(RADIO.COM Sports) When the Phillies signed Jake Arrieta to a three-year, $75-million contract before the 2018 season, they didn't expect to get the pitcher who was historically dominant for the Cubs when he won the 2015 National League Cy Young award. However, Arrieta's three seasons in Philadelphia were disappointing, even by the reasonable standards that the Phillies set at the outset of his tenure with the team.
Over the lifetime of his deal, Arrieta struggled to stay healthy, and even when he took the mound, he turned in underwhelming results. In 64 starts for the Phillies, Arrieta posted a 4.36 ERA while making top-of-the-rotation money.
Arrieta's tenure in Philadelphia appears to be over, as the Phillies declined Arrieta's $20-million option for the 2021 season. Still, Arrieta's contract is indicative of what happens to a lot of once-great players. They reach free agency after they've peaked and get paid based on past performance.
Ahead of the 2021 MLB season, we ranked the 12 worst contracts in the sport currently, and nearly all of them fit the aforementioned description. Let's take a look.
12. Dexter Fowler, St. Louis Cardinals
Dexter Fowler is entering the final season of his contract.Michael Reaves/Getty ImagesThe deal: 5 years, $82.5 million
Total remaining: 1 year, $14.5 million
2021 salary: $14.5 mllion
After Fowler helped the Cubs snap a 108-year World Series drought in 2016, the rival Cardinals rewarded him with a lucrative five-year pact. Unfortunately for the Cardinals, Fowler's offensive production has plummeted since his second season in St. Louis, as he slashed .233/.317/.389 during the pandemic-shortened season. Fowler, who will turn 35 before the start of the 2021 season, is entering the final season of his contract.
11. David Price, Los Angeles Dodgers
David Price opted out of the 2020 season.Jayne Kamin-Oncea/USA Today SportsThe deal: 7 years, $217 million
Total remaining: 2 years, $64 million
2021 salary: $32 million
One of Dave Dombrowski's first moves when he took over the Red Sox front office was to sign Price to a seven-year, $217-million deal. The deal did help the team to win a World Series in 2018, but it's hard to say it's aged well. Through the first four seasons of the contract, Price posted a 3.84 ERA, which means he was solid but didn't perform at a level that justified his contract. Price was then traded to the Dodgers as part of the Mookie Betts deal before the 2020 season, which he opted out of playing in because of COVID-19. He'll return to the defending World Series champion Dodgers in 2021 with $64 million still remaining on his contract. RADIO.COM MLB insider Jon Heyman estimates that the Red Sox will be responsible for half of the money still owed to Price on his contract.
10. Andrew McCutchen, Philadelphia Phillies
Andrew McCutchen's production has declined.Mitchell Leff/Getty ImagesThe deal: 3 years, $50 million with $15-million club option for 4th season
Total remaining: 1 year, $20 million, plus $15-million club option
2021 salary: $20 million
McCutchen was having a tremendous first season in Philadelphia before suffering a season-ending torn ACL in June 2019. McCutchen did homer 10 times and drive in 34 runs in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, though his defense fell off of a cliff. He's past the point of his career where he can play center field and may be reaching a similar point in terms of being able to proficiently play left field. In 402 1/3 innings in left field for the Phillies in 2019, McCutchen posted four defensive runs saved. Post-knee surgery, though, McCutchen struggled in left field, posting minus-8 defensive runs saved in 302 innings in 2020. At this stage of his career, McCutchen is probably best suited to be a designated hitter, though at the time of publication, we aren't sure if the universal DH will return in 2021. Even if it does, it's unlikely McCutchen is so productive offensively in 2021 that it justifies the $20 million salary he'll collect.
