Atlanta Hawks — Trae Young
2023 Salary: $37,096,500
You might think this is harsh for a 2-time All-Star point guard who hasn’t even hit his 25th birthday yet. Atlanta did what it needed to do — lock up its most precious asset for the foreseeable future. However, ask yourself this: Is Young the best player on a title team? Is he even the second-best player on a title team? We know he puts up big numbers, but we also know that the Hawks have had little success with him as the lead option. Young is taking up a huge chunk of Atlanta’s cap space, and he’s been prone to shaky three-point shooting, turnovers, and below-average on-ball defense. He could be the next Bradley Beal as a good stats guy on a bad team.
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Boston Celtics — Al Horford
2023 Salary: $26,500,000
We get the intangibles aspect. Horford is the heart and soul of this team, and provides the necessary experience to keep this young team grounded. He’s also an extremely hard worker on the defensive end of the floor (with the capability to hit the outside shot). However, it’s not ideal to be paying a 36-year-old often-injured center over $26 million a year for averages of 9.4 PPG and 6.1 RPG. That money easily could be split between two other rotation pieces (in theory) thus making the team deeper and less injury-prone.
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Brooklyn Nets — Ben Simmons
2023 Salary: $35,448,572
The curious case of Ben Simmons is turning into a sad tale. We don’t know exactly what’s wrong with the former three-time All-Star. He looks fine physically — though there’s still a visible fear in shooting threes. Simmons is now even passing up opening shots for fear of getting fouled. Things have got so bad, that he’s now essentially functioning as the team’s third-string center. Based upon his production levels, paying Simmons $35 million per year is simply horrific.
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Charlotte Hornets — Gordon Hayward
2023 Salary: $30,075,000
Much of Hayward’s career sits in the hypothetical. What if the didn’t suffer that gruesome foot injury?. What if he played with better pieces around him? What if he played with a better franchise?
Hayward is being paid like a No. 1 or No. 2 option, and the fact is he hasn’t been that since his Utah days. The injury he suffered in Boston derailed his career. Hayward still can be productive when he plays. The problem is, the 33-year-old hasn’t played more than 52 games in a single season since 2018. Paying someone over $30 million annually for roughly half of the regular season doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.
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Chicago Bulls — Coby White
2023 Salary: $7,413,955
The salaries on this current Bulls’ team aren’t all that egregious. Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan are probably worth what they’re being paid. Nikola Vucevic’s contract is expiring, and Lonzo Ball’s deal is still valuable as something that can be moved in a deal.
Coby White was a lottery pick out of North Carolina four years ago. Since then, he’s really failed to establish himself as anything other than an inconsistent combo guard without a true position. His scoring totals have dipped almost in half from his second season to now, and it doesn’t appear as if he’s in the Chicago longterm plans moving forward.
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Cleveland Cavaliers — Caris LeVert
2023 Salary: $18,796,000
The Cavs roster is chock-full of young, talented dudes. Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley, Darius Garland, and others have contracts which are considered to be about where you’d expect (and in some cases, fortuitous due to rookie deals not yet expiring).
LeVert is a talented yet wildly inconsistent player. Making a little less than $19 million a year isn’t terrible, per se, for his production levels. Still, he’s only averaging 11.5 PPG on 41% from the field this year. There’s a reason why Cleveland wasn’t able to make a move at the deadline with LeVert being the central asset in a trade package.
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Dallas Mavericks — Tim Hardaway Jr.
2023 Salary: $19,602,273
The 3-and-D role in the NBA has emerged quite prominently over the last few years. Wing defenders who camp out in the corners launching 3s has led to a number of guys getting paid handsomely. In the case of Hardaway Jr., he’s more of a 3-and-D guy in theory rather than reality.
A lively, athletic guy with good lateral quickness, he is shooting a respectable 38-percent from 3 on the year. However, his overall field-goal percentage is a putrid 39-percent. Even worse, he ranks No. 162 overall in the NBA in defensive win shares. To put the proverbial cherry on top, Hardaway Jr. is also averaging the lowest PPG total for a single season since back in 2015.
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Denver Nuggets — Michael Porter Jr.
2023 Salary: $30,913,750
We don’t blame Denver for ponying up the cash to keep Porter Jr. in the fold. You’re looking at a 6-foot-10 forward with terrific range and the ability to score on all levels. You just don’t see talents like Porter Jr. very often. When you do, the aim is to keep them in the proverbial fold as a strong young core piece.
However, the fact remains that Porter Jr.’s history of health issues has seeped into his NBA career from the college ranks. He sat out his rookie season due to a back injury. In the four years since, Porter has played 176 of a possible 328 games. Although a wonderful talent, is Porter Jr. really worth the $30 million annually that Denver is paying?
