Overpaid and Underproductive

Every team in baseball has a contract or two in which people are not living up to their end of the bargain. People that just do not give their teams their money's worth for what they are getting paid. Whether it is an off year, injury shortened year, or decline in skill, there are various reasons. God knows, the Mets had their share of them over the past few years. Between Vaughn, Burnitz, Alomar, Cedeno, Bonilla, etc, we could have had a new stadium built instead of paying those bums.

Also, the list was getting REALLY big so I have to limit it to position players making over $7,000,000, relievers making over $5,000,000, and starting pitchers making over $7,000,000 (you lucked out Derek Lowe)

Kevin Appier - 2004 Salary $12,000,000 (from the Angels) and $300,000 (from the Royals)
ERA - 13.50
G - 2
IP - 4.0
The Angels cut him last year and are on the hook for the entire load. The Royals signed him to a no risk contract, so you really cannot blame them for taking a chance for the league minimum. However, added together, $12,300,000 makes him a cool second place to Vaughn for the most useless person for the money.

Andy Ashby - 2004 Salary $8,500,000
He is getting paid an awful lot not to play. But judging by his 5.18 ERA last year, maybe that is the best thing that could happen for the Dodgers.

Jeff Bagwell - 2004 Salary $16,000,000
Avg - .271
HR - 11
RBI - 39
While his numbers would not be bad for a guy making $5,000,000, he just is not getting paid to drive in 80 runs and hit 20 homeruns. I realize his body is failing him and he has been well worth his money over the years, but this year his contract looks like dead weight for the rest of the way.

Brett Boone - 2004 Salary $8,000,000
AVG - .232
OBP - .299
RBI - 34
XBH - 22
He Really struck into stardom with his 2001 season. He actually followed it up with two more excellent seasons, though not as good. Now he completely fell off the table this year.

Kevin Brown - 2004 Salary $15,714,286
ERA - 4.13
K/9 - 5.36
HR - 10
He is one guy I thought would be nasty. His W/L record is good, but if he was not on the Yankees, I’m guessing his numbers would not look so pretty. Also, you take those couple of early games against Tampa Bay out and he has not been too strong at all. If that was not enough, his back problems have resurfaced.

Roger Cedeno $5,375,000
He is an honorable mention and a special exception to the list. For all the pain and suffering he caused me, he deserves to be here. $1 is too much for Cedeno.

Jeff Cirilo - 2004 Salary $7,100,000
AVG - .214
HR - 1
XBH - 2
RBI - 6
AB - 56
G - 22
Do I really need to say anything about this guy? He looked like the real deal at the time he signed his contract with the Mariners. Yes, he played for Colorado, but still batted .325, .288, .321, and .326 in his last four years in Milwaukee prior to playing in Colorado. But now, he is just a complete waste of money.

Bartolo Colon - 2004 Salary $11,000,000
ERA - 6.57
HR - 26
BAA - .303
His problem now-a-days is that he still thinks he is a power pitcher. He throws 93 down the middle and judging by the HR total he has surrendered, it is not working out and he is not trying to make adjustments. He's got to be breaking some kind of record this year for most homeruns allowed. Talk about a $48,000,000 mistake.

Jose Contreras - 2004 Salary $9,000,000
ERA – 6.10
BB/9 - 4.64
HR - 18
The thing about him is that he has a good K/9 and a decent .BAA. The thing that kills him is the astronomical amount of homeruns he gives up. Astoundingly 27% of the hits he surrendered were homeruns.

Carlos Delgado - 2004 Salary $19,700,000
AVG - .227
RBI - 32
HR - 8
He was injured so that factors in to his home run total being low. Fact is though, that he did not do much when he was healthy. He is getting paid an awful lot of money to be nonexistent. This is his walk year too, not looking good for Delgado.

Darren Dreifort - 2004 Salary $11,400,000
ERA - 4.00
Look, he really is not doing that bad, but he is not getting paid that much to be a middle reliever. But LA has no one to blame but themselves. His best year was in 2000 when he went 12 - 9 with a 4.16 ERA. Is that really worth a monster contract?

Darren Erstad - 2004 Salary $7,750,000
BA - .277
HR - 2
G - 47
Part of Darren's contribution was he defense in centerfield. Because he played all out all the time, his body has started to call it quits. Now he's a first baseman that cannot stay healthy and has no power. Angels are on the hook for him for a few more years and he only gets more expensive.

