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Too much money spent – $178.17 million, to be exact – on the following 18 players.
All-Overpaid
C: Jason Kendall, Oakland, $13.43 million – Might as well start with the worst contract in all of baseball. How Kendall parlayed 55 home runs and decent peripherals into a six-year, $60 million deal from Pittsburgh before the 2002 season is mystifying. Even though the Pirates are paying $5.5 million of Kendall's salary, Oakland is shoveling nearly $8 million toward a .182 hitter with two extra-base hits (both doubles) in 165 at-bats.
1B: Carlos Delgado, New York Mets, $14.5 million – Yes, he's heating up. Two home runs Saturday and Tuesday give him seven this season. And yet even with Delgado's surge, his slugging percentage is under .400 and his on-base percentage hovering around .300. This could just as easily have been Seattle's Richie Sexson, who is hitting .199, getting on base less than 30 percent of the time and making $15.5 million.
2B: Craig Biggio, Houston, $5.15 million – His march to 3,000 hits has turned into a waterless crawl across the Gobi. Biggio is hitting .207 in May, including one hit in his last 16 at-bats. In the Baseball Prospectus metric Fielding Runs Above Average, which measures players defensively against their peers, Biggio is minus-5, among the worst at his position in the game. Biggio was a great player. Biggio will be a Hall of Famer. Right now, Biggio isn't worth much at all.
SS: Julio Lugo, Boston, $8.25 million – To bat No. 1 in the powerful Red Sox lineup – the one that ranks third in the major leagues in scoring – and have only 26 runs through 48 games is embarrassing. Lugo can run (15 stolen bases) and field (though not as well as the man he replaced, Alex Gonzalez), but his inability to get on base has prevented the Red Sox from dominating even more than they already have.
3B: Scott Rolen, St. Louis, $12.31 million – Take away Rolen's 5-for-6 game April 22 and he's hitting .207 with one home run and 16 RBIs. A horrible skid at the end of April bled into May, and Rolen really hasn't recovered, as his .665 OPS (on-base-plus slugging) ranks 152nd of 179 players that qualify.
OF: Garret Anderson, Los Angeles Angels, $11.6 million – Years of wear and tear have rendered Anderson punchless. Never one to draw a walk, Anderson has done just that this year: taken a single walk among 95 at-bats, as large a sign as any of his strain to hit. He hasn't done that, either, with only one home run. The saddest part: All of his at-bats this year have come from the Angels' cleanup spot.
OF: Bobby Abreu, New York Yankees, $15 million – Finally, the Abreu envisioned by Tampa Bay when it traded him for Kevin Stocker shows up. In nearly 200 at-bats, Abreu has eight extra-base hits. After eight consecutive seasons drawing 100-plus walks, he'll be lucky if he gets to 75 this year. To put it succinctly: Abreu's Value Over Replacement Player is minus-4.2, which means that a complete scrub would have been of more value to the Yankees thus far.
OF: J.D. Drew, Boston, $14.4 million – And to think, the Red Sox are on the hook for four more years of this. Drew's batting average has vacillated between awful and abysmal, he left any semblance of power back in Los Angeles and, if not for the Red Sox's dominance, he'd be hearing boos all the way from Maine.
DH: Shea Hillenbrand, Los Angeles Angels, $6 million – Complete and utter dead weight, Hillenbrand hasn't hit, is embarrassing in the field and seems contractually obligated not to take a walk. There are higher-paid designated hitters performing poorly, but no one is as bad as Hillenbrand.
SP: Carl Pavano, New York Yankees, $10 million – Captain Carl earned stewardship of this illustrious bunch by winning a total of five games over the life of his four-year, $39.5 million deal. He'll soon undergo Tommy John surgery, which will keep him out until at least the middle of next season and allow him to attend his induction into the Bad Contract Hall of Fame, where he'll be joined by Darren Dreifort and Chan Ho Park.
SP: Barry Zito, San Francisco, $10 million – Next year it's $14.5 million. Then three years at $18.5 million. And then $19 million. And finally $20 million. We might as well save a seat, because 30 walks and 32 strikeouts in 61 1/3 innings does not portend good things.
