Introducing MLB's 2023 All-Overpaid Team
A lot of very rich Major League Baseball players are robbing their teams blind.
Per Spotrac, there are 155 currently rostered players making at least $10 million in 2023, and that list doesn't even include guys like Madison Bumgarner, Kolton Wong and Aaron Hicks who were making big bucks before getting designated for assignment. (Don't worry. We made sure to include them here.)
To put it lightly, those 155+ players aren't all worth what they're getting. In fact, a bunch of them are getting eight-figure salaries while producing at a below-replacement level, per Baseball Reference.
We'll discuss two overpaid players at each position as well as five starting pitchers and five relief pitchers.
The examples aren't all as drastic as Stephen Strasburg getting $35 million for another season completely lost to the IL or Miguel Cabrera making $32 million in what is mercifully the final year of that albatross of a deal. But owners would void just about every single one of these contracts if they could.
This 28-player All-Overpaid Team is making a combined total of $542 million in 2023. Even factoring in the luxury tax, the Mets won't be paying that much this season. It's also more than nine times what the Oakland A's are paying their players.
Yet, through Saturday morning, these players were worth a cumulative negative-9.5 bWAR.
Might want to have some anti-nausea medicine nearby for this one.
Catcher
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Worst ROI: Yasmani Grandal, Chicago White Sox
$18.25 million, -0.3 bWAR
It's telling that Grandal is still on Chicago's roster when its approach to the trade deadline was "unload any impending free agent with any value."
To his credit, Grandal has been better than he was last year for the same price. His OPS has gone up almost 100 points from where it was at in 2022.
However, improving from "downright unplayable" to "replacement level" is no way to avoid this list's wrath. And even after a near 100 point increase, we're still talking about a pedestrian .665 OPS that would have been the worst of his career prior to last season.
Grandal did most of his good early in the year, too. Dating back to June 17, he has triple-slashed .186/.287/.266.
Runner-Up: Christian Vázquez, Minnesota Twins
$10 million, -0.2 bWAR
When the Twins signed Vázquez to a three-year, $30 million deal this offseason, they knew they weren't getting Joe Mauer 2.0, but they rather hoped he would hit to some degree. From 2019-22, Vázquez was a .271 hitter with a .734 OPS. He is presently at .227 and .586, respectively. And while he is a solid defensive catcher, it sure stings for a small-market club to pay $10 million a year for that level of production at the plate.
First Base
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Worst ROI: José Abreu, Houston Astros
$19.5 million, -1.0 bWAR
Let's begin on a positive note by pointing out that Abreu definitely improved after a hellacious start to the year.
Through the first 50 games in his new home, the 2020 AL MVP was batting .214 and slugging .250 with no home runs. In his next 51 games, Abreu hit .281 and slugged .480 with 10 home runs.
That's a night and day difference. And if he was hitting .281 and slugging .480 over the course of the full season, no one would complain an ounce, as it's pretty much exactly what Vladimir Guerrero Jr. did for the Blue Jays in 2022.
But the overall year-to-date numbers don't justify the many Benjamins that Abreu is getting.
Worse yet, Abreu—who had spent a grand total of around 35 days on the IL in his first nine seasons in Chicago—is currently on the shelf with a lingering back issue.
Not the most promising start to a three-year relationship with the 36-year-old.
Runner-Up: Rhys Hoskins, Philadelphia Phillies
$12 million, has not played
Joey Votto ($25 million), Josh Bell ($16.5 million) and Joey Gallo ($11 million) were also viable candidates for this spot, each making eight figures for marginally better than replacement level production. But at least those three guys are doing something while Hoskins is making $12 million to rehab from the torn ACL suffered late in spring training. Will be mighty interesting to see what Hoskins' market is in free agency coming off that injury.
Second Base
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Worst ROI: Kolten Wong, Seattle Mariners
$10 million, -1.3 bWAR
The Kolten Wong for Jesse Winker trade from this past December has to be one of the most mutually disastrous swaps in MLB history.