Jason Giambi - 2004 Salary, $12,428,571
BA - .245
HR - 11
Games - 58
RBI - 32
Jason's body does not look like it is going to cooperate with him. On top of that, he has a heavily back loaded contract so he will just get more overpaid as the years go on. In 2008 he is due 21 millions dollars. Yankee fans have a lot to look forward too.

Shawn Green - 2004 Salary $16,666,667
BA - .248
HR - 10
RBI - 38
Can the real Shawn Green please step forward. 2003 is not looking like the aberration that the Dodgers were hoping it was. This year Green is hitting .030 + points lower and on pace for the same RBI and homerun total. Weird.

Rusty Greer - 2004 Salary $7,400,000
Rust got paid $14,400,000 to not play the last two years. I thought Rusty was a good player and had some solid years in the late 90's, but injuries has have plagued him throughout the new millennium.

Mike Hampton - 2004 Salary $12,975,288
W-L - 3-8
ERA - 5.56
BAA - .326
WHIP - 1.80
Someone should tell him he is not in Coors anymore.

Chipper Jones - 2004 Salary $15,333,333
AVG - .218
RBI - 34
HR - 12
2B - 8
G - 60
The Braves own him until 2006 when his price tag reaches $18,000,000. Good luck.

Steve Karsay - 2004 Salary $ 5,000,000
Well, it is not that Steve has not performed good, he has not performed at all.

Billy Koch - 2004 Salary $6,375,000
ERA - 5.24
WHIP - 1.78
Gets paid too much to throw 93 mph fastballs down the middle of the plate. He used to throw in the high 90's and has not figured out how to throw without his fastball of ole. He needs to reinvent himself quickly.

Matt Mantei - 2004 Salary $7,000,000
ERA - 11.81
BAA - .354
HR - 5
IP - 10.2
W-L - 0-3
BS - 3
S - 1
He is the poster boy for why player options are not a good idea. Make it mutual at least. The D-Backs could have dumped him at the end of last year. The guy has a live arm, too bad he cannot stay healthy.

Mike Mussina - 2004 Salary $16,000,000
ERA - 4.88
K/9 - 5.95
BAA. - .299
Nothing can justify his bloated salary this year. (His ERA went up to 5.20 after last nights drubbing by the Tigers)

Denny Naegle - 2004 Salary $9,000,000
He is getting paid a lot of money to not even pitch this year. Shit, he's been getting a lot of money to not pitch for the last seven years.

Rob Nen - 2004 Salary $9,000,000
I have no doubt he would perform if he could actually play. But he has not pitched in a major league game since 2002. It looks like his elbow called it quits early. To bad too.

Hideo Nomo - 2004 Salary $9,000,000
ERA - 8.06
W-L - 3-10
BAA - .308
The Dodgers are happy this is the last year of his contract. I think it is safe to assume he will not be wearing Dodger blue in 2005.

Chan Ho Park - 2004 Salary $13,879,164
ERA - 5.80
G - 8
BAA - .286
HR - 13
I think it is safe to assume he was a bust. I'm not sure he will ever turn it around.

Tim Salmon - $ 9,900,000
BA - .224
HR - 2
RBI - 18
G - 35
XBH - 6
OBP - .289
That non-production is costing a lot of money. Between Erstad, Glaus, and Salmon, they
are paying a lot for guys to be injured.

Mo Vaughn - 2004 Salary $15,000,000
Sure insurance is picking up 75% of his salary, but he still ranks as the most overpaid player in my eyes.

Bernie Williams - 2004 Salary $12,357,143
BA - .277
HR - 11
RBI - 30
I know people may not agree with this one, but Williams is showing signs of his age in the past two years. He is no longer the player he used to be. He is on track to knock in only 61 runs. Also, anyone that has seen him make and attempt to play centerfield knows he is not as swift as he used to be. He has definitely not earned his money for the last two years.

Mike Cameron did not make the list since he is making $4,333,333 on his back loaded contract. Kaz only was making $5,066,667 as well. Don’t think I was paying hometown favorites by letting them slide.

*I'm sure I missed a bunch, but I had no idea the list was as big as it was.