Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.
― System, Wednesday, 6 October 2010 23:01 (thirteen years ago) link
126 Million Barry Zito 2007
proof, the Giants are leaving him off the 2010 post season roster.
― Bee OK, Thursday, 7 October 2010 03:50 (thirteen years ago) link
The Giants are leaving not only Zito, but also Renteria and Rowand... their THREE highest salaried players (all healthy mind you) off their playoff roster, proof that the team is run by a Real Housewife of the Berkeley Hills.
― Fartbritz Sootzveti (Steve Shasta), Thursday, 7 October 2010 04:13 (thirteen years ago) link
That most recent A-rod contract is a humdinger innit..
― mayor jingleberries, Thursday, 7 October 2010 16:19 (thirteen years ago) link
Clearly those three Giants contracts were bad moves, but that hasn't stopped Sabean from assembling a very competitive team around them. Isn't the ultimate value of a GM determined by how good the team is, not based on which players make the most money? Since he made the terrible Zito and Rowand moves the Giants have made several good decisions, so it seems kinda weird to keep hammering him for those moves when the team is doing so well, and frankly is in position to dominate the division for the next few years. I don't think there's a team in the division that has recently drafted three better players than Posey, Lincecum, and Bumgarner.
― funky house skeptic (polyphonic), Thursday, 7 October 2010 16:39 (thirteen years ago) link
vernon wells had a good year, certainly good enough that if he were to keep at it for the remainder of the contract it wouldn't be a complete waste. zito was good for one half and now, yeah...it's not his fault he got all that money and he seems like a bro but it's a horrible deal. the more recent a-rod one is pretty ridiculous, too. how much longer on that one?
― ('_') (omar little), Thursday, 7 October 2010 16:42 (thirteen years ago) link
Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.
― System, Thursday, 7 October 2010 23:01 (thirteen years ago) link
surprised at #s 2 & 4!
― got electrolytes (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Friday, 8 October 2010 03:41 (thirteen years ago) link
100 Million Albert Pujols 2004 1
Poly, just given Sabean's track record, I have to assume that the Stopped Clock Principle applies here. However, he and the scouting dept. do deserve credit for the recent drafts (don't forget Sanchez, whom I'd written off as early as this year, and the relievers).
― Daria Law (Leee), Friday, 8 October 2010 04:33 (thirteen years ago) link
/guilty
for the lawlz... :D
― Fartbritz Sootzveti (Steve Shasta), Friday, 8 October 2010 04:34 (thirteen years ago) link
You mean you resisted voting for Zito? o_O
― Daria Law (Leee), Friday, 8 October 2010 04:36 (thirteen years ago) link
Anyway, I assume you voted Pooholes because of his advanced age?
i def voted twice, i think santana was the other one but i can't recall for sure. :P
― Fartbritz Sootzveti (Steve Shasta), Friday, 8 October 2010 04:37 (thirteen years ago) link
i didnt cheat with multiple accounts but im pretty sure i voted johan a month ago and mauer two days ago. are polls broken?
― sanskrit, Friday, 8 October 2010 13:54 (thirteen years ago) link
When cookies expire you can vote again. Long polls are good for that.
― In "Bob" There Is No East or West (WmC), Friday, 8 October 2010 14:40 (thirteen years ago) link
what a moral swamp
― kind of shrill and very self-righteous (Dr Morbius), Friday, 8 October 2010 15:25 (thirteen years ago) link
ha ha!
― got electrolytes (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Friday, 8 October 2010 15:59 (thirteen years ago) link
i only voted once and my horse still won!
Jonah Keri ranks the top 15 stinkers currently on the books
http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/8914127/jonah-keri-worst-contracts-mlb
― saltwater incursion (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 12 February 2013 15:57 (eleven years ago) link
Good job by whoever picked ARod in the original poll, but I think Hampton still "wins" for almost putting up a negative WAR during the length of the contract. Looking back at his numbers now, I can't believe that a guy who was walking 100 batters per year got a $100M contract.