Winker is making $8.25 million, has spent half the season on the IL, has slugged .247 as Milwaukee's most oft-used DH...and the Brewers indisputably got the better end of the deal, as Wong cost more and produced less before the Mariners finally cut him in early August.
The decline came out of nowhere, too. Wong was worth at least 2.9 bWAR in each of 2018, 2019, 2021 and 2022, and was on pace to be in the same ballpark if 2020 had been a full season. He hit .266, had a .758 OPS, stole 64 bases and won a pair of Gold Gloves over the course of that half-decade.
Then he landed in Seattle and completely imploded.
In 64 games, Wong hit .165, had an unfathomably bad .468 OPS, stole just one base (granted, he wasn't on base often) and didn't even give the M's replacement-level defense.
Frankly, it's a surprise they waited until after the trade deadline to cut him. Maybe they thought a team would offer them literally anything for him and the phone just never rang.
Runner-Up: Tommy La Stella, San Francisco Giants
$11.5 million, -0.1 bWAR
La Stella wasn't the most expensive fully sunk cost released in the offseason. Jason Heyward is still costing the Cubs $22 million, which is the same amount of money that the Cincinnati Reds ate in releasing Mike Moustakas over the winter. But at least both of those veterans have been serviceable in their new homes. The Giants paid La Stella $11.5 million to go away, and he barely made it a month before also cutting cut by the Mariners—who, again, have had an absolute disaster of a second base situation and could have really used La Stella if he had any value left in the tank.
Third Base
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Worst ROI: Anthony Rendon, Los Angeles Angels
$38.6 million, 0.1 bWAR
Have we reached the point yet where this is the worst contract in MLB history?
Yes, Stephen Strasburg signed the exact same seven-year, $245 million contract with the Nationals in 2019 and has made just eight appearances with a 6.89 ERA since then. And, yes, Miguel Cabrera is putting the finishing touches on an eight-year, $240 million deal with the Tigers in which he has been worth -2.3 bWAR over the final seven seasons.
But at least those guys were awesome for quite a few years for those teams before getting what turned out to be disastrous contracts. Both are strong, if not no-brainer candidates to be added to their team's ring of honor one day down the line.
Comparatively, Rendon has given the Angels nothing but regret.
Well, that's not entirely true. He was solid in 2020. Credit where it's due.
But since the beginning of 2021, Rendon has appeared in just 148 games, batting .235 and slugging .364. During that same time, Miguel Cabrera has batted .255 and slugged .351 while appearing in 312 games.
So, Rendon has spent roughly two-thirds of the past three seasons on the IL, and on the off chance he isn't injured, has merely produced at a well-past-his-prime Miggy level.
All while making so much money that the Angels might not be able to re-sign their once in a lifetime superstar this offseason.
That is brutal.
Runner-Up: Josh Donaldson, New York Yankees
$21 million, 0.1 bWAR
With an honorable mention to Yoán Moncada making $17.8 million for -0.5 bWAR, we'll go with Donaldson here while making plans to put Moncada in this spot next year when his salary balloons to $24.8 million. Because at least Moncada is batting above the Mendoza Line. Donaldson has appeared in just 33 games, batting .142, and he might miss the rest of the season with a calf injury. Sure, 10 of his 15 hits were home runs, but .142 for crying out loud. The bringer of rain has become the bringer of pain for Yankees fans.
Shortstop
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Worst ROI: Tim Anderson, Chicago White Sox
$12.5 million, -1.7 bWAR
Anderson entered 2023 as arguably the best contact hitter in baseball, batting .318 from 2019-22. And with 97 career home runs over the previous seven seasons, we're talking about a great contact hitter with a legitimate amount of pop, too.
Lo and behold, Anderson is hitting just .238 in his age-30 season, and has knocked a ball out of the park as many times as he has been knocked out by a José Ramírez right hook.
