Biggest Has-Beens in Baseball History

What do the following ballplayers and your Great-Aunt Mildred have in common?

They all overstayed their welcome!

These guys were sitting on top of the world once upon a time, but they just didn't know when to hang it up. Click on through for a list of some of Major League Baseball's biggest has-beens.

Jose Canseco

If Jose Canseco had just sailed into that sweet good night when his playing days ended in 2001, perhaps he would not sit in the governing position of any MLB has-been list. Sure, his stats saw some decline as he entered his mid 30s, but it is his post-playing days antics that have Jose as possibly the biggest has-been the game has ever seen.

In late 2010, Canseco took to his Twitter account to beg Mets general manager Sandy Alderson for a chance to play first base. This request came after several claims that he indeed could still function at the Major League level.

This would not be the end of Canseco's panderings to get back in the game. He spoke out earlier this year to let the Oakland Athletics know he would like to return to the team as their designated hitter. Canseco is now 47 years old and has taken over a decade off from the game.  But he did pop into the theater to see Moneyball—a viewing that spawned his desire to return.

Canseco appears to still be in decent shape for a man his age. But even if he was physically set to return to the field, who would be the one willing to give him a chance?  He has had several run-ins involving drug use since his MLB days, most notably being tossed from the Mexican Baseball League after an admission that he took a banned substance.

Canseco's post-career follies have been nothing short of a public relations nightmare and have assured he will never be assigned to another Major League roster, just in case being nearly 50 and out of practice was not enough.

John Lackey

Thirty-three-year-old Red Sox starting pitcher John Lackey is slated to undergo a Tommy John surgery that will result in his missing the entire 2012 season.

Lackey is heading into surgery after coming off a putrid 2011 campaign where he posted a 6.41 ERA. This obscenely high ERA made him the only Red Sox pitcher in their long history to ever finish with an ERA over 6.00 while throwing at least 150 innings in a season. This career-worst ERA is the ceiling of this stat that has seen a steady incline since 2005 (minus a career low ERA of 3.01 in 2007). This same time period has seen Lackey's SO/9 slowly decrease.

Should he even attempt a return after Tommy John surgery? No, he probably should not, but his contract gives him 46 million reasons to give it the old college try. A contract guaranteeing Lackey another $46 million through the 2014 season makes it a near certainty that he will try to revive his career post-surgery.

Coming back to any degree of success post-Tommy John is a challenge for anyone. For a has-been in decline like Lackey, it may prove to be near impossible.

Kevin Maas

Some might prefer to call Kevin Maas a one-hit wonder, but even having one hit means you were something once. Maas holds the distinction on this list of the quickest fall from grace to a has-been.

Once upon a time, Don Mattingly looked at Kevin Maas and saw the possibility that the two of them could be the new version of the M&M Boys. In his first year in the Major Leagues, Maas hit 21 home runs in just 79 games. He set an MLB record by reaching his 10th homer in only 72 at-bats, faster than anyone in history. He came in second in the Rookie of the Year voting to future six-time All Star Sandy Alomar, Jr. He followed that up in 1991 with 23 homers in 500 at-bats.

Unfortunately, those two years would be the ceiling of Maas' success. His playing time and statistics would only see great and immediate decline after that. After failing to play in the majors in 1994, he would go on to play 22 more games with the Minnesota Twins in 1995.

He retired in 1996 after a groin injury ruined his chance of making the Yankees as a backup.  Maybe Maas is more a shoulda-been, but that does not negate his place as a has-been.

Vernon Wells

By all accounts, Vernon Wells is a good man and a pleasure to have as a teammate. He has enjoyed a long and successful career. He also is 33 years old and showing signs of a lengthy career on its last legs. 

Wells moved over to the AL West, partially to replace the big bat of Mike Napoli. Hindsight tells us that this was not the smartest way to fill that gap. Wells ended his 2011 campaign with a batting average of .218. Even worse is the on-base percentage of .248. The last qualifying outfielder to put up that paltry of an OBP was George Barclay in 1904.

Wells may have had a decent 2010, but that season is looking more and more like the final hurrah of a once good player. ESPN posted their Top 500 Player Rankings for 2012. Wells weighed in at number 494. Just how bad is that? Baseball Prospectus writer Kevin Goldstein sums it up as having 16.5 players better than him on every team.

Some players would stand a chance at having a redeeming season. At the age of 33, the chances of Vernon Wells making a comeback seem pretty bleak. Put him on the list as nouveau has-been.

Jorge Posada

Where I currently live, speaking ill of a member of the Core Four is nearly tantamount to a capital offense.

Let's just remember one thing: to be a has-been, you had to have once "been" in the first place. There comes a time for everyone to hang up their cleats. It just took Jorge two years too long.

2009 saw the last year that Jorge could be truly considered an asset to the Yankees squad, batting .285 with 22 home runs and 81 RBI. 2010 saw a slide in nearly every offensive category, and even those numbers were nowhere near as brutal as 2011's would be.

2011, the final year of Posada's career, seemed to have him maintaining his spot on the 25-man roster more out of respect for a long and successful career rather than a spot genuinely deserved.

Prior to the start of the 2011 season, Posada lost his starting catching job and remained on as a DH candidate. A designated hitter who puts up a .235 average while hitting only 14 home runs is very nearly a travesty on a team that's known for commandeering the best players money can buy.

A terrible 2011 season was emphasized in mid-August, just days before Jorge's 40th birthday, when Yankees skipper Joe Girardi benched the slumping Jorge Posada. Even those around him who were perhaps hesitant to shake up the lineup knew that Posada's time had come and gone.

The five-time All Star and four-time World Series champion finally announced his retirement at the end of 2011, but not before he spent the twilight of his career as a has-been.

Adam Dunn

Adam Dunn had the kind of season in 2011 that there is no doubt he would like to erase from his mind. Unfortunately, with the .159 batting average, 177 strikeouts and 115 total bases, it is a season no one is likely to forget for quite some time.

Prior to the 2011 season, which was by far his worst season (probably a worse season than most professionals are likely to ever encounter), he was entirely reliable. Does this bode well for future seasons? Is he maybe not so much a has-been as the victim of a slump year?

Probably not. While he (or anyone else) may never see a year that putrid again, what happened in 2011 goes far beyond the standard slump or a fleeting case of the yips. Sure, he has had a modicum of success this spring, but we will pencil him in here as a without-a-huge-resurgence-he-is-a-mega-has-been.