With the baseball world on hiatus, we have to find some way to fill the time. What better way to do that than to take a look at the most overpaid player on every MLB team! We will be releasing these rankings every day this week as we go through the league.
Keep in mind a few things about this list we have complied. First, we are taking a “what have you done for me lately” approach. Legacy means nothing on this list. Second, we are NOT looking at the overall contract. We are instead looking at how much each player is taking from his team this year. Buckle your seatbelts, here we go!
Atlanta Braves- Will Smith ($13 million)
Will Smith is a heck of a reliever, but not at $13 million for the first year. The southpaw spent his last two seasons really making a name for himself out of San Francisco’s bullpen, an was often involved in trade rumors. He made 117 appearances over two years and pitched to a 2.66 earned run average. He held lefties to a 157 average, but righties hit nearly 60 points higher. Great reliever, but of all players on the team he is the overpaid one.
Miami Marlins- Wei-Yin Chen (now with Seattle/ $10 million)
It’s always rough when the most overpaid player on your team isn’t even on your team anymore. Pitcher Wei-Yin Chen is with the Mariners now, but the Marlins are paying him $10 million in 2020. That being said, the Marlins really don’t pay anybody, so it’s tough to have a bad contract there.
New York Mets- Robinson Cano ($24 million)
Robinson Cano signed that ridiculous $240,000,000 contract with the Mariners before the 2014 season, but the Mets are paying the price. After acquiring him in a blockbuster trade, Cano had one of the worst years of his career last season. He slashed 256/307/428 and played just 107 games. He also continued to watch his power decline, hitting just 13 homeruns.
Philadelphia Phillies- Zack Wheeler ($21.5 million)
The Phillies signing Wheeler to a $118 million contract was very surprising to most of the baseball world. Wheeler faced a series of injuries in his time with the Mets, including Tommy John surgery in 2015. That kept him out for two full seasons as Wheeler experienced a flexor strain in his rehab that shut him down. The upside to Wheeler is that he possesses a fastball that sits around 97 mph, despite the injuries.
Washington Nationals- Patrick Corbin ($19 million)
To me, Corbin was never deserving of his $140,000,000 contract. He really only had one good year with the Diamondbacks in 2018, and I really think that will be his peak. His homerun rate nearly doubled in his first year with the Nationals, but he did win a World Series. He somehow managed to garner Cy young votes in the process, despite pitching to a 3.49 FIP. In his first playoff experience in 2019, he threw 23.1 innings in 8 appearances and allowed 15 earned runs.
