Sports

The 10 Worst Contracts in Baseball Right Now

By Ryan Phillips & Karl Rasmussen Sports Illustrated

Updated May 13, 2026 7:30 AM

Signing one bad contract can sink an MLB franchise, and there are plenty of those deals floating around the big leagues right now.

Teams overpay for free agents every year, brazenly dropping nine figures to bring players to their organizations in hopes that their aggressive moves on the open market can yield postseason success and maybe even a World Series title. But when boldness backfires, often in the form of a long-term contract at vastly too high a rate, it can hamstring a franchise for years.

Currently, there are several long-term contracts that have already aged poorly or look likely to go down that path in the coming years. We're going to examine the 10 worst MLB contracts currently on the books.

10. Masataka Yoshida, Boston Red Sox

Total contract: five years, $90 million

Remaining: $37.2 million (18.6 million in 2026 and '27)

After being named a four-time NPB All-Star, Yoshida was posted by the Orix Buffaloes in December 2022, and looked like the next Japanese hitting star who would make a smooth transition to MLB. That hasn't happened. Yoshida has been a massive disappointment since inking his five-year, $90 million deal with the Red Sox. During his four seasons stateside, he has slashed .282/.340/.420, with a 109 wRC+ and just 3.3 bWAR. His best year was his first when he had a .760 OPS and 15 home runs. He has 14 bombs in the three years since. Yoshida is also a terrible defensive outfielder and has been relegated largely to DH duty since his rookie year. He has only played in 70 games over the past two season after being relegated to a reserve role. Next season he'll make $18.6 million and likely won't play much.

9. Aaron Nola, Philadelphia Phillies

Total contract: seven years, $172 million

Remaining: $122.9 million ($24.6 million million per year through 2030)

Nola hasn't lived up to expectations since signing his seven-year, $172 million contract after the 2023 season. The Phillies starter is earning north of $24.5 million per season, but has not had his best stuff over the last two years. He had a career-worst 6.01 ERA across 17 starts in 2025, and has a 5.14 ERA in seven starts this year. He remains an effective strikeout pitcher, with 44 in 42 innings this season, but he's still highly susceptible to surrendering home runs, allowing 55 in 58 starts over the past three years. It's something that's plagued him throughout his career. Nola is not performing to the level of his contract, and he's on the verge of turning 33. He's unlikely to get better.

8. Javier Baez, Detroit Tigers

Total contract: six years, $140 million

Remaining: $48 million ($24 million per season through 2027)

Baez is in the fifth season of his six-year pact with the Tigers, and it has been a disaster. After racking up 21.8 bWAR in eight seasons in Chicago, Baez has just 3.5 bWAR in five years in Detroit. Currently on the 10-day IL, Baez has played in 24 games in 2026 and has a .678 OPS with two home runs and only seven extra-base hits. He hasn't had a single season as a Tiger in which he was an above-average hitter, recording a sub-100 wRC+ in each of the last five years, and bottomed out at 41 in '24. He's under contract for one more season beyond this year, set to make $24 million annually. Detroit thought it was paying to land an exciting, high-ceiling player to be the face of its franchise. That has not happened.

7. Willy Adames, San Francisco Giants

Total contract: seven years, $182 million

Remaining: $168.9 million ($13.1 million in 2026, $31.1 million from 2027 through '31)

Adames notched career-highs in home runs (32), hits (153) and RBIs (112) in 2024 just before hitting free agency, and the Giants fell right into the trap. He exploded in a contract year before falling off after. Buster Posey and Co. handed Adames a seven-year, $182 million deal, and he has flopped since. In his two seasons with the club, he's hitting .223 with a .304 on-base percentage and slugging .405, good for a 99 wRC+. He has struck out in 26.8% of his at-bats since joining the franchise, and his 33 home runs haven't made up for his other deficiencies. The 30-year-old's contract balloons to $31.1 million a year in '27 and remains there through the '31 campaign. Given San Francisco's other issues, this is just added to the mix of the franchise's big problems.

6. Marcus Semien, New York Mets

Total contract: seven years, $175 million

Remaining: $78 million ($26 million per year through 2028)

The Mets traded Brandon Nimmo to the Rangers and inherited the three years remaining on the seven-year, $175 million deal Semien signed with Texas. The 35-year-old is a great defender at second base, but he hasn't produced at the plate in a few years, a trend that has continued in New York. Through 40 games, Semien has a .594 OPS and just two home runs, with his offensive woes effectively outweighing his defensive ability. He had an 89 wRC+ in 2025 and is down to 72 this season. He's not played the role the Mets had envisioned for him, and now they'll be left to pay him $26 million per year through 2028.

