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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.
These 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.
Past articles for this series:
NL East
NL West
Chicago Cubs
The Cubs are another one of those teams that have plenty of options to choose from across the years. It seems that Jim Hendry has wasted a lot of resources. The most overpaid player for the Cubs is Alfonso Soriano who is in the middle of an eight year, $136 million. When Chicago signed Soriano, they thought they were getting a great deal- a player coming off a 40 home run/40 stolen base year and would anchor their lineup for years.
Instead, they got a player who started his Cubs career hitting .299 with 30 HR, 77 RBI and 19 steals. His numbers since then have declined in each season, to the point where he is an average left fielder. With the retirement of Manny Ramirez, Soriano is also arguably the worst defensive left fielder in the game. A player like this should not be making $19 million a year.
Honorable Mention: A very tough one, as Kosuke Fukudome comes to mind as he's been an average hitter for the Cubs. However, Carlos Zambrano gets the nod. Zambrano is in the fourth year of a five year, $91.5 million extension. Zambrano had a great start to his career and was known for a durable arm and high velocity, but struggled in 2007 and has struggled with mental issues since, and spent time in the bullpen last season. With all the money invested in Zambrano, he should not be coming out of the bullpen and this season, he's been an average starter.
Cincinnati Reds
Back in 2005, the Reds made a push to compete and improve their starting pitching, signing Eric Milton to a three year, $25 million deal. Milton had an average season the year before with Philadelphia, winning 14 games, gave up 43 home runs and had an ERA of 4.75. In addition, Milton's lowest ERA was 4.32 in 2001.
Milton, a flyball pitcher, had a disaster while with the Reds. He was 16-27 in his three years with the club, with a 5.83 ERA- he was just awful. He wouldn't play but two games after finishing his deal with the Reds.
Honorable Mention: The Reds didn't spend much money aside from Milton, but they did make a nine year, $112.5 million agreement with Ken Griffey Jr. The Reds thought they had a franchise player with Griffey, one of the best talents in the game and a cornerstone. As it turns out, Griffey would suffer through lower body injuries (possibly from playing on astroturf for most of his career) and they took a tole on him- during the middle and end of the contract, he was a shell of his former self. There was no way the Reds could have predicted that, but this deal did not work out for them.
Houston Astros
I think we all know who the worst Astros contract is- Carlos Lee is it. Lee had a good start to his career with the White Sox and before signing with the Astros, Lee had four straight seasons with at least 30 home runs and 99 RBIs. Like Soriano above, Lee was never known for defense, being average at best.
Still, that did not deter Houston from offering Lee $100 million over six years. It has turned out to be a bad signing- Lee is now one of the worst defenders, and has seen his average, home runs, RBIs and OPS drop each season. So far this season, Lee struggled to get above .200 early, and is hitting just .256/4/27. That is far from what the Astros expected when making him a cornerstone player.
Honorable Mention: The Astros had a couple players to choose from here, but Kazuo Matsui comes to mind, especially since he replaced a legend in Craig Biggio. Matsui signed a three year, $16.5 million contract following a career year with the Rockies. Matsui did not make it through the third year of his deal, being released in May 2010, with a combined .259/15/80- very disappointing for a player that the Astros would replace a legend.
Milwaukee Brewers
From here on out, it is getting tough for this division, because the Brewers do not have very many big contracts. Jeff Suppan cashed in on his 2006 ALCS and reputation as an inning eater to get a $40 million, four year deal from the Brewers before the 2007 season.
Long story short- Suppan was a disaster for the Brewers, and while he was pitching poorly, the Brewers could not spend money or get rid of him. He only lasted three and a half seasons with Milwaukee, posting a 29-36 record with a 5.08 ERA and 1.596 WHIP.
Honorable Mention: In his fourth season, Bill Hall had a career season, belting 35 homers and knocking in 85 runs with a .270 average. To get ahead of Hall's free agent year, the Brewers signed him to a four year, $24 million extension. After that, he had a steep drop in his performance at the plate, his defense declined and in the summer of 2009, the Brewers designated Hall for assignment. He was hitting .201 with the Brewers, and didn't improve much with the Mariners after being claimed- .200 on the spot.
