Worst contract ever?

[philliesphan26]

When I first took over my current team (Oregon Pacifics) in my fictional league, I had a really great pitcher in his prime named Steven White. The first year, he was my league's Pitcher of the Year and was about as good of an ace as you could ask for. He was an FA going into the off-season and he wanted a bit more than I was comfortable with (Can't remember off the top of my head, something like $20 mil/yr for 4 or 5 years). Wanting to start laying the foundation for my team and bringing my own guys in, I decided to let him walk to free up some much needed cap space.

Having been my former ace, I couldn't help but look to see where he had landed after FA ended and how much he got. Well, let's just say the term albatross is an understatement.

I took this screenshot in 2015, but the previous year (the first year of his contract) he was getting about $16 million. And before you ask, this is NOT normal in my league. Here's the top 5 salaries for the 2017 season (when he made $46 million)

Yeah. $20 million more than the second highest player. Crazy. Ironically enough, he was traded the first year (2014) into his contract right before the trade deadline. So the first team (Jacksonville) managed to unload this burden onto another team (Detroit), which I thought was funny.

Anyone else seen anything similar to this? This is the first time I've seen anything past $30 million in OOTP 14, let alone $40 million. Not that I'm complaining, I definitely don't mind the rare horrible contract signing every now and then... This game really knows how to keep you one your toes

[VanillaGorilla]

I find it ironic that a user named Phillyphan is posting about the worst contract ever....and is referencing a pitcher.

To the point of your post: No, I have never seen anything close to this disparity in salary between top paid and second highest paid player.

Back to RL (and irony): I am not a Phillie hater. In fact, I hope Ryne Sandberg leads your guys to so many WS wins that the rest of the baseball world hates you like they hate the Yankees, now.

Just as the Phillies didn't know what they had in Sandberg as a player (ok, Dallas Green did), I don't think the bumblebutts that made up the Cub hierarchy knew what kind of future manager they had, either.

I hope you get grand pay back.

[philliesphan26]

Originally Posted by VanillaGorilla

I find it ironic that a user named Phillyphan is posting about the worst contract ever....and is referencing a pitcher.

To the point of your post: No, I have never seen anything close to this disparity in salary between top paid and second highest paid player.

Back to RL (and irony): I am not a Phillie hater. In fact, I hope Ryne Sandberg leads your guys to so many WS wins that the rest of the baseball world hates you like they hate the Yankees, now.

Just as the Phillies didn't know what they had in Sandberg as a player (ok, Dallas Green did), I don't think the bumblebutts that made up the Cub hierarchy knew what kind of future manager they had, either.

I hope you get grand pay back.

Haha well in fairness, if anything the Phillies worst contract goes to Ryan Howard, not any of our pitchers

[VanillaGorilla]

Originally Posted by philliesphan26

Haha well in fairness, if anything the Phillies worst contract goes to Ryan Howard, not any of our pitchers

LOL...I disagree, but that is what makes (dead) horse races.

Cheers.

[pumph]

If the guy is even a serviceable #5 SP, he's a better value at $46 million than what the Yankees are getting from A-Rod, or what the Angels will get from Pujols towards the end of his deal.

[Fyrestorm3]

Originally Posted by pumph

If the guy is even a serviceable #5 SP, he's a better value at $46 million than what the Yankees are getting from A-Rod, or what the Angels will get from Pujols towards the end of his deal.

Yeah, is he at least a decent pitcher?

[Left-handed Badger]

Well, I have a team I recently took over who has a RF making big bucks. (less than 20 million though, but it is a drag on the finances). I cant blame them too much. In his FA year he hit something like .320 with 42 HRs, and 52 (I think) SBs. Plus set the still standing team RBI record with 127. (which finished the opening 6 seasons of his career where he had between 45 and 61 steals every year). He was also still just 26.

Unfortunately, since then....well 3 of his ensuing 4 seasons were frankly mediocre (the 2nd season he hit over .300 with only 20 HRs but 109 RBIs and 40+ doubles). And of those for seasons his high in steals has been 33. When I took over at the very end of July. He was hitting .231 with a .286 with a measly 11 steals. I quickly realized he cant hit lefties worth a nickel (and except for that MVP season his FA year, the year before, and that other .300 season, never really did) hitting in the .170s against them this year, the 4th year of his contract.

