RBI over 101 contests. That's not to mention he moved like The Great Khali lumbering down a WWE ramp trying to round third base to take it easy on his oft-injured body.
Well…Giancarlo Stanton running is surely an experience you could say pic.twitter.com/BbtI1xO8Tx
— Just Baseball (@JustBB_Media) August 5, 2023
The Yankees are stuck with Stanton. The only saving grace is that his expectations are so low now that anything he gives them with the bat is a bonus at this point. Although he offers next to nothing as a fielder, his 2023 average exit velocity (93.3 mph) and 15.7% barrel rate are glimmers of hope entering 2024.
Stephen Strasburg- SP, Washington Nationals
7 years (2020-2026), $245 million
There's no doubt Stephen Strasburg earned every bit of his seven-year, $245 million contract with the Washington Nationals after being so instrumental in their 2019 World Series championship, delivering a 1.98 ERA and 47:4 K:BB in six postseason appearances (36.1 innings), but this one is just plain sad for baseball fans.
It's simple enough to summarize, considering how little we've seen of the former Nats ace. Since he netted the deal, Strasburg has thrown for a mere 31 1/3 innings and a pitiful 6.89 ERA, 1.56 WHIP, and 28:17 K:BB. Strasburg didn't pitch at all in 2023 due to recovery from thoracic outlet syndrome stemming from 2022, which has proven to be a career-ending setback.
Although the three-time All-Star right-hander announced his intentions to retire in August 2023 after dealing with "severe nerve damage," Washington is choosing to honor the duration of his contract. Classy move there for a guy who ultimately put his career on the line with a whopping 247 1/3 frames of work in 2019, a la Matt Harvey, who was never the same following the New York Mets' World Series push in 2015.
Stephen Strasburg was one of the best pitchers in the league when healthy pic.twitter.com/JhX64vic4o
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) August 24, 2023
The 2009 first overall pick in the MLB draft, Strasburg's career has to be one of the biggest what-ifs in history as baseball's version of Derrick Rose.
Anthony Rendon- 3B, Los Angeles Angels
7 years (2020-2026), $245 million
This one just keeps getting worse when you consider Anthony Rendon's comments leading into spring training. Much like Strasburg, however, Rendon deserved every bit of his seven-year, $245 million contract with the Los Angeles Angels after leading baseball in RBI (126) and the National League in doubles (44) during 2019. He was awesome in the playoffs that postseason, too, slashing .328/.413/.590 with three blasts, seven two-baggers, and 15 RBI in 61 at-bats.
I refuse to believe that Nationals Anthony Rendon and Angels Anthony Rendon are the same person. pic.twitter.com/ll8I9yMLls https://t.co/DCUHQvz5BX
— sky (@GonsolinRBW) February 19, 2024
The sound of his interview is not that of a guy who is eager to return to play in 2024. Oh, and he also complained in January of the 162-game schedule being too long. While Rendon was still a superstar in the truncated 2020 season, the 33-year-old former Silver Slugger has appeared in only 30% of his possible games and slashed a weak .235./338/.364 since 2021. The Halos are relying on Rendon as an important protection bat for Mike Trout in the aftermath of Shohei Ohtani's departure. Good luck with that, Anaheim.
Kris Bryant- 1B/3B/OF, Colorado Rockies
7 years (2022-2028), $182 million
There's still time for this one to get better, right? Kris Bryant's seven-year, $182 million deal is rough, but he probably has the best chance of anyone on this list to bounce back. Dating back to 2022, Bryant played half of a season's worth of outings for the Rockies up until May 9 of last year before sustaining a heel bruise and slashed a robust .308/.382/.471 with 10 bombs, 17 doubles, and 27 RBI over 289 AB. That's about all we've got in terms of a positive takeaway from this tenure. The availability just hasn't been there.
Kris Bryant touches the sky and touches them all with this towering shot. ☄️ pic.twitter.com/d0nXp6PAYJ
— MLB (@MLB) February 26, 2024
The 32-year-old four-time All-Star has appeared in only 122 of a potential 324 contests in Colorado, and he hit a dreadful .182 with a .611 OPS during his final 110 AB to close out the 2023 campaign.
The Rocks inked Kris Bryant in the 2022 offseason to help mitigate the loss of All-Stars Trevor Story that winter and Nolan Arenado in 2021, and while they're unlikely to get the form of the 2016 NL MVP, the hitters paradise of Coors Field could make a rebound season for Bryant possible. Of course, that is if he can finally stay healthy.
Patrick Corbin- SP, Washington Nationals
6 years (2019-2024), $140 million
Man, things really went downhill quickly for a lot of guys on that 2019 Washington championship roster, huh? The only good thing about this one as opposed to the others is that it's about to reach a merciful end.
But seriously, what happened here? Patrick Corbin went from looking like a perennial All-Star and Cy Young candidate in the making to a total gas can in one fell swoop.
Listen to some of these numbers. Corbin led pitchers for the most hits in baseball during 2020 (85) and 2022 (210), earned runs in 2021 (111) and 2022 (107), as well as losses in 2021 (16) and 2022 (19). Yikes, yikes, and more yikes. But hey, at least he's trying out something new this season.
Patrick Corbin Incorporating A New Cutter https://t.co/9b0Q64zMHt
— RotoBaller MLB (@RotoBallerMLB) March 1, 2024
The 34-year-old southpaw has always been an exceptional athlete and has been consistently healthy since missing all of 2014 with Tommy John surgery, but the Nats might have been better off if he took some time off here and there. These other guys -- besides Strasburg -- at least have a chance at getting better. This one, however, doesn't look like it's getting any better any time soon.
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