9. Stephen Strasburg, Washington Nationals
Injuries have been a common theme during Stephen Strasburg's career.Greg Fiume/Getty ImagesThe deal: 7 years, $245 million
Total remaining: 6 years, $210 million
2021 salary: $35 million
The Nationals had two franchise icons -- Strasburg and Anthony Rendon -- become free agents after they won the 2019 World Series. While Strasburg was the reigning World Series MVP, early returns suggest that they picked the wrong one to re-sign. Rendon, who signed an identical seven-year, $245-million deal with the Los Angeles, graded out as the fifth-most valuable offensive player in baseball in 2020. Strasburg was limited to just five innings during the 2020 season, with carpal tunnel surgery in August ending his season before it ever really got started. Strasburg's history suggests that he'll pitch at an elite level, at least early on in the contract, when he's healthy. The problem is that injuries have been a recurring theme during the former No. 1 overall pick's career, and as he approaches his mid-30s, that's unlikely to change.
8. Buster Posey, San Francisco Giants
Buster Posey is entering the final season of his contract.Stan Szeto/USA Today SportsThe deal: 8 years, $159 million with $22-million club option for 9th season
Total remaining: 1 year, $21.4 million, plus $22-million club option
2021 salary: $21.4 million
At his peak, Posey was a Hall of Fame-caliber player, which is what earned him one of the largest deals in the history of the position. However, Posey opted out of the 2020 season because of COVID-19, and it's been since 2017 that he's played 115 or more games in a season. The former MVP will be the team's starting catcher in 2021, per manager Gabe Kapler. That said, if No. 1 overall prospect Joey Bart impresses this upcoming season, it will likely be his job to lose in 2022. Posey, 33, has spent his entire career with the Giants and has suggested he wouldn't want to play for another organization. Still, if he hopes to continue his career beyond the 2021 season, it may have to be for another team.
7. Jason Heyward, Chicago Cubs
Jason Heyward still has a few years left on his contract.Raj Mehta/USA Today SportsThe deal: 8 years, $184 million
Total remaining: 3 years, $65 million
2021 salary: $21 million
In his lone season with the Cardinals in 2015, Heyward had a career year, slashing .293/.359/.439 with 13 home runs, 79 RBIs, 23 stolen bases, a staggering 26 defensive runs saved and a 5.6 fWAR. Considering he was only entering his age-26 season when he became a free agent, you can see the logic in signing Heyward to a mega-deal before the 2016 season. Unfortunately for the Cubs, while Heyward has won two Gold Glove Awards as a member of the team, his bat hasn't consistently performed at the star level Chicago hoped for when it signed him to such a massive contract. Heyward actually posted a negative offensive WAR in his first season with the team, and while he's coming off of a pretty productive season in terms of getting on base, you can bet the Cubs would like a mulligan on Heyward's deal.
6. Giancarlo Stanton, New York Yankees
Giancarlo Stanton's deal is hard to swallow for the Yankees.Mike Ehrmann/Getty ImagesThe deal: 13 years, $325 million with $25-million club option for 14th season
Total remaining: 7 years, $208 million plus $25-million club option
2021 salary: $29 million
Brian Cashman is a Hall of Fame-caliber executive, but his decision to trade for reigning National League MVP Giancarlo Stanton after the 2017 season stands out as one of the worst transactions in recent memory. Though there were some extenuating circumstances, Stanton often dealt with injuries during his eight seasons with the Miami Marlins. And after a good, not great, first season in the Bronx, that's reared it's ugly head in New York. Over the past two seasons, Stanton has played in just 41 of a possible 222 games. His absence has been made worse by the fact that Aaron Judge has struggled to stay healthy over the same timespan. There's a real chance Stanton will hit 500 home runs during his career, but if the Yankees had waited just one more offseason, they could've spent similar money on Bryce Harper to play the outfield, rather than Stanton, who has become an injury-prone DH.
5. Joey Votto, Cincinnati Reds
Joey Votto's production has declined in recent seasons.Michael Hickey/Getty ImagesThe deal: 10 Years, $225 million with $20-million club option for 11th season
Total remaining: 3 years, $75 million, plus $20-million club option
2021 salary: $25 million
A six-time All-Star, Votto will have a compelling Hall of Fame case when his career concludes. Unfortunately for the Reds, who are cutting costs like crazy this offseason, they're likely stuck with Votto's contract, which has become pretty ugly. Granted, Votto homered 11 times, drove in 22 runs and walked 37 times in 2020, so he's not at the stage of his career where he brings no value to a team anymore. But is the 37-year-old Votto worth $75 million over the next three seasons? Not even close.