Anderson did heat up for a bit there out of the All-Star Break, batting .378 in his first 11 games of the second half. But then he hit .196 over the next 14 games and is currently serving the suspension coming from that fight.
His value added on defense has also gone down the drain. He was never a Gold Glove shortstop, but he at least used to be better than average on defense. That is no longer the case.
At $12.5 million, Anderson is barely one of the 10 highest-paid shortstops this season. And there's no denying that Carlos Correa ($33.3 million), Javier Báez ($22 million) and Brandon Crawford ($16 million) have failed to live up to their salaries. But at least those guys haven't been "flirting with dead last in bWAR among all position players" bad like Anderson is.
Runner-Up: Carlos Correa, Minnesota Twins
$33.3 million, 1.3 bWAR
After all the offseason hullabaloo involving Correa and his medical history, I thought an extra motivated Correa would churn out the best season of his career. But the only thing he is doing at a high level is grounding into more double plays than anyone in baseball (23). At .230, Correa is on track for the worst batting average of his career—though at least he has recovered a bit from sitting at .204 a week into June.
Left Field
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Worst ROI: Kyle Schwarber, Philadelphia Phillies
$20 million, -0.6 bWAR
On the one hand, Schwarber is one of just eight players to have hit at least 30 home runs this season. Few players can tattoo a baseball quite like Philadelphia's primary leadoff hitter does on a fairly regular basis.
On the other hand, Schwarber is batting .182 and slugging .432 in spite of being one of the top home run hitters in the league.
Dating back to 2000, there have now been 680 cases of a player hitting at least 30 home runs in a season. And among that club, 2023 Schwarber has the worst batting average and the second-worst slugging percentage. (Rougned Odor somehow slugged .397 while hitting 30 home runs in 2017.)
On top of that, Schwarber is just about indisputably the biggest defensive liability in the majors, with both Baseball Reference's dWAR and FanGraphs' Defense rating giving him the worst grade.
Of his 542 plate appearances, 32 have been great. But at what cost?
Runner-Up: Michael Brantley, Houston Astros
$12 million, Has not played
Since suffering a torn labrum in June 2022, Brantley has not appeared in an MLB game. The Astros re-signed him to a one-year deal, hoping he would be good to go for the majority of this season. Unfortunately, he reaggravated his shoulder injury while on a rehab assignment in late April and is just now approaching a return to action. Maybe he'll do enough in September and October for this to not feel like a complete waste of $12 million, but that is currently the situation for Houston.
Center Field
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Worst ROI: Aaron Hicks, New York Yankees
$10.5 million, -0.6 bWAR
Yes, we are well aware that Hicks was scooped up by the Orioles and has churned out his best production of the past half-decade while playing on a nearly everyday basis in Baltimore.
But as far as the Yankees are concerned, the return on investment here was a nightmare—and not just in 2023.
Hicks signed a seven-year, $70 million extension with the Yankees in February 2019, after which he immediately became a replacement-level player.
Between 2017-18, Hicks hit 42 home runs and had a bWAR of 8.3.
From the beginning of 2019 through when he was cut in May of this season with a .188 batting average, Hicks hit 31 home runs and had a cumulative bWAR of 2.7.
The Yankees still owe him $9.5 million next year and $11.5 million in 2025, but they decided to just turn that money into a sunk cost rather than both paying him and playing him at the detriment of the team.
That Hicks has become a legitimate asset again for a division rival is just salt in the wound for Yankees fans.
Runner-Up: Byron Buxton, Minnesota Twins
$15.1 million, 0.8 bWAR
With Buxton, you simply expect there to be significant chunks of the season spent on the IL. From 2019-22, he played in just 279 of 546 possible games. That's barely 50 percent. But at least he had an .874 OPS and a solid glove in center when he did play. This year, he has a .731 OPS. And despite exclusively serving as DH (or a pinch hitter) to reduce the possibility of injury, Buxton is presently on the IL for the second time this season.
