Anthony Rendon said this week that his family and his faith are his top priorities in life. Baseball did not achieve such status.
Sure, baseball may not be a “top priority,” but one might wonder if Rendon cares about baseball at all, given his playing time, or lack thereof, in recent years.
After finishing third in National League MVP voting and winning a World Series in 2019 with the Washington Nationals, Rendon signed a seven-year, $245 million contract with the Los Angeles Angels. Rendón played in 52 of the 60 games of the truncated 2020 season, but since the beginning of 2021 he has played only 148 games.
Rendon's contract is right up there with one of the worst in the game, and his recent comments about baseball not being a “top priority” garnered him some criticism, mostly due to his inability to stay on the field.
So with Rendon making headlines, we wonder where the Rendon deal ranks among some of the worst deals that still have some time left. So this won't include Chris Davis, but it sure will include Rendon.
The dollar amount represents the total of your transactions.
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Antonio Rendon (Katelyn Mulcahy/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
9. Carlos Rodón – New York Yankees, $162 million from 2023 to 2028
There's plenty of time left on this deal (which should arguably make him higher), but it was less than two years ago when the lefty was a Cy Young Award candidate, so we'll give him and the Yankees the benefit of the doubt here.
But everything is so bad. The oft-injured Rodón signed a six-year, $162 million contract last offseason, but began his tenure with the Yankees on the disabled list. In just his third start in pinstripes, he was gawking at Yankee fans on the road. In his last start, he allowed eight runs in the first inning, raising his ERA to 6.85, and turned his back on the coaching staff during a visit to the mound.
However, Rodón has been the talk of Yankees camp, looking slimmer and much more determined. Again, he had a 2.67 ERA in 2021 and 2022 combined, but if New York's pressure is getting to him so quickly on the road, this deal doesn't bode well.
8. Wander Franco – Tampa Bay Rays, $182 million from 2022 to 2032
For obvious reasons, this could, and perhaps should, be higher. Franco, of course, is under investigation for having a relationship with a minor and allegedly paying her mother with money and gifts. It's a terrible scenario, and there is certainly a chance that Franco will never play in the majors again, much less set foot in the United States.
The Rays, known for securing money, signed their superstar when he was just 21 years old to an 11-year contract worth more than $180 million with a club option for the 12th year. It was a gamble the Rays made and for which they were praised.
But the reason for this classification is that, unlike other bad contracts in which previous injuries were somewhat predictable, no one could have seen an alleged secret relationship with a minor. Plus, there's a chance the Rays are completely off the books here. So unless they lose a superstar to alleged crimes, they could just erase history and not spend a dollar on him.
Franco is currently on paid administrative leave.
walk freely (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)
7. Kris Bryant – Colorado Rockies, $182 million from 2022 to 2028
Typically when players go to Colorado, they see their offensive production skyrocket. Well, that's not the case with the 2016 National League MVP.
Bryant became a hero in Chicago by helping the club break its 108-year World Series drought, but when he hit free agency, he opted for the Rockies. And he hasn't been great.
He played only 42 games in his first season with the club, but hitting .306 with an .851 OPS gave fans hope. However, last year, in less than half a season, he hit .233 and his OPS dropped almost 200 points.
It's not unreasonable to say that MVP's days are behind him, but he needs to be better.
6. Trevor Story – Boston Red Sox, $140 million from 2022 to 2027
Speaking of the Rockies, Story was on the MVP ballot three times with Colorado, becoming perhaps the best power hitter in the game (albeit benefiting from Coors Field). But since he signed his contract with the Sox, he has played only 137 games over the past two seasons.
And when he has been on the field, it has not been a pretty sight. He's hitting just .227 with a .685 OPS with Boston.
Sure, it was easy to predict a drop after moving away from Denver's low altitude, but this has been a bit drastic. Story can opt out after the 2025 season, but why would he do that right now?
Of course, it can still be a source of energy; he hit 16 home runs in 93 games in 2022. But this doesn't look promising.
5. Patrick Corbin – Washington Nationals, $140 million from 2019 to 2024
This contract would be higher if the Nationals did not win the World Series in his first year of contract. That makes all of this worth it (see the Yankees' overspending in 2009).
The good news for the lefty is that he has been mostly healthy with the Nationals, making more than 30 starts in each full season. The bad news is that he may have been the worst pitcher in baseball over the past three seasons.
