MLB: The First-Year Struggles of $100 Million Hitters

Going into this offseason, Carl Crawford and Jayson Werth were the two most sought-after non-pitching free agents on the market. Both players capitalized on an aggressive market and signed nine-figure contracts.

Crawford signed a seven-year, $142 million contract with the Boston Red Sox, and Werth signed a seven-year, $126 million contract with the Washington Nationals.

Not only did both players hundred-million contracts in the offseason, but both outfielders have really struggled out of the gate.

Crawford’s struggles have been legendary in Boston. Going into Sunday’s action, the former Tampa Bay Ray was hitting .154 with a .357 OPS.

Werth’s struggles haven’t been as exaggerated because, well, he plays in Washington. But Werth has had a really slow start out of the gate. Werth was hitting .214 with a .704 OPS going into Sunday’s game against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

While 20 games is a small sample size, their struggles in a new environment shouldn’t came as a surprise.

Not including Crawford and Werth, there have been seven free agent hitters who have signed $100 million contracts with a new team, and a good majority of those hitters did worse in the first year with their new team than they did the year before.

Here are the seven free agent hitters who have signed $100 million contracts with their stats from the last year with their old team and their starts from the first year with their new team.

1. Jason Giambi. Signed $120 million contract in 2002.

Year	Tm	G	PA	H	2B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+
2001	OAK	154	671	178	47	38	120	129	83	.342	.477	.660	1.137	198
2002	NYY	155	689	176	34	41	122	109	112	.314	.435	.598	1.034	172
		G	PA	H	2B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 4/25/2011.

2. Ken Griffey Jr. Signed $116.5 million contract in 2000.

Year	Tm	G	PA	H	2B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+
1999	SEA	160	706	173	26	48	134	24	91	108	.285	.384	.576	.960	139
2000	CIN	145	631	141	22	40	118	6	94	117	.271	.387	.556	.942	133

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 4/25/2011.

3. Manny Ramirez. Signed $160 million contract in 2001.

Year	Tm	G	PA	H	2B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+
2000	CLE	118	532	154	34	38	122	86	117	.351	.457	.697	1.154	186
2001	BOS	142	620	162	33	41	125	81	147	.306	.405	.609	1.014	161

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 4/25/2011.

4. Alfonso Soriano. Signed $136 million contract in 2007.

Year	Tm	G	PA	H	2B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+
2006	WSN	159	728	179	41	46	95	41	67	160	.277	.351	.560	.911	135
2007	CHC	135	617	173	42	33	70	19	31	130	.299	.337	.560	.897	122

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 4/25/2011.

5. Carlos Beltran. Signed $119 million contract in 2005.

Year	Tm	G	PA	H	2B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+
2004	TOT	159	708	160	36	38	104	42	92	101	.267	.367	.548	.915	132
2004	KCR	69	309	74	19	15	51	14	37	44	.278	.367	.534	.901	129
2004	HOU	90	399	86	17	23	53	28	55	57	.258	.368	.559	.926	134
2005	NYM	151	650	155	34	16	78	17	56	96	.266	.330	.414	.744	96

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 4/25/2011.

6. Carlos Lee. Signed $100 million contract in 2007.

Year	Tm	G	PA	H	2B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+
2006	TOT	161	695	187	37	37	116	19	58	65	.300	.355	.540	.895	126
2006	MIL	102	435	111	18	28	81	12	38	39	.286	.347	.549	.896	124
2006	TEX	59	260	76	19	9	35	7	20	26	.322	.369	.525	.895	128
2007	HOU	162	697	190	43	32	119	10	53	63	.303	.354	.528	.882	125

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 4/25/2011.

7. Mark Teixeira. Signed $180 million contract in 2009.

Year	Tm	G	PA	H	2B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+
2008	TOT	157	685	177	41	33	121	97	93	.308	.410	.552	.962	152
2008	ATL	103	451	108	27	20	78	65	70	.283	.390	.512	.902	137
2008	LAA	54	234	69	14	13	43