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Detroit Pistons — Marvin Bagley III
2023 Salary: $12,500,000
Bagley III is essentially a flier — with one more year after this current one left on his deal. He never panned out in Sacramento, much due to the fact that the culture was still evolving around De’Aaron Fox. Also, Bagley III himself is a bit of a tweener. He’s not a great defender in terms of rim-protection. His thin, wiry frame has left him prone to being bullied on the box when posted up. Duly, Bagley III has also struggled with both finishing at the rim as well as with his consistency from beyond the arc (.222 in 2022-23, .283 for his career).
Not yet 25 years of age, there’s still plenty of time for him to become a decent NBA player. However, as it currently stands, making $12 mil a year seems like a bit of an overpay when corresponding with his averages.
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Golden State Warriors — Draymond Green
2023 Salary: $25,806,649
When we talk about Draymond as a basketball player, the main characteristic careening towards the forefront of his makeup would be intangibles. He brings a lot to the table — and has for quite some time — as the defensive anchor of this ballclub. Green’s ability to analyze the game — both as a passer and as a help defender — is arguably better than anyone playing in the NBA today. You can’t take away his championship pedigree, nor what he’s meant to the franchise as a whole.
However, we can point to the fact he’s on the cusp of turning age 33 — by which he’s earning north of $25 million. On the year so far (as of March 14th), Green is averaging 8.3 PPG, 6.8 APG, 7.3 RPG, and 1.0 SPG on .324 from three and .525 from the field. We’ll let you judge as to whether he’s worth what he’s being paid.
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Houston Rockets — N/A
2023 Salary: N/A
There’s really not a bad salary currently on this roster. The biggest salary currently on the roster is promising two-guard Jalen Green (making $9.4 million). The next highest is Jabari Smith — making $8.8 million. There’s some thought as to whether these young players will eventually be extended on max contracts. However, there’s plenty of time for that. The Rockets are hoping both can develop into star players.
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Indiana Pacers — Buddy Hield
2023 Salary: $21,177,750
Hield is a gunner — albeit one of the best three-point shooters in all of the NBA. There’s obvious inherent value in this skill. He spreads the floor for teammates, and always has Indiana being a threat in transition when Hield camp out beyond the arc.
However, it’s safe to say he’s a bit of a one-trick pony. He’s averaging only 2.5 APG throughout his career. Hield is also considered to be a below-average defender, and someone who doesn’t impact the game much beyond his shooting.
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Los Angeles Clippers — Marcus Morris Jr.
2023 Salary: $16,372,093
Morris is a bit starter for the Clippers at this point. He’s not the most reliable player on either end of the floor at this point, and there are times where the Clippers don’t have him within their final group during crunch time.
Averaging nearly 12 PPG on 43-percent from the field and 37-percent from 3, his numbers aren’t terrible (per se). However, if you’re paying a wing this kind of coin, you’d hope for him to be elite in one category — whether it be perimeter shooting or defense. Morris doesn’t really fit the bill in either.
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Los Angeles Lakers — D’Angelo Russell
2023 Salary: $31,377,750
There are things you like about Russell’s game…and things you don’t like. He’s developed into a very savvy player — particularly when slithering around picks to get open looks. He’s solid in transition, and Russell can hit 3’s with regularity.
On the flip side… is he a No. 1 or No. 2 player on a title team? Not likely — and that’s not great when you’re paying him north of $30 million annually. Russell struggles immensely when defending other players, and his lack of athleticism limits his ability to compete at the highest level as a primary playmaker. He’s much better served in a secondary role where he can spot up.
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Memphis Grizzlies — Tyus Jones
2023 Salary: $15,000,000
This is a tough one. There aren’t really any ‘bad’ contracts on Memphis’ roster as of right now. Jones is one of the league’s best backup point guards. In fact, there’s a realistic chance he could become a starter for some franchise down the line.
However, paying a backup point guard $15 million a year on the surface looks like a bit of an overpay. We do have to keep some context here, though. With Ja Morant out for an extended period of time, Jones’ value to the franchise will be highlighted even further.
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Miami Heat — Kyle Lowry
2023 Salary: $28,333,334
As he approaches his 37th birthday, Lowry is a shell of the player he once was. To be fair, the Villanova phenom has logged plenty of miles en route to a very successful NBA career. Fatigue, injuries, and other mitigating factors has essentially robbed Lowry of the All-Star status he once had.
From a leadership standpoint, there’s plenty he still brings to the table. Every once in a while, Lowry can still turn back the clock and put up some good numbers. However, he doesn’t do it as regularly as he once did (understandably so). Lowry’s salary is based much more on reputation rather than production.
