Despite hefty price tags, baseball free-agents don't come with warranties.

As a Major League Baseball general manager, if you play, there's a chance you'll pay. Sometimes free-agent pick-ups work great. The New York Yankees are no strangers to playing the free-agent sweepstakes.

Ironically, in this off-season it is no secret that the Bronx Bombers need starting pitching. In recent years, four of their five worst free-agent signings have been hurlers.

Below is my list of the five worst Yankees free-agent signings in recent off-seasons.

(These stats were tabulated by the author and are not official MLB stats.)

5. P Jaret Wright

Three years, $21 million

16-12, 5.28 ERA, 203.3 IP, 1.32 K/BB

Wright was traded to the Baltimore Orioles after his second year with the Yankees. This was a reach because Wright only had one full-season of success with the Atlanta Braves at the time. He also didn't have a solid playoff showing for the Bombers.

4. 1B Jason Giambi

Seven years, $120 million

209 HR, 604 RBI, 706 SO, .254 AVG

Giambi hit 41 home runs in each of his first two seasons in the Bronx. Then his production tailed-off and his average plummeted. He's awful as a first baseman, but the Yankees had to play him there because he doesn't hit as well when he's the designated hitter. Inking a free-agent to such a big number for so many years is almost certainly going to fail.

3. P Jose Contreras

Four years, $32 million

15-7, 4.47 ERA, 166.2 IP, 2.13 K/BB

In his first season with the Yanks in '03, Contreras had a 22.34 ERA as a starter (7.43 ERA out of the pen), spent two months on the disabled list and had four stints in the minors. The next season, he was inconsistent again and spent a month in the minors. After only a season and a half in the Bronx, he was traded to the White Sox.

2. P Kei Igawa

Five years, $20 million (plus $26 million posting fee)

2-4, 6.65 ERA, 71.2 IP, 1.43 K/BB

Just securing the rights to talk to Igawa came with a whopping $26 million price tag. Can you say, "You had me at konnichiwa?" After losing the Dice-K sweepstakes against the Red Sox, the Yankees just had to have any Japanese pitcher they could get their hands on to keep up with the Epsteins.

1. P Carl Pavano

Four years, $40 million

9-8, 5.00 ERA, 145.2 IP, 2.50 K/BB

Pavano got a huge contract from the team he beat in the World Series. He really only had one solid season with the Florida Marlins. Most of the time, Pavano suffered from a laundry list of injuries, including his buttocks—apparently from sitting on his arse all the time.

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