John Lackey Among Top Five Worst Contracts in Baseball
The Red Sox have been extremely successful as an organization in locking up their two young home-grown starting pitchers to team-friendly deals.
Not only are Jon Lester and Clay Buchholz under contract through at least 2013, but they’re both severely underpaid based on market value.
When it comes to a certain free agent signing, however, Theo Epstein would probably like a mulligan.
John Lackey will make $15.25 million annually over the next four years as part of a five-year, $82.5 million contract he signed prior to last season.
Lackey is the eighth highest paid starting pitcher in baseball, but where does his deal rank among the worst current contracts in the game?
Here are the top five worst contracts for starting pitchers in Major League Baseball (salaries are based on average annual value):
5. Carlos Zambrano: $18.3 Million (signed through 2012)
Zambrano signed a five-year, $91 million extension with the Cubs in 2007. At the time, he was a 18-game winner cementing himself as one of the better starters in the National League.
On the mound, it hasn’t been a total disaster for Zambrano since the extension. He hasn’t registered an ERA above four over a full season in his entire career, but injuries and inconsistency have entirely derailed his ace status.
Off the mound, he’s been worthy of a straitjacket on numerous occasions for his dugout tirades and outbursts. The Cubs’ right-handed headache is on the books for roughly $36 million over the next two seasons.
4. John Lackey: $16.5 Million (signed through 2014)
Lackey has a 4.83 ERA in 35 career starts for the Red Sox and his second year in Boston is off to an extremely rocky start. The right-hander has allowed 17 hits and 15 earned runs in his first two outings of 2011.
He went 14-11 last year, posting one of the most deceiving win-loss records in recent memory. Lackey struggled against quality lineups and crumbled in pressure starts, finishing with his highest ERA (4.40) since 2004.
But perhaps the most frustrating aspect of Lackey’s brief Red Sox career is his consistent lack of accountability. He’ll grimace at his own fielders but doesn’t seem too concerned that he allowed a career-high 233 hits in 2010.
Lackey is on Boston’s books for another four seasons and Red Sox Nation is collectively praying that he doesn’t slip further down this list in the next few years.
3. A.J. Burnett: $16.5 Million (signed through 2013)
The Yankees certainly hit a home run by signing C.C. Sabathia prior to the 2009 season, but to this point, they have struck out with the other starting pitcher they brought aboard.
Burnett got the same amount of guaranteed money as Lackey but was far less effective last year (and that’s saying something). He lost 15 games and posted a dreadful 5.26 ERA in what was easily his worst season as a Major Leaguer.
He’s off to a misleading 3-0 start here in 2011 (4.67 ERA) and has received plenty of run support from the potent Yankee lineup.
The only positive thus far in Burnett’s Yankee career is that it’s surprisingly been a healthy one. Prior to his contract year with the Blue Jays in 2008, the righty had been injured in four of the previous five seasons.
2. Oliver Perez: $12 Million (signed through 2011)
When the Mets signed Oliver Perez to a three-year deal worth $36 million in February of 2009, the entire baseball world knew that it was a monumental mistake.
In the first two years of the deal, Perez posted nearly identical ERA’s of 6.80 and 6.82 (that’s consistency) and won a total of three games in 31 appearances.
New York finally pulled the plug on its idiotic signing by releasing Perez before the season in March, but the club is still on the hook for $12 million in 2011. Perez was picked up by the Nationals but hasn’t pitched yet this year.
It’s certainly not the worst contract in terms of overall value, but the erratic lefty walked 105 batters in 2008 and the Mets gave him nearly $40 million. That’s why they stink.
1. Barry Zito: $18 Million (signed through 2013)
Zito won the 2002 AL Cy Young award with the A’s, which gave the cross-town Giants enough reason to throw seven years and $126 million at the lanky left-hander.
In four years in San Francisco, Zito has never won more than 11 games or posted an ERA under four. He has an ERA over six through three starts in 2011 and was recently placed on the DL with a foot sprain.
Young starters like Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Jonathan Sanchez, and Madison Bumgarner helped lead the Giants to the World Series last year, but Zito remains a below average and highly overpaid arm.
Zito is easily the worst contract in baseball when it comes to starting pitchers, and it would take a truly horrendous deal for him to lose that label.
Honorable Mention: Jake Peavy ($17.3M), Mark Buerhle ($14M)
(Note: If Josh Beckett and his $16 million salary can’t turn things around this season, expect to see his name here as well)
Alastair Ingram is the lead Boston Red Sox writer for the Rant Sports Network. For daily updates, follow Fenway Faithful Report on Twitter at @FenwayReport and join the fan page on Facebook.