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Milwaukee Bucks — Khris Middleton
2023 Salary: $37,948,276
We’re splitting hairs here with Middleton. You’re looking at a core member of a Championship team, a multi-time All-Star, and generally one of the more underrated players in the NBA. Milwaukee had no choice but to pony up the cash when extending the versatile wing.
However, paying Middleton nearly $38 million a year really does seem like a lot. As he approaches age 32, his body is starting to break down a bit. He’s not played very much this year, and is averaging his lowest PPG totals (14.5) dating back to 2014. We think Middleton’s game will age well — though it’s a bit concerning to see his production levels, recent injury issues, and annual salary.
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Minnesota Timberwolves — Rudy Gobert
2023 Salary: $38,172,414
We could talk about the package Minnesota gifted Utah for days and days. The smorgasbord of assets attained in the Gobert deal might end up being one of the more lopsided deals in NBA history down the line. Gobert is what he is — an all-NBA defender with obvious flaws. There are times in which he’s unplayable in fourth quarters of competitive games. Opposing teams go small — putting Gobert in pick-and-roll situations where he struggles to defend quicker players on the perimeter. Duly, he’s not nearly the scoring threat you’d assume someone to be when making over $38 million a year. In a couple of years, this could very well end up being one of the worst contracts in the NBA.
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New Orleans Pelicans — Jaxson Hayes
2023 Salary: $6,803,012
One could make a case that Zion Williamson has the worst contract on the team — if for nothing other than his lack of availability on the court. However, we’ll give the dunking phenom a break and instead focus on another young big man who was selected high in the first round a few years ago.
Hayes was supposed to be an elite rim-running threat — where dunking the basketball in transition and blocking shots with regularity would be his supposed calling card. However, he’s really been an inconsistent player thus far in his young career. Over four years, Hayes is averaging 7.7 PPG and 4.1 RPG on .294 from three-point range and .625 from the field. At this point, he looks to be nothing more than a reserve center rather than a difference-maker in the paint.
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New York Knicks — Mitchell Robinson
2023 Salary: $17,045,545
In five seasons, Robinson has only participated in more than 70 games once throughout his young career. When healthy, the pogo-stick of a center is a very effective player. Robinson defends the rim well, can move his feet on switches exceptionally well for a man his size, and he can even provide the Knicks with some scoring.
In order to keep him in the fold, the Knicks inked him to a multi-year deal. It still remains to be seen as to whether he’ll live up to the promise of the contract. However, when looking at some of the other deals within this piece, it’s not the worst agreement in the world.
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Oklahoma City Thunder — Dario Saric
2023 Salary: $9,240,000
Saric isn’t a bad salary — let’s be honest. He’d be used as filler in most trades at this point. He’s a competent basketball player who can play for a contender in a pinch. You’d probably not want him playing extended minutes on the floor. With that said, he’s a veteran with some experience. Also when looking across OKC’s salary distribution, it’s done a very nice job in shedding bad contracts and rewarding its younger stars with respectable deals (such as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander).
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Orlando Magic — Jonathan Isaac
2023 Salary: $17,400,000
Jonathan Isaac is a fantastic talent…when he’s able to stay on the floor. You’re looking at a 6-foot-10 defensive dynamo with the ability to pretty much guard every position on the floor. Not only that, but the former Florida State product stuffs the stat sheet. As a bit of a point forward, he’s quite capable as a scorer, passer of the basketball, and rebounder.
His main issue has been health (to put it mildly). He sat out two-straight years with various leg injuries. As of mid-March, he’s only participated in 11 games. We don’t know if he’ll ever be able to truly shake the injury bug. If he does, Isaac can be a very productive NBA player.
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Philadelphia 76ers — Tobias Harris
2023 Salary: $37,633,050
In the annals of the Philadelphia 76ers franchise, the decision to keep Harris over Jimmy Butler may be looked upon as a mistake. Harris is not a bad player. However, he’s not a $37.6 million player when considering his production levels versus others.
We haven’t even gone into the potential fit issues on the roster with Harris being a bit of a tweener — especially on the defensive end of the floor. Now at age 30, you’d hope someone being paid north of $37 million would be averaging more than 14.6 PPG. The 76ers might be better served trading Harris and breaking that contract up into two more rotation players which better fit the team surrounding Joel Embiid.
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Phoenix Suns — Chris Paul
2023 Salary: $28,400,000
The Point God — understandably so — is no longer the player he once was. Injuries, old age, and toll of nearly 20 years of professional basketball has caught up with the diminutive future Hall of Famer. Paul’s quickness isn’t as prolific as it once was. There’s also an apparent drop in his defensive prowess. There was a time where Paul was a ferocious on-ball defender.
