After baseball’s winter hot stove raced to its end and teams finally solidified their Opening Day rosters, we can look back at the riches and debris and take stock of what went right and what went wrong in free agency.
In total, MLB franchises spent about $3.8 billion in free agency since the end of the World Series. Some of those deals will help push a team to the World Series. Some of them turned pretenders into contenders. Some of them hardened already stout clubs. Some of them pointed a team toward a hopeful future. And some of those deals, let’s be honest, will turn into mistakes.
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Teams have been doling out bad free-agent contracts as long as there has been free agency. In some cases, clubs are close to getting out from under bad deals. In others, they’ve got years left to go. Some teams used this winter to add more bad contracts to rosters full of them. Other organizations have been more circumspect when handing out deals — or maybe just luckier.
But creativity can salvage a team. One team’s bad contract could be another’s salvation. The classic “change of scenery” trade is a time-honored idea in baseball.
For accounting purposes, here were the worst contracts for (almost) every team in the major leagues after that multi-billion-dollar winter — and what, if anything, they can do about them now.
AL EAST
Toronto Blue Jays
LHP Hyun-jin Ryu
2022: 2-0, 5.67 ERA over 27 innings
Remaining contract: One year, $20 million
Ryu was limited to just six starts in 2022 and none came after June 1. He underwent Tommy John surgery that month and is hoping to return this season. It’s a bummer situation. Ryu is an excellent pitcher. But elbow injuries are the Baba Yaga for pitchers, an ever-present danger. The Jays rolled craps on the final year of his contract. But even then, he could return by July, in plenty of time for a stretch run.
Is there a way out? This is a tough one. Sure, it only takes one team to bite (and they’d have to be getting a substantial amount of money along the way), but Ryu can also block a deal to eight teams. That combo is rough. Keeping him is a fine option, too.
Baltimore Orioles
None
The Orioles have just one (one!) guaranteed multi-year contract right now, and that’s James McCann. And the Mets are paying 80 percent of the remaining $24 million left on his contract. Baltimore is basically paying McCann $2.5 million for each of the next two years; if they wanted to move that (and it’s unlikely that they do), they’d have zero problems finding a taker.
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Tampa Bay Rays
None
In years past, would you have put Kevin Kiermaier on this list? We’d argue no. He was a fan favorite, a 31st-round pick who built himself an excellent career. He earned an extended time with his original team. He remains a stout defender, even if his bat lagged a little last year. There’s a reason the Blue Jays jumped at signing him. Brandon Lowe is coming off his worst season, but he still put up a 102 OPS+ in a season shortened by back issues. He’s under contract through 2024 with a pair of club options (and just a $1 million buyout in 2025). That’s an asset worth sticking with rather than cutting bait.
Boston Red Sox
LHP Chris Sale
2022: Pitched just 5 2/3 innings over two games
Remaining contract: Two years, $58 million
When Sale signed a five-year, $145 million deal in 2019 (it kicked in starting in 2020), he had certainly earned it. He was among the most consistently top-notch pitchers in the game for seven years, factoring into the Cy Young voting each season. But since 2020, he’s made just 13 starts. A down season was followed by Tommy John surgery was followed by a rib injury was followed by a finger fracture. And then finally he broke his wrist in a bicycling accident last year. Oy.
Is there a way out? First off, Sale has a full no-trade clause in his contract. So he’d need to agree to anything. Further, at 34 and still due a sizable sum, Sale’s contract is probably untradable unless the Sox sent a large chunk of change the other way. And releasing him doesn’t gain them anything but a 40-man roster spot and replacing him with in-house rotation options carries a risk. Sale’s track record says he has the experience to undergo a late-career renaissance. He has always relied more on craft than force (the velocity on his fastball is basically unchanged). The best way out may be in Boston.
New York Yankees
Josh Donaldson. (Nathan Ray Seebeck / USA Today)3B Josh Donaldson
2022: .222, 148 Ks, 15 HRs, .682 OPS
Remaining contract: One year, $29 million
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Donaldson is no stranger to a salary-based trade; that’s pretty much how he ended up in New York, going from Minnesota to the Yankees along with shortstop Isiah Kiner-Falefa and catcher Ben Rortvedt in exchange for Gary Sánchez and Gio Urshela. The Yankees took on the $50 million remaining on Donaldson’s contract and could maybe find a taker for the final $29 million ($21 million in salary and $8 million buyout for the 2024 option).
OF Aaron Hicks
2022: .216, 8 HRs and 19 XBH in 453 PA, .642 OPS
Remaining contract: Three years, $30.5 million
Hicks, at least, walks. Other than that? Well, what do you expect for $70 million? The Yankees missed out on Andrew Benintendi and one of the Diamondbacks’ surplus outfielders. For now, it’s Hicks and Oswaldo Cabrera occupying the Brett Gardner Memorial spot in left field.
