The 10 worst contracts for players in the National League East right now

The next great zombie flick will star the contracts the New York Mets are paying players to wear different uniforms. There is so much dead money going to ex-Mets right now that The Walking Dead producers will need to come up with a twelfth spinoff idea nobody will ever see.

Bad contracts aren’t unusual in Major League Baseball. Because of the guarantee each carries, the ugliness of each tends to linger. What makes a contract bad is up for some debate. The length, the dollars, and the performance are the three biggest. Is the player even necessary? Has the team invested too much in someone they didn’t even need?

To set some parameters for this list, the only eligible players are those currently in the National League East. Blame the Mets for this. How do we really judge the Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer, and other deals when the team is essentially paying for the prospects they received at the trade deadline for them? You won’t find them on this list.

10) Worst Contract in the NL East: Marcell Ozuna

The Atlanta Braves are masters at securing young players to team-friendly deals with a donation to the club’s charitable organizations. What’s in the water at Truist Park that gets so many young players to sign up for what has constantly become a favorable extension for the Braves? They must just know economics well. Get the money now. Invest it in the stock market. Don’t sweat blowing your arm or knee out in your mid-20s.

One of the exceptions is the Marcell Ozuna contract. Since re-signing with the club after a tremendous shortened 2020 season, Ozuna has been an overpaid power hitter who doesn’t offer much else.

Ozuna is taking home $18 million this year and will have the same direct deposited to him in 2024. It’s not until the 2025 season when the Braves can buy him out for only a million.

Off-field issues have tarnished Ozuna’s reputation further, but two straight years of hitting under .230 and a third ongoing campaign where he might only slightly overtake it give the Braves at least one of the worst contracts in the National League East.

Don’t celebrate too soon, Mets fans. The next guy up is one of ours.

8) Worst Contract in the NL East: Kyle Schwarber

This is going to rile up some Philadelphia Phillies fans. Kyle Schwarber on a bad contract. Have you seen his home run numbers?

Schwarber is a good cross between Marcell Ozuna and Pete Alonso. He’s a DH pushed into more of an outfield role because of injuries to teammate Bryce Harper which have limited him defensively since the start of the 2022 campaign. The Phillies didn’t sign Schwarber to save any runs. They brought him to Philly to knock ‘em in.

Schwarber led the league in home runs and strikeouts last season. He’ll only have a serious chance to have the league lead in strikeouts this season in what has been a much more disappointing year. He’s going to struggle to get his batting average about the Mendoza Line. As great as the power is, it’s not enough for a player who hit .266 the season prior to joining the Phillies.

The deal includes $20 million this year and the same amount for the next two years. It’s not abysmal. And if the Phillies come away with a World Series victory in large part because of him, the left-handed slugger can remove himself from the list of the 10 worst NL East contracts. He has a chance to turn things around over the next two years.

7) Worst Contract in the NL East: Omar Narvaez

If you aren’t up-to-date with your Mets contracts, this one might surprise you. The team brought Omar Narvaez in this offseason to catch for the ball club until top prospect Francisco Alvarez was MLB-ready. The young slugger was summoned early on this year due to an injury to Narvaez. There has been little question ever since who should get the majority of starts. It’s Alvarez, not Narvaez.

The Mets now have a pricy backup catcher who’s earning $8 million this season and very likely to accept the player option for next year at $7 million. The Mets can survive this for more than Steve Cohen’s deep pockets. Alvarez is making the league minimum and giving them a performance at least worth what Narvaez is getting paid.

Bringing in a veteran catcher this offseason from Alvarez’s home country of Venezuela wasn’t a bad idea. Unfortunately, the left-handed-hitting backstop has blended into the mess this team became. It’s a bad yet not immovable contract. It won’t deter the team from spending in the future. Circumstances have just turned this mostly innocuous deal into a bust this season and a pointless addition for next.

The Mets are already paying James McCann who was shipped to the Baltimore Orioles in the offseason. Add in what Narvaez is getting paid and there are a lot of checks going toward catchers who either don’t play much or not at all for the team.

6) Worst Contract in the NL East: Starling Marte

It did feel like the moment Starling Marte signed with the Mets this had the potential to age poorly. At least the first two years would go well, right? 

Marte took home $15.75 million last season in a year where he represented the team in the All-Star Game. Things were going well even if he was plugged into a corner outfield spot instead of center field. An injury late in the season followed by offseason surgery delivered a bad omen of what was to come. The remainder of Marte’s contract pays him $20.75 million each year through 2025. The first of his $20+ million seasons hasn’t gone well with many of the same injuries and new ones constantly popping up.

Other than increasing stolen bases and that’s because of rule changes, everything about Marte’s performance declined in 2023. The power is all but gone. It hasn’t even become a case of home runs turning into doubles. Marte was a singles hitter this year who, unfortunately, couldn’t even find enough of those.

Marte isn’t completely cooked so there is a chance to redeem himself next year. Luckily for the Mets, it’s also only two more seasons. When the next contract ends, Marte will be long-retired. How will it have aged?

5) Worst Contract in the NL East: Trea Turner

Trea Turner has only recently begun to show some signs of life as a member of the Philadelphia Phillies. This season has been his worst as a major leaguer. He hasn’t even been able to run a whole lot. Fears of him spoiling the Mets season in late September with his legs are long dead for two reasons. One is because Turner hasn’t been very good. The other is because the Mets have been worse.