Now, he’s very much okay in terms of deferring to others. There are fleeting moments where Paul can ramp it up and turn back the proverbial clock. However as he approaches age 38, this contract is not a friendly one for the Suns at this given time.
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Portland Trail Blazers — Cam Reddish
2023 Salary: $5,594,454
Portland doesn’t have any bad contracts on its team. We’re stretching it a bit here with Reddish — who essentially is being paid about what he’s worth from a productivity standpoint. He was taken high in the first round out of Duke with the hopes he’d develop into a Paul George-type.
While long and athletic, the skill-set portion of his game has yet to flourish. Reddish still struggles with his outside shot (a career .326 shooter from three) and his assist-to-turnover ratio. While he can be a rotation player on an okay team, we’re still not sure as to whether Reddish can be an impact player on a winning franchise.
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Sacramento Kings — Harrison Barnes
2023 Salary: $18,352,273
This isn’t the Sacramento of old. The front office has done a nice job shedding bad contracts — instead opting to build its future smartly around De’Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis. Barnes is a traditional 3-and-D wing with defensive versatility and a championship pedigree. In short, he’s the perfect vet to be on this team alongside many of the youngsters. Also — with the wing position in high demand across the NBA — teams have to be willing to pony up the cash for quality players at the spot. Barnes is an example of this.
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San Antonio Spurs — Devonte’ Graham
2023 Salary: $11,555,000
The Spurs are in a total rebuild. If the team takes back any bad contracts, it’s due to the fact they’d be getting a sweetener on top of it (in the form of a first-round pick). Graham doesn’t appear to be a future cornerstone for this team. He’s an okay guard with inefficient shooting totals and a propensity to turn the ball over at a high rate.
As an athlete and defender, he’s quite good. However, the salary Graham is currently earning appears to be a bit bloated.
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Toronto Raptors — Pascal Siakam
2023 Salary: $35,448,672
It’s hard to call a multi-year All-Star overpaid — but here we are! In the spirit of the exercise, we can ask the question: Is Siakam a No. 1 on a title team? Is he a No. 2 on a title team? If the latter is a ‘yes’, you may be willing to understand the reality in paying him more than $35 million a year. Toronto isn’t a free agent destination per se, and as such it really has no other choice than to re-up with the versatile forward. Still, we wonder whether that money could’ve been spent differently (as Siakam quietly appeared to be in trade rumors over the last year).
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Utah Jazz — Talen Horton-Tucker
2023 Salary: $10,260,000
Horton-Tucker came over from the Lakers in an offseason trade. Generally viewed as an analytics darling, he’s quite unusual as a player. A few good games netted him an annual salary north of $10 million (along with constant propping up from LeBron James). Horton-Tucker’s skill-set is unusual, as he’s essentially a 6-foot-4 power forward with exceptionally long arms and decent ball skills.
However, he’s not overly quick, and his perimeter shot is a major problem (career .279 from three). While he’s still only 22 years of age — and plenty of development remaining for him to obtain — THT seems to be pretty overpaid at this point in his career.
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Washington Wizards — Kristaps Porzingis
2023 Salary: $33,833,400
Porzingis is a good player. Unique from the standpoint he’s 7-foot-3 with guard skills, the Latvian sharpshooter really can fill it up from all spots on the floor. In 2023, he’s averaging 23 PPG and nearly 9 RPG on 49-percent from the field and 38-percent from three.
In terms of being overpaid, much of that stems from his injury history. When he’s on the floor, he’s quite good. When Porzingis is often injured, that contract looks worse and worse.
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MLB in 2023: Most Overpaid Player On Each Team
Arizona Diamondbacks — Madison Bumgarner
2023 Salary: $23,000,000
When Madison Bumgarner signed with the Diamondbacks ahead of the 2020 season, many experts pegged the deal as a disaster waiting to happen. The feisty lefty was sensational as a member of the San Francisco Giants — three World Series triumphs, three top-six Cy Young finishes — but he was showing some signs of regressing in his final year. In the first three years of his tenure with the D-Backs, MadBum is 15-29 with a 4.98 ERA. Bumgarner makes nearly twice as much as Arizona’s next-highest paid player (Ketel Marte), and is nowhere near as valuable. It can be argued that Bumgarner is Arizona’s fourth-best starting pitcher. $23 million is far too much for the 33-year-old.
