45 worst contracts
----Barry Zito, Giants. Seven years, $126MM ($18MM per year). Signed December of 2006, full no-trade clause. Probably the worst contract on the list.
----Aaron Rowand, Giants. Five years, $60MM ($12MM per year). Signed December of 2007. He's a useful player, but the price is wrong.
----Edgar Renteria, Giants. Two years, $18.5MM ($9.25MM per year). Signed December of 2008. Signed before the bottom fell out of the market.
----Dave Roberts, Giants. Three years, $18MM ($6MM per year). Signed December of 2006.
I know we all know about the Giants bad contracts but this is a list of over bad moves we can snicker at.
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It’s a bit early to put Renteria on that list, isn’t it?
0 GAMES INTO HIS CONTRACT, WE HAVE DECREED THAT EDGAR RENTERIA IS ONE OF THE WORST SIGNINGS IN THE HISTORY OF BASEBALL
Also, Roberts’ contract really didn’t hurt the team that much.
GROUGTHINK ALERT
I agree(with the Renteria part). I just listed all the current Giants on the list.
Giant Dirtbags: Brian Anderson, Todd Jennings, Steve Hammond, John Bowker
Don't F with the Affeldt
by Giant among Angels on Mar 2, 2009 10:13 PM PST up reply actions
But you don't know that yet
Maybe he’ll have the best season of his career. In that case, the Giants overpaid relative to what they could have paid him, but not relative to his actual production.
GROUGTHINK ALERT
In that case, the Giants overpaid relative to what they could have paid him, but not relative to his actual production.
That’s kind of meaningless. It’s impossible to translate production into money without context. If the league isn’t willing to pay Renteria (or any player of his caliber) $9.25MM a year, he is not worth $9.25MM a year.
..so allow me to present Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain as two sweet, sweet bottles of warming hooch.
The league was willing to pay him that much as we proved. Now another team may not have been willing to pay him that much, but then you’re getting into grey areas & conjecture.
Proud owner of the most boring Username! Alex Hinshaw: Now showing in a bullpen near you!
He doesn’t even need to put up the best season of his career. If he put up numbers like he did in 2002, 2003, 2006 or 2007 then he’ll have been a great signing. If he puts up a year like 2004 or 2005 then he’ll be worth what he’s paid. In fact he’s only not been worth what he’s going to be paid by us last year, although only by a couple of million.
Of course the market’s fallen off so it makes it worse than it would have been but if we get good production from his then we’ll probably be pretty pleased anyway.
Proud owner of the most boring Username! Alex Hinshaw: Now showing in a bullpen near you!
Roberts
throwing away $6M per year on a guy who absolutely stinks and barely plays hurts the team. It prevents younger, cheaper guys from getting playing time. Yes, the Giants were going to suck anyway, but they could’ve done it for less and with more of an eye for the future. Given Roberts’ injury history and age prior to the deal, it is a really awful signing. It was then. it is now.
Proud adopted parent of future big league slugger Thomas Neal
by nostocksjustbonds on Mar 3, 2009 1:46 PM PST up reply actions
You said he barely plays but then said he prevents younger players from getting playing time! In 2007 Schierholtz wasn’t ready and whilst he may have cut into Fred Lewis’s playing time, it didn’t stop him from playing. Last year he barely got 100 at-bats & so didn’t really affect things much.
He’d also been worth 3.2 & 2 wins the previous two years (which would be a bargain for $6M, so he wasn’t totally useless before he joined. I’m not going to say it was a good signing, it certainly was a bit pointless, and he’s been pretty worthless since signing, but i wouldn’t describe it as a really awful deal. It’s a bad deal, which we’d obviously take back, but isn’t something i’d lose any sleep over.
Proud owner of the most boring Username! Alex Hinshaw: Now showing in a bullpen near you!
Noted that as well. Seems shortsighted. Did a little research and the ones for ’10 are registered, so clearly some ’11 / 2011 namesquatting is in order.
Fred Lewis can stand under my umbrella.
31 May 2007, 21:38 EST - the last time Matteh's career W-L wasn't below.500
We are at war with Los Angeles. We have always been at war with Los Angeles.
by S.F. Giangst on Mar 2, 2009 11:07 PM PST up reply actions
It was linked through MLBTR.
Giant Dirtbags: Brian Anderson, Todd Jennings, Steve Hammond, John Bowker
Don't F with the Affeldt
by Giant among Angels on Mar 2, 2009 11:11 PM PST up reply actions
Whazzat?
Your strange acronyms confuse and frighten me.
Fred Lewis can stand under my umbrella.
31 May 2007, 21:38 EST - the last time Matteh's career W-L wasn't below.500
We are at war with Los Angeles. We have always been at war with Los Angeles.
by S.F. Giangst on Mar 2, 2009 11:15 PM PST up reply actions
Not mine, for anyone who wants to make a stupid joke (howie/Goofus). The one linked in this fanshot.
GROUGTHINK ALERT
Hey!
I make stupid jokes too.
/sulks
Adoptive father to the All-Father. Does that make me the All-Grandfather?
Damn it...
…I’m getting sent back to AAA, aren’t I?
Adoptive father to the All-Father. Does that make me the All-Grandfather?
So you’re the MLB Trade Rumors guy?
…
That’s the best I got.
My Dave Righetti is better than your Dave Righetti.
by howtheyscored on Mar 3, 2009 7:20 AM PST up reply actions
hey
Where’s the 4 year deal we gave Adrian Beltre back in 2010?
"I didn't know (after seeing a spectacular over-the-shoulder catch) whether to shit or go blind." - Former Giants Outfielder Harvey Kuenn on Willie Mays
oh Dierkes...
