MLB’s Most Overpaid Players in 2023

MLB’s Most Overpaid Players in 2023

Sometimes in baseball, massive contracts end up working out. The player that you pay can end up having an amazing career or even lead your squad to a World Series. Other times, teams just simply overpay for what they end up with.

In the case of these players, a team cut them a check with an idea in mind of what the player would look like, and these players have not met those expectations, and likely won’t again in 2023.

Here are the most overpaid MLB players heading into the 2023 season.

Josh Donaldson, New York Yankees (2023 salary: $21,000,000)

The former AL-MVP has not lived up to expectations since being traded to the Pinstripes in 2022.

The third baseman posted a .682 OPS in 2022, his worst tally of his career. He also bat flipped about 25 times this past season, and about five of them were actually home runs.

Donaldson is being paid as the fifth best third baseman in 2023, a mark he’s far from today. His strikeout and whiff percentages are amongst the worst in the league, he can’t run anymore, and his walk rate has plummeted.

The Yankees are overpaying Donaldson when they probably should have waited another year or two to fill their third base position. I didn’t like the trade they made with Minnesota to get him. The 37-year-old could have a bounce back year, but I know the Yankees aren’t banking on it.

Madison Bumgarner, Arizona Diamondbacks (2023 salary: $23,000,000)

When Bumgarner left San Francisco for the desert, he brought with him a Hall of Fame-caliber career. All his postseason success in the 2010s led Arizona to believe they are righteous to pay Bumgarner a king’s ransom.

What Bumgarner brought to Arizona is a shell of his former self. Since joining the club in his age-30 season in 2020, Bumgarner’s ERA hasn’t been below 4.50 in any single season. His velocity and spin rates have decreased with age as well. His Baseball Savant page speaks for itself.

Really, Arizona should have seen the writing on the wall before giving Bumgarner the contract they did. In 2019, Bumgarner gave up 30 home runs in his last season with the Giants, a career-high amount.

Bumgarner won’t be higher than Arizona’s fourth starter heading into 2023. Not what you want for a guy you’re paying eight figures.

Patrick Corbin, Washington Nationals (2023 salary: $24,416,667)

Corbin has been making a lot, and I mean a lot of money, just to be literally the worst pitcher in baseball.

Because of the current state of the Washington Nationals, Corbin was still being thrown out there every fifth day in 2022. His performance was dreadful throughout the entire season. In 152.2 innings, Corbin posted a 6.31 ERA and 19 losses. Actually, that 6.31 ERA was apparently deflated: his expected ERA was 6.41.

Corbin helped get Washington a ring in 2019, so we can’t say this contract was a complete failure. Right now, though, it’s really bad.

Anthony Rendon, Los Angeles Angels (2023 salary: $38,571,428)

This wouldn’t be a most overpaid players list without including Anthony Rendon!

Rendon is getting paid amongst the best players in MLB when he has been far from that since joining the Angels.

While Rendon has struggled pretty mightly in the last two seasons, people forget that he had a solid year during the COVID 60-game season in 2020, sporting a .915 OPS and 150 OPS+, well above league average.

Since 2021 however, Rendon has only played in 105 out of a possible 324 games due to injuries. In these past two seasons, the 32-year-old has posted a .709 OPS over two seasons.

The best ability is availability, something Rendon has not shown in an Angels uniform. That availability becomes even more important when you factor in how much he’s being paid. I hope he bounces back in 2023.