The 45 Worst Contracts in Baseball

[Clem Fandango]

I still think with Carlos Lee and Aramis Ramirez in the middle of the Cubs lineup you've got a whole different story. Two legitimate power hitters that are relatively hard to strike out for power hitters in the middle of the lineup, that looks good to me.

 

Those are some cloggy bases.

[17 Seconds]

I still think with Carlos Lee and Aramis Ramirez in the middle of the Cubs lineup you've got a whole different story. Two legitimate power hitters that are relatively hard to strike out for power hitters in the middle of the lineup, that looks good to me.

 

Those are some cloggy bases.

 

same with ortiz and manny

[sneakypower]

Call me crazy, but I think Carlos Lee has been earning his paycheck rather well to this point

so has soriano

[17 Seconds]

Call me crazy, but I think Carlos Lee has been earning his paycheck rather well to this point

so has soriano

 

i don't like paying 18 mil a year for a power hitter who can't bat in the middle of the order and can't stay on the field

[Tracer Bullet]

Call me crazy, but I think Carlos Lee has been earning his paycheck rather well to this point

so has soriano

 

i don't like paying 18 mil a year for a power hitter who can't bat in the middle of the order and can't stay on the field

 

That's interesting, but we've paid Soriano 9m and 13m the last 2 years (not including signing bonus/incentives). He's earned that. Will he earn 16m this year and the 18m he gets from 2010-2014? We'll jump off that bridge when we get there.

[17 Seconds]

Call me crazy, but I think Carlos Lee has been earning his paycheck rather well to this point

so has soriano

 

i don't like paying 18 mil a year for a power hitter who can't bat in the middle of the order and can't stay on the field

 

That's interesting, but we've paid Soriano 9m and 13m the last 2 years (not including signing bonus/incentives). He's earned that. Will he earn 16m this year and the 18m he gets from 2010-2014? We'll jump off that bridge when we get there.

 

17 million a year. sorry.

 

136/8= 17. you can spread it out however you want, but ultimately he's making 17 million dollars a year.

 

even if you do it your way, he's averaged 15 mil a year for his first 2 seasons when you factor in the 8 mil signing bonus. i don't think a good-but-not-great power hitter who can't hit in the middle of the order or stay on the field is worth 15 million a year. sorry.

[Tracer Bullet]

Call me crazy, but I think Carlos Lee has been earning his paycheck rather well to this point

so has soriano

 

i don't like paying 18 mil a year for a power hitter who can't bat in the middle of the order and can't stay on the field

 

That's interesting, but we've paid Soriano 9m and 13m the last 2 years (not including signing bonus/incentives). He's earned that. Will he earn 16m this year and the 18m he gets from 2010-2014? We'll jump off that bridge when we get there.

 

17 million a year. sorry.

 

136/8= 17. you can spread it out however you want, but ultimately he's making 17 million dollars a year.

 

even if you do it your way, he's averaged 15 mil a year for his first 2 seasons when you factor in the 8 mil signing bonus. i don't think a good-but-not-great power hitter who can't hit in the middle of the order or stay on the field is worth 15 million a year. sorry.

 

Actually, if you do it "my way" he's made 10m and 14m the first 2 years (signing bonus spread out over term of contract).

 

And what's this about not being able to hit in the middle of the order? Lou batting him first doesn't mean he can't hit 3-5.

[17 Seconds]

So fr your argument you spread the signing bonus out over 8 yedars even though he's already receieved all of it, but then you don't factor the money he's gauranteed to make later into what he's doing right now. Interesting. If you want to do it your way, he made 17 mil in 07 and 13 mil in 08.

 

Bottom line is that he's getting 17 mil a year for 8 years. If Aaron Miles was given 6/75 but he only made 500k in each of the first 2 years, it would be pretty pointless to say "well he's earned his contract to this point".

 

And what's this about not being able to hit in the middle of the order? Lou batting him first doesn't mean he can't hit 3-5.

 

Nope, the fact that his numbers dramatically drop when he's moved from the leadoff spot. His worst two seasons (by far) over the past 7 seasons were the back to back years in Texas where they tried to bat him in the middle of the order.