As of 2021, among pitchers with more than 300 innings, his 5.75 ERA, 322 earned runs and 612 hits are the worst ratings in the majors; his 1.54 WHIP trails only Brad Keller. To make matters worse, he will make $35 million this year.
But at least the nightmare is almost over: Corbin's contract expires at the end of the season.
4. Giancarlo Stanton – New York Yankees – $223 million from 2018 to 2027
A little caveat here: The Miami Marlins signed Stanton to a 13-year, $325 million contract in 2014, then an all-time sports record. But because it's the Marlins, they sent him to the Yankees, who took on the vast majority of his contract after his 59-homer MVP season in 2017.
Stanton has proven his flair for the dramatic in general and that he can still be one of the most dangerous hitters on the planet. But it has largely been a love-hate story with Stanton, who was booed in his first home game as a Yankee after a five-strikeout performance. He then played just 18 games in 2019, but was a postseason hero in 2020 and led them to the postseason in 2021. But the last two years have been monsters.
Over the past two seasons, Stanton has played just 110 and 101 games, respectively, while hitting .202 with a .729 OPS. The Yankees have been afraid to put him in the outfield because of his injuries, and it's gotten to the point where Stanton appears to have lost half his body this spring. But he said a bodily transformation was necessary, for obvious reasons.
So while the hate toward Stanton from Yankees fans and the false narratives may be a bit extreme, the fact that there are four years left on this seemingly set-in-stone deal is a terrifying sight.
3. Javier Báez – Detroit Tigers, $140 million from 2022 to 2027
At least the Stanton deal got off to a good start and seemed worth it at least for a while. In this case there is probably no hope.
Baez, like Bryant, was an MVP candidate with those Cubs of the late 2010s, and while he was always a free swinger, he seems to swing at pitches that even Vladimir Guerrero would take (but at least Vlad would hit them if did it). swing).
The Tigers signed Báez ahead of the 2022 season, and he is hitting .230 with them, drawing just 50 walks against 272 strikeouts. No one in the sport chases down more bad pitches than he does. He ranks in the third percentile for walk rate and the 12th percentile for whiff percentage.
Báez, since his brief stint with the Mets in 2021, has shown no signs of being a disciplined hitter, which has led to his numbers dropping severely. The Gold Glove-caliber defense is still there, but the offense is too dazzling to accept that.
Javier Baez (Mark Blinch/Getty Images)
2. Anthony Rendon – Los Angeles Angels, $245 million from 2020 to 2026
Last year, the third baseman said 162-game seasons are too long. He clearly seems to think so.
He hasn't played in more than 60 games as an Angel (again, the 2020 season was only 60 games), and when he's on the field he's been pretty bad.
From 2013 to 2020, Rendón hit .290 with an .862 OPS and was on the MVP ballot five times. As of 2021, however, he is hitting .235/.338/.364 with just 13 home runs and 80 RBI in 148 games played.
His recent comments don't help either.
1. Stephen Strasburg – Washington Nationals, $245 million from 2020 to 2026
For a short time, Strasburg held the record for the most lucrative contract ever given to a pitcher (it was broken a few days later by Gerrit Cole, which has since been broken by Yoshinobu Yamamoto earlier this offseason).
And who could blame the Nationals? The 2009 first overall pick was the ace of a World Series-winning team that just led the majors with 209.0 innings pitched. What can go wrong? Everything's good.
Strasburg underwent Tommy John surgery in 2010, and the Nationals were very careful with his recovery over the next two years, even ending his 2012 campaign early despite a postseason run.
Strasburg was healthy in 2013 and 2014, but injuries continued over the next three seasons. However, in 2019, the Nationals thought he was back. Apparently, he wasn't.
Stephen Strasbourg (Kelly Gavin/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
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Since signing that then-record-breaking contract, Strasburg has been plagued by serious injuries, including thoracic outlet syndrome and “severe” nerve damage. Strasburg has made just eight starts since he signed the contract: two in 2020, five in 2021 and one in 2022.
Oh, and $80 million of his contract is deferred, meaning he'll make more than $26 million each year from 2027 to 2029. The Nats will also begin giving him a separate $10 million payment every July 1 starting in 2024 and continuing through 2030. Strasbourg will finally be off the books in 2026.
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