MLB's $20M Players Who Will Be Useless in 2019
Sometimes, MLB players get paid for what they might do. Other times, they get paid for what they once did. The latter category is filled with aging has-beens toting albatross contracts.
Gazing ahead to the upcoming campaign, let's examine a half-dozen guys (and another six dishonorable mentions) who are slated to make $20 million or more but will be virtually useless in 2019.
By that, we mean they'll either miss significant time to injury or are projected to offer below replacement-level production. There's subjectivity involved, obviously, alongside dollars-and-cents considerations.
However you parse it, to varying degrees, they've got payroll drag written all over them.
Dishonorable Mentions
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We're not willing to dismiss the following players because of their pedigree and past production, plus the possibility that an unexpected renaissance will make them more than worthless. Still...ouch.
Miguel Cabrera, 1B, Detroit Tigers
2019 salary: $30 million
Miguel Cabrera is a future Hall of Famer entering his age-36 season. He was limited by injury to 38 games in 2018 and will earn $30 million or more every season until at least 2023.
We're not quite willing to bet against a final offensive surge, but the optics and financial realities aren't great, to say the least.
Yu Darvish, RHP, Chicago Cubs
2019 salary: $20 million
Last winter, Yu Darvish signed a six-year, $126 million contract with the Chicago Cubs and posted a 4.95 ERA in 40 innings before succumbing to elbow and triceps injuries.
That said, the four-time All-Star is reportedly feeling good this spring. A rebound can't be discounted.
Josh Donaldson, 3B, Atlanta Braves
2019 Salary: $23 million
The up-and-coming Atlanta Braves bet big on Josh Donaldson when they handed him a one-year, $23 million show-me contract.
The 2015 American League MVP is coming off a pair of injury-marred, down seasons with the Toronto Blue Jays and is 33 years old. There's hope...but not a ton.
Shin-Soo Choo, DH/OF, Texas Rangers
2019 salary: $21 million
Shin-Soo Choo enjoyed a modest comeback with the Texas Rangers in 2018, as he posted an .810 OPS in 146 games.
He's also 36 years old with limited utility beyond a designated hitter and will be a drain on the retooling/rebuilding Texas Rangers' budget.
Felix Hernandez, RHP, Seattle Mariners
2019 salary: $27.9 million
A 5.55 ERA in 155.2 innings in 2018 seemed to permanently rename Felix Hernandez the artist formerly known as King.
He'll turn 33 in April and is far removed from the glory days that won him an AL Cy Young Award in 2010. But...we're waiting one more season before we officially stick a fork in the Pacific Northwest's royal highness.
Albert Pujols, 1B, Los Angeles Angels
2019 salary: $28 million
Like Miguel Cabrera, Pujols should have a bust in Cooperstown when the time comes. Also like Cabrera, he's on a steep downslide.
The .245/.289/.411 slash line he posted in 2018 shouldn't get better in his age-39 season. On the other hand, he's Albert Pujols.
Jordan Zimmermann, RHP, Detroit Tigers
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2019 salary: $25 million
Say what you will about the positive narratives surrounding Jordan Zimmermann this spring. Believe them if it tickles your fancy.
The fact is, he's entering his age-33 season and posted a 6.08 ERA in 2017 followed by a 4.52 (and worse 4.88 FIP) in 2018.
Maybe Zimmermann will rediscover the form befitting a No. 4 or No. 5 starter next season. Or, more likely, he'll continue his vertigo-inducing fall.
No matter what, there's next to zero chance he'll earn the money the rebuilding Detroit Tigers will deposit in his bank account in 2019.
Carlos Santana, 1B, Cleveland Indians
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2019 salary: $20.3 million
Last season, Carlos Santana hit .229 for the Philadelphia Phillies while posting a nondescript zero defensive runs saved at first base.
The Phils sent him to the Cleveland Indians in a three-team trade that also featured the Seattle Mariners. Maybe Santana can flip the script in the city where he played his first eight big league seasons.
On the other hand, he'll turn 33 in April and—considering his nearly nonexistent defensive value—he looks like the classic overpaid, high-on-base-percentage slugger who is forgetting how to slug.
That's an especially ugly look for a Cleveland franchise that's trying to contend but always pinching pennies.
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Jacoby Ellsbury, OF, New York Yankees
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2019 salary: $21.1 million
Jacoby Ellsbury missed all of 2018 with oblique and hip injuries and hasn't posted an OPS north of .781 since 2011.
Unless the New York Yankees are prepared to swallow the vast majority of the more than $21 million he's owed in 2019, he'll be a richly paid fourth or fifth outfielder...provided he plays at all.
The 35-year-old is dealing with plantar fasciitis and won't arrive at Yankees camp until mid-March at the soonest, per general manager Brian Cashman (via NorthJersey.com's Pete Caldera).
Ellsbury is blocked on the depth chart by Aaron Judge, Aaron Hicks, Brett Gardner and Clint Frazier, among others. Most likely, he'll be an afterthought in the Bronx if he isn't released outright.
Yoenis Cespedes, OF, New York Mets
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2019 salary: $29 million
Yoenis Cespedes played in 38 games last season before multiple heel surgeries put him on the shelf for the New York Mets.
The 33-year-old said he hopes to play in 2019.
"When I do return, I plan on being 100 percent, like I was in 2015," he told reporters.
That would be the year Cespedes hit .287 with a .942 OPS for the Mets after a summer trade from the Detroit Tigers and New York marched to a National League pennant.
Given his age and recent medical history, the safe money (read: sunk cost) is on Cespedes being an overcompensated spectator.
Johnny Cueto, RHP, San Francisco Giants
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2019 salary: $21 million
The San Francisco Giants are caught between a rebuild and a retool. In the meantime, new president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi must juggle an array of troublesome contracts, including Johnny Cueto's.
Cueto is owed $21 million in 2019 as he recovers from Tommy John surgery. There's a chance he'll come back by late summer, but that's a best-case-scenario prognostication.
In all likelihood, the 33-year-old Cueto will be a handsomely compensated cheerleader on a mediocre Giants squad and hope to return some value on the $42 million he's owed between 2020 and 2021 with a $5 million 2022 buyout.
Even that is less than certain, however, considering Cueto's numbers were trending downward before the surgery. He posted a 4.50 FIP in 2017 and 4.71 FIP in 2018 and hasn't thrown 200 innings since 2016.
Chris Davis, 1B, Baltimore Orioles
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2019 salary: $21.1 million
Chris Davis hit .168 with a .243 on-base percentage and .296 slugging percentage in 2018.
Those would be embarrassing numbers for a backup middle infielder. For a once-dynamic slugger on a massive contract? We reached for the thesaurus but couldn't find a fitting adjective.
Davis will earn $21.1 million in 2019. He has an average annual salary of $23 million through 2022. Keep in mind that's for an Orioles team that's lurching into an overdue rebuild in a top-heavy division.
Davis will turn 33 on March 17. Soon, the O's will probably cut him cartoonish checks to stay home and not play baseball.
As we said before...ouch.
All statistics courtesy of Baseball Reference and FanGraphs; all contract information courtesy of Spotrac.
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