 

Lou bats him leadoff because of this. We've seen him try him down in the order and have no patience when he struggles there to start out. This is caused by Soriano's track record.

 

I don't like paying 17 million a year for an injury prone .890 OPS power hitter who doesn't bat in the middle of the order.

[Illini Iceman]

Of all the arguments that can be made for why Soriano may not be worth the contract he was given, where he bats in the order has to be one of the most unimportant.

[cubweiser03]

Carpenter was good contract, sorry they couldnt look into the future and see the catastprphic 2 year injury. Hell even with that its probably still good if he can get healthy. $12M for a Cy Young is pretty damn good. Z is like what $18?

Hafner and Young were good contracts too. Its not like they didnt perform before (and its not like they still cant). Guys who didnt but were overpaid belong on this list.

[17 Seconds]

Of all the arguments that can be made for why Soriano may not be worth the contract he was given, where he bats in the order has to be one of the most unimportant.

 

normally i'd agree, but when you have a power hitter in the national league hitting leadoff and directly behind the pitcher instead of behind real hitters, it's significant. you don't think it's important that a power hitter is coming up with the bases empty at a higher rate? you don't care that his home runs are usually coming with nobody on base?

[Tracer Bullet]

So fr your argument you spread the signing bonus out over 8 yedars even though he's already receieved all of it, but then you don't factor the money he's gauranteed to make later into what he's doing right now. Interesting. If you want to do it your way, he made 17 mil in 07 and 13 mil in 08.

 

Bottom line is that he's getting 17 mil a year for 8 years. If Aaron Miles was given 6/75 but he only made 500k in each of the first 2 years, it would be pretty pointless to say "well he's earned his contract to this point".

 

And what's this about not being able to hit in the middle of the order? Lou batting him first doesn't mean he can't hit 3-5.

 

Nope, the fact that his numbers dramatically drop when he's moved from the leadoff spot. His worst two seasons (by far) over the past 7 seasons were the back to back years in Texas where they tried to bat him in the middle of the order.

 

Lou bats him leadoff because of this. We've seen him try him down in the order and have no patience when he struggles there to start out. This is caused by Soriano's track record.

 

I don't like paying 17 million a year for an injury prone .890 OPS power hitter who doesn't bat in the middle of the order.

 

I'm not sure where you get your numbers, but I don't really care. I generally ignore signing bonuses or spread them out over the course of a contract when considering a player's value. I don't like lumping them all into the first year. Doesn't make much sense to me to do it that way, though, with Soriano, it's clear that he took less in Y1 b/c of the signing bonus. Either way, I don't care. I think it's perfectly legit to say he's earned his contract to date based on the way I amortize the bonus of the amounts he's been paid. The big problem most people had with Soriano's contract wasn't the first couple years, it's paying him $18m when he's in his late 30s. If you don't agree, fine, but the bottom line is not that he's getting 17m a year. That's just not true, no matter how many times you say it.

 

As for batting order, in addition to the fact that's it's almost irrelevant where he bats, I strongly disagree that he'd be worse if he were hitting 3-5 rather than first. I know his history. The board had a huge debate about this when he was signed. I just don't agree that his history automatically leads to the conclusion you're drawing.

[17 Seconds]

So fr your argument you spread the signing bonus out over 8 yedars even though he's already receieved all of it, but then you don't factor the money he's gauranteed to make later into what he's doing right now. Interesting. If you want to do it your way, he made 17 mil in 07 and 13 mil in 08.

 

Bottom line is that he's getting 17 mil a year for 8 years. If Aaron Miles was given 6/75 but he only made 500k in each of the first 2 years, it would be pretty pointless to say "well he's earned his contract to this point".

 

And what's this about not being able to hit in the middle of the order? Lou batting him first doesn't mean he can't hit 3-5.

 

Nope, the fact that his numbers dramatically drop when he's moved from the leadoff spot. His worst two seasons (by far) over the past 7 seasons were the back to back years in Texas where they tried to bat him in the middle of the order.