SP: Matt Clement, Boston, $9.5 million – Like Pavano, only he pitched for a year and a half. Most notable for having been tagged with the nickname "HazMatt." About as likely to wear a Red Sox uniform again as Ted Williams.
SP: Jeff Weaver, Seattle, $8.33 million – Welcome back! Weaver is the lone returnee from last year's team. Somehow he hoodwinked the Mariners into paying him the same salary the Angels wasted last year before Weaver somehow turned into a postseason savior for St. Louis. Well, the carriage is a pumpkin again, and Weaver is 0-6 with a 14.32 earned-run average and on the disabled list for the first time in his nine-year career.
SP: Mike Hampton, Atlanta, $14.5 million – Quite a year for Hampton. After missing 2006 recovering from Tommy John surgery, he hurt his oblique during spring training. Then, during a rehabilitation session, he tore the flexor tendon in his left elbow and will miss the rest of this year. Added bonus: His salary jumps to $15 million next year, and the Braves will have to spend another $6 million in '09 to buy him out of a $20 million option. Mr. Hampton, we'll keep your seat warm, too.
RP: Armando Benitez, San Francisco, $9.7 million – Benitez blew a game last week. He gave up two runs in a 5-3 loss. Afterward, he said: "I'm doing my job." Just to repeat, he makes $9.7 million.
RP: Danys Baez, Baltimore $5.67 million – Part of the Orioles' effort to rebuild their bullpen, Baez has been relegated to mop-up duty after giving up runs in six of his last seven outings. With an 0-4 record and 6.35 ERA, Baez looks more like a Baltimore reliever, circa '06.
RP: B.J. Ryan, Toronto, $7 million – Ryan was a bargain. Then he blew out his left elbow. Now he's not.
RP: Scott Eyre, Chicago Cubs, $3.83 million – What is worse: Eyre allowing 41 baserunners in 16 1/3 innings this season or Cubs manager Lou Piniella trotting him again and again only to see him fail?
All-Overpaid
C: Jason Kendall, Oakland, $13.43 million – Might as well start with the worst contract in all of baseball. How Kendall parlayed 55 home runs and decent peripherals into a six-year, $60 million deal from Pittsburgh before the 2002 season is mystifying. Even though the Pirates are paying $5.5 million of Kendall's salary, Oakland is shoveling nearly $8 million toward a .182 hitter with two extra-base hits (both doubles) in 165 at-bats.
1B: Carlos Delgado, New York Mets, $14.5 million – Yes, he's heating up. Two home runs Saturday and Tuesday give him seven this season. And yet even with Delgado's surge, his slugging percentage is under .400 and his on-base percentage hovering around .300. This could just as easily have been Seattle's Richie Sexson, who is hitting .199, getting on base less than 30 percent of the time and making $15.5 million.
2B: Craig Biggio, Houston, $5.15 million – His march to 3,000 hits has turned into a waterless crawl across the Gobi. Biggio is hitting .207 in May, including one hit in his last 16 at-bats. In the Baseball Prospectus metric Fielding Runs Above Average, which measures players defensively against their peers, Biggio is minus-5, among the worst at his position in the game. Biggio was a great player. Biggio will be a Hall of Famer. Right now, Biggio isn't worth much at all.
SS: Julio Lugo, Boston, $8.25 million – To bat No. 1 in the powerful Red Sox lineup – the one that ranks third in the major leagues in scoring – and have only 26 runs through 48 games is embarrassing. Lugo can run (15 stolen bases) and field (though not as well as the man he replaced, Alex Gonzalez), but his inability to get on base has prevented the Red Sox from dominating even more than they already have.
3B: Scott Rolen, St. Louis, $12.31 million – Take away Rolen's 5-for-6 game April 22 and he's hitting .207 with one home run and 16 RBIs. A horrible skid at the end of April bled into May, and Rolen really hasn't recovered, as his .665 OPS (on-base-plus slugging) ranks 152nd of 179 players that qualify.