Is there a way out? Of course. The Yankees can afford to cut bait if they choose, but they should be able to find alternatives. Donaldson’s track record says he’s a good hitter. He’s a bounce-back candidate, in New York or otherwise. A contract swap for Jorge Soler? Yasmani Grandal? Hicks is a tough move, but there’s no reason to panic. Patience can also be a good play.
AL CENTRAL
Chicago White Sox
C Yasmani Grandal
2022: .202, 5 HR and 12 XBH in 376 PA, .570 OPS
Remaining contract: One year, $18.25 million
Grandal was one of the big-ticket free agents heading into the 2020 season and the White Sox won that bidding war with a four-year, $73 million deal. Accomplished catchers are in short supply in this era of the game, so it’s understandable that the team jumped at Grandal. And he was stellar in 2021, with 23 homers. But he fell back to earth last season. And now the final leg of his contract is a drag.
Is there a way out? Flip a coin. Grandal is still an accomplished catcher with a track record and that’s rare. But teams generally seem content swallowing potential offensive production at the catcher spot. And he’s the third-highest-paid catcher in the league, behind only J.T. Realmuto and Salvador Perez (see below). The Sox are best served waiting for July. Finding an upgrade at catcher is a tried and true way for contending teams to improve at the deadline.
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Detroit Tigers
DH Miguel Cabrera
2022: .254, 5 HR and 16 XBH in 433 PA, .622 OPS
Remaining contract: One year, $40 million
Cabrera has said he intends to retire after the 2023 season. He has an option for 2024, but no one expects that to happen. Instead, he’ll have five years to work on his Hall of Fame speech.
Is there a way out? Both sides want to finish off this season, shake hands and move on. Cabrera is one of the best hitters in the history of the game. He earned this send-off year.
Minnesota Twins
None
If you ask the Giants or the Mets, Carlos Correa’s newly signed deal could turn into one of those albatross contracts. But those are worries for future Twins. Not these Twins. These Twins want to win.
Cleveland Guardians
None
The Guardians’ highest-paid player is Josh Bell, not José Ramírez or Shane Bieber, so that should tell you right there exactly what kind of position they’re in. If only the Guardians ran all of our retirement portfolios, we’d feel much, much better.
Kansas City Royals
None
At some point in the future, Salvador Perez could qualify for this, but he was still a productive hitter last season. Perez was once the biggest bargain in the game, but before the 2021 season, he signed the largest contract in Royals history, a four-year, $82-million extension beginning in 2022.
AL WEST
Los Angeles Angels
3B Anthony Rendon
2022: .229, 5 HR, 24 RBIs
Remaining contract: Four years, $152 million
This was the pick even before his current suspension, and now, well, it’s not great. If this generation of Angels teams has a tradition other than wasting the greatest talents in baseball history, it’s overpaying for players on the downside of their careers. (See: Pujols, Albert; Hamilton, Josh.)
Is there a way out? Like being with a screaming toddler at Disneyland, the Angels are just going to have to take it and live with the longest four years of their lives. Maybe after dinner (or late in the contract) you can revisit this, but the outlook in the near future looks bleak.
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Texas Rangers
None
… Right now. Check back in a couple of years?
Houston Astros
None
Man, you look at the Astros roster and contract obligations and add in a World Series title? You’ve just got to figure the executives who put all that together have lifetime job security.
Seattle Mariners
None
The M’s may be contenders for a while.
Oakland Athletics
None
Hahaha. Wait a minute. Sorry.
Hahahah.
NL EAST
Atlanta Braves
OF Marcell Ozuna
2022: .226, 86 OPS+ (14 percent worse than league average)
Remaining contract: Two years, $37 million
Ozuna is a complicated case in a number of ways. Off the field, he was suspended for 20 games in 2021 after a domestic violence arrest and arrested again last season on a DUI charge. On the field, his glove – well, his glove is not going to carry him. Ozuna should excel at the plate. But he’s now a hitter who hasn’t hit that well the past two seasons (his 23 homers in 2022, notwithstanding). He’s the one blight on a contending roster that otherwise coalesced well into a sustainable unit. Ozuna hasn’t even approached a full season since 2019. Why would some other team want this risk?
Is there a way out? The organization probably needs to eat this one.
Miami Marlins
RF/DH Jorge Soler
2022: .207, 13 HR, 72 games
Remaining contract: Two years, $24 million
Not that bad, really. The Marlins know what they’re doing. They might not be major spending players in the winter. But general manager Kim Ng and crew are working from a position of strength knowing they possess the kind of valuable pitching staff that other teams drool over. But a budding, young team on a tight budget probably shouldn’t spend big money on a designated hitter, which is what they have in Soler.
