2023 MLB Preview: The 11 worst contracts in baseball currently

Ahead of the 2023 Major League Baseball season, Audacy Sports has ranked the 11 worst contracts in the sport currently.

11. Giancarlo Stanton, New York Yankees

Giancarlo Stanton is one of the worst contracts in baseball right now.(Elsa/Getty Images)

Initial Deal: 13 Years and $325 Million
Amount Remaining: $160 Million

It's hard to know what to make of Stanton's Yankees legacy. He has hit 30 or more home runs on three occasions, but also three of his five seasons in New York have been littered with injuries. Considering he currently is sitting on 378 career home runs, Stanton will almost certainly reach 500 over the five remaining years on his contract. But if Brian Cashman and the Yankees had waited one more year to make a major move, they could have had Manny Machado or Bryce Harper, both of whom would have been better investments.

10. Christian Yelich, Milwaukee Brewers

Christian Yelich has one of the worst contracts in baseball right now.(Michael Reaves/Getty Images)

Initial Deal: Seven Years and $188.5 Million
Amount Remaining: $156 Million

Between 2018 and 2019, Yelich slashed .327/.415/.631 with 80 home runs, 207 RBIs and a 1.046 OPS. He won the NL MVP in 2018 -- his first season with the Brewers -- and finished as the runner-up in 2019. Ahead of the 2020 season, the Brewers rewarded Yelich with a seven-year/$188.5 million extension, the largest contract in franchise history. In parts of three seasons since then, Yelich has slashed .243/.358/.388 with 35 home runs, 130 RBIs and a .745 OPS. Over his first two seasons as a Brewer, Yelich posted a 14.9 WAR, per FanGraphs. Since then, he's been worth 4.6 WAR. For a franchise that doesn't usually choose to make large expenditures, the Brewers might like a mulligan on Yelich's long-term deal, especially as Brandon Woodruff and Corbin Burnes inch closer to free agency.

9. Nick Castellanos, Philadelphia Phillies

Nick Castellanos has one of the worst contracts in baseball right now.(Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)

Initial Deal: Five Years and $100 Million
Amount Remaining: $80 Million

There's optimism in Philadelphia that Castellanos will rebound in 2023, but from an individual sense, he had a disastrous first season in red pinstripes. In 2022, Castellanos posted a .694 OPS, -0.7 WAR and -8 defensive runs saved. He may very well regress to the mean in a positive sense offensively, returning to being one of the best doubles hitters in the sport. But he'll likely see significant time in right field again in 2023 as Bryce Harper recovers from Tommy John surgery. And as Harper, Kyle Schwarber and J.T. Realmuto age -- along with Rhys Hoskins, if he's signed beyond 2023 -- the idea of having Castellanos as a primary DH may make even less sense, even if he's hitting well.

8. James McCann, Baltimore Orioles

James McCann has one of the worst contracts in baseball right now.(Greg Fiume/Getty Images)

Initial Deal: Four Years and $40.6 Million
Amount Remaining: $24 Million

Ahead of the 2021 season, the New York Mets chose not to wait out J.T. Realmuto's free-agent market and instead checked catcher off their wishlist early by signing McCann to a four-year contract. That decision has proved to be a massive miscalculation, as he posted a .610 OPS in two seasons with the team. The Mets traded McCann to the Orioles this offseason, but will still pay the former All-Star $19 million over the next two seasons.

7. Marcell Ozuna, Atlanta Braves

Marcell Ozuna has one of the worst contracts in baseball right now.(Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

Initial Deal: Four Years and $65 Million
Amount Remaining: $33 Million

During the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, Ozuna led the NL in home runs (18), RBIs (56) and total bases (145). That earned him a four-year/$65 million deal that the Braves have regretted ever since. Ozuna has been arrested for and served a suspension for domestic violence since signing his long-term deal. The 32-year-old has also posted just a .675 OPS in 172 games. Alex Anthopoulos rarely misses when he convinces a player to sign a major contract, but he did in this case.

