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The Bobby Bonilla thread got me thinking- what other bad contracts do teams have in the MLB? Most teams defer money over the length of the deal of course, but I'm not primarily going to be looking at that, as Bonilla was a special case as a buyout. I'll be naming two players- one "honorable" mention and the "winner."
Some teams will have obvious players, some teams won't. Feel free to chime in with what you all think as well. I should have a new division done every couple of days.
This also turned out longer than I expected. So I am also going to bold the names to stand out if you don't care to read it.
Atlanta Braves
This was one of the hard teams to come up with, as the Braves have not handed out a lot of bad contracts. Instead, they have been smart with their trades and drafting, therefore always making sure that they have prospects to deal and prospects to grow.
Still, I have to come up with two. Kenshin Kawakami has a three year, $23 million deal and the Braves spent all off-season trying to unload him. He is currently buried in the minors in the last year of his deal. For a team that has a track record with pitchers, it is quite surprising to see Kawakami go belly-up. Maybe even Leo Mazzone couldn't do anything with him.
Honorable Mention: After Kawakami, its a bit tricky, but I think this is Derek Lowe. The disclaimer is that he has gotten better in each year with the Braves, but they still gave a 35 year old pitcher a four year, $60 million deal. Sinkerball pitchers also have a long shelf life, and Lowe continues to eat innings.
Florida Marlins
Another tough team, as the Marlins have always been very frugal with their money, and like the Braves, draft well and make trades. However, after a career year offensively, they brought back catcher Charles Johnson, who was never any better than (slightly) above average to a five year, $35 million deal.
Big mistake, as a year after hitting .304 with 31 home runs and 91 RBI, Johnson reverted to form. In his first year back with Florida, he hit .259/18/75. He was even worse the next year, hitting .217/6/36 in 83 games. The Marlins were able to somehow get out of this deal, sending Johnson to Colorado in exchange for another terrible contract in Mike Hampton, and then sent Hampton to the Braves.
Honorable Mention: For a team that has a lot of young talent, why they went and wasted $7 million this season for Javier Vazquez is beyond me. From 2009 to 2010, his ERA ballooned to nearly double what is was, and he saw a drop in his velocity. This year? Same story, as his ERA is at 7.55, 1.91 WHIP and more walks (24) than strikeouts (20.)
New York Mets
I could have a lot of fun with this one. There are so many options to do. Bonilla was already mentioned. That was incredibly stupid on their part for such a small gain at the time. Carlos Beltran and Johan Santana could be mentioned, but both played a part in some of the Mets successes over the past few seasons and are battling injuries, so I will throw them out.
Therefore, Oliver Perez, you are the Mets worst contract. We all know the story, but a quick recap. Perez had a great year for the Mets in 2007, but an OK year in 2008, where he threw a career high with 105 walks and saw his strikeout rate stay the same. In 2009, Perez struggled, but also went through patella tendonitis and the comeback from that. Then, in 2010 the wheels fell off, with Perez still struggling with tendonitis, being moved to the bullpen and then refusing a rehab assignment later. The Mets decided it would be best to move on and give him $12 million for this season. That is almost $322,000 paid for each MLB inning he threw during that contract.
Honorable Mention: Again, I won't take the easy way out and say Luis Castillo, caught in the same situation Perez was in. Instead, I'm going with Bernard Gilkey, who had a career year in 1996, hitting .317/30/117, and the Mets gave him a $20 million deal over two years. He struggled the next year, and halfway through 2008, the Mets moved him to the expansion Arizona Diamondbacks.
Philadelphia Phillies
Before the Phillies put together "The Big Four" they struggled to put together a good rotation and were stuck in the middle of the East. One of their potential solutions to that was signing Adam Eaton in the 2007 off-season.
I'm sure that most Philly fans want to forget Eaton, and for good reason. He received a $24 million, three year contract despite only starting 13 games for Texas in the previous year. Going prices were high during that off-season for everyone, but that is just not a smart investment. A 6.10 ERA and 14 wins later, Philadelphia ate the last year and $9 million of Eaton's deal.
Honorable Mention: Raul Ibanez is almost a turnstile in left-field, all the while getting paid a cool $11.5 million in the last year of his three year, $31.5 million deal. His bat does not make up for it either, as Ibanez is hitting .223 on the year and he's very close to losing at bats. Case in point- don't give 35 year old outfielders who already struggle defensively huge money. It always comes back to bite you.
Washington Nationals
Most people are going to say Jayson Werth, and I will probably agree with you- he has struggled out the gate, and at the end of his deal, I will probably say the same things about him that I did about Ibanez. Still, Werth received a superstar deal, and the Nationals are expected him to be one for them- the verdict will be out on this for at least another year and a half.
I'm going to go with another free agent instead, Adam LaRoche. He received a two year, $15 million to upgrade Adam Dunn's defense at first, and come back with comparable offensive numbers. While Dunn has struggled this season, LaRoche has been bad, hitting .182 and his slugging percentage (.277) is lower than his OBP (.298.) That is the only thing that LaRoche seems to have improved, and I'm sure the Nats would trade it for a better offensive player.
Honorable Mention: Oliver Perez. Yeah, I'm grasping, but the Nationals haven't made a lot of free agent moves (and I'm not looking at the Expos for this.) After how bad Perez was with the Mets and how he handled himself professionally, I'm surprised that a team would take a risk on Perez, especially a team with a lot of youngsters.
