Worst MLB Teams Money Can Buy

Author:
SI Staff
Publish date:
Jun 1, 2007

Worst MLB Teams Money Can Buy

2007 New York Yankees

Record: 22-29, .431 (Through May 31) Tied for fourth place This year's Yankees are well on their way to becoming the highest-paid team ever to miss the playoffs. But at least they won't be alone in their misery. Since the era of rampant free-agent spending and payroll disparity began in the late 1980s, here are the other teams that stand out for being big-money busts.

2006 Boston Red Sox

Record: 86-76, .531 Finish: 3rd place, 11 GB They were in the race until a late-season sweep at the hands of the Yankees, and then suffered too many injuries to recover. The lack of contributions from right-hander Matt Clement (65 1/3 IP) and former closer Keith Foulke (zero saves, 4.35 ERA) proved costly.

2006 Chicago Cubs

Record: 66-96, .407 Finish: 6th place, 17.5 GB An early-season injury to star first baseman Derrek Lee sent the club into a tailspin and greased the skids for manager Dusty Baker's ouster. Kerry Wood was paid $12 million to pitch in only four games.

2003 New York Mets

Record: 66-95, .410 Finish: 5th place, 34.5 GB All-Star catcher Mike Piazza ($15.5 million) was limited to 68 games and high-priced veteran Roberto Alomar ($8 million) earned a ticket out of town in a midseason trade. Former AL MVP Mo Vaughn ($17 million) managed only 79 at-bats before breaking down for good.

2001 Texas Rangers

Record: 73-89, .451 Finish: 4th place, 43 GB Unhappy with a last-place finish in 2000, the Rangers signed Alex Rodriguez to a still-record $252 million deal ... and still finished in last place. They threw good money after bad the following winter, landing Chan Ho Park to a $65 million contract. Texas finished in last place all three seasons it had A-Rod on its roster.

2001 Boston Red Sox

Record: 82-79, .509 Finish: 2nd place, 13.5 GB They spent only $3 million less than the Yankees but didn't come close to challenging for a playoff spot as Oakland took the wild card with 102 wins.

2000 Baltimore Orioles

Record: 74-88, .457 Finish: 4th place, 13.5 GB The O's paid Albert Belle about $13 million for a subpar season, his last before retiring because of a hip injury. Brady Anderson was still around and making star money ($7 million) for a mediocre performance (.257 average, 16 steals in 25 attempts).

1998 Baltimore Orioles

Record: 79-83, .488 Finish: 4th place, 35 GB Former 50-home-run man Brady Anderson batted .236 while starters Jimmy Key and Doug Drabek faltered badly during their final big league seasons.

1995 Toronto Blue Jays

Record: 56-88, .389 Finish: 5th place, 30 GB The remnants of Toronto's back-to-back world champions of 1992-93 didn't age well. Pitchers Duane Ward (nearly $5 million salary) and Juan Guzman (nearly $3 million) in particular had rough seasons.

1993 Cincinnati Reds

Record: 73-89, .451 Finish: 4th place, 31 GB Former 20-game winner John Smiley signed for $18.4 million over four years and won only three games in his first season in the Queen City.

1992 Los Angeles Dodgers

Record: 63-99, .389 Finish: 6th place, 35 GB The highly paid duo of Eric Davis and Darryl Strawberry combined for only 10 home runs and about $7 million in salary.

1992 New York Mets

Record: 72-90, .444 Finish: 4th place, 24 GB Dubbed "The Worst Team Money Can Buy" in a subsequent book written by Bob Klapisch and John Harper, these Mets featureed the bloated contracts and egos of Vince Coleman ($3 million) and Bobby Bonilla ($6 million).

1990 New York Yankees

Record: 67-95, .414 Finish: 7th place, 21 GB Featuring nearly the same cast as the 1989 Yankees, who finished 14.5 games out of first place, these Yankees added right-hander Pascual Perez for three years, $5.7 million. He would pitch only 14 innings that season before getting hurt.

1990 Kansas City Royals

Record: 75-86, .466 Finish: 6th place, 27.5 GB That's not a misprint. The Royals actually led the league in salary that year, thanks largely to a four-year, $13 million contract given to reliever Mark Davis, the reigning NL Cy Young winner. Davis would save only seven games in two-plus seasons in Kansas City.

1989 Los Angeles Dodgers

Record: 77-83, .460 Finish: 4th place, 14.0 GB Reigning NL MVP Kirk Gibson played in only 71 games as the defending world champions failed to recapture their magic from '88.

1989 New York Yankees

Record: 74-87, .460 Finish: 5th place, 14.5 GB Don Mattingly was the club's highest-paid player at $2.2 million per year, and he earned it by hitting .303 and driving in 113 runs. But the same can't be said for Andy Hawkins ($933,333), Mel Hall ($925,000) or Steve Balboni ($800,000). Plus, how did they expect to win with Alvaro Espinoza as the starting shortstop?

Worst MLB Teams Money Can Buy