Where Does Tigers Star's Brutal Contract Rank Among Worst in Baseball?
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There's been a lot of talk about the Detroit Tigers' payroll lately. Not only are they targeting Alex Bregman and other top free agents, but they also might be trying to extend Tarik Skubal this offseason before he hits the open market next winter.
Unfortunately for the Tigers, they'd have considerably more money to spent on either of those pursuits if they didn't already have one of the sport's worst contracts on the books.
Cody Stavenhagen ranked MLB's worst contracts for The Athletic on Monday, and unfortunately for Detroit, one of its players cracked the top 10.
Tigers Star's Contract Considered Among Worst in MLB
Stavenhagen ranked Javy Baez's six-year, $140 million deal as the seventh-worst contract in baseball. It would likely rank higher on the list, but Detroit is over the hump and only has two years and $48 million remaining.
It also helps that Baez bounced back a bit in 2025, turning in his best season for the Tigers since his first one with the club in 2022. He got off to a hot start and was an All-Star for the first time since 2019, but he slumped badly in the second half and finished with underwhelming numbers.
A two-time All-Star and NL MVP runner-up before arriving in Detroit, Baez has never approached that level of success with the Tigers. Age and injuries have diminished his game, rendering him one of the worst hitters in baseball in 2023 and 2024.
Overall, Detroit has not gotten its money's worth from Baez, who's produced just 3.9 WAR in his four seasons with the Tigers alongside a .229/.267/.359 batting line. The former Gold Glove winner has remained a solid defender and baserunner, but his bat has been a major liability in the lineup.
Can Baez Sustain Surprising Resurgence?
While Baez's first-half performance last season was a breath of fresh air, his second-half drop-off was concerning. It doesn't bode well for a player heading into his age-33 season.
Furthermore, his horrible plate discipline only got worse. His walk rate cratered to a career-low 2.3 percent and his strikeout rate ticked up for the second year in a row, resulting in a horrendous 10/109 BB/K ratio.
Baez is still one of the worst players in baseball at controlling the strike zone, which severely limits his upside at the plate. It also makes it hard to expect reliable production from him going forward, despite his stable batted ball data.
Baez still has some value as a utilityman with a good glove and a bit of pop, but he's never been the superstar shortstop Detroit paid him to be.