Right Field
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Worst ROI: Kris Bryant, Colorado Rockies
$28 million, -0.6 bWAR
In 2022, the first season of Bryant's seven-year, $182 million deal with the Rockies was a tantalizing bust. He appeared in just 42 games, making three separate trips to the IL, each one longer than the one before it.
But like Byron Buxton, at least Bryant was productive when healthy. In 25 games played between the second and third IL stints, he triple-slashed .330/.398/.567 with five home runs, ending the year with a .306 batting average.
That hasn't been the case this year.
He did make it two whole months before his first trip to the IL this season—he's currently on the IL for the second time—but in 65 games played, Bryant is batting .251 and slugging .379. Those are the worst marks of his career in any season with at least 35 games played.
He has also been more of a detriment on defense than usual, committing three errors in just 396 innings of work in right field.
But, hey, for another half-decade, there's always next year.
Runner-Up: Starling Marte, New York Mets
$20.75 million, -0.7 bWAR
Of all the things that went horribly awry for the Mets this season, Marte has been the biggest disappointment. They certainly expected more out of Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander for a combined $86.7 million, but at least those old arms were respectable before they were traded away. Marte just dropped off a cliff to the tune of a .625 OPS after five consecutive years at .770 or better. The former two-time Gold Glove recipient has also become a considerable negative on defense. And he's still signed for another two years.
Designated Hitter
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Co-Worst ROI: Miguel Cabrera, Detroit Tigers
$32 million, -0.1 bWAR
Co-Worst ROI: Giancarlo Stanton, New York Yankees
$32 million, -0.1 bWAR
Both Cabrera and Stanton are making $32 million this season for what amounts to a whole lot of nothing.
With Cabrera, it is what it is. The soon-to-be Hall of Famer is now 40 years old and is simply playing out the string on a contract that has been weighing Detroit down for many moons. We take no joy in pointing out how invaluable this legend has been, but the ROI here is brutal.
Cabrera has actually been marginally less harmful this season than he was in any of the past six, though. And on the rare occasions that he does add to his career home run total, it's an awesome moment.
With Stanton, it feels like we are still merely in the early stages of the painful career-ending stretch that Cabrera has just about completed.
He still has plenty of power. Stanton has hit 18 home runs this season, sitting four shy of 400 for his career. But after batting .211 in 2022, he has slipped even further to .202 this year.
And whether you prefer Baseball Reference's OPS+ or FanGraphs wRC+ as your league and park adjusted one-stop shop of value added on offense, this is the first time in his career that Stanton has been below league average, or frankly anywhere close to the league average.
Stanton is signed through 2027 with a club option for 2028, owed at least another $128 million. If this is the beginning of the end for the slugger who turns 34 in November, yikes.
Starting Pitcher
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Worst ROI: Stephen Strasburg, Washington Nationals
$35 million, Has not played
Strasburg has been a sad staple on this overpaid roster over the past four years, as he has logged just 31.1 innings pitched since his seven-year, $245 million contract began. And the "severe nerve damage" reported by Washington Post's Jesse Dougherty in early June may prevent him from ever pitching again.
First Runner-Up: Madison Bumgarner, Arizona Diamondbacks
$23 million, -0.7 bWAR
Among guys who actually pitched this season, Bumgarner was the biggest letdown. He made four starts with a 10.26 ERA before the Diamondbacks gave him the boot. They still owe him $14 million next year, as well as $5 million in deferred payments in each of 2025, 2026 and 2027. However, it was clear in a hurry that they weren't going to make the playoffs by letting him pitch every five days. No one else even bothered to pick Bumgarner up, either, which is hard to believe when even Dallas Keuchel has gotten another chance with the Twins this season.
Second Runner-Up: Carlos Rodón, New York Yankees
$22.8 million, -0.5 bWAR
The Yankees had to wait for more than half of the season before they finally got to use the one noteworthy player they brought in via free agency. And when he was able to make his pinstripes debut, Rodón lasted just one woefully ineffective month before landing back on the IL. It was originally a forearm strain in spring training, later a back injury and now a hamstring injury. They hoped they were getting the Rodón who got Cy Young votes in each of the past two seasons. Sure seems like they got the Rodón who couldn't stay healthy in the half decade before that.
