Rendon doesn't even like to play baseball. The problem with baseball contracts is that you're getting paid for what you did instead of what you're going to do.
As a lifelong Orioles fan and Baltimore native the Chris Davis contract nightmare still hangs over this team. It's only fitting it's in the first spot for worst contracts of all time. He became such an offensive liability that he was a guaranteed strikeout for 2 seasons.
Cannot tell you how glad I am you made the exception for Anthony Rendón, and included him here. That contract and his attitude is absolutely obscene!! I don’t not know how some of these people could accept the money they are getting. You covered it pretty good, Erick. Sidenote… Does anybody remember Lyman Bostock? He was a budding superstar back in the 70s his career was cut short when somebody shot him . Anyway, he Signed a big contract with the Angels… He got off to a bad start an offered to give back some of the money he signed for to Gene Autry. A real class act. Don’t see too many of those in this day and age.
@@thecaliokieconnexion you’re right caliokie I have seen a few videos on the Lyman Bostock in the past. But I would love to see the touch Erik would put on the story. Bring Lymans story into the humm baby family. If he hasn’t already done it.
I had forgotten about Lyman Bostock until I saw his name a couple of years ago. An utter tragedy. I don't know who shot him, but it was in Chicago, wasn't it? We know how dedicated to law and order Illinois is.
I remember Bostock. A great player who had a great baseball name. His murder was a sickening tragedy, the kind of thing that could challenge the faith of the most devout. That murder was classical evil: irrational, vicious, destruction over nothing. Unfortunately, it happened in Chicago, and we know that Illinois isn't noted for its devotion to justice for criminals.
@@bobtaylor170 yeah, Bob… I feel the same way it sure challenged my faith. It actually happened in Gary Indiana Lyman‘s hometown. After angels played the White Sox. He was shot by mistake… He went to visit his uncle for dinner. Afterwards with his uncle driving they agreed to drive these two ladies home. One of the ladies was separated from her husband. The estranged husband pulled up alongside and fired a shotgun into the car, claiming he was trying to shoot his wife. But it killed Lyman. The husband only spent 21 months in jail, using the insanity plea. There’s a very good 8 part podcast by a fella named Tom Rinaldi. It’s called Wesley… Which was Lyman‘s middle name. I heard it a couple years ago on Spotify. When this happened, I was living in Southern California and I was playing ball in high school. Even though I’m a Giants fan, I was surrounded by Dodgers and Angel fans. The impact of this senseless event was strong. Lyman was a class act off the field. I feel strongly that Lyman should not be forgotten. I remember him offering to play for free for Gene Autry until he started hitting. His story should be brought to light every couple of years so the younger folks could appreciate this great man. Lifetime..311 hitter if only for four years.
I thought Yelich was heading there too, but he's at least been serviceable albeit when he's healthy which is rare. That contract sucks though long term as he continues declining and small market MKE gets to pay him $26MM a year through the next 5-6 years.
Crazy how probably none of the 2016 Cubs are going to get a plaque in cooperstown. I'm still irrationally hopeful that Jon Lester stays on the ballot long enough for the writers to realize that pitching standards have changed, but I doubt that will really happen. Maybe Aroldis Chapman in 100 years on some old timers committee? Baez is done, Bryant is done, Schwarber found a niche as a unique player, but his chances are slim to none, Rizzo is done, Addison Russell couldn't keep his hands to himself, am I missing someone? They might be the first great world series team without a rep. Even the 2010-2014 Giants, who had a ton of players fizzle out, will probably get Buster Posey in.
Forgot Willson Contreras, but he's probably in the same odds as Schwarber, which is slim to none, but at least he's still putting a positive WAR out, unlike most of the other 2016 cub alumni.
@@n1ghtt295 i agree Bobby Bonilla Remember this was an end of career bench contract they signed him to and Wilpon included that rider even tho he was a pinch hitter at best for them...that's why I say it was essentially a pension
He absolutely should. They paid him big $$ and got very little for it. It doesn’t matter the circumstances, in the end it’s a terrible contract. Put another way, if they could go back in time and undo it, they would’ve.
Nor should Prince Fielder. There's a reason Miguel Cabrera won his MVPs hitting in front of him, and he put up good numbers. And his WS comments came because at the time he found out his wife was cheating on him with Avisail Garcia. Something like that would affect a regular person and it can also affect an athlete. Also, cannot hold his neck fusions against him, injuries happen, some worse than others.
@@damaestro119 Nobody is blaming him for injuries but the money is wasted whether its due to poor performance or injury. This is a list of the worst contracts not worst players though several did suck after getting paid. There is another guy on RUclips, cannot remember his name at 3:30am, that does a break down of worst contracts strictly based on performance vs what should have been expected based on the pay.
That wasn't a bad contract but a bad deferment plan. Can't wait to see in 10 years when the Dodgers will have to pay Ohtani 67 million a year for 10 years😂
@@henrywallacesghost5883 But it wasn't that either. That was a really good deal for the Mets. I don't think y'all realize the ripple effects of that. 1-They saved what was a substantial amount of money. That money went to signing Hampton, an ace pitcher who helped pitch the Mets into the World Series. 2-The Mets made a shit load of money that year and then traded Mike Hampton. Who'd they get for him? Well, among their players, they got...the rights to David Wright! So they get a World Series which generated an additional ~50M in revenue for the Mets, David Wright, one of the great players in their history(though the contract was poor) 1.19M is a lot. Bobby Bonilla did well, but the Mets did as well. 1.19M isn't nearly what it was in 1999 and in 2039, it probably have 1/4th the buying power.
Ken Griffey was the 4th highest paid Cincinnati Red this year of 2024. This was the last year though. He retired in 2010 but was getting 3.6 million a year until sep 9th 2024 when it finally ended. Deferment few talk about.
Strasburg should have made top 5 at least, if not the absolute #1. 245 million to throw just over 30 innings (at an ERA of nearly 7!)-- and everyone knew he was incredibly injury prone.
@@kevinbl4836 I do remember his 2019-- it was one of the very few times when he'd remained healthy, and it was an obvious case where the contract was bound to fail to anyone with a brain. Still, the hilarious over payment turned out to be basically setting a quarter of a billion dollars on fire.
Steven Strasburg for Washington--although he did lead them to a World Series win Insert here gratuitous Bobby Bonilla reference A few current players who might end up being on this list: Kris Bryant(now with Colorado) Patrick Corbin(now with Washington) Javier Baez( now with Detroit)
The thing about Corbin is that the circumstances which made him a bust didn't exist at the time of the signing: I have heard from reliable sources that, ever since MLB started checking for the sticky stuff, his slider doesn't slide.
Tbf, Rendon always made it clear that he was never a huge fan of baseball and that he only plays because he's good at it. Teams just chose to bid on him after the MVP finalist season/World Series despite that being well known.
I disagree entirely with putting Prince Fielder in that deal. He was signed, he did what was expected of him. He had an insurance Policy, so nobody was "on the hook," with paying for him. Had he retired, it just would have saved the Insurance company. He had a freak neck injury, but he was a great player who PLAYED EVERY DAY before...so, definitely not a bad deal.
Awesome video. It is amazing how much money some of these owners have to just throw away. As a Braves fan, I have another player you can add to your list, Bruce Sutter. The Braves paid him a fortune to come over from the Cardinals and he basically retired on the job. They paid him a fortune to not pitch. Ugh.