Turner signed his 11-year, $300 million contract with the Phillies this offseason with enormous expectations. The Phillies were buying a player they knew would eventually become a payroll burden. They didn’t mind. Their window to win is open. It’s a gamble they were willing to take on a shortstop who has been consistently productive.

The challenge for Turner this year will be to hit over .250 and provide the team with an OBP above the .300 mark. This seemed like a guarantee in the past. Nothing indicated Turner was headed toward such a lousy season in a stellar lineup while playing half of his games in a hitter’s haven.

The contract looks like a mistake for Philly early on, but so do most $300+ million deals. It’s going to take a few more seasons to really determine whether or not this was such a bad contract signing for the ball club. A championship or two with him on the roster will make it worth the price.

4) Worst Contract in the NL East: Patrick Corbin

Consider this bad NL East contract grandfathered in as a permanent top five worst in the division. Patrick Corbin will finally end his tenure with the Washington Nationals after the 2024 season. However, they still have $35.4 million on the books to pay him next season.

Corbin was a huge part of the 2019 Nationals that managed to win a World Series. He came over from the Arizona Diamondbacks in free agency, won them 14 regular season games while logging a 3.25 ERA and amassing 202 innings.

The wheels began to fall off in the shortened 2020 season. Nobody allowed more hits (85) than Corbin. The following two seasons, Corbin would lead the league in a few more categories. His 16 losses in 2021 and 19 in 2022 were the most of any pitcher. He also gave up the most earned runs both seasons, led the league in home runs surrendered in 2021 and allowed the most hits in 2022.

A lot of bold text is usually good on a Baseball-Reference page. This isn’t the case with pitchers.

Corbin has had a slightly better year in 2023. He may still lead the league in hits allowed, but at least his ERA has a chance to finish below 5.00 for the first time since 2020.

3) Worst Contract in the NL East: Avisail Garcia

Heading back down to Florida one last time is their worst contract on the books. We’re actually done with Mets players. Our last three come from players on other teams so let’s point and laugh as we pay Max Scherzer or Justin Verlander to win for another team.

Marlins outfielder Avisail Garcia has turned into a major bust for them. While the contract isn’t too immense at only $12 million per year from 2022-2025 and a $5 million buyout for 2026 the team cannot wait to use, this is a bigger budget free agent signing for them already tasting sour.

Garcia slashed only .224/.266/.317 for them in 2022 while playing just 98 games. He has played even less in 2023 and with the team hoping to earn itself a playoff spot, Garcia could ride the pine a lot more in the final weeks of the season.

The Marlins thought they were getting a much better player when they signed him following the 2021 season. Garcia hit 29 bombs and drove in 86 for the Milwaukee Brewers that year. He was a good fit for the Fish whose need for power was obvious.

As Jorge Soler has turned his bad contract into a favorable one, Garcia has continued to slump to the point where he may not get the playing time this year to turn it around.

2) Worst Contract in the NL East: Scott Kingery

You might have actually forgotten about this contract like I almost did. It’s because Scott Kingery isn’t even in the major leagues. The Phillies extended this infielder before he played a down in the major leagues. It turned out to be a massive mistake.

The deal will finish as a six-year contract worth $24 million once he is bought out after this year. The largest hit of all comes this season with $8.25 million hitting his bank account. The team was cautious about his future. Team options each year from 2024-2026 added a layer of protection. Fortunately for Kingery and Mets fans looking for something to smile about, this turned into a laughably bad Phillies contract very quickly.

Kingery has already been designated for assignment by the Phillies and would have to be reinstated to even make an appearance this year for the major league club. He played in 15 games in 2021 and only one last season. He has hit well in Triple-A this year, but the team has shown no interest in adding him to their bench.

Barring a late call-up in 2023, Kingery could finish his Phillies tenure with a .229/.280/.387 slash line and only 325 games played. An argument to take some of the blame from him could be how much the team moved him around the field. Kingery played primarily shortstop in 2018 and then center field in 2019 while also logging dozens of innings elsewhere. It’s a lame excuse as to why he didn’t hit.

The real winner in this deal is Kingery who despite seeing his dreams of big league success crushed will never have to work another day in his life after this year if he chooses.

1) Worst Contract in the NL East: Stephen Strasburg

Finally, there’s the Stephen Strasburg contract. Another nearly forgotten bad deal from within the NL East, this one mirrors the Patrick Corbin deal but with a large crack in the center of it.

We all understand the Nationals did at least get a championship out of it with Strasburg in 2019. He took home $38.3 million that year and has been making $35 million each year since. In fact, he’ll get another $35 million for three more years. Let’s not forget the deferred money the Nationals love to give their players.

Post-2019, Strasburg has made only 8 starts for Washington. His most recent was June 9, 2022. He didn’t make it through the fifth in a 7-4 loss against the Marlins. Even Avisail Garcia had a hit against him.

Strasburg had originally signed a 7-year extension worth $175 million in 2016 with opt outs after the 2019 and 2020 campaigns. The Nationals weren’t about to let him leave a year after Bryce Harper departed. They signed him to a new 7-year contract worth $245 million. As part of the contract stipulation, he wanted Nationals Park to stay open every day in the offseason so he could continue his workout. 

The Nationals got a championship prior to this contract and Strasburg became a richer man. Hopefully he’s tipping the person that has the keys to open up Nationals Park each day so he can do his workout well. That’s the person who came away as the biggest loser of all.