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Thunder Dan Palyo takes a look at some of the worst contracts in the history of Major League Baseball.
It happens to franchises in all major sports. Teams give out huge contracts to players and expect a major return on their investment. But whether it's due to injuries or just poor performance, many athletes fail to live up to the expectations placed upon them after signing enormous deals.
We've seen this happen quite often in the modern era of Major League Baseball with the rise of free agency and fully guaranteed contracts. If I had unlimited time and words, we could go through dozens of really bad contracts that have been handed out just in the last twenty years.
But in this piece, I am going to focus only on the five absolute worst Major League Baseball contracts. Most of these players are still officially active, though none of them have made any type of positive impact on their teams in years. Coincidentally, several of them were teammates at one point!
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The Worst MLB Contracts
5. Kris Bryant - Colorado Rockies
Bryant had such an incredibly promising start to his career, winning the NL Rookie of the Year award as a 23-year-old in 2015 and following that up with the NL MVP award in 2016.
That sophomore campaign during which he won the MVP, he hit .292 with 39 home runs, 121 runs scored, and 102 RBI while leading the Cubs to a World Series title.
Sweet Mother of Abraham Lincoln, Kris Bryant still has 5 years and $136 million left on his contract AND has a full no-trade clause. pic.twitter.com/0IbNabJiEr
— Mike Maher (@mikeMaher) March 28, 2024
He was a four-time all-star with the Cubs before being traded away to the Giants in 2021 when Chicago retooled their entire roster, sending Bryant, Anthony Rizzo, and Javier Baez all elsewhere that year.
In 2022, the Rockies thought they had landed a franchise player when they signed a 30-year-old Bryant to a seven-year deal worth 182 million dollars. However, Bryant played only 42 games that season due to injuries.
He managed to play 80 games in 2023 but hit just .233 with ten home runs - a far cry from what he would typically produce in half a season during his 20s in Chicago.
This year, he's battled injuries all year and has appeared in just 24 games, hitting .186 with two home runs and 31 strikeouts in 101 plate appearances. He continues to battle back injuries, and now, at age 32, it doesn't look good for any type of bounceback in his career.
The Rockies are on the hook for another four seasons after this year, even if Bryant isn't able to suit up again.
4. Javier Baez - Detroit Tigers
Another member of that Chicago Cubs team was shortstop Javier Baez. His career arc was a little different from Bryant's in that he posted his best two seasons in 2018 and 2019, leading the league in RBI in 2018 with 111 and finishing second in the MVP voting.
Baez was dealt to the Mets in 2021 and then signed his huge contract with Detroit in 2022. Strikeouts have always been part of his game, and he actually led the league in whiffs back in 2021 with 184.
Javier Baez really got his big contract and said, "Yeah, Im out."pic.twitter.com/VGblewX3AO
— Baseball’s Greatest Moments (@BBGreatMoments) June 25, 2024
However, Baez was usually able to still hit between .250 and .280 despite all the Ks. His first season in Detroit wasn't even all that bad as he hit 17 home runs and drove in 67 runs while stealing nine bases.
But 2023 saw Baez completely fall off the cliff. He played 136 games for the Tigers but managed just a .222 average and nine home runs. It's been even worse this season, as Baez is hitting just .179 with one measly home run and a whopping 43 strikeouts across 214 plate appearances.
Baez is making 25 million dollars this season despite being one of the worst hitters on the team. That's 11 million more than Jack Flaherty, who is having an All-Star-type season. Detroit is stuck with Javier's contract for at least four more seasons - YIKES.
3. Patrick Corbin - Washington Nationals
Now we get to the Nationals, who have made two of the three biggest blunders in MLB history when it comes to paying pitchers.
Let's rewind to 2018. Patrick Corbin was an All-Star during his last season in Arizona, pitching 200 innings, going 11-7 with a 3.15 ERA and 246 strikeouts.
cAnT gIvE pAtRiCk CoRbIn SiX yEaRs ThO pic.twitter.com/qNJ49ExVRI
— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) April 18, 2019
The Washington Nationals then signed Corbin to a six-year deal worth 140 million dollars. Corbin proceeded to have another really good year in 2019, posting nearly identical stats to his 2018 campaign and helping the Nationals win the World Series (he was the winning pitcher in Game 7) alongside Max Scherzer and Stephen Strasburg.
And it was all downhill from there...
Corbin battled arm injuries throughout 2020 and was never the same again. He's led the league in losses, hits allowed, and runs allowed three times each, and home runs allowed once (when he gave up 37 bombs in 2021).
He's making 25 million dollars this season, which is as much as the next seven highest-paid healthy Nats will make COMBINED. But the good news for Washington is that they are finally off the hook after this season!
2. Anthony Rendon - Los Angeles Angels
Let's revisit that 2019 Washington team that won the World Series, shall we?
Anthony Rendon played a major role on that Washington team, and as a 29-year-old, he led the league in doubles (44) for the second straight season and finished with a league-high 126 RBI.
Rendon seemed like the ideal piece for the Angels to add in free agency to compliment Mike Trout - an experienced infielder who can hit for average, power, and someone who had been quite durable during his time in Washington.
Anthony Rendon plays his 220th game for the Angels tonight. It's the 636th game that the Angels have played since signing Rendon to a 7-year, $245,000,000 deal in December 2019. pic.twitter.com/yHL6VcqHEj
— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) July 8, 2024
However, Rendon has been anything BUT durable during his time in L.A.
He's played in fewer than 60 games in all five seasons that he's been with the Angels and his remarks this offseason were very off-putting to a lot of fans as he seemed very flippant about the entire situation saying "We have to shorten the season, there are too many dang games."
Rendon is making 38 million dollars this season and has appeared in just 26 games. The Angels owe him 38 million per year for two more seasons and are on the hook for 38 million per season to Mike Trout until the year 2030!
1. Stephen Strasburg - Washington Nationals
Before there was Paul Skenes, there was Stephen Strasburg. I remember skipping work back in 2010 to go to a Harrisburg Senators (Double-A affiliate of Washington) game just to get a glimpse of the phenom in action.
Strasburg was the biggest pitching prospect we had ever seen in the modern era and he lived up to the hype. He was bringing the heat with a 98-99 MPH fastball and then snapping off a wicked knee-bending curveball to strike out hitters with ease.
I'll never forget his debut against the Pirates, in which he whiffed 14 Buccos over seven innings. He looked superhuman and at just 21-years-old was ready to take the league by storm.
Stephen Strasburg has retired. He signed a $245,000,000 contract in 2019 but threw only 530 pitches in the big leagues after that. pic.twitter.com/rrPKMmChwS
— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) April 7, 2024
Strasburg's career had its highs and lows, but by all accounts, he proved to be as good as advertised and was productive for Washington through the 2019 season.
That year, as we've mentioned with Rendon and Corbin, was the year that the Nats won the title and was a career year for Strasburg as he threw a career-high 206 innings and struck out a career-high 251 batters on his way to an 18-6 record and World Series championship.
But Washington made a huge mistake when they resigned Strasburg after that season. They did not insure the contract, so when Strasburg's arm went kaput, they were forced to pay him 23 million dollars per season anyway.
He hasn't pitched since 2022, yet Strasburg will continue to collect 23 million per year through 2026. It was a sad ending to Strasburg's career and the mistakes made with both Strasburg's and Corbin's contracts forced the Nationals into rebuilding mode that they've remained in ever since. Washington fans have watched homegrown talents such as Trea Turner and Juan Soto flourish elsewhere in the 2020s.
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