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Atlanta Braves — Eddie Rosario
2023 Salary: $9,000,000
Eddie Rosario is the classic example of a player getting hot in the postseason and riding that into a terribly overpaid contract. Rosario won NLCS MVP after destroying Los Angeles Dodger pitching for a week straight. After Atlanta capped off its World Series run, Rosario was rewarded by the team with a two-year/$18 million contract. Year 1 didn’t pan out how either party envisioned. The oft-injured Rosario was limited to just 80 games, and was one of the worst hitters in baseball (.587 OPS) in those at-bats.
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Baltimore Orioles — Kyle Gibson
2023 Salary: $10,000,000
35-year-old pitcher Kyle Gibson is currently making $10 million for this upcoming year. It’s the highest annual salary of any player on the Orioles’ roster. We aren’t exactly sure why Gibson was brought onto a team expected to fight for a playoff spot. Gibson is coming off a year in which he sported a 10-8 record with a 5.05 ERA. Nothing screams ‘ace’ on his resume particularly when he’s been plainly average throughout his career (89-91 career record, 4.52 career ERA).
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Boston Red Sox — Chris Sale
2023 Salary: $27,500,000
The sidewinding lefty is making a cool $27.5 million this year. Once one of the game’s best pitchers, Sale has struggled big time with injuries over the course of the last few years. His last All-Star appearance was in 2018. Since then, he’s gone a combined 5-13 over the last three years. We simply cannot take him serious as a top-shelf ace anymore considering his propensity for sitting over long stretches of the last few MLB seasons.
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Chicago Cubs — Marcus Stroman
2023 Salary: $25,000,000
This isn’t an indictment on Marcus Stroman’s ability. The former All-Star remains a very solid starting pitcher as he approaches his 32nd birthday. With that being said, we don’t believe Stroman is quite worth the two-year/$50 million contract he signed with the Cubs ahead of last season. Across baseball, only seven starting pitchers are making more money than Stroman in 2023 — including stars such as Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander, Jacob deGrom, Gerrit Cole and Shohei Ohtani. Stroman is good, but not that good.
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Chicago White Sox — Yasmani Grandal
2023 Salary: $18,250,000
The veteran catcher is slated to make $18.25 million this year for the White Sox. While much of Grandal’s reputation sits with pitch framing and slugging, we must question whether he’s really worth this amount of money at age 34. Grandal hit only five homers in 327 at-bats in 2022. He hit a meager .202 — and unbelievably had a WAR of -1.4. If it weren’t for his past pedigree as an All-Star, we’d question whether he’d still be employed as a Major League starter. It’s quite alarming to see Grandal’s average drop nearly 40 points from the prior year — not to mention his HR totals plummeting from 23 to five.
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Cincinnati Reds — Joey Votto
2023 Salary: $25,000,000
Aside from Mike Moustakas — a free agent who the Reds are set to pay $22 million in 2023 — the Reds will only be paying one player north of $6 million this season. That man happens to be Joey Votto. Of course, Votto is a former MVP and true legend within the organization. However, Votto is also approaching his 40th birthday — and is coming off the worst season of his career. After a very strong ’21 season, Votto saw his numbers plummet in ’22 — hitting a career-low .205 with 11 HR in 91 games. The Reds have a team-option to bring the former superstar back in ’24.
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Cleveland Guardians — Mike Zunino
2023 Salary: $6,000,000
Yep…we’re a bit curious as to why Mike Zunino is still making $6 million a year, as well. Formerly a top-three overall pick in the 2012 MLB Draft, Zunino went from a potential power hitter as a rookie to a defensive-minded, light-hitting catcher for the vast majority of his professional career. This past year was certainly an indication of a guy who struggles at the plate. In 115 ABs, Zunino hit .148 with five HR. Zunino is known for being good behind the plate defensively. However, we’re not sure his prowess with the glove outweighs his ineptitude hitting the baseball.
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Colorado Rockies — Charlie Blackmon
2023 Salary: $15,333,334
Colorado is in a tough spot. As things currently stand, the Rockies are, at best, the second-worst team in the National League West. The roster is rather weak, and doesn’t possess much star power. There are a few options for most-overpaid player on the team. Kris Bryant is due $28 million in 2023, and the former MVP appeared in just 42 games last season. Still, Bryant hit over .300 and it is too early to proclaim his contract a bust. Starters German Marquez ($15.3 million) and Kyle Freeland ($10.5) have struggled in recent years, but they are vital members of Colorado’s rotation.
Charlie Blackmon, our pick for this exercise, is the second-highest paid player on the team. A four-time All-Star and former Batting Title winner, Blackmon is clearly on the downside of his career. In ’22, Blackmon set career-lows (for a full season) in BA, OBP and OPS. While he remains a solid everyday player, Blackmon is the team’s most overpaid player.