6. Madison Bumgarner, Arizona Diamondbacks

Madison Bumgarner has one of the worst contracts in baseball right now.(Norm Hall/Getty Images)

Initial Deal: Five Years and $85 Million
Amount Remaining: $37 Million

Bumgarner is perhaps the greatest postseason pitcher in MLB history, and one of the best pitchers in the history of the San Francisco Giants. So far, his tenure with the Diamondbacks hasn't been quite as memorable. In three seasons since signing a five-year/$85 million deal, Bumgarner is 15-29 with a 4.98 ERA and 5.04 FIP. Bumgarner had a chance to stamp his ticket to Cooperstown if he had a strong run with the Snakes. Instead, quite the opposite has unfolded.

5. Chris Sale, Boston Red Sox

Chris Sale has one of the worst contracts in MLB currently.(Rich Gagnon/Getty Images)

Initial Deal: Five Years and $145 Million
Amount Remaining: $55 Million

Between 2012 and 2018, Sale finished in the top six in AL Cy Young Award voting every year and posted a 39.2 WAR, which trailed only Clayton Kershaw and Max Scherzer. But after he closed out the 2018 World Series for the Red Sox, Sale was rewarded with a five-year/$145 million extension. He's pitched in just 34 games over the past four seasons, posting a 4.12 ERA.

4. Javier Báez, Detroit Tigers

Javier Baez has one of the worst contracts in baseball right now.(Kathryn Riley/Getty Images)

Initial Deal: Six Years and $140 Million
Amount Remaining: $120 Million

Báez rebounded from a disappointing 2020 season to put together a strong contract year in 2021, a campaign that he split between the Chicago Cubs and New York Mets. But after the Tigers rewarded him with a six-year/$140 million deal in free agency, Báez had a disappointing first season in Detroit, finishing with a .671 OPS. Perhaps more alarming is that the former Gold Glove Award winner posted -4 defensive runs saved in his first season with the Tigers, leaving you to wonder how many more seasons the 30-year-old has as a full-time shortstop. If Báez doesn't rebound in 2023, the free-swinging shortstop could climb up this list.

3. Anthony Rendon, Los Angeles Angels

Anthony Rendon has one of the worst contracts in baseball right now.(Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)

Initial Deal: Seven Years and $245 Million
Amount Remaining: $152 Million

Rendon finished 10th in AL MVP Award voting after the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, his first year after signing a free-agent deal with the Angels. But the former Washington Nationals star has played in just 105 of 324 regular season games the last two seasons. As the Angels continue to waste the peak years of Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani, anyone else around them making a good chunk of money will be seen as having contributed to the lack of team success that the franchise has had despite employing two of the greatest players in MLB history, even if that's not fair. Perhaps if Rendon is healthy in 2023, he'll still prove to be one of the better pure hitters in baseball. Perhaps.

2. Patrick Corbin, Washington Nationals

Patrick Corbin has one of the worst contracts in baseball right now.(Michael Owens/Getty Images)

Initial Deal: Six Years and $140 Million
Amount Remaining: $59.4 Million

Given that he helped the Nationals to win the first World Series title in franchise history, it will be hard to ever say the Corbin deal was a mistake. However, things have turned disastrous for Corbin in the three years since. Corbin is 17-42 with a 5.82 ERA and 4.97 FIP since the start of the 2020 season, and grades out as one of the worst qualified starting pitchers in baseball. At this point, there's not much of a reason to believe that the 33-year-old will ever rediscover the form that once made him one of the top left-handed pitchers in the sport.

1. Stephen Strasburg, Washington Nationals

Stephen Strasburg has one of the worst contracts in baseball currently.(Patrick Smith/Getty Images)

Initial Deal: Seven Years and $245 Million
Amount Remaining: $174.2 Million

Strasburg is one of the greatest players in the history of the Expos/Nationals organization, and the sole World Series MVP that the franchise has ever produced. With that said, the seven-year/$245 million deal that Strasburg signed after he won the World Series MVP in 2019 felt more like a lifetime achievement award than one that was expected to age well. Thoracic outlet syndrome has limited Strasburg to a grand total of 31 1/3 innings pitched over the last three seasons. Now 34, the three-time All-Star acknowledged last September that even he isn't certain of his future on the mound.

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