OF: Garret Anderson, Los Angeles Angels, $11.6 million – Years of wear and tear have rendered Anderson punchless. Never one to draw a walk, Anderson has done just that this year: taken a single walk among 95 at-bats, as large a sign as any of his strain to hit. He hasn't done that, either, with only one home run. The saddest part: All of his at-bats this year have come from the Angels' cleanup spot.
OF: Bobby Abreu, New York Yankees, $15 million – Finally, the Abreu envisioned by Tampa Bay when it traded him for Kevin Stocker shows up. In nearly 200 at-bats, Abreu has eight extra-base hits. After eight consecutive seasons drawing 100-plus walks, he'll be lucky if he gets to 75 this year. To put it succinctly: Abreu's Value Over Replacement Player is minus-4.2, which means that a complete scrub would have been of more value to the Yankees thus far.
OF: J.D. Drew, Boston, $14.4 million – And to think, the Red Sox are on the hook for four more years of this. Drew's batting average has vacillated between awful and abysmal, he left any semblance of power back in Los Angeles and, if not for the Red Sox's dominance, he'd be hearing boos all the way from Maine.
DH: Shea Hillenbrand, Los Angeles Angels, $6 million – Complete and utter dead weight, Hillenbrand hasn't hit, is embarrassing in the field and seems contractually obligated not to take a walk. There are higher-paid designated hitters performing poorly, but no one is as bad as Hillenbrand.
SP: Carl Pavano, New York Yankees, $10 million – Captain Carl earned stewardship of this illustrious bunch by winning a total of five games over the life of his four-year, $39.5 million deal. He'll soon undergo Tommy John surgery, which will keep him out until at least the middle of next season and allow him to attend his induction into the Bad Contract Hall of Fame, where he'll be joined by Darren Dreifort and Chan Ho Park.
SP: Barry Zito, San Francisco, $10 million – Next year it's $14.5 million. Then three years at $18.5 million. And then $19 million. And finally $20 million. We might as well save a seat, because 30 walks and 32 strikeouts in 61 1/3 innings does not portend good things.
SP: Matt Clement, Boston, $9.5 million – Like Pavano, only he pitched for a year and a half. Most notable for having been tagged with the nickname "HazMatt." About as likely to wear a Red Sox uniform again as Ted Williams.
SP: Jeff Weaver, Seattle, $8.33 million – Welcome back! Weaver is the lone returnee from last year's team. Somehow he hoodwinked the Mariners into paying him the same salary the Angels wasted last year before Weaver somehow turned into a postseason savior for St. Louis. Well, the carriage is a pumpkin again, and Weaver is 0-6 with a 14.32 earned-run average and on the disabled list for the first time in his nine-year career.
SP: Mike Hampton, Atlanta, $14.5 million – Quite a year for Hampton. After missing 2006 recovering from Tommy John surgery, he hurt his oblique during spring training. Then, during a rehabilitation session, he tore the flexor tendon in his left elbow and will miss the rest of this year. Added bonus: His salary jumps to $15 million next year, and the Braves will have to spend another $6 million in '09 to buy him out of a $20 million option. Mr. Hampton, we'll keep your seat warm, too.
RP: Armando Benitez, San Francisco, $9.7 million – Benitez blew a game last week. He gave up two runs in a 5-3 loss. Afterward, he said: "I'm doing my job." Just to repeat, he makes $9.7 million.
RP: Danys Baez, Baltimore $5.67 million – Part of the Orioles' effort to rebuild their bullpen, Baez has been relegated to mop-up duty after giving up runs in six of his last seven outings. With an 0-4 record and 6.35 ERA, Baez looks more like a Baltimore reliever, circa '06.
RP: B.J. Ryan, Toronto, $7 million – Ryan was a bargain. Then he blew out his left elbow. Now he's not.
RP: Scott Eyre, Chicago Cubs, $3.83 million – What is worse: Eyre allowing 41 baserunners in 16 1/3 innings this season or Cubs manager Lou Piniella trotting him again and again only to see him fail?
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