Davis got screwed over massively, MLB making him stop taking his ADHD meds was nothing short of evil, having ADHD myself it’s no surprise to me that he could no longer see the baseball like he could because depending on the type he has, he could be seeing multiple baseballs or seeing the baseball move differently because of hyperactive symptoms, at least he got a huge pay day, but everyone got screwed over on that deal. The fans especially
I do hope Chris Davis is seen differently in the future. The man has ADHD the one good season he had he was on his medications but MLB considers that medication as a performance enhancing drug. Hopefully MLB changes its views and allows players like Davis play while showing paperwork of their medication and why he’s “positive” this is a bad contract solely because of MLB not Davis and the orioles fault.
Yeah ADHD meds (even if they're using them recreationally honestly because 162 games at 9 innings a game is a very boring experience when you're not a playoff contender), weed, and psychedelics have very little, if any affect on performance. If they want to fine a player a few thousand bucks for showing up stoned or something, fine, but suspensions should only be for anabolic steroids.
Pretty unfortunate if you're an Angels' fan to see 3 of the top 10 worst contracts on HBB's list. But I have a couple of other recommendations: Carl Crawford's 7 year $142M deal with the Red Sox/Dodgers was hideous Andruw Jones' 2 year $36M deal deserves a 'dishonorable mention' as well lol Jason Schmidt who left your Giants for my Dodgers got a 3 year $47M deal despite LA knowing he had a torn rotator cuff. He only made 10 starts with LA. Jose Reyes' 6 year $106M deal with Miami in 2011. I remember picking up the newspaper the next morning and a lot of writers were baffled that a SS of his caliber got that deal.
@@brianchua4240 that whole 2012 marlins off season bad deals desperation for a new yard personified mat latos heath bell and even the manager Ozzie guillen
Angels fan here. I remember when they signed rendon, the general thought among fans was,”ok, we kinda like him, but we desperately need pitching, we don’t really need another bat.” We were already disappointed, before we knew he wasn’t going to produce anything whatsoever.
@@orwellz180Seriously. 6 years, $80million (in 1998) injures himself going after a foul popup in opening day and proceeds to underachieve for two years. Doesn't play at all in year 3. Angels trade him to the Mets for a past-his-prime Kevin Appier and promptly win their only World Series
@@deathminder9206 we can only hope in Detroit that he gets DFA'd. Luckily the Tigers got Sweeney in that deal for Flaherty. Such a horrible batter. I could stomach it more if he actually had an upside, such as for as many strike outs he gets, there's some sweet homeruns...? But no.
Hey, loved the video! And I definitely enjoyed the “ mentions” being included. The Anthony Rendón contract deserves to be in this list…. I’m glad you put him. I used to be a fan of his… emphasis on the “ used to”. 💔❤️🩹. I loved Pablo coming back to the Giants. It’s wild that that actually happened! I cry a tear for the sudden ( in a sense) heartbreaking end to Mad Bum’s career, but I know he fought hard and played his heart out for the game he obviously loved, for as long as he could. Saludos Mad Bum! You won our hearts. 💘❤️🩹 ⚾️ ( I wasn’t trying to make it sound like he died or anything. ) seriously. I missed having the Bum on the Giants!!!!
NO MAD BUM!!! I shake my head at that. He was a truly beloved and fan favorite with his snot rockets. He fell apart when he got to the Diamondbacks. Then there’s the Panda yi yi yi…. as he became out of shape after leaving the Giants for the Red Sox. Talking about 2 fan favorites of the Giants that couldn’t keep the momentum after leaving the Giants. All we can do is thanking the 2 for helping the Giants win the 3 World Series Championships.
The Angels are a MLB club that is only good at one thing - giving out multi-year, multi-hundred million-dollar contracts to players who SUCK after they sign them.
Patrick Corbin should have been a dishonorable mention. Although I'm not a Nationals fan, I'm still amazed at how bad he's been since signing that deal.
Don't Worry in a couple of years he will make the list. Crazy how the Nationals pulled off that WS and then so many of their good players just went to hell in a hand basket.
Rendón was the worst I've ever seen, since these other players at least had a good seasons but Rendón never won a GG plus never hit 30 homers and yet angels gave him 245! Angel GM should be fired!!!
A fistful come to mind for this Mariners fan from the Bill Bavasi era: Richie Sexson, Jose Vidro, Carlos Silva, and Chone Figgins. We still haven't 100% recovered from how badly he depleted the farm system with those and other deals to this day.
Honorable mention for Jose Abreu of the Astros. Astros cut him still owing him over half of his 3yr $59m deal. He was the worst 1b in MLB. Maybe he's saved bc he did show up momentarily in the 2023 post szn. This szn, literally the worst 1b I've ever seen. Made up for his .362 OPS with horrid defense.
This is wild! Some of these contracts really make you wonder what the teams were thinking. It’s crazy how much risk comes with long-term deals in baseball. I’ve also been digging into how players rise to stardom-these bad contracts add a whole new layer to the business side of the game!
If we keep seeing enough of these bad guaranteed contracts, it's just a matter of time before MLB goes to the basic NFL contract format where nothing is guaranteed, which is the way it should be. Nobody should be getting paid millions of dollars while they're injured or not performing to the level expected.
The lack of guaranteed money in the NFL will never make it to baseball. Just think about these pitchers that they tell to throw every pitch as hard as they can, then the inevitable injury happens-they don’t get paid? Not every contract in football is guaranteed for injury.
@@sepewrath I've always felt that a person should get paid what they've earned. The team is paying for a certain level of output, and if they don't get that, they shouldn't have to pay that much. Injury is a part of every sport, and many athletes don't earn when they're injured, such as drivers, golfers & tennis players. Baseball players should get MLB minimum when on the injured list for over 30 days and subject to contract termination if they can't perform. Imagine a team sitting on a $30M/yr player that they owe for the next 6 yrs & he can't play.
Wow. Can't believe you ranked Rendon only 10th on the list... If I knew that, I would've watched the entire video just to see whose contract's were worse.
I don’t know about the actual money situation as far as actual payouts, but those outrageous deals handed to Oliver Perez (Mets) and Rusney Castillo (Red Sox) for a lot of nothing in return, makes one wish for the Reserve Clause to come back.
You mean his final year where pitchers were gifting him balls right down the plate to get him over the 700 hump? I like pujols, but him getting 700 felt the same as when Favre just fell over and let Michael Strahan fall on him to break the single season sack record. Players shouldnt be gifted records.
Wayne Garland signed a then big contract with the Cleveland Indians before the 1977 season, a 10 year $2.3 million dollar deal. He was coming off a 20 win season the year before in Baltimore. In the first year of the contract he went 13-19, leading MLB in losses. Over the next 4 seasons he went a combined 15-29, and never playing again after the 1981 season because of injuries. He spent the last 5 years of his contract with the team, charting pitches from the press box
Rawly Eastwick, 5 years, $1.1 million with the Yankees in 1978 after two World Series seasons in Cincinnati. Eastwick was traded to Philadelphia midway through the 1978 season.
What about Mike Hampton's disastrous contract with the Rockies? Second biggest contract in MLB at the time, after two seasons of rubbish pitching, they traded him to the Marlins (along with top prospect Juan Pierre as bait to get the Marlins to take him). They immediately traded Hampton to the Braves. Especially over and above the ARod contract. Helped them win a World Series...Hampton didn't even help them win games!
Mike Hampton helped the Mets eventually draft David Wright, Juan Pierre going with him to the Marlins helped the Marlins with a lead off hitter to win a World Series, so Mike Hampton is actually good for something after all
A couple of ex-Nats on here, though I am surprised Strasburg is not on this list… he did retire recently. Also I think Fielder’s contract was split among the Rangers, Tigers and insurance. Great vid!
@@somerandomguy5977 As an Astros fan who got the good Mike Hampton, his hitting was defintely good. Hell he could probably start a DH now for a couple of teams.