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Detroit Tigers — Miguel Cabrera
2023 Salary: $32,000,000
This is essentially a career achievement award. Cabrera is a first ballot Hall of Famer. He signed a monstrous contract over a decade ago. At 40 years of age, Cabrera is slated to make $32 million in the 2023 season. This number seems bloated when considering that Cabrera hit .254 last year with five homers. While we get why Detroit paid Cabrera when it did, we should still consider Miggy to be vastly overpaid in correspondence to his output from last year.
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Houston Astros — Hector Neris
2023 Salary: $8,000,000
Eventually, teams will begin to realize that Hector Neris isn’t a terribly good reliever. While Neris throws hard, he lacks control and has seen his strikeout numbers dip in recent years. While he’s capable of providing some innings in a middle-relief role, Neris is currently being paid as a high-end set-up man or low-end closer. Neris making $8 million next year puts him in the top-20 among reliever salaries. He’s hardly even a top-5 reliever for his own team.
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Kansas City Royals — Jordan Lyles
2023 Salary: $8,500,000
The Royals have never been known as massive spenders. Still, you’d think they’d be a bit smarter with their acquisitions when looking at the contract Jordan Lyles received. Throughout his career, Lyles has a career record of 66-90 with a 5.10 ERA. So, naturally, the Royals decided to sign him to a contract which will pay him $8.5 million this year (making him the third-highest annual salary on the team). How and why, you ask? We aren’t sure ourselves.
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Los Angeles Angels — Anthony Rendon
2023 Salary: $38,571,428
This one has to hurt Angels fans. After helping the Nationals win the World Series in 2019, Anthony Rendon signed a lucrative free agent contract with the Los Angeles Angels. Rendon was expected to form a new “Big 3” in Anaheim alongside Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani. While Trout and Ohtani have held up their end of the bargain, Rendon simply hasn’t. That is in large part because the former National cannot stay on the field. He’s played just 157 games over three seasons for the Angels, and posted a mediocre .252 BA along the way. Rendon’s $38 million price tag in 2023 is the fourth-highest among all Major Leaguers — only Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer and Aaron Judge are set to make more.
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Los Angeles Dodgers — Chris Taylor
2023 Salary: $15,000,000
Compared to recent years, this past offseason was very underwhelming for fans of the Dodgers. Instead of shelling out a ton of money to keep Trea Turner in town, Los Angeles opted to make smaller commitments and saw a handful of productive players depart. However, the Dodgers still have the fifth-largest payroll entering 2023. Four of the club’s five most-paid players (Betts, Freeman, Kershaw, Urias) are bonafide stars. When determining who is the most overpaid player on this year’s team, we decided between two men: Chris Taylor ($15 mil) and Max Muncy ($13.5).
Muncy has been dreadful in both ’20 and ’22 — hitting .192 and .196, respectively. However, Muncy has mashed at least 35 HR in each of his three other seasons in Dodger blue (thus earning MVP votes). Another year removed from a torn UCL, we expect a bounce back season from Muncy. Following an All-Star season in ’21, Taylor signed a four-year/$60 million contract to remain a Dodger…and Year 1 of the deal was incredibly underwhelming. Taylor, a member of the team since ’16, had by far his worst season with the club — slashing .221/.304/.373 with 10 HR and 160 SO in 118 games. Taylor is an important member of the team, but he cannot afford to have another season like that if he wants to keep his spot.
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Miami Marlins — Avisail Garcia
2023 Salary: $12,000,000
One-time All-Star Avisail Garcia is your average outfielder. He’s perfectly capable of producing decent numbers at the dish while providing adequate defense. However, he’s not great at any particular facet of the game. His .739 career OPS is middling and his defense dipped last season. While he still has a great arm, Garcia looked a step slower in 2022. That could be due to a laundry list of injuries that he’s now accumulated. In 11 years, Garcia has played over 135 games just once. He’s missed significant time in three of the last five seasons.
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Milwaukee Brewers — Christian Yelich
2023 Salary: $22,000,000
This is a tough one for both player and franchise. In all reality, paying Christian Yelich $22 million in 2023 isn’t backbreaking for the Brewers. However, Yelich’s current form makes that number feel worse than it is. When Yelich inked a seven-year/$188,500,000 million extension following the ’19 season, it appeared as if the Brewers saved a ton of cash relative to Yelich’s worth. Yelich was unstoppable for two seasons — winning the MVP in ’18 and finishing runner-up in ’19. Over that two-year stretch, Yelich slashed .327/.415/.631 with 80 HR, 207 RBI and 52 SB. Yelich likely lost the ’19 MVP due to breaking his kneecap late in the year — and it has all been downhill since then. Since the start of the ’20 season, Yelich has slashed .243/.358/.388 with 35 HR and 130 RBI. If he can’t turn things around this year, Yelich’s contract will begin to weigh on the franchise.