 

Lou bats him leadoff because of this. We've seen him try him down in the order and have no patience when he struggles there to start out. This is caused by Soriano's track record.

 

I don't like paying 17 million a year for an injury prone .890 OPS power hitter who doesn't bat in the middle of the order.

 

I'm not sure where you get your numbers, but I don't really care. I generally ignore signing bonuses or spread them out over the course of a contract when considering a player's value. I don't like lumping them all into the first year. Doesn't make much sense to me to do it that way, though, with Soriano, it's clear that he took less in Y1 b/c of the signing bonus. Either way, I don't care. I think it's perfectly legit to say he's earned his contract to date based on the way I amortize the bonus of the amounts he's been paid. The big problem most people had with Soriano's contract wasn't the first couple years, it's paying him $18m when he's in his late 30s. If you don't agree, fine, but the bottom line is not that he's getting 17m a year. That's just not true, no matter how many times you say it.

 

As for batting order, in addition to the fact that's it's almost irrelevant where he bats, I strongly disagree that he'd be worse if he were hitting 3-5 rather than first. I know his history. The board had a huge debate about this when he was signed. I just don't agree that his history automatically leads to the conclusion you're drawing.

 

But it IS 17 mil A year. He get a 136 mil contract for 8 years. You can draw it up however you want it, when his contract is up he'll end up averaging 17 mil for every year he plays, period.

 

So okay, it's "well he's earned his contract up to this point, although to make up for that being possible...we're going to get raped annually in the second half of the contract". I think that's more appropriate since it tells the whole story.

 

And I still haven't heard a reason for Soriano's 2 crappy years in Texas (sandwiched between 5 significantly better ones) that is more likely than it being due to him not batting leadoff. I'm going to believe what is most believable. Obviously it was a different hitter those 2 hitters. What was it? He was sick for 2 years? A 2 year brak from steroids? Givne the fact that he's repeatedly said he feels myuch more comfortable batting leadoff, I think it's easy to see what the most logical reason is for him sucking those 2 years.

 

Even if that's not the reason though, it almost doesn't matter....because the reason he's batting leadoff now is because he's given that impression to Lou. Lou doesn't bat him leadoff because he likes him there, he bats him leadoff because he doesn't feel Soriano will produce in the middle of the order.

 

And no, the difference between a power hitter batting behind the pitcher and batting in the middle of the order is not irrelevant.

[jersey cubs fan]

If you don't agree, fine, but the bottom line is not that he's getting 17m a year. That's just not true, no matter how many times you say it.

 

What in the world are you talking about?

[RynoRules]

I understand the author reserved the right to utilize 20-20 hindsight so I won't pick on some of these (including Carpenter and Hafner), but:

 

- Carlos Lee has been very good - .314 / .368 / .569 / 144 in 2008.

- Todd Helton was a monster back when he inked his deal (160 OPS-plus at age 27 in 2001)

- Weren't the Robertson and/or Bonderman deals at or below market value at the time?

 

Looks to me like this author was just looking for big numbers. To me bad deals come in all shapes and sizes, as we have often discussed here. He missed the boat on the many craptacular contracts for middle relievers and utility MIF'ers, for example.

[Guest]

yeah I wish we could go back and switch which LF we signed that offseason

 

Oh man, yes please.

[Proven Veteran]

yeah I wish we could go back and switch which LF we signed that offseason

 

Oh man, yes please.

 

 

I wish the Cubs had signed Beltran instead.

[Tracer Bullet]

If you don't agree, fine, but the bottom line is not that he's getting 17m a year. That's just not true, no matter how many times you say it.

 

What in the world are you talking about?

 

? Soriano isn't getting $17m a year. It's 8 years and heavily back loaded. Soriano has earned the money he's made to date, imo. Whether he'll earn it at the end of the contract, well, I highly doubt.

 

Is that what you were after? I think that's pretty clear from my earlier posts, but maybe I'm just totally missing something b/c you seem almost offended.