5. Manny Machado, San Diego Padres

Total contract: 11 years, $350 million

Remaining: $273.6 million ($39.1 million per year through 2033)

Machado is a future Hall of Famer who's still an excellent defensive third baseman, and every year he ends up hitting around .270 with about 30 home runs and a wRC+ north of 120. He also grinds his way through injuries like few other stars and is a clubhouse leader. That said, his contract is a mess. The Padres inked Machado to an 11-year, $350 million deal before the 2023 season, locking him up for the rest of his career. We don't know how the 33-year-old will age, but he'll be making nearly $40 million a season while doing it. He has struggled out of the gate in '26, slashing .191/.294/.353 with six home runs and a wRC+ of 86. He'll be an expensive aging veteran for a long time.

4. Carlos Correa, Houston Astros

Total contract: six years, $200 million

Remaining: $62 million through 2028, plus vesting options totaling $70 million through 2032

The Twins were more than happy to get out of the remaining years on Correa's deal at the 2025 trade deadline, and now he's the Astros' problem. The three-time All-Star re-signed with Minnesota on a six-year, $200 million deal before the 2023 campaign, in a contract that had vesting options that could make it worth $270 million. Correa has been ... fine, since. He's slashed .267/.341/.427, and produced 7.7 bWAR, but he only played in 86 games in '24, and will miss the rest of the '26 season after undergoing surgery on his left ankle. That's a different ankle than the one that blew up the 13-year, $350 million deal Correa agreed to with the Giants, and the 12-year, $315 million deal he had with the Mets before he wound up signing with the Twins. Now he's 31 with two bad ankles and a massive contract.

3. Rafael Devers, San Francisco Giants

Total contract: 10 years, $315 million

Remaining: $226.5 million ($27 million in 2026, $28.5 million from ‘27 through ‘33)

Devers's contract was steep, but not outrageous, when he signed it with the Red Sox back in 2023. That, of course, was when he still played third base and was one of the game's best left-handed hitters. Now, he plays the least valuable defensive position at first base, and his bat is a shell of what it once was. Devers has a .640 OPS and a 74 wRC+ this season, with just four home runs and a career-worst .364 slugging percentage. His underlying metrics aren't pretty either, as his strikeout rate has ballooned to 29.2% and his xwOBA has dropped to .276, suggesting this isn't just a case of bad luck at the plate for the three-time All-Star. The Giants traded for a generation slugger and wound up with a hollow bat they'll owe $226.5 million to through '33.

2. Anthony Rendon, Los Angeles Angels

Total contract: seven years, $245 million

Remaining: $38 million, restructured to pay out over three to five years

The Angels are finally almost rid of Anthony Rendon. After he posted a 1.010 OPS, produced 7.3 bWAR and helped lead the Nationals to the 2019 World Series title, L.A. signed the third baseman to a seven-year, $245 million contract. It has become one of the worst deals in sports history. Rendon has played in a total of 257 games over the seven seasons his contract covered with and has never played more than 58 in a season. He missed all of 2025 due to a hip injury, and restructured his contract after the season so the two sides could part ways. In his time with the Angels, Rendon slashed .242/.348/.369 with 22 home runs, 125 RBIs, a 103 wRC+ and 3.8 bWAR in those seven years. It has been an unmitigated disaster of a deal, and the franchise still owes him $38 million to be paid out within the next five years.

1. Kris Bryant, Colorado Rockies

Total contract: seven years, $182 million

Remaining: $81 million ($27 million per season through 2028)

Injuries have plagued Bryant's tenure with the Rockies. The former NL MVP signed a seven-year, $182 million deal with Colorado in 2022 but has played in just 170 games for the franchise in the five seasons since, and never more than 80 games in a single season. He played in 37 games and had a -0.8 bWAR in '24 and had a -0.5 bWAR in just 11 games last year. He's yet to play this season, currently on the 60-day IL with chronic lumbar degenerative disc disease. His contract, however, is still on the books for $27 million annually through '28. In total, Bryant has 17 home runs, 61 RBIs, a .695 OPS, a wRC+ of 82 and -1.6 bWAR across his 170 games with the Rockies. His lack of availability makes him the worst contract in the sport, and one of the worst ever.

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This article was originally published on www.si.com as The 10 Worst Contracts in Baseball Right Now.

This story was originally published May 13, 2026 at 4:00 AM.