5 Greediest Players in Baseball History

Every athlete presumably plays his or her respective sport for the love of the game and the desire to win. But money is an influencing factor too. Think about it—you and I work normal desk jobs; they play a game. But both are done for a living, and both are full-time.

There are career minor leaguers who have struggled to put food on the table for their families, but continue to play for the minimum salary because they love baseball.

So it's very easy to look at contracts such as the ones recently signed by Joey Votto (12 years, $251.5 million) and Matt Cain (six years, $127.5 million) and call the players "greedy."

Then again, the market dictates that those players, for the talent they bring, are paid fairly. Both are elite at their position and are getting paid as such. It's not their fault that previous contracts have set the table for such large paydays to be justified.

But how do we determine who is deserving and who is a "greedy" player? Well, accepting a contract is one thing; accepting two of them is pushing it. Holding out for an extra million-dollar incentive is over the top.

So assuming greed is a negative in this situation, here goes nothing:

1. Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa

I'm lumping these two sluggers into one category. Don't get me wrong, it was quite a show. But beefing up that much simply to blast more home runs is beyond despicable.

Both McGwire and Sosa shattered a longstanding Major League record with synthetic home runs, and while they surely captivated America's attention for a full summer, they punched the sport right in the nuts.

That was the beginning of one of the worst eras in sports history, and we largely have these two players to thank for it. Their selfish quests at a record they didn't deserve, while ultimately accomplished, was rendered pointless when the positive tests came out.

You could argue I need to include Barry Bonds on this list as well. He is greedy in his own ways, but at least Bonds was a Hall-of-Fame talent before juicing. Sosa and McGwire were simply good players who turned themselves into historic sluggers at the game's expense.

2. Roger Clemens

Clemens was the first to start an annoying trend—the legendary pitcher waiting until midseason to return, putting himself up for auction to the highest bidder out of playoff contenders.

When Clemens did just that in 2006 and fleeced his hometown Astros for $22 million over four months of the season, it definitely worked. The Astros were a much better team. But it's immoral and exceptionally greedy.

What happened to work ethic, Roger? If you're going to make a team pay that much money for your services, the least you can do is pretend to jog during spring training and maybe chew some bubblegum on the bench for four out of five games.

Since Clemens pulled the stunt six years ago, we've seen other pitchers follow suit—most recently, Roy Oswalt.

3. The Black Sox Eight

What is the most selfish, greedy, blasphemous thing you can think of for an athlete to do? I bet it's not as bad as what the 1919 Chicago White Sox pulled off.

Chances are, if you're reading this, you're a baseball fan. Or my mom (Hi, Mom!). So you must know what it's like to play the game and love it so deeply that you'd sacrifice life and limb just to make a diving play or hit a clean single up the middle.

The White Sox back in the day took everything that is holy about baseball and tossed it out the window. They threw the World Series for a measly sum of cash.

To make it all the way to the World Series and have a chance to make all the hard work pay off with a championship was forgotten in favor of fixing the games and losing on purpose. Greed to the fullest extent.

4. Alex Rodriguez

I'm actually a pretty big A-Rod apologist. I think he's one of the greatest players of all-time, and I fully expect him (barring a catastrophic injury) to break the career home run record some time in the next four or five seasons.

But, that doesn't excuse the fact that he signed a 10-year, $252 million, franchise-crippling contract with the Texas Rangers.

He was then moved to the New York Yankees, where he opted out and re-negotiated to a $275 million contract. Assuming he was getting 600 at-bats in a season, the Yankees have paid him nearly $50,000 per plate appearance with this contract.

So, A-Rod hits a walk-off homer...boom! Here's $50,000. A-Rod strikes out with the bases loaded? Cha-ching!

I know it's not his fault that he was paid so much. He was paid like the elite player he is (was?...that's a topic for a different day), but the fact that the original $252 million contract wasn't enough disgusts me.

5. Pete Rose

Disclaimer: I'm an avid supporter of Pete Rose being included in the Hall of Fame. I won't blow you away with my argument on this platform, though.

No matter what my feelings on his Cooperstown inclusion may be, it doesn't change the fact that Rose broke the cardinal sin of the sport. He bet on baseball.

Rose was a notorious wrong-doer, if you will, but this was the worst of the worst. As a manager with the Reds after his playing days, Rose admitted to betting on baseball.

As if the money he made throughout his career wasn't enough, Rose had the stones to essentially doctor the outcome of games. This wasn't a friendly teammate wager like, "Hey, I bet I'll hit for a higher average than you this season...loser buys dinner!"

This was normal gambling. On a team he was in control of, no less. That is why Rose received the lifetime ban from baseball. You can't get much greedier and deceptive than that.