Top 10 Worst Baseball Free Agent Signings over the Last 20 Years

[HoustonGM]

These sorts of lists should really factor in both the overall value provided by the player during the life of the contract AND the overall value expected to be provided by the player at the time of the signing. A player, like Albert Belle, who signed a perfectly deserved contract, and then came down with an unexpected career-ending injury, shouldn't be on this list. The worst free agent signings are the ones that were bad at the time of the signing AND turned out bad (a la Barry Zito, so far).

[justanewguy]

Lists like these are dumb, b/c the present is much fresher in people's minds and it skews things. Like here...the top 10 worst deals of the past TWENTY years all occured in the past ten years...1998 is the farthest one back. I highly doubt there wasn't one deal from '88-'98 that would actually crack this list............

Some lists like this are okay, as long as they take the time frame into account.

Just like the announcer in college basketball today who said that North Carolina might be the greatest team of the past 25 years. GMAFB....outright ridiculous to say at this point.....

That's insane. Where was this guy when UCLA was STILL a powerhouse in the mid 70s? Or for the UNC team in '82? What about Duke with Hill/Laettner/Hurley? And those great Kentucky teams in the late 90s? And in spite of scandal, Michigan's Fab Five would probably knock the crap out of 2008's NC team.

[justanewguy]

No Dreifort?

That's what I was thinking. It's similar to the Pavano contract in that it was handed out with little to no basis for the money, and got practically no yield. Except Dreifort at least managed to provide some relief innings at one point.

Really, the Dodgers have the monopoly on bad contracts, and this list should have more of theirs. Carlos Perez and Jason Schmidt should be on this list as well. Especially Schmidt.

Seriously ?? Kevin Brown is number 3?? HE pitched 3 1/2 out of 5 great years in in LA ( before being traded) -- he shouldn't even be on the list.

At the time, it was the biggest contract that had ever been signed in baseball. He should be on this list, because the point was, he was to provide the Dodgers a healthy, solid, Cy Young value ace, and he fell way short. There were countless pitchers that could have been had at a fraction of the cost that would have provided more value.

[HoustonGM]

Carlos Perez and Jason Schmidt should be on this list as well. Especially Schmidt.

A couple weeks ago, I would've said no way, considering that I loved the signing at the time and it only looks bad in hindsight, but if the news of them knowing of his shoulder problem is true, than yes, terrible, terrible signing.

[asianinvasion]

Silva should be on this list. Sexson maybe, when he signed it was a decent deal. He was good the first two years but dropped off the face of the earth the next two. The Silva deal just sucked from the start.

[Coach Owens]

Valid points there. Even Adrian Beltre should get some notice as well. I think the worse acquisition my team ever did was getting Ruben Sierra.

Adrian Beltre was a bad deal? For the Mariners? Are you kidding? An outstanding bat and one of the best defensive third basemen in baseball? Yeah, that's a bad deal.

[Pavelb1]

Adrian Beltre was a bad deal? For the Mariners? Are you kidding? An outstanding bat and one of the best defensive third basemen in baseball? Yeah, that's a bad deal.

His OBP sux and his leverage numbers were bad last year, but he's durable, hits a good number of dingers and is a great defender....and after his great last season in LA, the Mariners should have known there would be some regression....i can see how he would drive fans nuts though. A lot of people (not myself) feel that way about JD Drew.

[HoustonGM]

His OBP sux and his leverage numbers were bad last year, but he's durable, hits a good number of dingers and is a great defender....and after his great last season in LA, the Mariners should have known there would be some regression....i can see how he would drive fans nuts though. A lot of people (not myself) feel that way about JD Drew.

He's got a slightly above average bat with great defense at the hot corner. Very good player, basically worth the money he's been paid, even if it seems like he hasn't because he hasn't repeated his fluke career year.

[Pavelb1]

He's got a slightly above average bat with great defense at the hot corner. Very good player, basically worth the money he's been paid, even if it seems like he hasn't because he hasn't repeated his fluke career year.

And he's still young. If I were running a team with a need at first or third, he's one of the first I would look too.

I bet he could be had cheaply in a trade too.

[200tang]

Yeah Adrian Beltre is a great defensive player and pretty good offense. I think the reason he gets so much crap is because when he came here people were expecting a 40/40 and then his first year here was pretty bad offensively.

If we're gonna talk about the worst signings recently for the Mariners then I dont know why you pointed out Adrian Beltre over Richie Sexson. Richie had 2 good years with us but those last 2 years were hard to watch. And when you consider he made 19 million for those 2 years and the last 2 years he made 30+ million it makes it even worse.

And while on the subject of bad acquisitions by the Mariners, how many people remember the Rafael Soriano trade? I still have no idea what they were thinking in that one. That trade made me feel bad to call myself a fan of the Mariners The only thing worse was watching the news and having the sports section come on and having them try to spin it to seem like a good trade.

[boomboom]

Valid points there. Even Adrian Beltre should get some notice as well. I think the worse acquisition my team ever did was getting Ruben Sierra.

Beltre was a good signing for the Mariners. I hope they keep him.

[boomboom]

And while on the subject of bad acquisitions by the Mariners, how many people remember the Rafael Soriano trade? I still have no idea what they were thinking in that one. That trade made me feel bad to call myself a fan of the Mariners The only thing worse was watching the news and having the sports section come on and having them try to spin it to seem like a good trade.

The reason they made that trade was because the previous season Sorriano was hit in the face ala Brad Holman...

That trade was aweful. Bavasi might go down as one of the worst GM's in the history of the game. He was given the resources to compete and he still couldn't get the job done. Even in 2007, the team was very lucky, weren't they outscored....