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I’m pretty sure I’ll never feel bad about a Major League baseball player’s salary. Simply because it’s so much more than the average American’s salary. I know it’s all relative, and when speaking in baseball terms these guys have gotten the short end of the deal. But at least they got a deal and at leas they’re getting paid really well to do something they love!
How can you possibly even consider Mark Buehrle as one of the worst pitching contracts? Buehrle is consistently worth more than his contract and aside from his 2006 campaign has always been worth more than $12M a season. Even in his 2006 season he was still worth $6.9M and was paid $8 – the only season where he was overvalued. What method are you using to determine whether or not a guy is overpaid?
I agree that Buerhle has been worth the money over the life of his deal, but he’s not worth $14 million at this point in time. It’s unfair I realize, but it’s a current snapshot and Buerhle has been getting progressively worse over the last four years and is off to a bad start. Again, he’s honorable mention so not among the very worst. He’s just not a guy I would want to pay $14 mil at this point in his career.
Perhaps you should actually do some research beyond checking ERA’s. AJ Burnett struggled last year because he lost his curveball and couldn’t strike people out at his usual clip. This year his curveball is on and he’s striking out 8.74 per 9 innings. Not to mention his xFIP is 3.89. He pitched very well for 3 starts and Girardi left him in too long and gave up two 2run HR’s in garbage time after he had completed on 6 innings with 0 runs against the Orioles. Then he had one bad start against Toronto. So try actually doing research or knowing what you’re talking about. 3 out of 4 good starts and a great K rate. John Lackey’s xFIP is 5.38 and he’s actually been worth less than replacement level this year. He’s also struck out less than 5 per 9 innings. Add in the fact that he’s signed for 1 more year and your Red Sox bias is showing.
You’re helping to make my point: “AJ Burnett struggled last year because he lost his curveball and couldn’t strike people out at his usual clip.” I realize he’s been better this year so far, but you can’t throw out fancy pitching stats and ignore an ERA over 5 and 1/2 for an entire season. The guy got shelled all year, case closed. Also, he hasn’t made it past 6.1 IP this season, so I’m not sure he’s really improved that drastically. Even if I grant you his 4 starts in 2011, it doesn’t eliminate his outings in 2010. If Girardi is leaving him in too long, I’d hate to see his inning totals if he got yanked at an appropriate time. Even if I grant you his 4 starts in 2011, it doesn’t eliminate his outings in 2010. Again, Lackey’s been awful in Boston, that’s why they are 3rd and 4th. It’s close, but Burnett was worse last year. Lackey also signed the exact same deal in length and value, just one season later.
How could Burnett’s contract be worse than Lackey’s when Lackey’s has one more year than Burnett’s. Also the Yankees did win a world championship with Burnett as their #2 starter.
Pat, they signed contracts of the same length and value, Burnett just signed his a year earlier. Burnett had some good and bad starts in the postseason, so it’s not like he’s the primary reason they won. He still has an ERA near 6 in the last two playoffs. They are 3rd and 4th so it’s certainly close, they are both bad.
LOL Nice try. Lackey’s contract is far worse than Burnett’s. You conveniently forgot to mention that Burnett’s first season with the Yankees was outstanding. He was a big reason why the Yankees WON THE WORLD SERIES in 2009. Granted, last year was not good, but there is a two-year sample-size here that you choose to ignore. The only reason for that is to try to make a Yankee look worse.
Burnett looks improved this season. Much of his ERA can be attributed to Girardi leaving him in games too long. Ultimately, a pitcher’s job is to win games and AJ has been doing that quite well.
As far as the rest of the list, I have no clue how anyone could be No. 1 but Oliver Perez. He’s not even pitching in the major leagues. Zito may be remarkably overpaid, but at least he’s still contributing. Perez did nothing but steal $40 million. He was garbage from Day One of that deal until the day he was released.
Also, how is your boy Dicey-K not on this list? He’s been crap for a while now. Another guy stealing money. And it only took $100 million to sign him. What a bargain. Next time, don’t ignore the Red Sux contributions to the inflated salary structure in MLB. It’s pretty obvious to see just by looking at their rotation.
Burnett hasn’t pitched beyond the 7th inning this year, so I’m not sure you want to contend that Girardi is leaving him in too long. If he is, then that’s a pretty sad statement about a #2 starter.
Also, I accept your point on Dice-K, although technically he’s only signed to a 6 year, $52 million contract. He’s been pitching lights out recently but overall he belongs on the list, and I will add him to the honorable mention.
Perez could easily be #1, but I just think that Zito is clearly the poster child for bad contracts in the modern era.