Have they "officially" changed the Mendoza line, for Chris Davis? It just doesn't have the same ring to it but they must have hated this guy in Baltimore. Ah Baltimore. The only time, in my many adventures, traveling across the country have I had to change hotels, when we first noticed 3 circular holes, in the window!! Once we had a chance to look around, we found two shell casings and spots of blood, on the ceiling and upper wall. I gtfoed faster than I ever had before!! Crazy
1989: Nick Esasky signed a 3 year 5.6 million dollar contract with the Atlanta Braves. He played nine games and never played again due to an inner ear infection which led to vertigo.
Boy, being reminded of that Ryan Howard extension is still depressing as hell. I still remember seeing that last at bat he had against my Cardinals in that epic 2011 playoff series and going from "yay we won" to "geezus christ that guy might not walk again" at the drop of a hat.
As an O's fan, I have to agree with your number one. SMH. You also forgot to mention the decline coincided with the lack of Adderall. Weird coincidence I know.
Erik what about the Steven Strasburg contract? I know it's technically an active contract but he is retired and the Nationals are still paying him a ton. He's done basically nothing for them since he signed that contract. I agree with Rendon being on the list but I would take the Rendon contract over the Strasburg contract every day of the week. At least Rendon isn't guaranteed to never play again and at least the Angels won't owe Rendon anything after his contract is over. The Nats will owe Stras for a very long time and they know his career is over. Also, I would put Mike Hampton on the list too. At one point he was the highest paid player in baseball. There's also the huge Miguel Cabrera extension when he still has multiple years left on his previous contract. I love it when you make these videos. They are my favorite topic and you are one of my very favorite channels. I would consider Strasburg and Hampton to both be worse than MadBum though. They were both more expensive and neither really even played at all. Also, the Strasburg contract wasn't insured. No insurance company would agree to insure it. So just like the Rangers with deGrom, the Nationals are stuck paying Strasburg every penny of his contract for a very long time out of their own pocket. Great video Erik. I love it!
@@yell0wberry The current contract I think was just a 1-year deal. Ironically though I would say Kershaw probably received and signed the most expensive contract in MLB history that actually worked out from beginning to end. Kershaw's biggest contract was a 7-year $215M deal and he was worth every penny from the beginning to the end. Scherzer's with the Nationals was another one but his was actually less expensive at only $210M. Some people might argue A-Rod's first big contract but that actually didn't work out for the team at all as the Rangers had to trade him away and eat over $9M per year just to be able to have enough money to compete as they were always a last place team with his salary on their payroll. Manny Machado's first contract with the Padres went well but he opted out after only being paid $150M and now his extension has been an unmitigated disaster. Kershaw at $215M is still the most expensive contract in MLB history that worked out from beginning to end. Every contract that paid more than $215M has ended badly for the team that offered it. Also ironic, Kershaw & Scherzer as well as Verlander should all retire at the end of the season IMO. They don't seem to have anything left in the tank. So should Rich Hill and maybe even Charlie Morton. Their salaries seem to outweigh their production and hurt their team more than anything. They are also all 4 in their 40's and are damaging their career stats by playing at such a late age. I am 99% certain Rich Hill and Verlander will retire at the end of the season. The other 3 should as well. Great careers but it time to hang it up and go out with style
@@matthew01234 I hope you had a chance to actually exhale after you wrote all of this, it’s pretty simple, no player in baseball gets signed to contracts of this magnitude to put up pretty stats, especially in a big market city. Teams pay you this kind of money to win championships, if production isn’t inductive to championships, it was a waste of time, as far as a waste of money, the owners are not the ones paying for it, the season-ticket holders are
The immediate post-contract collapses are suspicious. You wonder how many of these guys just stop caring at all about competing once they're guaranteed a bazillion dollars. A few of them like Rendon pretty much admit it openly.
How is it possible strausburg is not on this list???? Wow it should be number 1,2,3,4,5!!!!!!! 245 million for 30 innings and an era north of 7 that’s outrageous
I know the money was much different back then. But Bobby Bonilla was paid by the Mets for YEARS after he was done. And he never produced in NY like he did in Pitt.
Wasn't George Foster the first huge bust when he left the Reds for the Mets? I remember when Chris Davis started the year 0-67 what good times. Prince Fielder played 1 year on a 10 year contract. Albert Belle cost himself the HOF because of his contract. He stayed active for 4 years just being paid by the Orioles. However his 5 year waiting period put him 10 years from his playing days.
You neglected to mention Bumgarners second career, as rodeo rider "Mason Saunders" The "dirt bike" injury may or may not have been a rodeo injury, but he kept doing it during the rest of the SF contract and the Diamondbacks knew about it when they signed him.
I love your all-time lists. I’m not as much of a fan these days to watch all of your videos, but I will always tune in into all top 10 videos of yours.
A-Rod always perform when he was on the field eh I think he’s an honorable mention at best. There was definitely worse players who bottomed out or didn’t play because of injuries like Carl Pavano, Alex Gordon, Stephen Strasburg, Chris Sale, Mike Sweeney, Robinson Cano, Jason Bay, Eric Hosmer, Andruw Jones, Carl Crawford, Ubaldo Jimenez, Andre Either, Eric Chavez, Yoenis Cespedes Josh Donaldson, Mike Hampton, etc
Any hitter would love to have Pujols numbers during the second half of his career. They were only sub par compared to the Cardinals version of Pujols. Those numbers would be bankable by todays standards.
@@deathminder9206 When I look at the numbers that are considered worthy of the contract he signed with the Angels these days I disagree. Pujols Cardinals numbers would warrant him 40 million a year for 10 years by todays standards. That Angels contract would have been just a little above his market value.
Big if - If Rendon played up to his current contract, the Angels had a trio (Ohtani, Trout, and Rendon) to contend every year. If that was the case, I bet Ohtani would still be an Angel. The recent decline of the Angels has everything to do with Rendon being one of the worst FA signings of all time.
The Angels are the all-time crappiest team at signing free agents. And then they finally get a guy who's a player for the ages they don't re-sign him, and even let him escape to their territorial rivals. What a ridiculous organization. And weirdly enough, this is the organization that Mike Trout chose to stay with out of "loyalty," or something. And look how that's worked out. Like most of their long-term signings, Trout hardly even plays anymore.
Ellsbury really didn't turn into a mediocre player with speed when he joined the Yankees, outside of his monster year in 2011, that's who he was in Boston. His OPS+ was under 100 4/7 seasons with the Red Sox and his last season with the Red Sox was 113 and his first year with the Yankees it was 111.
Imagine coming to your workplace 2 days a week and still complaining about how much do you have to work. The shamelessness and arrogance of Rendon is just something else.
162 games is too long to be fair. Its twice the length of any other sports league and lasts 75 percent of the year. It's hard to stay interested that long with so many other options
That’s definitely accurate. Baseball back in time did not have this many games in a season, it’s nothing more than the owners trying to justify over 80 games at their venues.
Was waiting for Chris Davis the whole way. Thanks for getting it right. God was he awful. And usually hitting fifth or sixth in the order. Completely destroyed the lineup. Amazingly enough, Orioles had the league leader in home runs 4 years in a row from 2013 to 2016. Davis, Nelson Cruz, Davis, and Mark Trumbo - remember him?
Ellsbury is a true Sox hero. Gave us all his good years, then turned around and absolutely fleeced the Yankees. They should retire his number just for that.