So, now he is being platooned (at least he is a lefty, so he still plays most days) And is just under .250 with a .309 OBP, plus I invigorated his running game and he hit the 20 mark. His platoon mate, ironically, while making a twentieth of his salary has been crushing those lefties. And in 160 ABs for the season has a .970 OPS. (Yeah, lefties wet themselves when they see that guy).

So, for a huge salary, and 2 roster spots, I have a good RF.

[Nunyer]

I am so paranoid about getting stuck in 'worst contract ever' status that player loyalty has basically gone out the window once I deem their demands to be unrealistic. In most cases, I just refuse to pay for the declining years of the early-to-mid 30s... and end up trading away fan favorites for prospects.

While I have little doubt that this approach serves me well in the long run... I still sometimes try to force myself to role play a real GM... "A real GM would never trade this guy... been here 10 years... multiple All-Star appearances... extremely popular... just give him the contract and pray for the best" ... But I almost never do that... occasionally if a guy has "iron man" durability and high work ethic I'll roll the dice on his 2nd FA contract into the 35-37 age range... but very rarely.

As far as this pitcher... that extreme backload is what stands out the most to me.. I could almost see that $46m making sense if some other huge veteran contract was dropping off the books the year before, but I doubt the OOTP algorithms are that in depth.

[philliesphan26]

Originally Posted by Fyrestorm3

Yeah, is he at least a decent pitcher?

I'm at work right now so I don't have access to my files but the short answer is no. I think he made the all-star game once during the four year contract. He had a mid 4 ERA the final year and I believe he got hurt halfway through the season. I'll post his player card later today when I get home

[Fyrestorm3]

Originally Posted by philliesphan26

I'm at work right now so I don't have access to my files but the short answer is no. I think he made the all-star game once during the four year contract. He had a mid 4 ERA the final year and I believe he got hurt halfway through the season. I'll post his player card later today when I get home

Ouch.

While we're sharing contract gaffes, here's mine: In my game, the Yankees had signed Russell Martin to an exorbitant $20M a year contract. But, as you can see from the attached screenshot, while he wasn't worth that much, he was at least a decent player. So when they offered him to me in a trade to clear some budget room (yes, I know, but this is the OOTP Yankees we're talking about, not real life), I bit the bullet. I had plenty of money, needed a decent catcher, and figured what the hell.

Of course, I apparently forgot that I was playing as the Rays, the team where catchers go to die. I now have $22M invested in a .200 hitter. At least he's finally in the last year of his contract.

[philliesphan26]

Originally Posted by Fyrestorm3

Ouch.

While we're sharing contract gaffes, here's mine: In my game, the Yankees n to another yxorbpranymore m a year contract. But, as you can see from the attached screenshot, while he wasn't worth that much, he was at least a decent player. So when they offered him to me in a trade to clear some budget room (yes, I know, but this is the OOTP Yankees we're talking about, not real life), I bit the bullet. I had plenty of money, needed a decent catcher, and figured what the hell.

Of course, I apparently forgot that I was playing as the Rays, the team where catchers go to die. I now have $22M invested in a .200 hitter. At least he's finally in the last year of his contract.

Talk about bad luck. Nothing you can do except put him on the bench and wait for it to be over. At least he's not your problem anymore

[Matt Arnold]

I had Heyward ask me for a deal that was around 7-8 years and 35M per year when he was already 32. I countered with a 5 year deal for 25M per year, and instantly was thinking I'd regret it. But in his final year, he's still going strong, so it definitely turned out not too bad.

Of course, I've also had my ace lefty starter, who less than a month before sign a 4 year 20M a year extension decide to go for Tommy John surgery, and come back a year later as a bottom rotation guy, and 2 years later wasn't even good enough to be a lefty specialist in the pen. Thankfully I found someone else on a shorter and cheaper deal to unload him for, but that one was a disaster for me.

[Nunyer]

Originally Posted by Fyrestorm3

Of course, I apparently forgot that I was playing as the Rays, the team where catchers go to die. I now have $22M invested in a .200 hitter. At least he's finally in the last year of his contract.

I don't think it's the Rays... In OOTP, I follow that old hippie adage from the 1960s... Never trust catchers over 30.

