Ranking the worst contracts in the AL West

Boy oh boy. The teams in American League West are chock-full of both steep and lengthy contracts. Well, the teams other than the A's are at least. It goes without saying, but some of the contracts are more justifiable than others. Spoiler alert: Corey Seager and Julio Rodríguez will not be appearing on this list.

In terms of teams' total payroll, the AL West possesses 4 teams in the top 16 of spending. The only other division who can mirror that is the NL West, who have all 5 teams in the top 17. The Astros have the 3rd highest payroll in baseball, the Rangers 8th, the Angels 14th, Mariners 16th, and the A's 30th.

Deep-diving the Astros payroll, it's hard to nitpick who they allotted their payroll to given how well most of their roster is playing this year, plus how sustainable their roster management and player development are.

The Rangers just won the World Series, so they are bequeathed a long grace period. That being said, this season's illuminated some cracks in the armor of their team building.

The Mariners are criticized for not spending enough money, but they have many players who will be owed a large sum of money in the near future. Majority owner John Stanton's spending will have a large magnifying glass on it moving forward.

The Angels have a litany of financial issues that both pre-dated Perry Minasian's tenure and are mostly attributed to owner Arte Moreno and team president John Carpino. The A's are the A's, but maybe they will actually spend money when they eventually get to Las Vegas.

OK, enough about the teams. Let's focus on the individuals and rank the most overpaid players in this division. This article will focus mostly on how the player performed under the deal, and how they project during the remaining years.

Honorable Mentions

Robert Stephenson (3Y, $33 million), Jon Gray (4Y, $56 million), Tyler Mahle (2Y, $22 million), Ryan Pressly (2Y, $30 million), Christian Javier (5Y, $64 million), Mitch Garver (2Y, $24 million), J.P. Crawford (5Y, $51 million)

#4 - Mike Trout; 12 years, $426,500,000. Under contract for 6 more years and $212.7 million (the deal includes a no-trade clause)

From a pure dollars and cents perspective, this is far and away the largest contract in the division. The difference between Trout's deal and the others on this list is Trout's performed at a high level after inking the deal. After signing the deal in 2019, Trout went on to win his 3rd MVP and set career highs with 45 HRs and a .645 SLG. During the COVID shortened 2020 season, Trout finished 5th in MVP voting. The injury bug bit Trout in 2021, but he rebounded well in 2022 en route to an 8th place MVP finish.

While the past 2 seasons have been depressing for Angels and MLB fans alike, Trout's future performance will more than likely be better than the others on this list.

#3 - Lance McCullers Jr.; 5 years, $85 million. Under contract for 2 more years and $35.4 million (the deal includes a no-trade clause)

McCullers Jr.'s career is one of the most fraught in recent memory. It's starting to feel more like a sad contract rather than a bad contract, as no one really knows when he will pitch again.

McCullers Jr. was one of the nastiest pitchers in baseball in his heyday, deploying an east-west dominant approach to hitters that left them stupefied. However, after signing his new contract in 2022 he's only been able to throw 47.2 innings. He's missed the entire 2023 and 2024 season. Everybody is rooting for McCullers Jr. to return, but the timetable is extremely murky. It's hard to believe he'd be able to return to the mound and help the Astros' salvage some return on investment.

#2 - Jacob deGrom; 5 years, $185 million. Under contract for 3 more years and $115 million (club option in 2028 for $20 million) ((the deal includes a no-trade clause))

deGrom's massive contract with Rangers felt a little too rich for many's blood at the time, as pretty much every pitcher in their mid-30s do not receive anywhere close to that kind of money. After 6 starts and 30 innings pitched in 2022, the Texas starting pitcher required his second Tommy John surgery. deGrom's return to the mound is imminent, as he's made 4 rehab starts for Rangers' affiliates.

Turning 37 next year, deGrom will hope to silence the doubters and return to his dominant form. The issue is, he throws so hard and puts a lot of stress on his body when he does so. The pitcher's had a rash of arm injuries in the past too. So while he will undoubtedly dominate when he does return to the mound, his durability will remain a massive question mark moving forward.

#1 - Anthony Rendon; 7 years, $245 million. Under contract for 2 more years and $77,142,856 (the deal includes a no-trade clause)

What is there even left to be said about Rendon's contract at this point? The Angels are just watching the clock at this point waiting for the contract to expire. Rendon is once again mired an injury-riddled season, and his performance on the field has reached new lows in another lost season in Anaheim.

Many thought a move to full-time DH would help him stay on the field and perform, after Shohei Ohtani departed in free agency. Perhaps Perry Minasian will end up cutting Rendon, and set up some deferred payments so as to maximize the Angels' ability to deploy a more competitive roster next year? It's just not going to happen for Rendon and the Angels.