[17 Seconds]

He's averaging 17 million a year. I don't know how you can even try to argue against that. If he's making less right now, that doesn't mean anything since he'll make up for it later. Like I said, saying "he's earned his contract up to this point" doesn't mean anything if it's going to cost you later... just like if we signed Miles to 5/50 but only 500k in each of the first 2 seasons it would be meaningless to say "well he's earned his up contract up to this point". You could get into those kind of semantics all day long, but he's averaging 10 mil a year just like Soriano is averaging 17 mil.

[Tarver]

Carpenter was good contract, sorry they couldnt look into the future and see the catastprphic 2 year injury. Hell even with that its probably still good if he can get healthy. $12M for a Cy Young is pretty damn good. Z is like what $18?

Hafner and Young were good contracts too. Its not like they didnt perform before (and its not like they still cant). Guys who didnt but were overpaid belong on this list.

 

You don't give pitchers in their 30s who have an injury history and are already locked up for two years a big extension. And Young was, again, already under contract and clearly in decline. As Daniels is one of the worst GMs (probably the worst) that contract isn't too shocking.

[jersey cubs fan]

If you don't agree, fine, but the bottom line is not that he's getting 17m a year. That's just not true, no matter how many times you say it.

 

What in the world are you talking about?

 

? Soriano isn't getting $17m a year. It's 8 years and heavily back loaded. Soriano has earned the money he's made to date, imo. Whether he'll earn it at the end of the contract, well, I highly doubt.

 

Is that what you were after? I think that's pretty clear from my earlier posts, but maybe I'm just totally missing something b/c you seem almost offended.

 

His contract is a guaranteed contract that averages to $17m/year.

He made $17m in the first year, $13m in the 2nd and will make $16m this year and $18 the rest.

 

It's asinine to suggest he doesn't make $17m a year. The contract is guaranteed and the signing bonus was already paid, and it's not even close to heavily backloaded.

[Soul]

Carpenter was good contract, sorry they couldnt look into the future and see the catastprphic 2 year injury. Hell even with that its probably still good if he can get healthy. $12M for a Cy Young is pretty damn good. Z is like what $18?

Hafner and Young were good contracts too. Its not like they didnt perform before (and its not like they still cant). Guys who didnt but were overpaid belong on this list.

 

You don't give pitchers in their 30s who have an injury history and are already locked up for two years a big extension. And Young was, again, already under contract and clearly in decline. As Daniels is one of the worst GMs (probably the worst) that contract isn't too shocking.

 

But I get the sense it's on the list because he got injured afterwards. Nobody could have known that at the time.

[17 Seconds]

Carpenter was good contract, sorry they couldnt look into the future and see the catastprphic 2 year injury. Hell even with that its probably still good if he can get healthy. $12M for a Cy Young is pretty damn good. Z is like what $18?

Hafner and Young were good contracts too. Its not like they didnt perform before (and its not like they still cant). Guys who didnt but were overpaid belong on this list.

 

Michaels Young belongs in the top 5. He is one of the most overrated players in baseball. He had that one great season in 05 and then a few good-but-not-great seasons and that's it. An .820 OPS SS with bad defense who just turned 30 is not worth 5/80. That's awful. Not to mention the only reason his numbers are even that good is because he plays in Texas.

 

Now you're paying a 15 million a year for a poor defending .750 OPS guy who isn't even at short anymore. Awesome.

[Tracer Bullet]

If you don't agree, fine, but the bottom line is not that he's getting 17m a year. That's just not true, no matter how many times you say it.

 

What in the world are you talking about?

 

? Soriano isn't getting $17m a year. It's 8 years and heavily back loaded. Soriano has earned the money he's made to date, imo. Whether he'll earn it at the end of the contract, well, I highly doubt.

 

Is that what you were after? I think that's pretty clear from my earlier posts, but maybe I'm just totally missing something b/c you seem almost offended.

 

His contract is a guaranteed contract that averages to $17m/year.

He made $17m in the first year, $13m in the 2nd and will make $16m this year and $18 the rest.

 

It's asinine to suggest he doesn't make $17m a year. The contract is guaranteed and the signing bonus was already paid, and it's not even close to heavily backloaded.

 

I disagree as I've stated above. I could really give a rip if you agree with me or whether you consider my opinion asinine.