How are the Overbay, Posada, and Helton deals 3 of the 44 worst contracts in the majors?
Aaron King is still my homeboy... iffy mechanics and all
If Dustin Pedroia played in Seattle, not many people would be talking about him.
Overbay is arguable. He got hurt in the first year of the deal and OPS+’d 85, which is bad, even at $6M/year. Last year he played more and improved his numbers considerably. He’s likely on the downside of his career, but is still only 32 and can still be a productive player.
Posada – He played only 51 games last year, and he might not be able to play C anymore, which provided a lot of his value. He’s basically a DH now. He’s 36 and the deal still has 3 more years at $13M/year. It’s clearly a bad deal. The Yanks, if they wanted to, could not trade him without paying for it.
Helton – he’s played through some injuries the last few seasons and finally missed significant time last year. He’s 35 and there’s still 3 more years left on his deal, with the Rocks owing $16.6 (2009-10) and $19.1 (2011) with a $23M 2012 option w/ $4.6M buyout. He was still a fairly productive player despite his homerun production slipping since he signed the deal, but he hasn’t hit more than 20 since 2004. The Rockies can’t move him without picking up a significant portion of the money. He’s a prime example of why really lengthy deals are bad, even for seemingly great offensive players. If he had signed a 6-year deal, no one would say he wasn’t worth it.
Proud adopted parent of future big league slugger Thomas Neal
by nostocksjustbonds on Mar 3, 2009 2:03 PM PST up reply actions
I can agree with Zito and Roberts so far. I think it’s a little early to close the book on Rowand. And Renteria really isn’t a terrible signing.
The Roberts deal is weird because when the Giants signed him to play CF, it was obvious his CF days were over. Yet, they sign him, and he goes out and puts up a -10.5 run season in CF. Randy Winn was currently already on the roster and has been an average CF in his career. There’s just no logic to the move.
This! I can understand why the Zito contract went through, I don’t agree with it, but can understand. The Roberts’ signing? No idea what they were thinking there.
That was a weird offseason. They also made bids on the terrible GMJ and Juan Pierre. Seriously, was Sabean drunk for the entire offseason?
He obviously really, really wanted a lead-off hitting CF, although why, i’m not sure. I guess if Roberts could have played CF decently, it would have been an ok signing. I’m just happy that we ended up with the lesser of 3 evils & ended up with a deal that’s not the end of the world, no matter how disappointing.
Proud owner of the most boring Username! Alex Hinshaw: Now showing in a bullpen near you!
He obviously really, really wanted a lead-off hitting CF, although why, i’m not sure.
Like, oh, say, Randy Winn? Winn has hit lead-off more than any other batting spot in his career. It’s just amazing, that he was looking for a CF so hard, and didn’t realize he had a viable option on his roster. You know, the roster he constructed.
This happened twice! First with Roberts, then with Rowand. I don’t get it, really. I’m happy that we didn’t end up with GMJ or Pierre, but that’s damning with faint praise.
Yeah, like i said, i don’t know why he wanted one, but it seemed quite clear that that’s what he wanted, which is why he went after those players.
I guess the thinking might have been that he felt that with our right-field dimensions, we needed 2 CF, and only had one in Winn. Or perhaps he didn’t think Winn was good enough defensively (although Roberts was worse) Or perhaps it’s best not to find logic in Sabean’s decisions in that year!
Proud owner of the most boring Username! Alex Hinshaw: Now showing in a bullpen near you!
Rowand
The Giants paid for a career year with mythical defensive and personality expectations. His numbers might improve marginally, but he’s not a $12M/year player. He wasn’t when they signed him, and he isn’t now.
Plus, he also has a limited NTC and there’s 4 more years left on the deal.
Proud adopted parent of future big league slugger Thomas Neal
by nostocksjustbonds on Mar 3, 2009 2:11 PM PST up reply actions
plus, his trade value is severely limited by the agreement.
Proud adopted parent of future big league slugger Thomas Neal
by nostocksjustbonds on Mar 3, 2009 2:11 PM PST up reply actions
No, not really. He’s overpaid in a sense, but he’s still quite productive. If you want to argue if the media overrates him, I won’t stop you.
Even though he is making 20 mil this year (10 yr 189 million dollar contract). His defense sucks. I guess I am pissed that Oakland native and Philly player J. Roll is behind him on the depth charts I see for the WBC. Now that makes no sense.
Minor White > Ansel Adams
by say hey nation on Mar 3, 2009 7:38 AM PST up reply actions
Yeah, $20M a year is pretty steep. But, going forward Jeter is probably a +3-4 win player, making his value somewhere between $15-20M.
so when you’re doing wins above replacement is there any way to look at a player independently of the lineup he plays in? I only ask because I’ve always been skeptical of Jeter being valued so highly.
WAR is independent of the lineup he plays.
When I was a kid I used to pray every night for a new bicycle. Then I realized God doesn’t work that way, so I stole one and prayed for forgiveness. - Emo Philips
Neglectful father of David Quinowski
I’m not sure about that. That’s about what he’s been worth the past two year, and he’s a 35 y-o SS, so I see no reason why he shouldn’t continue to decline.
..so allow me to present Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain as two sweet, sweet bottles of warming hooch.
CC Sabathia
I wouldn’t say it yet, but it could turn out to be a bad deal, if Sabathia gets hurt and/or a “tired arm” from overuse.
Proud adopted parent of future big league slugger Thomas Neal
by nostocksjustbonds on Mar 3, 2009 2:15 PM PST reply actions
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