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Baltimore Orioles: The worst contracts since 2010

By Adam Mann

BALTIMORE, MD - AUGUST 07: Chris Davis #19 of the Baltimore Orioles walks to the dugout after striking out in the third inning against the New York Yankees at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on August 7, 2019 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Greg Fiume/Getty Images)
BALTIMORE, MD - AUGUST 07: Chris Davis #19 of the Baltimore Orioles walks to the dugout after striking out in the third inning against the New York Yankees at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on August 7, 2019 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Greg Fiume/Getty Images) /
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Chris Davis #19 of the Baltimore Orioles (Photo by Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images)
Chris Davis #19 of the Baltimore Orioles (Photo by Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images) /

Baltimore Orioles: The worst contracts since 2010

1. Chris Davis: 7-year, $161M

Chris Davis’s contract won’t just go down as one of the worst free-agent signings in Baltimore Orioles history, it might just go down as the worst free-agent signing in MLB history. Coming off an above-average 2015 season in which Davis hit 47 home runs and had 117 RBI’s you could be forgiven for thinking that this contract might’ve worked itself out.

But the red flags were there.

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In 2014 Davis led the league in strikeouts with 208. And just one year prior in 2014 Davis had hit for a .196 average and only smashed 26 long balls. Making matters even worse he was suspended at the end of the year for Adderall use.

True, he had a career-year before that in 2013 hitting 53 home runs and 138 RBI’s. But outside of that, Davis looked like a slightly above average first baseman throughout his career.

Certainly not performance-worthy of a 7-year, $161M deal. It’s the largest deal in O’s history. And the cherry on top of this dud of a deal is that Orioles will be paying Davis until 2037 because 42 million dollars of the deal is in deferred money.

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But what has Davis done since signing his massive deal?

Not much of anything. He led the league in strikeouts again in 2016, but only had 38 home runs (not too shabby) and his batting average dipped to .221.

2017, 2018, and 2019 were even worse. Missing large parts of each season due to injuries and performance issues he’s had a batting average over .200 just once in those three years. He was so bad in 2018, that he managed to strike out 192 times, only hit for a .168 average, and his much-vaunted power only led to 16 home runs.

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Davis hasn’t just not lived up to his contract over this stretch, but he’s been the worst offensive player in the league. Even if Davis is able to turn it around and have a couple of decent seasons before his contract is up in 2022, this will still go down as one of the worst deals in MLB history.

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