The Jacob DeGrom contract might end up being one of the worst ever. 5 yrs, $185. He's good when he's healthy, but he's rarely healthy anymore. In the first two years of the contract he's made only 9 starts and pitched only 40 innings. This shouldn't be a surprise; in his last three years with the Mets he averaged less that 13 starts and about 75 innings per season. In 2022, his last season with the Mets, although he did pitch well in the wild card series, he didn't make his first start until August 2, he started only 11 games, and his poor pitching in September cost the Mets the division crown. (The Mets lost 3 of his last 4 starts, in which his WPA was negative in all four games, his ERA was 6.00, he gave up 6 home runs, and opposing hitters hit .247/.279/.519 against him.)
As a Bosox fan, I still hate Pablo Sandoval for not really trying very hard during his Red Sox stint. Got fat (literally and figuratively) and cushy, I think the Hanley Ramirez was pretty trashy as well. What a colossal waste of money and a bum. But poor Angels, with their history of horrendous contracts.
Bobby Bonilla deal with the Mets is the worse. This was the deal put together when Mets front Office was in chaos. The GM at the time Steve Phillips was caught in one of his multiple extra marital affair and took a leave of absence, they brought back an aging Frank Cashin who was the GM years prior who eventually gave him a deferred deal for 25 years and paid him 1.2M every year. Brett Saberhagen got like the original deferred deal from the Mets, but at a lower cost of 250k for 25 years - this was what gave the Mets the idea on deferral payments. This goes back to the Bernie Madoff days when the Mets ownership was heavily invested with Madoff.
Idk about now days but back in the pujols big contract days I feel like power hitters are the most overpaid players in sports. Not just because they are not guaranteed to hit homers all the time but the other team does not even have to throw to them if they don’t want to. Hundreds of millions for a guy who gets intentionally walked all the time. Idk maybe I’m wrong that just always stuck out to me
In 2005, the Dbacks signed Russ Ortiz to a four year, 33 million dollar contract. In today's money, that would be close to 70 million. He had -3.2 bWAR, only to get released in his second year, bounce around the league, and continued to pitch like crap.
i think when its all said and done Javier Baez's contract will end up being 5x worse than Chris Davis for 1 main reason. At least with Davis, he could act as the tank commander for an Orioles team that had no chance of winning anyways. Baez, on the other hand, is hurting the Tigers during a time where they are actually attempting to make playoff runs. timing is everything and the timing of the Baez contract is hurting the Tigers a lot more than Davis did with the Orioles.
O's fan here. Yeah, signing Davis for that long was a huge mistake. His decline (and contract) wasn't something a contending team would want in a trade. Machado and Schoop (homegrown talent) were shipped off for practically nothing.
I probably wouldn’t have breezed passed that Robinson Canoe contract with the Mariners so easily….. oh yeah, how’s that contract with Mike Trout going? If Shohei Ohtani makes it to the World Series, he would have had more playoff experience in one season than Mike Trout would’ve had in his entire career.
It is not Trout's fault they have only make the playoffs once with him. This is not basketball, one single guy cannot carry you there, but his contract will make this list in the future if he continues to be injured.
You have to remember Ryan Howard wasnt the same player adter tearing his Achilles. Phillies couldnt have foreseen that but the nats (in my opinion) could figure out rendon wasnt worth that much
Anthony Rendon still has more RBIs in his final season as a National (126) than he's had in five seasons COMBINED as an Angel (125).
Bonllla
Jose ramirez signed for 7 150m fyi.
100m less than this bum who dont even like baseball. What a disgrace.
Well he said baseball wasn't a top priority, so he doesn't care. He just wanted the monster payday.
Deshaun Watson’s contract is so bad, it should make this list.
😂
😂😂😂
He's NFL
@@r.thompson2190 That is the point of his comment. The contract is so bad it should make this list even though its a different sport.
@@r.thompson2190 how would you feel if you didn’t eat breakfast this morning?
Rendon doesn't even like to play baseball. The problem with baseball contracts is that you're getting paid for what you did instead of what you're going to do.
Has he said that? What does he like to do?
@@l.rongardner2150 Anthony Rendon says baseball has "never been a top priority for me" and that he plays the sport "to make a living."
And the players union makes it hard for teams to cut their contracts like the nfl.
@@airforcemarkmgno the contracts are fully guaranteed so cutting players doesn't do anything
@@l.rongardner2150sit on the bench is what he LOOOVES to do
As a lifelong Orioles fan and Baltimore native the Chris Davis contract nightmare still hangs over this team. It's only fitting it's in the first spot for worst contracts of all time. He became such an offensive liability that he was a guaranteed strikeout for 2 seasons.
Baseball is the only sport in which one very bad player in your lineup can ruin your team. Not just make it worse like a bad quarterback. Ruin it.
Cannot tell you how glad I am you made the exception for Anthony Rendón, and included him here. That contract and his attitude is absolutely obscene!!
I don’t not know how some of these people could accept the money they are getting.
You covered it pretty good, Erick.
Sidenote… Does anybody remember Lyman Bostock? He was a budding superstar back in the 70s his career was cut short when somebody shot him . Anyway, he Signed a big contract with the Angels… He got off to a bad start an offered to give back some of the money he signed for to Gene Autry. A real class act. Don’t see too many of those in this day and age.
Love that! Did Erik do a video on him? If not…. He should!
@@thecaliokieconnexion you’re right caliokie I have seen a few videos on the Lyman Bostock in the past. But I would love to see the touch Erik would put on the story. Bring Lymans story into the humm baby family. If he hasn’t already done it.
I had forgotten about Lyman Bostock until I saw his name a couple of years ago. An utter tragedy. I don't know who shot him, but it was in Chicago, wasn't it? We know how dedicated to law and order Illinois is.
I remember Bostock. A great player who had a great baseball name. His murder was a sickening tragedy, the kind of thing that could challenge the faith of the most devout. That murder was classical evil: irrational, vicious, destruction over nothing. Unfortunately, it happened in Chicago, and we know that Illinois isn't noted for its devotion to justice for criminals.
@@bobtaylor170 yeah, Bob… I feel the same way it sure challenged my faith. It actually happened in Gary Indiana Lyman‘s hometown. After angels played the White Sox.
He was shot by mistake… He went to visit his uncle for dinner. Afterwards with his uncle driving they agreed to drive these two ladies home. One of the ladies was separated from her husband. The estranged husband pulled up alongside and fired a shotgun into the car, claiming he was trying to shoot his wife. But it killed Lyman.
The husband only spent 21 months in jail, using the insanity plea.
There’s a very good 8 part podcast by a fella named Tom Rinaldi. It’s called Wesley… Which was Lyman‘s middle name. I heard it a couple years ago on Spotify.
When this happened, I was living in Southern California and I was playing ball in high school. Even though I’m a Giants fan, I was surrounded by Dodgers and Angel fans. The impact of this senseless event was strong.
Lyman was a class act off the field.
I feel strongly that Lyman should not be forgotten.
I remember him offering to play for free for Gene Autry until he started hitting. His story should be brought to light every couple of years so the younger folks could appreciate this great man. Lifetime..311 hitter if only for four years.
Kris Bryant is going to be on here if you re-do this list in a few years.
I thought Yelich was heading there too, but he's at least been serviceable albeit when he's healthy which is rare. That contract sucks though long term as he continues declining and small market MKE gets to pay him $26MM a year through the next 5-6 years.
Crazy how probably none of the 2016 Cubs are going to get a plaque in cooperstown. I'm still irrationally hopeful that Jon Lester stays on the ballot long enough for the writers to realize that pitching standards have changed, but I doubt that will really happen. Maybe Aroldis Chapman in 100 years on some old timers committee? Baez is done, Bryant is done, Schwarber found a niche as a unique player, but his chances are slim to none, Rizzo is done, Addison Russell couldn't keep his hands to himself, am I missing someone?
