Ranking the 10 Worst Contracts in MLB Heading into 2020 Season
Every MLB player reels in a solid salary, including the guys who make the league minimum ($563,500 annually entering the 2020 campaign).
Then there are the grossly overpaid veterans whose contracts are debilitating drags on their respective clubs, including some potential future Hall of Famers.
As we approach Opening Day, let's rank the 10 worst baseball contracts, keeping in mind cost, age, recent production, team need and a dose of opinion.
10. OF Yoenis Cespedes
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New York Mets outfielder Yoenis Cespedes played just 81 games in 2017 and only 38 in 2018 while dealing with various injuries. He didn't play at all last season after fracturing his ankle. The 34-year-old told reporters he hopes to be ready for Opening Day, but that's far from a guarantee.
Cespedes and the Mets reworked his contract in December to lower his salary from $29.5 million to $6 million (you can read more about why here). But if he registers even one day on the active roster, that figure would rise to $11 million, and if he makes at least 650 plate appearances, it would go up to $20 million.
The final scenario is unlikely given Cespedes' age and injury troubles, but making a minimum of $11 million sounds probable. That won't break the bank in Queens, but it's surely more than the Mets want to pay.
9. C Buster Posey
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This one hurts for San Francisco Giants fans and anyone who loves baseball.
Buster Posey has won a National League Rookie of the Year Award, an NL MVP and a batting title, and he owns three World Series rings. He's also one of the most affable, unassuming players in the game. But his days as an elite offensive catcher are coming to an end.
Posey is entering his age-33 campaign and posted a full-season career-low .688 OPS last season. He has the experience, instincts and acumen to get the job done behind the dish, but he's approaching the end of the line.
As a modestly paid backup catcher who also gets reps at first base, Posey would be a massive boon. And he might have a bounce-back year left in him.
But considering he'll make more than $22 million in 2020 and 2021 with a $5 million buyout for 2022, he's a payroll albatross for the rebuilding Giants.
8. LHP David Price
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The Los Angeles Dodgers acquired star outfielder Mookie Betts from the Boston Red Sox, knowing full well he was in the final year of his contract. They surrendered significant talent and also took on costly and declining left-hander David Price.
Price has three years and $96 million left on his deal. The Red Sox, according to reports, will pay half of that. Regardless, that's a lot of dough for a 34-year-old pitcher who posted a 4.28 ERA in 2019 and hasn't thrown more than 176 innings since 2016.
Price could rebound playing his home games in pitcher-friendly Dodger Stadium, though he'll also see a lot more of the Colorado Rockies and hitter-happy Coors Field.
Even with modest improvements and the Red Sox footing part of the bill, however, he's overpaid by any metric.
7. RHP Johnny Cueto
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Johnny Cueto will earn close to $22 million from the San Francisco Giants in each of the next two seasons, with a $5 million buyout for 2023. He's 34 and threw a scant 16 innings last season after coming back from Tommy John surgery.
Cueto was an All-Star and finished sixth in National League Cy Young voting in 2016, his first year with San Francisco.
He told reporters, "I feel like the arm is a baby" after reporting to camp.
But given his age, injury issues and the dollars and years left on his deal, not to mention San Francisco's aforementioned rebuilding status, Cueto could be a major payroll problem.
6. LHP Wei-Yin Chen
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The Seattle Mariners signed left-hander Wei-Yin Chen to a minor league deal, per Jon Heyman of MLB Network. Meanwhile, the Miami Marlins will still pay the vast majority of the $22 million remaining on Chen's deal for 2020.
The Fish are pinching pennies and trying to swim out of the bottom of the National League East, and Chen posted a 6.59 ERA in 68.1 innings for them last season.
Paying him more than $21 million to possibly play for another club is a bad look, to say the least.
5. OF Jacoby Ellsbury
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Jacoby Ellsbury hasn't played an inning for the New York Yankees or any other team since 2017. The 36-year-old's career may be lost to injury.
The Yanks technically owe him more than $21 million in 2020 and a $5 million buyout in 2021. Yet they released him in November 2019 and are embroiled in an unresolved battle with Ellsbury and the Major League Baseball Players Association over whether they're required to pay the remainder of his contract.
Per the Associated Press:
"New York converted Ellsbury's $153 million, seven-year contract to non-guaranteed, contending he violated the deal by getting unauthorized medical treatment, then released the 36-year-old outfielder on Nov. 20. The Yankees said he was treated by Dr. Viktor Bouquette of Progressive Medical Center in Atlanta without the team's permission.
"Ellsbury contends any treatment he received without authorization was for a non-baseball-related injury or condition, which does not require the club's consent."
However it shakes out, it's clear this was an ill-advised deal for the Yankees.
4. RHP Jordan Zimmermann
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Jordan Zimmermann will earn $25 million from the rebuilding Detroit Tigers in 2020.
In 2019, he went 1-13 with a 6.91 ERA in 23 starts. That's—let's check the math—not great.
Zimmermann turns 34 in May and is essentially untradeable. And he's a terrible fit for a squad that's trying to go young and lean.
Barring a hugely unexpected renaissance, the Tigers will have to eat his salary for one more year and then likely let another club sign him to a minor league contract with a spring training invite next winter.
3. DH/1B Albert Pujols
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With three MVP awards in his trophy case, Albert Pujols is a lock to earn a bust in Cooperstown. He's also been a financial nightmare for the Los Angeles Angels.
The Halos owe Pujols $29 million in 2020 and $30 million in 2021, plus a 10-year, $10 million personal-services contract after that.
He's shown flashes for the Angels but has never been the player he was during his heyday with the St. Louis Cardinals.
At this point, he's 40 years old and coming off a season in which he hit .244 with a .305 on-base percentage. Los Angeles is now paying him for what he once was.
2. DH/1B Miguel Cabrera
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Forgive us if there's an echo in here, but with two MVP awards in his trophy case, Miguel Cabrera is a lock to earn a bust in Cooperstown. He's also a financial drag for the Detroit Tigers.
Cabrera will turn 37 in April, and while he stayed mostly healthy last season, he posted a ho-hum .744 OPS (compared to a career mark of .935).
The rebuilding Tigers will pay him $30 million in 2020 and 2021, $32 million in 2022 and 2023, with $30 million vesting options for 2024 and 2025.
Granted, those options are based on Cabrera finishing in the top 10 in MVP voting, which seems highly unlikely as he reaches his 40s.
1. 1B Chris Davis
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The Baltimore Orioles will struggle to stay under 100 losses in 2020. They are the definition of a rebuilding franchise.
They are also going to pay first baseman Chris Davis $23 million annually between 2020 and 2022.
Last season, Davis slashed .179/.276/.326, which would be rough for a backup middle infielder and is downright abysmal for an alleged middle-of-the-order slugger.
He'll turn 34 in March. No other team would ever take him, even if the O's ate most of his salary. The only question now is whether Baltimore will stick with him or let him loose as a sunk cost.
All statistics and salary information courtesy of Baseball Reference unless otherwise noted.