4. Chris Sale, Boston Red Sox
Chris Sale's future is unclear.Maddie Meyer/Getty ImagesThe deal: 5 years, $145 million with $20-million club option for 6th season
Total remaining: 4 years, $115 million, plus $20-million club option
2021 salary: $30 million
Between 2012 and 2018, Sale had one of the most dominant seven-year stretches that a left-handed pitcher has ever had, culminating in him helping lead the Red Sox to a World Series title in 2018. Since signing a five-year, $145-million extension with the team in March 2019 though, Sale simply hasn't been able to stay healthy. The lanky southpaw was limited to 25 starts in 2019, with left elbow inflammation ending his season. Sale would ultimately undergo Tommy John surgery last March, which kept him from pitching at all this past season and will cut into some -- if not all -- of 2021. Now 31, Sale may still be an excellent pitcher, but injuries have kept the seven-time All-Star from being able to earn his contract.
3. Albert Pujols, Los Angeles Angels
Albert Pujols' deal with the Angels hasn't gone as the team may have hoped.Joe Nicholson/USA Today SportsThe deal: 10 years, $240 million
Total remaining: 1 year, $30 million
2021 salary: $30 million
Between 2003 and 2011, which were Pujols' last nine seasons with the Cardinals, he slashed .330/.425/.624 with 374 home runs, 1,072 RBIs and a 68.6 fWAR. In his first nine years with the Angels, Pujols has slashed .257/.312/.448 with 217 home runs, 771 RBIs and a 6.2 fWAR. The Angels never got a single season of Pujols' peak and have had to deal with a lot of seasons in which he has been an objectively below-average player. Given that his deal has helped contribute to wasting the peak of Mike Trout to this point, it's possible that Pujols' contract will go down as the worst in baseball history.
2. Miguel Cabrera, Detroit Tigers
Miguel Cabrera's deal hasn't aged well.Gregory Shamus/Getty ImagesThe deal: 8 years, $248 million with $30-million mutual options for 9th and 10th seasons
Total remaining: 3 years, $94 million, plus $30-million mutual options
2021 salary: $30 million
At the height of his powers, Cabrera was one of the greatest right-handed hitters in MLB history. Unfortunately for the Tigers, that point has long since passed, which leaves them to ride out the remaining years for a player who has been worth just 0.5 fWAR over the last four seasons. The part that really burns about Cabrera's extension is that then-general manager Dave Dombrowski re-upped Cabrera for eight more seasons in March 2014 despite the fact he couldn't become a free agent until after the 2015 season. Regardless of what had been done in the past, it wasn't difficult to figure that an eight-year extension beginning in a slugger's age-33 season probably wouldn't age well. Now, the Tigers find themselves on the hook for three more guaranteed seasons with Cabrera, and assuming they decline their half of $30-million mutual options in 2024 and 2025, they'll have to pay him $8 million in each season not to play for the team.
1. Chris Davis, Baltimore Orioles
Chris Davis' deal is one of the worst in baseball history.Rob Carr/Getty ImagesThe deal: 7 years, $161 million
Total remaining: 2 years, $34 million
2021 salary: $17 million
Despite Davis hitting just .196 in 2014, the Orioles were fooled by the massive power numbers that he put up in 2013 and 2015, which led them to rewarding him with a seven-year, $161-million deal in January 2016. Ironically, since signing that extension, Davis has hit just .196 in parts of five seasons. Between 2012 and 2015, Davis hit 159 home runs. Over the past five years, Davis has 92 home runs, 38 of which came in the 2016 season. While some sluggers like Ryan Howard had major injuries that affected their ability to live up to their massive extensions, Davis simply has fallen off, without an exact explanation for why his production has plummeted.
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