[Fyrestorm3]

Originally Posted by Nunyer

I don't think it's the Rays... In OOTP, I follow that old hippie adage from the 1960s... Never trust catchers over 30.

Not to take away from that, but let's look at the Rays' history with catchers, shall we?

John Flaherty was acceptable, but then again, he played on the first few years of an expansion team with zero hope of winning.
Toby Hall had one season in which he batted above .260.
Dioner Navarro was SUPPOSED to be pretty darn good... and indeed, the year they made the World Series, he was great. And then he fell off the map completely.
John Jaso had one mediocre year and then started platooning with Kelly Shoppach... neither of whom hit over .230. Jaso then left the Rays and started batting .270.
Jose Lobaton never turned into anything more than a bench bat.
Jose Molina, one of the remarkable Molina brothers, comes to the Rays and promptly starts hitting .240 (admittedly, he had a couple bad years with the Yankees before that).

And that's why a common joke between my friend and I is that the Rays can't find a decent-hitting catcher to save their lives. Russell Martin, apparently, is no exception.

[philliesphan26]

Ok so here is his player card:

2013 was his Pitcher of the Year winning performance for my team. 2014 was the start of his contract, 2017 was the end of it. Made the all-star game in 2016 before he got hurt.

[tejdog1]

Originally Posted by VanillaGorilla

I find it ironic that a user named Phillyphan is posting about the worst contract ever....and is referencing a pitcher.

To the point of your post: No, I have never seen anything close to this disparity in salary between top paid and second highest paid player.

Back to RL (and irony): I am not a Phillie hater. In fact, I hope Ryne Sandberg leads your guys to so many WS wins that the rest of the baseball world hates you like they hate the Yankees, now.

Just as the Phillies didn't know what they had in Sandberg as a player (ok, Dallas Green did), I don't think the bumblebutts that made up the Cub hierarchy knew what kind of future manager they had, either.

I hope you get grand pay back.

I know of one fanbase that already does...

[Tyler87898]

Originally Posted by philliesphan26

Ok so here is his player card:

2013 was his Pitcher of the Year winning performance for my team. 2014 was the start of his contract, 2017 was the end of it. Made the all-star game in 2016 before he got hurt.

Well from what I can see, he might've been lucky that 2013 season or had great defense (he has a low BABIP, though he has consistently had one his whole career since...). I'd like to see his "expanded stats 2" so I can see FIP.

[philliesphan26]

Originally Posted by Tyler87898

Well from what I can see, he might've been lucky that 2013 season or had great defense (he has a low BABIP, though he has consistently had one his whole career since...). I'd like to see his "expanded stats 2" so I can see FIP.

Sure thing. Here you go

[Left-handed Badger]

Originally Posted by Nunyer

I am so paranoid about getting stuck in 'worst contract ever' status that player loyalty has basically gone out the window once I deem their demands to be unrealistic. In most cases, I just refuse to pay for the declining years of the early-to-mid 30s... and end up trading away fan favorites for prospects.

While I have little doubt that this approach serves me well in the long run... I still sometimes try to force myself to role play a real GM... "A real GM would never trade this guy... been here 10 years... multiple All-Star appearances... extremely popular... just give him the contract and pray for the best" ... But I almost never do that... occasionally if a guy has "iron man" durability and high work ethic I'll roll the dice on his 2nd FA contract into the 35-37 age range... but very rarely.

As far as this pitcher... that extreme backload is what stands out the most to me.. I could almost see that $46m making sense if some other huge veteran contract was dropping off the books the year before, but I doubt the OOTP algorithms are that in depth.

I tend to give hometown favorites, I slight benefit of the doubt. But, it only goes so far. It might be them an extra couple million per year. But, it wont turn a guy worth 5 million to get 15 million. I also tend to give out a little extra to players who have fit well into my system of doing things for a period of time. (Like a reward for working hard)

I generally dont mind working around one bad contract to some extent (like my previous example I found a good niche for him, he has 2 more years, and I might see if I can dump after the next year in his last year, if I feel a need). Course, the team does have another potential bad contract. An aging LF/DH will be 37 before next season. He still is a near-.300 hitter, and his OBP was .370+. But his power is starting to deteriorate. But, he is popular. And he does have the longest tenure with the team, so it indeed wouldnt seem right to dump him, unless he completely falls flat.