Some teams will have obvious players, some teams won't. Feel free to chime in with what you all think as well. I should have a new division done every couple of days.
This also turned out longer than I expected. So I am also going to bold the names to stand out if you don't care to read it.
Atlanta Braves
This was one of the hard teams to come up with, as the Braves have not handed out a lot of bad contracts. Instead, they have been smart with their trades and drafting, therefore always making sure that they have prospects to deal and prospects to grow.
Still, I have to come up with two. Kenshin Kawakami has a three year, $23 million deal and the Braves spent all off-season trying to unload him. He is currently buried in the minors in the last year of his deal. For a team that has a track record with pitchers, it is quite surprising to see Kawakami go belly-up. Maybe even Leo Mazzone couldn't do anything with him.
Honorable Mention: After Kawakami, its a bit tricky, but I think this is Derek Lowe. The disclaimer is that he has gotten better in each year with the Braves, but they still gave a 35 year old pitcher a four year, $60 million deal. Sinkerball pitchers also have a long shelf life, and Lowe continues to eat innings.
Florida Marlins
Another tough team, as the Marlins have always been very frugal with their money, and like the Braves, draft well and make trades. However, after a career year offensively, they brought back catcher Charles Johnson, who was never any better than (slightly) above average to a five year, $35 million deal.
Big mistake, as a year after hitting .304 with 31 home runs and 91 RBI, Johnson reverted to form. In his first year back with Florida, he hit .259/18/75. He was even worse the next year, hitting .217/6/36 in 83 games. The Marlins were able to somehow get out of this deal, sending Johnson to Colorado in exchange for another terrible contract in Mike Hampton, and then sent Hampton to the Braves.
Honorable Mention: For a team that has a lot of young talent, why they went and wasted $7 million this season for Javier Vazquez is beyond me. From 2009 to 2010, his ERA ballooned to nearly double what is was, and he saw a drop in his velocity. This year? Same story, as his ERA is at 7.55, 1.91 WHIP and more walks (24) than strikeouts (20.)
New York Mets
I could have a lot of fun with this one. There are so many options to do. Bonilla was already mentioned. That was incredibly stupid on their part for such a small gain at the time. Carlos Beltran and Johan Santana could be mentioned, but both played a part in some of the Mets successes over the past few seasons and are battling injuries, so I will throw them out.
Therefore, Oliver Perez, you are the Mets worst contract. We all know the story, but a quick recap. Perez had a great year for the Mets in 2007, but an OK year in 2008, where he threw a career high with 105 walks and saw his strikeout rate stay the same. In 2009, Perez struggled, but also went through patella tendonitis and the comeback from that. Then, in 2010 the wheels fell off, with Perez still struggling with tendonitis, being moved to the bullpen and then refusing a rehab assignment later. The Mets decided it would be best to move on and give him $12 million for this season. That is almost $322,000 paid for each MLB inning he threw during that contract.
Honorable Mention: Again, I won't take the easy way out and say Luis Castillo, caught in the same situation Perez was in. Instead, I'm going with Bernard Gilkey, who had a career year in 1996, hitting .317/30/117, and the Mets gave him a $20 million deal over two years. He struggled the next year, and halfway through 2008, the Mets moved him to the expansion Arizona Diamondbacks.
Philadelphia Phillies
Before the Phillies put together "The Big Four" they struggled to put together a good rotation and were stuck in the middle of the East. One of their potential solutions to that was signing Adam Eaton in the 2007 off-season.
I'm sure that most Philly fans want to forget Eaton, and for good reason. He received a $24 million, three year contract despite only starting 13 games for Texas in the previous year. Going prices were high during that off-season for everyone, but that is just not a smart investment. A 6.10 ERA and 14 wins later, Philadelphia ate the last year and $9 million of Eaton's deal.
Honorable Mention: Raul Ibanez is almost a turnstile in left-field, all the while getting paid a cool $11.5 million in the last year of his three year, $31.5 million deal. His bat does not make up for it either, as Ibanez is hitting .223 on the year and he's very close to losing at bats. Case in point- don't give 35 year old outfielders who already struggle defensively huge money. It always comes back to bite you.
Washington Nationals
Most people are going to say Jayson Werth, and I will probably agree with you- he has struggled out the gate, and at the end of his deal, I will probably say the same things about him that I did about Ibanez. Still, Werth received a superstar deal, and the Nationals are expected him to be one for them- the verdict will be out on this for at least another year and a half.
I'm going to go with another free agent instead, Adam LaRoche. He received a two year, $15 million to upgrade Adam Dunn's defense at first, and come back with comparable offensive numbers. While Dunn has struggled this season, LaRoche has been bad, hitting .182 and his slugging percentage (.277) is lower than his OBP (.298.) That is the only thing that LaRoche seems to have improved, and I'm sure the Nats would trade it for a better offensive player.
Honorable Mention: Oliver Perez. Yeah, I'm grasping, but the Nationals haven't made a lot of free agent moves (and I'm not looking at the Expos for this.) After how bad Perez was with the Mets and how he handled himself professionally, I'm surprised that a team would take a risk on Perez, especially a team with a lot of youngsters.
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