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Minnesota Twins — Joey Gallo
2023 Salary: $11,000,000
Gallo does this every single year. He gives you just enough for a team to fall in love with him. You see a plus-athlete with an excellent arm, strong baserunning capabilities, and the frame to hit the ball a country mile. Then, you realize Gallo strikes out a crazy amount of the time — often struggling to even make contact with the ball. The Twins are paying him $11 million to essentially hit the occasional homer (he hit .160 last year with 19 HR). Anything else at this point is essentially gravy.
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New York Mets — Carlos Carrasco
2023 Salary: $14,000,000
Unfortunately for “Cookie” Carrasco, he’s likely considering the most “overpaid” Met currently. And, that should say a lot more about the Mets being mostly stacked than Carrasco being a bad pitcher. New York’s seven highest-paid players — Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander, Francisco Lindor, Starling Marte, Brandon Nimmo, Pete Alonso and Edwin Diaz — are all stars at their positions. The one exception would potentially be Kodai Senga (set to make $15 million this year), though all reports indicate the Japanese-import should have no trouble adjusting to MLB. Carrasco is a solid arm, but not quite as good as New York’s other highly-paid stars.
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New York Yankees — Josh Donaldson
2023 Salary: $21,000,000
The former All-Star third baseman has certainly seen better days. We could clearly make the distinction that he’s on the back-half of what’s been a very productive career. Nevertheless, the Yankees are currently stuck paying the 37-year-old $21 million this upcoming year for some rather mediocre play (if last season was any indication). Both Donaldson’s batting average and home run totals have sharply declined from 2021 to 2022. Hitting 15 HR and batting only .222 (with an OBP of .308) doesn’t seem like a wise investment when paying said player north of $20 million a year.
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Oakland Athletics — Trevor May
2023 Salary: $7,000,000
Prior to last season. Trevor May was considered a rather good bullpen arm. Up until that point, May had shown the ability to limit hits while producing strong strikeout numbers. That changed last season with May turning in his worst season to date. Injuries played a major part in his decline, as the 33-year-old landed on the 60-day IL with a stress fracture. It’s possible those injuries hampered May all season, as he posted a 5.04 ERA in 26 appearances. However, there’s no reason to believe he’ll bounce back in a year’s time. It’s a bit surprising that the notoriously frugal A’s would shell out $7 million to a reliever who simply didn’t perform well last season.
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Philadelphia Phillies — Nick Castellanos
2023 Salary: $20,000,000
The Phillies made the World Series in Nick Castellanos’ first season — but it was in large part in spite of the slugger’s play. Castellanos was brought to Philadelphia to provide his strong bat in the middle of the lineup. It was a disastrous regular season and playoff run for the former Red. While he managed to log a .263 BA, Castellanos’ pop had evaporated. He had just 40 XBH all season after nearly doubling that number (72) a season ago. Excluding his 11-game debut season, Castellanos’ slugging percentage last year (.389) was the worst mark of his 10-year career. With Trea Turner now added to the lineup, we’ll see if that takes some pressure off Castellanos.
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Pittsburgh Pirates — Carlos Santana
2023 Salary: $6,725,000
Pittsburgh’s best players — Bryan Reynolds, Oneil Cruz, Ke’Bryan Hayes — are all on team-friendly deals. So, it was relatively simple to pick out the club’s most overpaid player on the 2023 roster. Turning 37 in April, Carlos Santana joined the Pirates on a one-year/$6,725,000 million contract this offseason. The veteran split his time in ’22 between the Kansas City Royals and Seattle Mariners. With the Mariners, Santa slugged 15 HR in 79 games. However, he also hit .192 with the M’s. Does that sound like a player who should be the fourth-highest paid player on an MLB roster? No.
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San Diego Padres — Drew Pomeranz
2023 Salary: $10,000,000
The Padres are spending money as if they have unlimited funds. Five players are set to make over $20 million in 2023 — Machado ($32), Bogaerts ($25.4), Darvish ($25), Soto ($23), Musgrove ($20) — and six more players are due over $10 million…including former Padre Eric Hosmer. Drew Pomeranz is set to make a cool $10 mil, and he hasn’t taken the mound since August 10, 2021. An All-Star in ’16, Pomeranz has been very good for the Padres when he’s played. Between ’20-21, the lefty reliever posted a 1.62 ERA and 1.083 WHIP in 47 games. Sparkling numbers, but the problem lies within the fact that Pomeranz has appeared in 47 games in three years. $10 million is a lot to pay for an injury-prone player.
