Listing the 10 worst MLB contracts for the 2023 season
By Kevin Henry
There are MLB contracts that seem like a bargain, and there are others that seem like an albatross. With Opening Day not far away, let’s look at the 10 worst contracts for the 2023 MLB season and exactly what makes them so bad.
Madison Bumgarner of the Arizona Diamondbacks has one of the worst MLB contracts
Since signing a five-year, $85 million deal before the start of the 2020 campaign, Bumgarner has looked much more like a mere mortal than the heroic figure he was during his days with the San Francisco Giants and their three World Series titles with him as a part of the rotation.
The now-33-year-old Bumgarner is scheduled to make $23 million this season, the same amount he made in 2022 when he logged an ERA+ of 82 while posting a 4.88 ERA/4.85 FIP/1.437 WHIP in 30 starts covering 158.2 innings. The southpaw will have to improve mightily in order to earn the money the Diamondbacks are paying him this season. Projections, however, don’t favor that happening, with both ZiPS and Steamer indicating Bumgarner’s ERA will actually go up this season, finishing just under 5.00.
Arizona has not received its return on investment from Bumgarner so far, and it looks like the Diamondbacks won’t over the next two years either.