Third Runner-Up: Robbie Ray, Seattle Mariners
$21 million, -0.2 bWAR
It stinks that the 2021 AL Cy Young winner lasted just 3.1 innings (and struggled in that lone start) before suffering an injury that necessitated Tommy John surgery, but the fact of the matter is that Seattle effectively lit $21 million on fire here. Hopefully Ray will be able to make it back early in 2024 and enjoy a healthy final three years of his $115 million contract.
Fourth Runner-Up: Adam Wainwright, St. Louis Cardinals
$17.5 million, -2.3 bWAR
Beyond the "top" four, the list of candidates for this starting rotation was disgustingly long.
Could've gone with Jacob deGrom here, making $30 million to last 30.1 innings before missing the rest of this season and possibly all of 2024. But at least he was really good for those six starts? Lance Lynn, Hyun-Jin Ryu, Martín Pérez and Patrick Corbin were all considered, each producing very little with salaries in the $18.5-$24.5 million range. (Lynn's resurgence since being traded to the Dodgers spared him from our wrath.) Chris Sale, Lance McCullers Jr., Carlos Carrasco and Luis Severino were also viable options.
But the final chapter of Waino's career has been particularly tough to watch.
He did record a rare quality start in a loss to the Mets this past Thursday, lowering his ERA to a still horrific 8.42 through 16 starts. Can't blame the Cardinals for bringing him back for one more season after all he gave them over the years, and here's hoping he gets two more wins to reach 200 for his career. But they maybe wouldn't be sputtering through one of their worst seasons of the past century if they weren't spending $17.5 million for the worst bWAR in all of baseball.
Relief Pitcher
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Worst ROI: Edwin Díaz, New York Mets
$19.65 million, Has not played
In the most infamous and ominous injury of 2023, the Mets closer suffered a nasty knee injury while celebrating a save in the World Baseball Classic. There is still a chance Díaz will pitch this season, as he threw off a mound earlier this week. But, seriously, why bother? The Mets are done. Protect that $102 million arm/knee for next year.
First Runner-Up: Liam Hendriks, Chicago White Sox
$14.3 million, -0.1 bWAR
Far be it from us to throw stones at someone who spent the first few months of 2023 fighting cancer. But if we're including guys who haven't played at all this season due to injury, we have to also include one of the most expensive relievers in the majors who pitched just five innings before undergoing Tommy John surgery.
Second Runner-Up: Rafael Montero, Houston Astros
$11.5 million, -0.5 bWAR
In 117.2 innings pitched between 2021-22, Montero allowed seven home runs. In 51 innings pitched this season, he has allowed 10 home runs. He has been markedly better over the past two months, posting a 1.83 ERA dating back to June 29, allowing just seven hits in his last 19.2 innings of work. But the overall numbers remain pretty ugly.
Third Runner-Up: Robert Suarez, San Diego Padres
$10 million, -0.2 bWAR
After a stellar first season in the majors, the Padres signed Suarez to a five-year, $46 million deal in November. But he was unable to make his season debut until July 21 after opening the year on the IL with elbow inflammation. And in one of his few appearances of the season, he gave up five earned runs in a painful loss to the Dodgers shortly after the trade deadline. Even excluding that dud, though, he hasn't been the same pitcher, currently sporting a strikeout rate less than half of what it was in 2022.
Fourth Runner-Up: Drew Pomeranz, San Diego Padres
$10 million, Has not played
Did you even know Pomeranz is still on San Diego's payroll? He hasn't pitched in the majors since August 2021, when he underwent flexor tendon surgery. He missed all of 2022 while recovering from that, and had another "cleanup" procedure in May of this year. But he reportedly has still been throwing and hopes to make it back this season. For now, though, it's another $10 million that has gone completely to waste in the Padres 'pen.
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