Midway through the 2019 season, a member of the New York Yankees organization assessed the laundry list of injured players, providing updates on rehabilitation schedules, the latest baseball activities for those ailing and possible timelines for their respective returns to the lineup.
When I brought up Jacoby Ellsbury, the response was an incredulous stare.
As in: Really? There was no expectation he would play this year, and in the end, Ellsbury didn't play much for the Yankees over the course of his seven-year, $153 million contract before his release this week. Ellsbury competed in 520 games over four seasons. He did not play in any games for the Yankees in 2018 or 2019 and won't in 2020, the last year of the contract.
He scored 273 runs, hit 39 homers, stole 102 bases and generated 8.1 fWAR in his time with the Yankees. Mike Trout and Alex Bregman had more fWAR than that in 2019 alone.
That value deficit is why Ellsbury's deal will go down as one of the worst big-money contracts in baseball history. Using a Fangraphs search tool, Sarah Langs of MLB.com pegged the Ellsbury contract value at $63 million, so what the Yankees got in return was almost $100 million less in value. (Although the Yankees are now contending that Ellsbury violated his deal and say they do not intend to pay him the remaining $26 million due under his contract.)
What follows are some of the least productive free-agent contracts we've seen in baseball, among deals of at least $50 million.
Chris Davis: Seven years, $119 million (the present-day value of a contract that contains a lot of deferred money), with the Orioles starting in 2016
The return: Minus-1.6 fWAR so far
Contract value, per Fangraphs: Minus-$12.9 million. This is using the $161 million initially reported as the value of his contract, but no matter what number you use, the deal has been a huge bust for Baltimore.
And this: He's got three years remaining on his contract, and there's little hope for a turnaround. Last year, Davis batted .179 for the Orioles, with 12 homers and 139 strikeouts in 307 at-bats.
Pablo Sandoval: Five years, $95 million, with the Red Sox starting in 2015
The return: Minus-1.4 fWAR
Contract value: Minus-$11 million
And this: He was overweight when he joined the Red Sox, lost almost all of his second season to injury, and as it turned out, his most memorable moment in Boston was when his belt exploded as he took a swing.
Carl Crawford: Seven years, $142 million, with the Red Sox starting in 2011
The return: 0.3 fWAR for Boston, before the Red Sox dealt him, in the middle of the second season of his deal, to the Dodgers, where he played better for the 2013 and 2014 seasons before sinking into a part-time role
Contract value: Over the course of his deal, including his seasons with L.A., $33.6 million
Josh Hamilton: Five years, $125 million, with the Angels starting in 2013
The return: 2.4 fWAR for the Angels. After two lousy seasons, with 31 homers and 266 strikeouts, the Angels returned Hamilton to Texas, where he played 50 games before his major league career ended.
Contract value: $21.1 million, for a value deficit of more than $100 million
Albert Pujols: 10 years, $240 million, with the Angels starting in 2012
The return: 6.3 fWAR over the first eight years of the deal
Contract value: $46 million, which is the largest difference between the total value of the contract and the production value among the players on this list. But Pujols is still playing and expected to be part of the 2020 Angels.
And this: Pujols, who has two years remaining on the contract, has rated fWAR of minus-2.0, minus-0.2 and minus-0.4 over the past three seasons, respectively.
Prince Fielder: Nine years, $214 million, with the Tigers starting in 2012
The return: 7.7 fWAR over two seasons, before Detroit dealt him to Texas while eating a lot of the dollars remaining on his deal
Contract value: $50.7 million, per Fangraphs. Sadly, his career was cut short by a neck injury.
Jordan Zimmermann: Five years, $110 million, with the Tigers starting in 2016
The return: 4.8 fWAR over the first four years of his contract. Zimmermann has one year remaining.
Contract value: Almost $40 million, which means that while the Zimmermann deal might not have worked out as the Tigers would've hoped, his deal did not turn out to be as ugly as some of the others on this list.
Chan Ho Park: Five years, $65 million, with the Rangers starting in 2002
The return: 0.3 fWAR over the first three years of the deal. The Rangers moved him in the fourth year of the contract.
And this: He signed with Texas the winter after the Rangers signed Alex Rodriguez, both Scott Boras clients. Four years later, both had been dealt, at extraordinary loss to the Rangers.
Jason Bay: Four years, $66 million, with the Mets starting in 2010
The return: 0.8 over three seasons, before the Mets moved him to the Mariners
Contract value: About $6 million
David Price: Seven years, $217 million, with the Red Sox starting in 2016
The return: 10.6 fWAR in the first four years of the contract
Production value for the contract so far: $85 million, per Fangraphs
And this: Price played a pivotal role in Boston's 2018 World Series title, which takes his value way beyond his regular-season numbers.
Barry Zito: Seven years, $126 million, with the Giants starting in 2007
Contract value: $33.9 million, for a value deficit of over $90 million
And this: The Giants won a couple of championships during Zito's time with the team, and as his role with the team evolved, he was uniformly classy, which is why he was cheered through his last months in San Francisco.
As Langs notes, there are deals that pay off big-time as well. The most money gained in these deals? Carlos Beltran, who generated $177.2 million in value over his seven-year, $119 million deal with the Mets. And Max Scherzer continues to pile up value: He signed a seven-year, $210 million deal, and so far he's produced $260.9 million in production value, an excess of $50.9 million -- and after playing an integral role in the Nationals' championship run this year, he's got two more years on his contract to pitch in.