They might be the first great world series team without a rep. Even the 2010-2014 Giants, who had a ton of players fizzle out, will probably get Buster Posey in.
Forgot Willson Contreras, but he's probably in the same odds as Schwarber, which is slim to none, but at least he's still putting a positive WAR out, unlike most of the other 2016 cub alumni.
You know you have legendary talent when you put together the seasons that Josh Hamilton did and people still wonder what might’ve been with him.
@@geoffoldread7684 Yeah he and Doc Gooden could've been 1st ballot HOF'ers if they would have been able to lay off the hard drugs.
2:21
David Wright shouldn't even be a mention. It was injuries, and his contract was insured.
@@n1ghtt295 i agree Bobby Bonilla
Remember this was an end of career bench contract they signed him to and Wilpon included that rider even tho he was a pinch hitter at best for them...that's why I say it was essentially a pension
He absolutely should. They paid him big $$ and got very little for it. It doesn’t matter the circumstances, in the end it’s a terrible contract. Put another way, if they could go back in time and undo it, they would’ve.
Nor should Prince Fielder. There's a reason Miguel Cabrera won his MVPs hitting in front of him, and he put up good numbers. And his WS comments came because at the time he found out his wife was cheating on him with Avisail Garcia. Something like that would affect a regular person and it can also affect an athlete. Also, cannot hold his neck fusions against him, injuries happen, some worse than others.
Injuries or not its still a waste of money.
@@damaestro119 Nobody is blaming him for injuries but the money is wasted whether its due to poor performance or injury. This is a list of the worst contracts not worst players though several did suck after getting paid. There is another guy on RUclips, cannot remember his name at 3:30am, that does a break down of worst contracts strictly based on performance vs what should have been expected based on the pay.
Bobby Bonilla's essential pension
That wasn't a bad contract but a bad deferment plan. Can't wait to see in 10 years when the Dodgers will have to pay Ohtani 67 million a year for 10 years😂
@@henrywallacesghost5883 idk, I would say it's worth it just for Bobby Bonilla Day.
@@henrywallacesghost5883 But it wasn't that either. That was a really good deal for the Mets.
I don't think y'all realize the ripple effects of that.
1-They saved what was a substantial amount of money. That money went to signing Hampton, an ace pitcher who helped pitch the Mets into the World Series.
2-The Mets made a shit load of money that year and then traded Mike Hampton. Who'd they get for him?
Well, among their players, they got...the rights to David Wright!
So they get a World Series which generated an additional ~50M in revenue for the Mets, David Wright, one of the great players in their history(though the contract was poor) 1.19M is a lot. Bobby Bonilla did well, but the Mets did as well. 1.19M isn't nearly what it was in 1999 and in 2039, it probably have 1/4th the buying power.
Ken Griffey was the 4th highest paid Cincinnati Red this year of 2024. This was the last year though. He retired in 2010 but was getting 3.6 million a year until sep 9th 2024 when it finally ended. Deferment few talk about.
I think he's still getting paid
Strasburg should have made top 5 at least, if not the absolute #1. 245 million to throw just over 30 innings (at an ERA of nearly 7!)-- and everyone knew he was incredibly injury prone.
That he was the reigning World Series MVP disqualifies 99% of the criticism of said contract.
@@TPTGopher That's a moronic reason to give someone a quarter of a billion dollars.
@@zqrahllYou don't remember his 2019 season...
His contract started after the 2019 season where he led them to the World Series so it doesn’t matter what he did before the big contract
@@kevinbl4836 I do remember his 2019-- it was one of the very few times when he'd remained healthy, and it was an obvious case where the contract was bound to fail to anyone with a brain. Still, the hilarious over payment turned out to be basically setting a quarter of a billion dollars on fire.
Steven Strasburg for Washington--although he did lead them to a World Series win
Insert here gratuitous Bobby Bonilla reference
A few current players who might end up being on this list:
Kris Bryant(now with Colorado)
Patrick Corbin(now with Washington)
Javier Baez( now with Detroit)
The thing about Corbin is that the circumstances which made him a bust didn't exist at the time of the signing: I have heard from reliable sources that, ever since MLB started checking for the sticky stuff, his slider doesn't slide.
If the Yankees don’t get to the World Series, don’t think Gerrit Cole and perhaps Carlos Rodan won’t be too far behind
Big modern money vs production list. Big money wasn't around until the 90's. Nolan Ryan was the first to one million in '79.
Thank Curt Flood and free agency for that.
Tbf, Rendon always made it clear that he was never a huge fan of baseball and that he only plays because he's good at it. Teams just chose to bid on him after the MVP finalist season/World Series despite that being well known.
Hell I would do a job I hate for that amount of money too lol
@@soultrax101 That's why you never give someone a monster contract off only one big season.
How's that dude going to complain about a 162 game season when it takes him 4 years to play that many games?
I disagree entirely with putting Prince Fielder in that deal. He was signed, he did what was expected of him. He had an insurance Policy, so nobody was "on the hook," with paying for him. Had he retired, it just would have saved the Insurance company.
He had a freak neck injury, but he was a great player who PLAYED EVERY DAY before...so, definitely not a bad deal.
Thanks! Your posts game shows are the bomb. Your other videos are well researched and very informative. Keep up the good work.
Thank you so much!!! 👊
So wait, people getting 200 million plus contracts and not doing a thing is better then Ellsbury's deal? Doesn't compute.
Awesome video. It is amazing how much money some of these owners have to just throw away. As a Braves fan, I have another player you can add to your list, Bruce Sutter. The Braves paid him a fortune to come over from the Cardinals and he basically retired on the job. They paid him a fortune to not pitch. Ugh.
The more amazing thing is players wonder why some owners dont want to pay those big long term contracts.
Davis got screwed over massively, MLB making him stop taking his ADHD meds was nothing short of evil, having ADHD myself it’s no surprise to me that he could no longer see the baseball like he could because depending on the type he has, he could be seeing multiple baseballs or seeing the baseball move differently because of hyperactive symptoms, at least he got a huge pay day, but everyone got screwed over on that deal. The fans especially
I wonder how many players have ADHD. Just curious. I have it and my life has been a struggle.
I do hope Chris Davis is seen differently in the future. The man has ADHD the one good season he had he was on his medications but MLB considers that medication as a performance enhancing drug.
Hopefully MLB changes its views and allows players like Davis play while showing paperwork of their medication and why he’s “positive” this is a bad contract solely because of MLB not Davis and the orioles fault.
Yeah ADHD meds (even if they're using them recreationally honestly because 162 games at 9 innings a game is a very boring experience when you're not a playoff contender), weed, and psychedelics have very little, if any affect on performance. If they want to fine a player a few thousand bucks for showing up stoned or something, fine, but suspensions should only be for anabolic steroids.
Give me a break. He was awful. Maybe the worst MLB player ever. Terrible contact. Maybe the worst ever. ADHD is an excuse. He sucked.
Kevin brown
I have ADHD too. Gimme drugs. Gimme drugs.
Give me a break.
Pretty unfortunate if you're an Angels' fan to see 3 of the top 10 worst contracts on HBB's list.
But I have a couple of other recommendations:
Carl Crawford's 7 year $142M deal with the Red Sox/Dodgers was hideous
Andruw Jones' 2 year $36M deal deserves a 'dishonorable mention' as well lol
Jason Schmidt who left your Giants for my Dodgers got a 3 year $47M deal despite LA knowing he had a torn rotator cuff. He only made 10 starts with LA.