Is there a way out? Soler is a great candidate for the kind of trade both teams can claim as a win. That’s why this list exists. Look around. Josh Donaldson, perhaps?
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New York Mets
TBD
Maybe you’ve heard how other owners are irked by Steve Cohen spending lavishly on the Mets roster. But you know what irks other general managers? It’s not those mega deals, it’s the big mid-range money. The kind of contract the Mets gave catcher James McCann. They signed him for four years and $40.6 million, then traded him to the Orioles while paying $19 million of the $24 million remaining over two years. The Mets can afford to buy their way out of mistakes. The lesser-spending teams have to live with those kinds of mistakes for years. It’s not just the Francisco Lindors and Max Scherzers that separate the Mets from the Marlins. It’s the McCanns.
Washington Nationals
Patrick Corbin. (Brad Mills / USA Today)RHP Stephen Strasburg
2022: Pitched in one game
Remaining contract: Four years, $140 million
LHP Patrick Corbin
2022: Led the league in losses (19), hits (210) and earned runs (107)
Remaining contract: Two years, more than $59 million
Jackpot! The Nationals sit at the pinnacle of this list. Each of these deals has a chunk of money deferred. So at least the Nationals have some wiggle room around the luxury tax. (That was a joke. They have no luxury tax issues. And Nats fans aren’t laughing.)
Is there a way out? Strasburg has 10-5 rights (10 years of service time with each of the past five seasons on the same team), meaning he can’t be traded without his say-so. His contract has a no-trade clause anyway. And he’s dealt with basically every major pitching injury except hoof rot. So he’s extra-untradable. Corbin is untradable for other reasons, mainly that he’s been among the worst starters in the league for three years. Time will have to heal these wounds. Lots and lots of time.
Philadelphia Phillies
UTIL Scott Kingery
2022: A ninth-inning defensive replacement in one game
Remaining contract: One year, $9 million
Back before the Braves signed every player on their 40-man roster to a 10-year deal, the Phillies jumped the gun with one of their top prospects. They signed Kingery to a six-year, $24 million deal that was weighted toward the back end. Totally reasonable move. They gave Kingery a long guarantee and Kingery gave them, presumably, a discount. He’s now among the top-paid minor leaguers in baseball. It didn’t work out. It happens.
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Is there a way out? The best way out is what’s best for the Phillies and Kingery: He rediscovers his mojo and becomes a valuable depth piece on a playoff team.
NL CENTRAL
Chicago Cubs
None
Eric Hosmer would qualify if the Cubs were paying the entire $38.3 million he’s owed over the minimum of $720,000, but they’re not; the Padres are. On the flip side, the Cubs are paying more than $21 million for Jason Heyward to play with the Dodgers. The Cubs needed Hosmer. The Dodgers needed Heyward. Everybody wins.
St. Louis Cardinals
None
When can you call a bad contract a bad contract? The Cardinals certainly don’t see Willson Contreras’ deal as a bad one — they just gave the catcher $87.5 million a couple of months shy of his 31st birthday — but St. Louis has had good luck with old catchers in the past, so maybe they’re on to something. Because that contract and Miles Mikolas’ extensions are fresh, they’re not quite things the team is trying to shed, so they probably don’t fit the definition. Get back to us in a couple of years.
Milwaukee Brewers
OF Christian Yelich
2022: .252, 14 HR, 154 games
Remaining contract: six years, $162.5 million
When Yelich signed his nine-year, $215 million deal in March of 2020, it seemed like just the kind you’d expect for a guy who’d finished first and second in MVP voting in consecutive seasons. Yellich had just turned 28 and while giving big money to a 37-year-old is not exactly ideal, it’s also not unheard of for a player of that caliber. The issue has been that he’s not played at that level since signing the deal. Now he looks like an albatross for a team that had just gotten out from under Ryan Braun’s massive extension preceding his MVP season.
Is there a way out? No. Not only is nobody going to trade for Yelich’s contract at this point, but his full no-trade clause is also another hurdle.
Cincinnati Reds
1B Joey Votto
2022: .205, 11 HR, 91 games
Remaining contract: 1 year, $32 million
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The 39-year-old Votto is in the final year of his 10-year, $225 million contract. The Reds have a $20 million option for 2024 with a $7 million buyout. It’s the end of Votto’s career, one that will likely see him enter the Hall of Fame with the Reds wishbone C on his cap. But will that be the only cap he ever wears? It seems unlikely the Reds would pick up his option next season. Votto started the season on the injured list but is currently on a rehab assignment and is expected to return to the active roster soon.