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San Francisco Giants — Anthony DeSclafani
2023 Salary: $12,000,000
In 2022, the Giants won 26 fewer games than they did in ’21 — and still finished with a .500 record. The season was a massive disappointment for the franchise, and many players underachieved in the process. One player who fell short was Anthony DeSclafani. After going 13-7 with a 3.21 ERA in ’21, DeSclafani made just five starts in ’22 before his season came to a halt. 33 in April, DeSclafani injured his ankle early on — after posting a 6.63 ERA in five starts — and eventually underwent season-ending surgery on his right ankle. If the veteran doesn’t return to form in ’23, the Giants will regret giving him a three-year deal following his strong ’21 campaign.
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Seattle Mariners — Robbie Ray
2023 Salary: $21,000,000
2021 Cy Young winner Robbie Ray has done a fantastic job of reinventing himself over the years. Ray looked like he was on his way to a Minor League contract at one point, but bounced back in a big way with the Toronto Blue Jays. A career year led to a massive free agent deal with the Seattle Mariners — a team desperately in need of sturdy pitching in order to make a playoff run. Ray enjoyed a solid 2022, but we can’t honestly say it was worth $21 million per year. Seattle starters Luis Castillo, Logan Gilbert and George Kirby all had better seasons — their three combined contracts adds up to just over $6 million next season.
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St. Louis Cardinals — Paul DeJong
2023 Salary: $9,166,668
What has happened to Paul DeJong at the plate? In 2017, DeJong slugged 25 homers and hit .285 en route to finishing runner-up for the NL Rookie of the Year. Two years later, St. Louis’ shortstop hit 30 HR and was named an All-Star. In the three years since, DeJong has hit a total of 28 HR and has hit under .200 the past two seasons — including a putrid .157 last year. DeJong has changed his approach in the box ahead of the ’23 campaign, but it remains to be seen if it will payoff. $10 million for one of the worst hitters in baseball since ’21 is not ideal.
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Tampa Bay Rays — Manuel Margot
2023 Salary: $7,000,000
Tampa is not known for its spending. As such, we’re splitting hairs a bit here with this one. The salary is relative* to the team and its roster. On the surface, a $7 million annual salary for Manuel Margot isn’t bad. He hit .274 last year, and has the ability to play all over the outfield. This sort of versatility is quite valuable (especially for the Rays). Where we see a bit of an issue is Margot’s salary relative to other teammates. In context, Margot is making more annually than everyone on the roster sans Zach Eflin. This means Margot’s annual haul is more than that of Randy Arozarena, Tyler Glasnow, Wander Franco, Yandy Diaz, and Brandon Lowe.
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Texas Rangers — Jon Gray
2023 Salary: $15,000,000
While Texas has revamped its pitching rotation in a big way, one has to wonder if the team regrets shelling out a massive free agent contract to Jon Gray during its massive 2021 offseason. Gray has flashed talent since his time with Colorado, leading some pundits to project a big leap if he were to move to a more pitcher-friendly situation. In his first year with the Rangers, Gray surrendered a modest 3.96 ERA. While it was a slight improvement from the previous two seasons, Gray isn’t much more than a No. 4 or 5 option in a solid rotation. $15 million for a back-end starter looks like an overpay.
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Toronto Blue Jays — Hyun-Jin Ryu
2023 Salary: $20,000,000
As currently constituted, Ryu — a highly-priced free agent acquisition a few years ago — is slated to earn $20 million this upcoming year (only second to Kevin Gausman in terms of annual salary for a Toronto pitcher). When looking at the bigger picture, the oft-injured Ryu isn’t even a lock to be in the starting rotation for the Jays this year. Gausman, Chris Bassitt, Jose Barrios, Yusei Kikuchi, and Alek Manoah appear to be slated as the five-man group. Ryu is a pitcher with talent, though arm issues have stunted his upside with the Blue Jays.
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Washington Nationals — Patrick Corbin & Stephen Strasburg
2023 Salaries: $24,416,666 (Corbin), $23,571,429 (Strasburg)
The 2019 World Series champions have felt the effects of a World Series hangover. Unfortunately, it’s been a three-year run of mediocrity for a franchise who had just 55 wins last year and have finished last in the NL East each of the past three seasons. It doesn’t help when their two highest-paid players have been either unavailable (Strasburg) or down-right awful (Corbin). Stephen Strasburg made just one appearance last year before being shut down, and has pitched just 30.2 innings total since 2019. Corbin has essentially been the worst high-usage starter in baseball during that same time. The two-time All-Star has led the league in losses and earned runs each of the last two years. Corbin surrendered a 6.31 ERA this past season.
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