Watching the Browns vs Cowboys, it got me thinking about the worst contracts teams have given out. It’s relatively early, but might DeShaun Watson’s be? Bobby Bonilla and Pablo Sandoval might be contenders. What other ones come to mind?
Worst Contracts In Pro Sports History
- Thread starter TheHorde
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Jacoby Ellsbury with the Yankees
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I always think of this guy when this topic comes up... Rusney Castillo - Wikipedia
On August 23, 2014, the Boston Red Sox signed Castillo to a seven-year, $72.5 million contract. Castillo was given the jersey number, 38, which he wore in Cuba.
Overall, in parts of three seasons with Boston (2014–2016), Castillo appeared in 99 MLB games, batting .262 with 7 home runs and 35 RBIs.
On August 23, 2014, the Boston Red Sox signed Castillo to a seven-year, $72.5 million contract. Castillo was given the jersey number, 38, which he wore in Cuba.
Overall, in parts of three seasons with Boston (2014–2016), Castillo appeared in 99 MLB games, batting .262 with 7 home runs and 35 RBIs.
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This is a good one
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Carl Crawford's was pretty bad in Boston. Jason Werth did practically nothing for the Nats. I saw him a few times rehabbing at A ball when he was there.
For me, as a Sox fan, I still have to go with David Price. I know he had a decent World Series the one year, but it was a big contract given to a guy with a lot of innings on his arm and many believe helped make ownership hesitant to give out long large contracts after that and may have helped the Sox to decide to low ball Mookie Betts and send him to the other coast.
For me, as a Sox fan, I still have to go with David Price. I know he had a decent World Series the one year, but it was a big contract given to a guy with a lot of innings on his arm and many believe helped make ownership hesitant to give out long large contracts after that and may have helped the Sox to decide to low ball Mookie Betts and send him to the other coast.
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FOX paying Brady $375M for 10 years as a commentator has to be up there...and I say that as a Pats fan. Just a remarkable waste of money. The NFL is a ratings monster no matter who is commentating in the booth. Adding Brady does absolutely nothing. They'd get a better ROI by giving that money to Taylor Swift to be in the booth every week lmao
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In all seriousness, Anthony Rendon got paid $245M/7yrs from the Angels in 2020. He has played 52, 58, 47, 43, and 57 games in the 5 seasons since.
Mike Trout got like $450M/12yrs and has played basically the same amount of games as Rendon.
Basically any big contract the Angels give out will be a contender for the worst of all time
Mike Trout got like $450M/12yrs and has played basically the same amount of games as Rendon.
Basically any big contract the Angels give out will be a contender for the worst of all time
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formerlurker
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July 1st.
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Rendon's has got to be one of the worst. He has literally admitted that baseball is not a priority for him and I think Papelbon one-upped that by saying Rendon literally hates baseball.
As a Yankee fan the Ellsbury was bad. But I'd wager that Pavano and Kei Igawa were just as bad, albeit, for less $$. Pavano was scared to pitch in NY and would come up with bizarre injuries at the last second to avoid being called up. Igawa was just not a good pitcher and the Yankees literally paid him millions to rot in the minors until his contract was up. Ellsbury's deal sucked, but at least he played and had one sorta decent season.
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The Broncos paying washed up Russell Wilson $64 Million and then letting him go to the Steelers while still having to pay him whatever the remainder is on that contract.
dvegas
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People forget the backstory, the Wilmorons were laughing all the way to their "bank" because instead of paying Bonilla the $$ up front, they had it invested with Madoff and were going to profit off the float on the deal
Pavano was a good signing at the time because it was a reactionary move after 2004, he was gonna be a number 3 pitcher, actually started out well with the Yankees I remember he had a complete game shutout then the injuries started which was just gonna be a 15 day DL stint and somehow missed the rest of the season and the rest is history. Kei Igawa was disasterous right off the bat not in hindsight.
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100% agree on Rendon. He was never even that good. Had a few lucky seasons imo and managed to scam the angels owner.
David price’s contract is up there. Xander bogaerts has the potential to be the worst though. He’s 31, his production has already started to dip, his injury concerns are only going to get worse, he’s already moved off shortstop, and they have him for 9 more years at $25M per year…
As a Red Sox fan I was ok not having ownership give Bogaerts that deal. But they made a huge mistake not upping their offer at least $1-2 million per year to Mookie Betts, along with making the offer earlier. They could have him right now for less than the combined cost of Story and Yoshida.
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What a waste of money.
jleves
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You can definitely add Albert Pujols to that list. 10 years, $254M. Over the 10 years he averaged 118 games, .256 batting average and 22.2 home runs.
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They supposedly offered Mookie $300M but Mookie wanted to go to free agency to help the players. Mookie later said they didn’t offer him that. I tend to side with the Sox at least offering in that $300M range, and Mookie only signing the extension with the dodgers after Covid hit and there was a lot of uncertainty about what the upcoming free agents would get that offseason. No proof, that’s just what I suspect.
They did save a lot of money on David prices contract, about 50% of the remaining contract was included in that mookie trade. The trade was at least better than the sale trade…
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Doesn't really count for this thread. The question is, "Watching the Browns vs Cowboys, it got me thinking about the worst contracts teams have given out."
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The Angels are such a poorly run organization
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Aaron Hernandez. People within the Patriots organization knew he was a psychopath who had lifetime criminals as his assistants and some teammates steered clear of him. It turns out he already murdered two guys a month before the Patriots gave him a 5 year contract extension and gave him the highest signing bonus ever for a tight end.
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Speaking of the Nats, what about Stephen Strasburg's contract? 7 years and $245 million and he made just eight starts and pitched 31⅓ innings after signing his free-agent contract. That's pretty bad.
Similarly Chris Sale's 5 year $145 million contract with the Red Sox was an absolute bust. Of course the Sox get rid of him for the last year of the contract and he's probably going to win the NL Cy Young. Smdh.
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