Is there a way out? It’s not impossible. Votto has a full no-trade clause, so it would be up to him whether he wanted to go elsewhere at the end of his career. He has talked about his desire to stay with the Reds for his entire career. He’s also said that he’d like to continue playing next year. It would take a perfect storm of Votto producing, the Reds eating some money and Votto wanting to play elsewhere. So not impossible, but not exactly easy.
Pittsburgh Pirates
None
Ke’Bryan Hayes is the only player on a guaranteed contract next season after signing an eight-year, $70 million contract last April. He’s making $10 million this season and $7 million each year through 2027 before it goes up for the two years before the option year. Hayes had a 4-win season last year. It seems like a perfectly reasonable contract even for the Pirates, so it’s hard to call it a bad one for a good player.
NL WEST
Arizona Diamondbacks
LHP Madison Bumgarner
2022: 7-15, 4.88 ERA over 158 2/3 innings
Remaining contract: Two years, $37 million
Here’s a fun one. Bumgarner is a Giants legend, a four-time All-Star and three-time World Series winner. But with the Diamondbacks, he’s a down-rotation veteran with three years on the south side of league average by park-adjusted ERA. The Diamondbacks seem open to trading him. Bumgarner, who can block five teams in a trade, might be open to the idea, too. So what now? Either he pitches as an innings eater at the back end of Arizona’s rotation or the team finds a way to get around his contract.
Is there a way out? He’s still Madison Bumgarner! He is the perfect candidate for a bad contract swap. There is surely a team that presents a better fit, some club that theoretically would like to shed their own bad contract and take on a veteran pitcher. Scan this list. Take your pick. Yankees? Cardinals? White Sox, maybe?
Los Angeles Dodgers
Probably in the clear at this point
Trevor Bauer’s three-year, $102 million contract with the Dodgers ended with his release. The Dodgers still owe him $22.5 million. His ongoing punishment from MLB, which initially included a record 324-game suspension under the sport’s domestic violence policy following accusations of sexual assault, saved the Dodgers some money because they didn’t have to pay him during his punishment. (Bauer denied the allegations.) In the end, no team wanted to trade for that contract. That’s why Bauer is now pitching in Japan for the Yokohama DeNA BayStars.
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Maybe the Dodgers are still reeling from that deal and maybe not. But they have shifted toward a kind of youth movement, anticipating a rush from one of the best farm systems in the game. Surely they’ll spend lavishly again, but they haven’t lately.
San Francisco Giants
None
The Giants released Tommy La Stella in January and he landed with the Mariners. But the Giants still owe him the remainder of his salary minus the league minimum, which is the portion the Mariners will cover (so, $11.5 million minus $720,000, you do the math). La Stella could become a valuable member of a contending team in Seattle. He’s a bonus: The Mariners can watch as the Giants pay him. For this reason, La Stella was among the worst contracts in baseball for one team and potentially among the best for another.
San Francisco roster boss Farhan Zaidi, though, is a master of the kind of cost certainty that modern GMs find so valuable. No player on the Giants’ current roster is guaranteed for more than three years (led by Mitch Haniger at three years for $45 million).
San Diego Padres
LHP Drew Pomeranz
2022: Did not pitch
Remaining contract: One year, $10 million
Honestly, it’s a stretch to include Pomeranz here. The Padres are working on, what, an $850 million payroll? Exaggerating a little bit here, but a $10 million reliever won’t break them. And when the Padres signed Pomeranz to a four-year, $34 million free-agent deal after 2019, he had certainly earned it. He pitched excellently in 2020 and 2021, although that last season was cut short by a hand injury. Would the Padres rather use that $10 million somewhere else, maybe to help with any potential luxury tax issues? Probably. But there’s no reason to think Pomeranz can’t be effective this season. He’s proven.
Is there a way out? They don’t need a way out.
Colorado Rockies
LF Kris Bryant
2022: 42 games played
Remaining contract: Six years, $158 million
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The first year of Bryant’s $182 million contract in Colorado was a wash, swept away by a back injury and a foot injury. The Rockies probably outbid other teams to sign Bryant in the first place by adding another year and $20-something million. But they watched one of his prime years melt away.
Think of it this way: If he were a free agent last winter, would any team have signed a 31-year-old Bryant coming off multiple injuries to a six-year, $158 million contract? The Cubs nabbed Dansby Swanson for a similar amount. The Yankees added Carlos Rodón in that neighborhood. Bryant’s is the most expensive bad contract on our list. And he is now among the least tradable players in baseball. (He has a full no-trade clause anyway.)
And don’t get us started on the fact the Rockies still owe Nolan Arenado $31 million over the next four years, making him their second-worst current contract (although a good one for the Cardinals).
Is there a way out? Nope.
(Top photo of Kris Bryant: Brandon Sloter / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
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