Pittsburgh Pirates
Nothing against this player at all, but how did Jack Wilson deserve a $20 million deal? Yes, it was just for three seasons, and Wilson was a player that many thought the Pirates would trade at each deadline and each off-season.
Still, nothing about Wilson is above average. He never won a Gold Glove. Wilson's career numbers for average- .267. What about on base percentage? Just .308. And slugging? Just .378. A solid major leaguer who is a decent starter? Yes. Worth over $6 million a year? Not at all.
Honorable Mention: After Wilson, this is definitely going to be Operation Shutdown himself, Derek Bell. In the 2001 off-season, the Pirates signed Bell to a two year, $9.75 million deal. He hit .173 in 2001, and when the media asked him during spring training the next year if he was in a competition, Bell famously spoke that he was going into Operation Shutdown, and that he would not be a part of a competition and wanted a trade. Bell would be released at the end of March and not play again.
St Louis Cardinals
This was the most difficult team to date. This is nothing against Chris Carpenter but the last extension that he signed was a mistake by the front office. At the time, Carpenter had a year and an option left on his deal. However, Carpenter was fresh off a career season where the Cards won the World Series, and Carpenter a Cy Young. He had thrown over 450 innings the past two years as well.
Turns out that Carpenter would only pitch 21 innings for the first two years of his five year, $63 million deal. He's been lights out the past two years, but from a purely analytical standpoint, the Cardinals should have waited on handing that deal out, considering the workload that Carpenter had and his prior arm troubles.
Honorable Mention: A solid, unspectacular journeyman until joining the Cardinals on a one year deal in 2008, Kyle Lohse came through with a career year that led to his four year, $41 million deal. Lohse struggled with injuries the past two years, and was downright terrible last season, finishing with a 6.55 ERA and 1.78 WHIP. He will likely erase this tag by August, as Lohse is having an even better season than his 2008 campaign, and it is definitely welcomed by the Cardinals, as Adam Wainwright is done for the year and Carpenter is struggling.
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.
These 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.
Past articles for this series:
NL East
NL West
Chicago Cubs
The Cubs are another one of those teams that have plenty of options to choose from across the years. It seems that Jim Hendry has wasted a lot of resources. The most overpaid player for the Cubs is Alfonso Soriano who is in the middle of an eight year, $136 million. When Chicago signed Soriano, they thought they were getting a great deal- a player coming off a 40 home run/40 stolen base year and would anchor their lineup for years.
Instead, they got a player who started his Cubs career hitting .299 with 30 HR, 77 RBI and 19 steals. His numbers since then have declined in each season, to the point where he is an average left fielder. With the retirement of Manny Ramirez, Soriano is also arguably the worst defensive left fielder in the game. A player like this should not be making $19 million a year.
Honorable Mention: A very tough one, as Kosuke Fukudome comes to mind as he's been an average hitter for the Cubs. However, Carlos Zambrano gets the nod. Zambrano is in the fourth year of a five year, $91.5 million extension. Zambrano had a great start to his career and was known for a durable arm and high velocity, but struggled in 2007 and has struggled with mental issues since, and spent time in the bullpen last season. With all the money invested in Zambrano, he should not be coming out of the bullpen and this season, he's been an average starter.
Cincinnati Reds
Back in 2005, the Reds made a push to compete and improve their starting pitching, signing Eric Milton to a three year, $25 million deal. Milton had an average season the year before with Philadelphia, winning 14 games, gave up 43 home runs and had an ERA of 4.75. In addition, Milton's lowest ERA was 4.32 in 2001.
Milton, a flyball pitcher, had a disaster while with the Reds. He was 16-27 in his three years with the club, with a 5.83 ERA- he was just awful. He wouldn't play but two games after finishing his deal with the Reds.
Honorable Mention: The Reds didn't spend much money aside from Milton, but they did make a nine year, $112.5 million agreement with Ken Griffey Jr. The Reds thought they had a franchise player with Griffey, one of the best talents in the game and a cornerstone. As it turns out, Griffey would suffer through lower body injuries (possibly from playing on astroturf for most of his career) and they took a tole on him- during the middle and end of the contract, he was a shell of his former self. There was no way the Reds could have predicted that, but this deal did not work out for them.