Jose Reyes' 6 year $106M deal with Miami in 2011. I remember picking up the newspaper the next morning and a lot of writers were baffled that a SS of his caliber got that deal.
@@brianchua4240 that whole 2012 marlins off season bad deals desperation for a new yard personified mat latos heath bell and even the manager Ozzie guillen
Crawford's signing was just poor decision making on behalf of Boston's management. He was already getting older, and a little slower.
Angels fan here. I remember when they signed rendon, the general thought among fans was,”ok, we kinda like him, but we desperately need pitching, we don’t really need another bat.” We were already disappointed, before we knew he wasn’t going to produce anything whatsoever.
@@MegaRussell12 I’m surprised the Mo Vaughn deal didn’t make the list.
@@orwellz180Seriously. 6 years, $80million (in 1998) injures himself going after a foul popup in opening day and proceeds to underachieve for two years. Doesn't play at all in year 3. Angels trade him to the Mets for a past-his-prime Kevin Appier and promptly win their only World Series
A little off topic, but Erik you're wrong for that picture of Pablo in the red shirt/shorts with his stomach hanging out! 😂😂😂😂
Baseball is not a priority, when you get paid 35,000,000 millions to play, dude is a legend.
that tweet is really funny though, the one he says that he ate is 95 mil contract
Javier Baez definitely makes this list once his contract is up.
And when there is a Clubhouse Cancer list, Baez will lead the list.
Yes he does. The Tigers really took off once he got hurt. Should have just D'fad him.
@@deathminder9206 we can only hope in Detroit that he gets DFA'd. Luckily the Tigers got Sweeney in that deal for Flaherty. Such a horrible batter. I could stomach it more if he actually had an upside, such as for as many strike outs he gets, there's some sweet homeruns...? But no.
@@Syrinx_Hobbitthey said he's the starting SS
Hey, loved the video! And I definitely enjoyed the “ mentions” being included. The Anthony Rendón contract deserves to be in this list…. I’m glad you put him. I used to be a fan of his… emphasis on the “ used to”. 💔❤️🩹. I loved Pablo coming back to the Giants. It’s wild that that actually happened! I cry a tear for the sudden ( in a sense) heartbreaking end to Mad Bum’s career, but I know he fought hard and played his heart out for the game he obviously loved, for as long as he could. Saludos Mad Bum! You won our hearts. 💘❤️🩹 ⚾️
( I wasn’t trying to make it sound like he died or anything. ) seriously. I missed having the Bum on the Giants!!!!
NO MAD BUM!!! I shake my head at that. He was a truly beloved and fan favorite with his snot rockets. He fell apart when he got to the Diamondbacks. Then there’s the Panda yi yi yi…. as he became out of shape after leaving the Giants for the Red Sox. Talking about 2 fan favorites of the Giants that couldn’t keep the momentum after leaving the Giants. All we can do is thanking the 2 for helping the Giants win the 3 World Series Championships.
Angels can also add Matthew Jr, Justin Upton, and Mo Vaughan with Rendon, Puljos, and Hamilton.
As well as Mike Trout, just take a look at all those playoffs he’s gotten the Angels into
The Angels are a MLB club that is only good at one thing - giving out multi-year, multi-hundred million-dollar contracts to players who SUCK after they sign them.
Good and accurate comment about Barry Zito!! I still love ❤️ him for his 2012 season and the playoffs!!
Patrick Corbin should have been a dishonorable mention. Although I'm not a Nationals fan, I'm still amazed at how bad he's been since signing that deal.
"I can't believe the Phillies picked Wheeler over Corbin."- Jomboy
Talk about a bad take😂
More amazing is that they keep trotting him out there…
Don't Worry in a couple of years he will make the list. Crazy how the Nationals pulled off that WS and then so many of their good players just went to hell in a hand basket.
You had all the guys I immediately think of when this topic comes up. You never fail to impress.
As a Jays fan, I was surprised Vernon Wells didn't make the cut. Man was he AWFUL after he got traded!
Rendón was the worst I've ever seen, since these other players at least had a good seasons but Rendón never won a GG plus never hit 30 homers and yet angels gave him 245! Angel GM should be fired!!!
A fistful come to mind for this Mariners fan from the Bill Bavasi era: Richie Sexson, Jose Vidro, Carlos Silva, and Chone Figgins. We still haven't 100% recovered from how badly he depleted the farm system with those and other deals to this day.
Poor Mo Vaughn. Doesn't even make these lists anymore.
Joey Belle was a bad too if I remember right.
@@deathminder9206noooo
Honorable mention for Jose Abreu of the Astros. Astros cut him still owing him over half of his 3yr $59m deal. He was the worst 1b in MLB. Maybe he's saved bc he did show up momentarily in the 2023 post szn. This szn, literally the worst 1b I've ever seen. Made up for his .362 OPS with horrid defense.
That pos will def be on the list as an honarable mention once he retired. It was not long enough of a contract to make a top 10.
If Strasburg isn't #1 then I don't know who could be worse.
This is wild! Some of these contracts really make you wonder what the teams were thinking. It’s crazy how much risk comes with long-term deals in baseball. I’ve also been digging into how players rise to stardom-these bad contracts add a whole new layer to the business side of the game!
If we keep seeing enough of these bad guaranteed contracts, it's just a matter of time before MLB goes to the basic NFL contract format where nothing is guaranteed, which is the way it should be. Nobody should be getting paid millions of dollars while they're injured or not performing to the level expected.
Better nfl players still get guaranteed contracts fyi. Say hi to Watson on the browns
@@WaddickLawnCare Yes, we all know that. I've edited my post to dummyfy it.
The lack of guaranteed money in the NFL will never make it to baseball. Just think about these pitchers that they tell to throw every pitch as hard as they can, then the inevitable injury happens-they don’t get paid? Not every contract in football is guaranteed for injury.
@@sepewrath I've always felt that a person should get paid what they've earned. The team is paying for a certain level of output, and if they don't get that, they shouldn't have to pay that much. Injury is a part of every sport, and many athletes don't earn when they're injured, such as drivers, golfers & tennis players. Baseball players should get MLB minimum when on the injured list for over 30 days and subject to contract termination if they can't perform. Imagine a team sitting on a $30M/yr player that they owe for the next 6 yrs & he can't play.
Wow. Can't believe you ranked Rendon only 10th on the list...
If I knew that, I would've watched the entire video just to see whose contract's were worse.
I don’t know about the actual money situation as far as actual payouts, but those outrageous deals handed to Oliver Perez (Mets) and Rusney Castillo (Red Sox) for a lot of nothing in return, makes one wish for the Reserve Clause to come back.
Albert Pujols return to St. Louis in his final year of his Hall of Fame Career was highly underrated!
You mean his final year where pitchers were gifting him balls right down the plate to get him over the 700 hump? I like pujols, but him getting 700 felt the same as when Favre just fell over and let Michael Strahan fall on him to break the single season sack record. Players shouldnt be gifted records.
Wayne Garland signed a then big contract with the Cleveland Indians before the 1977 season, a 10 year $2.3 million dollar deal. He was coming off a 20 win season the year before in Baltimore. In the first year of the contract he went 13-19, leading MLB in losses. Over the next 4 seasons he went a combined 15-29, and never playing again after the 1981 season because of injuries. He spent the last 5 years of his contract with the team, charting pitches from the press box
Imagine complaining about about how many games he has to play 💀
Rawly Eastwick, 5 years, $1.1 million with the Yankees in 1978 after two World Series seasons in Cincinnati. Eastwick was traded to Philadelphia midway through the 1978 season.
Homer Bailey's 6 year, $105 million contract in 2014 deserves at least an honorable mention.