― NoTimeBeforeTime, Tuesday, 12 February 2013 16:11 (eleven years ago) link
Some skepticism about Felix's contract:
http://www.highheatstats.com/2013/02/king-felixs-new-clothes/
(The writer is not claiming it as the worst, by any means, but this seemed like an appropriate thread.)
― clemenza, Tuesday, 12 February 2013 16:21 (eleven years ago) link
I agree that its a little bizarre to give a guy a record-setting deal when he's not even a free agent yet, but you do have to consider that A) Seattle may have to overpay to get superstars and B) these contracts aren't ever built to be great in their last year or two. you overpay in the end because a guy who produces 8 WAR is really worth $45m or so and you can't pay that much in one year. that said Felix seems to cap out at 6 WAR. seems like another slight upside/massive downside signing but I guess Seattle feels they'll really be competitive in a few years?
― frogbs, Tuesday, 12 February 2013 17:14 (eleven years ago) link
Vernon Wells would get a lot more votes if we did this poll today.
― Porto for Pyros (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Tuesday, 12 February 2013 17:26 (eleven years ago) link
Neyer wrote last week about the dodgy future of pitchers w/ Felix's workload, age etc.
― saltwater incursion (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 12 February 2013 17:31 (eleven years ago) link
the Vernon Wells signing was obviously pretty bad but I'm much more baffled by the Angels trading for him after the awfulness of his contract was long since established
― frogbs, Wednesday, 13 February 2013 15:14 (eleven years ago) link
Bonus points go to contracts that were indefensible at the time. Wells' was at least somewhat defensible -- he'd been a 4-5 win player on average up until then, still a good defender, and was entering his age-27 season. The market for outfielders was thin, and he was a popular homegrown player. I don't think the disaster signs were obvious compared to the Zito and Hampton signings (or A-Rod's 2007 re-up).
― NoTimeBeforeTime, Wednesday, 13 February 2013 16:03 (eleven years ago) link
Most of the debate was about giving superstar money to a guy who wasn't a true superstar. The Jays had been waiting for Wells to break out for a while and then paid him like the player they expected him to be, not the player he was. There are always guys like that e.g. Jay Bruce where people keep expecting a breakout season but it never comes and eventually you just accept that he is who he is. Even so, the argument was that the Jays were paying 5-6 win money for a 3-4 win player, but even that wouldn't have been so bad.
― NoTimeBeforeTime, Wednesday, 13 February 2013 16:09 (eleven years ago) link
i always appreciate being reminded how legendarily awful adam dunn's 2011 season was
― mookieproof, Wednesday, 13 February 2013 16:09 (eleven years ago) link
Has anyone ever had a worse season? I mean usually the "worst case" scenario for these big guys in their 30's is that they wind up around 0-1 WAR like Wells has but I've never seen a dropoff so steep where it got to the point that the guy was actively way worse than replacement level and was outhit by like half the pitchers in the league. And he was in a situation where the Sox had really no choice but to play him. You might never see another season like that again!
― frogbs, Wednesday, 13 February 2013 17:03 (eleven years ago) link
Not anywhere close to $100 million (relative peanuts, though not for you or me), but who knew that Bobby Bonilla was still getting--and will continue to get--million-dollar cheques for the next two decades?
― clemenza, Wednesday, 3 July 2013 14:42 (eleven years ago) link
the highest paid relievers lolz
http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/2014/9/17/6264159/highest-paid-relievers-baseball
― son of a lewd monk (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 18 September 2014 14:14 (ten years ago) link
the current worst
http://grantland.com/features/worst-mlb-contracts-2015-alex-rodriguez-ryan-howard-prince-fielder/
― touch of a love-starved cobra (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 10 February 2015 03:14 (nine years ago) link
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B9c1IY7CEAI4C6n.jpg
zing
― mookieproof, Tuesday, 10 February 2015 03:23 (nine years ago) link
1 war is worth abt 6m now on the market right?
― Bringing the mosh (Jimmy The Mod Awaits The Return Of His Beloved), Tuesday, 10 February 2015 03:25 (nine years ago) link
after this year, yeah. chart should adjust for WARflation for the older deals.