Houston Astros
I think we all know who the worst Astros contract is- Carlos Lee is it. Lee had a good start to his career with the White Sox and before signing with the Astros, Lee had four straight seasons with at least 30 home runs and 99 RBIs. Like Soriano above, Lee was never known for defense, being average at best.
Still, that did not deter Houston from offering Lee $100 million over six years. It has turned out to be a bad signing- Lee is now one of the worst defenders, and has seen his average, home runs, RBIs and OPS drop each season. So far this season, Lee struggled to get above .200 early, and is hitting just .256/4/27. That is far from what the Astros expected when making him a cornerstone player.
Honorable Mention: The Astros had a couple players to choose from here, but Kazuo Matsui comes to mind, especially since he replaced a legend in Craig Biggio. Matsui signed a three year, $16.5 million contract following a career year with the Rockies. Matsui did not make it through the third year of his deal, being released in May 2010, with a combined .259/15/80- very disappointing for a player that the Astros would replace a legend.
Milwaukee Brewers
From here on out, it is getting tough for this division, because the Brewers do not have very many big contracts. Jeff Suppan cashed in on his 2006 ALCS and reputation as an inning eater to get a $40 million, four year deal from the Brewers before the 2007 season.
Long story short- Suppan was a disaster for the Brewers, and while he was pitching poorly, the Brewers could not spend money or get rid of him. He only lasted three and a half seasons with Milwaukee, posting a 29-36 record with a 5.08 ERA and 1.596 WHIP.
Honorable Mention: In his fourth season, Bill Hall had a career season, belting 35 homers and knocking in 85 runs with a .270 average. To get ahead of Hall's free agent year, the Brewers signed him to a four year, $24 million extension. After that, he had a steep drop in his performance at the plate, his defense declined and in the summer of 2009, the Brewers designated Hall for assignment. He was hitting .201 with the Brewers, and didn't improve much with the Mariners after being claimed- .200 on the spot.
Pittsburgh Pirates
Nothing against this player at all, but how did Jack Wilson deserve a $20 million deal? Yes, it was just for three seasons, and Wilson was a player that many thought the Pirates would trade at each deadline and each off-season.
Still, nothing about Wilson is above average. He never won a Gold Glove. Wilson's career numbers for average- .267. What about on base percentage? Just .308. And slugging? Just .378. A solid major leaguer who is a decent starter? Yes. Worth over $6 million a year? Not at all.
Honorable Mention: After Wilson, this is definitely going to be Operation Shutdown himself, Derek Bell. In the 2001 off-season, the Pirates signed Bell to a two year, $9.75 million deal. He hit .173 in 2001, and when the media asked him during spring training the next year if he was in a competition, Bell famously spoke that he was going into Operation Shutdown, and that he would not be a part of a competition and wanted a trade. Bell would be released at the end of March and not play again.
St Louis Cardinals
This was the most difficult team to date. This is nothing against Chris Carpenter but the last extension that he signed was a mistake by the front office. At the time, Carpenter had a year and an option left on his deal. However, Carpenter was fresh off a career season where the Cards won the World Series, and Carpenter a Cy Young. He had thrown over 450 innings the past two years as well.
Turns out that Carpenter would only pitch 21 innings for the first two years of his five year, $63 million deal. He's been lights out the past two years, but from a purely analytical standpoint, the Cardinals should have waited on handing that deal out, considering the workload that Carpenter had and his prior arm troubles.
Honorable Mention: A solid, unspectacular journeyman until joining the Cardinals on a one year deal in 2008, Kyle Lohse came through with a career year that led to his four year, $41 million deal. Lohse struggled with injuries the past two years, and was downright terrible last season, finishing with a 6.55 ERA and 1.78 WHIP. He will likely erase this tag by August, as Lohse is having an even better season than his 2008 campaign, and it is definitely welcomed by the Cardinals, as Adam Wainwright is done for the year and Carpenter is struggling.
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