What about Mike Hampton's disastrous contract with the Rockies? Second biggest contract in MLB at the time, after two seasons of rubbish pitching, they traded him to the Marlins (along with top prospect Juan Pierre as bait to get the Marlins to take him).
They immediately traded Hampton to the Braves.
Especially over and above the ARod contract. Helped them win a World Series...Hampton didn't even help them win games!
Mike Hampton helped the Mets eventually draft David Wright, Juan Pierre going with him to the Marlins helped the Marlins with a lead off hitter to win a World Series, so Mike Hampton is actually good for something after all
A couple of ex-Nats on here, though I am surprised Strasburg is not on this list… he did retire recently. Also I think Fielder’s contract was split among the Rangers, Tigers and insurance. Great vid!
No Mike Hampton? That Rockies contract (8 years, 121 million) was an all time blunder
That was a bad one for sure
Hey, don't disrespect my man's. He hit over .300 one of those years lol.
@@HummBabyBaseball Maybe make a new list but make it the worst 20 with some new honarble mentions.
@@somerandomguy5977 As an Astros fan who got the good Mike Hampton, his hitting was defintely good. Hell he could probably start a DH now for a couple of teams.
Please do a part 2 of this!! I love these lists so much!!
Have they "officially" changed the Mendoza line, for Chris Davis?
It just doesn't have the same ring to it but they must have hated this guy in Baltimore.
Ah Baltimore. The only time, in my many adventures, traveling across the country have I had to change hotels, when we first noticed 3 circular holes, in the window!!
Once we had a chance to look around, we found two shell casings and spots of blood, on the ceiling and upper wall.
I gtfoed faster than I ever had before!! Crazy
Sounds like Chris Davis had the room before you.
1989: Nick Esasky signed a 3 year 5.6 million dollar contract with the Atlanta Braves. He played nine games and never played again due to an inner ear infection which led to vertigo.
Probably too small for this list but maybe he should make a new list with old contracts based on today's dollars.
How TF Bobby Bonilla not on this list?
Nick Esasky by Atlanta in 1989, developed vertigo and never drove in a run for them.
Boy, being reminded of that Ryan Howard extension is still depressing as hell. I still remember seeing that last at bat he had against my Cardinals in that epic 2011 playoff series and going from "yay we won" to "geezus christ that guy might not walk again" at the drop of a hat.
As an O's fan, I have to agree with your number one. SMH. You also forgot to mention the decline coincided with the lack of Adderall. Weird coincidence I know.
0:01 thought this was Alex Jones about to talk baseball 😂
You know I actually predicted that Pablo would decline. He was way too upset about the diet the Giants put him on
Erik what about the Steven Strasburg contract? I know it's technically an active contract but he is retired and the Nationals are still paying him a ton. He's done basically nothing for them since he signed that contract. I agree with Rendon being on the list but I would take the Rendon contract over the Strasburg contract every day of the week. At least Rendon isn't guaranteed to never play again and at least the Angels won't owe Rendon anything after his contract is over. The Nats will owe Stras for a very long time and they know his career is over. Also, I would put Mike Hampton on the list too. At one point he was the highest paid player in baseball. There's also the huge Miguel Cabrera extension when he still has multiple years left on his previous contract.
I love it when you make these videos. They are my favorite topic and you are one of my very favorite channels. I would consider Strasburg and Hampton to both be worse than MadBum though. They were both more expensive and neither really even played at all. Also, the Strasburg contract wasn't insured. No insurance company would agree to insure it. So just like the Rangers with deGrom, the Nationals are stuck paying Strasburg every penny of his contract for a very long time out of their own pocket.
Great video Erik. I love it!
Does anyone currently know the value of Clayton Kershaw‘s contract, I’m almost very certain that he will never effectively pitch again for the Dodgers
@@yell0wberry The current contract I think was just a 1-year deal. Ironically though I would say Kershaw probably received and signed the most expensive contract in MLB history that actually worked out from beginning to end. Kershaw's biggest contract was a 7-year $215M deal and he was worth every penny from the beginning to the end. Scherzer's with the Nationals was another one but his was actually less expensive at only $210M. Some people might argue A-Rod's first big contract but that actually didn't work out for the team at all as the Rangers had to trade him away and eat over $9M per year just to be able to have enough money to compete as they were always a last place team with his salary on their payroll. Manny Machado's first contract with the Padres went well but he opted out after only being paid $150M and now his extension has been an unmitigated disaster. Kershaw at $215M is still the most expensive contract in MLB history that worked out from beginning to end. Every contract that paid more than $215M has ended badly for the team that offered it. Also ironic, Kershaw & Scherzer as well as Verlander should all retire at the end of the season IMO. They don't seem to have anything left in the tank. So should Rich Hill and maybe even Charlie Morton. Their salaries seem to outweigh their production and hurt their team more than anything. They are also all 4 in their 40's and are damaging their career stats by playing at such a late age. I am 99% certain Rich Hill and Verlander will retire at the end of the season. The other 3 should as well. Great careers but it time to hang it up and go out with style
@@matthew01234 I hope you had a chance to actually exhale after you wrote all of this, it’s pretty simple, no player in baseball gets signed to contracts of this magnitude to put up pretty stats, especially in a big market city. Teams pay you this kind of money to win championships, if production isn’t inductive to championships, it was a waste of time, as far as a waste of money, the owners are not the ones paying for it, the season-ticket holders are
You are so right about Strausberg
It seams like the pitchers with the curves always get hurt
The immediate post-contract collapses are suspicious. You wonder how many of these guys just stop caring at all about competing once they're guaranteed a bazillion dollars. A few of them like Rendon pretty much admit it openly.
i'm starting to see a pattern there
This is the reason a family can't even go to a game without getting a second mortgage
thanks largely in part to guys like boras
Free agency is always a crap shoot. You may get a Juan Soto or you may get an Anthony Rendon. You pays your money, you takes your chances.
It seems like whenever players get their big contracts they immediately check out.
How is it possible strausburg is not on this list???? Wow it should be number 1,2,3,4,5!!!!!!! 245 million for 30 innings and an era north of 7 that’s outrageous
I know the money was much different back then. But Bobby Bonilla was paid by the Mets for YEARS after he was done. And he never produced in NY like he did in Pitt.
Wasn't George Foster the first huge bust when he left the Reds for the Mets? I remember when Chris Davis started the year 0-67 what good times. Prince Fielder played 1 year on a 10 year contract. Albert Belle cost himself the HOF because of his contract. He stayed active for 4 years just being paid by the Orioles. However his 5 year waiting period put him 10 years from his playing days.
You neglected to mention Bumgarners second career, as rodeo rider "Mason Saunders" The "dirt bike" injury may or may not have been a rodeo injury, but he kept doing it during the rest of the SF contract and the Diamondbacks knew about it when they signed him.
Idk if it’s an all timer but what Jason Bay did in NY after all those monster years in Pittsburgh and Boston was devastating
I was looking for him.
I love your all-time lists. I’m not as much of a fan these days to watch all of your videos, but I will always tune in into all top 10 videos of yours.
A-Rod always perform when he was on the field eh I think he’s an honorable mention at best. There was definitely worse players who bottomed out or didn’t play because of injuries like Carl Pavano, Alex Gordon, Stephen Strasburg, Chris Sale, Mike Sweeney, Robinson Cano, Jason Bay, Eric Hosmer, Andruw Jones, Carl Crawford, Ubaldo Jimenez, Andre Either, Eric Chavez, Yoenis Cespedes Josh Donaldson, Mike Hampton, etc
Don’t forget all those playoff appearances by Yasiel Puig
Any hitter would love to have Pujols numbers during the second half of his career. They were only sub par compared to the Cardinals version of Pujols. Those numbers would be bankable by todays standards.