― AKA Thermo Thinwall (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Tuesday, 10 February 2015 05:19 (nine years ago) link
Ryan Howard for the win!
― NoTimeBeforeTime, Tuesday, 10 February 2015 12:54 (nine years ago) link
shin-soo choo's deal is looking awfully sketchy
― mookieproof, Tuesday, 10 February 2015 16:15 (nine years ago) link
You could compare Choo's deal to Jayson Werth's -- high OBP guys with some pop (and collapsing defense) somehow getting paid superstar money in their 30's. Like Werth, I think Choo gets a pass for being hurt last year, when he's healthy he should still be a valuable player.
― NoTimeBeforeTime, Tuesday, 10 February 2015 17:17 (nine years ago) link
the matt cain deal isn't looking so hot either
― Karl Malone, Tuesday, 10 February 2015 17:43 (nine years ago) link
Somehow ended up on this article; I didn't realize the Braves were still paying Bruce Sutter for his 40 saves over three seasons (and will be until 2021).
http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/07/01/bobby-bonillas-isnt-the-only-deferred-money-deal-in-the-game-and-isnt-even-the-worst/comment-page-1/
― clemenza, Thursday, 13 August 2015 21:50 (nine years ago) link
That's insane. A $40M deal in 1985???
― NoTimeBeforeTime, Friday, 14 August 2015 09:28 (nine years ago) link
Found a timeline of the biggest contracts ever from '79 to 2007. Sutter smay have been behind a few people when he signed with the Braves (Winfield #1):
http://wezen-ball.com/2009-articles/the-history-of-the-highest-paid-player-in-baseball.html
It's the disconnect that amazes me. Sutter's from another universe, and he's apparently still on the payroll.
― clemenza, Friday, 14 August 2015 13:43 (nine years ago) link
"may"
the payroll/salary 1 page team pages on b-r are really cool, like I did not appreciate that max scherzer will make a season salary of $42.1M starting in 2019
http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/WSN/2015-payroll-salaries.shtml
― johnny crunch, Thursday, 20 August 2015 13:23 (nine years ago) link
is there a way to look at all of baseball at once in that salary chart?
― AKA Thermo Thinwall (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Thursday, 20 August 2015 13:41 (nine years ago) link
not that I see
the $/yrs that tampa has archer at is criminal
whats the diff if someone is repped by Scott Boras v Boras Corp
― johnny crunch, Thursday, 20 August 2015 14:17 (nine years ago) link
Update (haven't read this yet):
http://baseball-players.pointafter.com/stories/10927/100-million-dollar-contracts-mlb
― clemenza, Monday, 21 March 2016 13:49 (eight years ago) link
I completely forgot Carlos Lee existed
― carthago delenda est (mayor jingleberries), Monday, 21 March 2016 18:29 (eight years ago) link
Jacoby Ellsbury is on pace to become one of the worst free-agent signings in New York Yankees history. He still has plenty of time to change the narrative -- his contract, for goodness' sake, doesn't end until after the 2020 season -- but as Yogi supposedly once said, "It gets late early around here."
http://espn.go.com/blog/new-york/yankees/post/_/id/91743/153m-man-jacoby-ellsbury-continues-to-look-bad
― Andy K, Friday, 8 April 2016 22:38 (eight years ago) link
nats def got some value out of it but the back half of this ELEVEN year ryan Zimmerman contract is looking p rough
2009 24 Washington Nationals $3,325,000 2010 25 Washington Nationals $6,350,000 2011 26 Washington Nationals $9,025,000 2012 27 Washington Nationals $12,000,000 2013 28 Washington Nationals $14,000,000 2014 29 Washington Nationals $14,000,000 2015 30 Washington Nationals $14,000,000 2016 31 Washington Nationals $14,000,000 2017 32 Washington Nationals $14,000,000 2018 33 Washington Nationals $14,000,000 2019 34 Washington Nationals $18,000,000 2020 35 Washington Nationals *$18,000,000 $18M Team Option, $2M Buyout
― johnny crunch, Tuesday, 10 May 2016 19:15 (eight years ago) link