With Vernon Wells reportedly being traded from the Angels to the Yankees, it’s kind of fascinating that one of the worst contracts in the history of Major League Baseball has now been traded — twice.
In all fairness, the Yankees won’t be paying the entirety of the $21 million owed to Wells in 2013, but they’re already badly overpaying Alex Rodriguez, universally considered to have signed another one of baseball’s all-time worst contracts. With Derek Jeter and Mark Teixeira also on the roster, the Yankees have big money invested in aging veterans, which got us thinking: Who will be the most overpaid players in baseball in 2013?
Our criteria is nothing more than how much a player is slated to earn in 2013 — independent of his overall contract. The idea is to look at who will give the least return on what they’re owed in the upcoming season.
Just so you don’t think we’re picking on the Yankees, the Giants also have a pair of pitchers on this list, and even just-signed deals are not immune. The Mets may have purged themselves of a few recent bad deals, but at least one overpaid pitcher is a year away from freedom, and it’s probably none too surprising that Carl Crawford pops up on this list.