Cardinals dodged a bullet but letting him go and then they got a great final year out of him.
@@deathminder9206 When I look at the numbers that are considered worthy of the contract he signed with the Angels these days I disagree. Pujols Cardinals numbers would warrant him 40 million a year for 10 years by todays standards. That Angels contract would have been just a little above his market value.
😂 As soon as you said you were avoiding current contracts "except one", I actually said aloud, "Rendon".
Big if - If Rendon played up to his current contract, the Angels had a trio (Ohtani, Trout, and Rendon) to contend every year. If that was the case, I bet Ohtani would still be an Angel. The recent decline of the Angels has everything to do with Rendon being one of the worst FA signings of all time.
At the end of his contract Jordan Zimmerman was literally a batting practice pitcher 😢
Nick Esasky, Braves 1990. After a career year with the Red Sox in 89 signed big contract with Atlanta. Came down with vertigo and only lasted 9 games.
The Angels are the all-time crappiest team at signing free agents. And then they finally get a guy who's a player for the ages they don't re-sign him, and even let him escape to their territorial rivals. What a ridiculous organization. And weirdly enough, this is the organization that Mike Trout chose to stay with out of "loyalty," or something. And look how that's worked out. Like most of their long-term signings, Trout hardly even plays anymore.
They never had a chance to resign him. The big mistake was not trading him last year.
Ellsbury really didn't turn into a mediocre player with speed when he joined the Yankees, outside of his monster year in 2011, that's who he was in Boston. His OPS+ was under 100 4/7 seasons with the Red Sox and his last season with the Red Sox was 113 and his first year with the Yankees it was 111.
Although not 5+ year contracts, Carl Pavano-Yankees and Jason Bay-NYM- terrible contracts
I’ll be sure to discuss these points with Yoannis Cespedes, as well as Carlos Rodan
Imagine coming to your workplace 2 days a week and still complaining about how much do you have to work. The shamelessness and arrogance of Rendon is just something else.
162 games is too long to be fair. Its twice the length of any other sports league and lasts 75 percent of the year. It's hard to stay interested that long with so many other options
That’s definitely accurate. Baseball back in time did not have this many games in a season, it’s nothing more than the owners trying to justify over 80 games at their venues.
Was waiting for Chris Davis the whole way. Thanks for getting it right. God was he awful. And usually hitting fifth or sixth in the order. Completely destroyed the lineup. Amazingly enough, Orioles had the league leader in home runs 4 years in a row from 2013 to 2016. Davis, Nelson Cruz, Davis, and Mark Trumbo - remember him?
Ellsbury is a true Sox hero. Gave us all his good years, then turned around and absolutely fleeced the Yankees. They should retire his number just for that.
@@diegobrandomtg Paid him like a perennial MVP candidate when he was merely "good" in all Boston seasons except one. Cashman is incompetent.
Yep, you go them on that one.
And just think these contracts are a bargain compared to the contracts in the NFL and the NBA.
The correct answer for this list is Arte Moreno.
The Jacob DeGrom contract might end up being one of the worst ever. 5 yrs, $185. He's good when he's healthy, but he's rarely healthy anymore. In the first two years of the contract he's made only 9 starts and pitched only 40 innings. This shouldn't be a surprise; in his last three years with the Mets he averaged less that 13 starts and about 75 innings per season. In 2022, his last season with the Mets, although he did pitch well in the wild card series, he didn't make his first start until August 2, he started only 11 games, and his poor pitching in September cost the Mets the division crown. (The Mets lost 3 of his last 4 starts, in which his WPA was negative in all four games, his ERA was 6.00, he gave up 6 home runs, and opposing hitters hit .247/.279/.519 against him.)
that bastard, he was healthy enough to dominate the dodgers in 2015
The Mets insured Wright's contract, and got their money back. No business being mentioned here.
As a Bosox fan, I still hate Pablo Sandoval for not really trying very hard during his Red Sox stint. Got fat (literally and figuratively) and cushy, I think the Hanley Ramirez was pretty trashy as well. What a colossal waste of money and a bum. But poor Angels, with their history of horrendous contracts.
I’m totally expecting Brett Cecil’s Cardinals contract to be on here
Since the Angels signed Rendon they’ve started more guys at 3B than the Nationals have
Bobby Bonilla deal with the Mets is the worse. This was the deal put together when Mets front Office was in chaos. The GM at the time Steve Phillips was caught in one of his multiple extra marital affair and took a leave of absence, they brought back an aging Frank Cashin who was the GM years prior who eventually gave him a deferred deal for 25 years and paid him 1.2M every year. Brett Saberhagen got like the original deferred deal from the Mets, but at a lower cost of 250k for 25 years - this was what gave the Mets the idea on deferral payments. This goes back to the Bernie Madoff days when the Mets ownership was heavily invested with Madoff.
Idk about now days but back in the pujols big contract days I feel like power hitters are the most overpaid players in sports. Not just because they are not guaranteed to hit homers all the time but the other team does not even have to throw to them if they don’t want to. Hundreds of millions for a guy who gets intentionally walked all the time. Idk maybe I’m wrong that just always stuck out to me
In 2005, the Dbacks signed Russ Ortiz to a four year, 33 million dollar contract. In today's money, that would be close to 70 million. He had -3.2 bWAR, only to get released in his second year, bounce around the league, and continued to pitch like crap.
i think when its all said and done Javier Baez's contract will end up being 5x worse than Chris Davis for 1 main reason. At least with Davis, he could act as the tank commander for an Orioles team that had no chance of winning anyways. Baez, on the other hand, is hurting the Tigers during a time where they are actually attempting to make playoff runs. timing is everything and the timing of the Baez contract is hurting the Tigers a lot more than Davis did with the Orioles.
O's fan here.
Yeah, signing Davis for that long was a huge mistake.
His decline (and contract) wasn't something a contending team would want in a trade.
Machado and Schoop (homegrown talent) were shipped off for practically nothing.
Guaranteed contracts in pro sports? No way. These the crazy owners getting involved?
aaron hicks' last yankees contract was nauseating
Hicks couldn't hit a curveball with a boat paddle.
@@sporteggs Cashman is incompetent
My beloved Orioles literally bid against themselves to sign Chris "KO" Davis, if I am not mistaken he is still on the Orioles payroll.
Anthony Rendon,
As im sure many can relate, i work about 260 days of a 365 day schedule for less than 1% of your salary sir
Ryan Howard was pretty good in The Office, though ... so there's that.
The Wander Franco deal looks pretty damn terrible right now...
They will get out of that contract once the conviction comes down.
Positive on BJ (Bossman Jr) Upton. They also got a draft pick from the San Diego trade that was used to draft Austin Riley.
Without watching the whole entire video yet Jacoby Ellsbury better be on here lol
Oh he is there
They're all overpaid, so if teams bend over and take it sometimes, I won't lose any sleep.
I probably wouldn’t have breezed passed that Robinson Canoe contract with the Mariners so easily….. oh yeah, how’s that contract with Mike Trout going? If Shohei Ohtani makes it to the World Series, he would have had more playoff experience in one season than Mike Trout would’ve had in his entire career.
It is not Trout's fault they have only make the playoffs once with him. This is not basketball, one single guy cannot carry you there, but his contract will make this list in the future if he continues to be injured.
You have to remember Ryan Howard wasnt the same player adter tearing his Achilles. Phillies couldnt have foreseen that but the nats (in my opinion) could figure out rendon wasnt worth that much