Is Chris Davis' Contract the Worst in Baseball History?

Back in 2016, Chris Davis signed a massive deal for 7 years worth $161 million, coming off a season where he hit 47 home runs and 117 runs batted in. Since signing that contract, he has not batted higher than .221 in a season and has struggled to make the same offensive impact he did during his prime years. Since singing the contract, he has batted .221, .215, .168, .155, and has only hit more than 30 home runs once, which was the year right after he signed the contract. With the struggles he's seen and how much he has under performed to his contract, its easy to suggest that its the worst contract in MLB history, or at least in Orioles history. However, what other big time contracts have failed the live up to the hype of the money attached?

Jacoby Ellsbury is one prime example of a massive contract not paying off. He signed for 7 years for $153 million, going from rival to rival after leaving the Red Sox for the Yankees. Just like Davis he played well the season after signing the contract, batting .271 with 39 steals. After that season he batted .261 and 21 stolen bases over the next 3 years of his contract, even missing all of 2018 with injury. Now with an already crowded outfield in New York, Jacoby Ellsbury will see little to no playing time for them. While still a bad contract to the point of where he no longer sees playing time in a talented, crowded outfield, he still performed better than Davis while healthy.

There have been many contracts that have been given out to players right after their prime years, but that also comes as a risk. It could be the end of their prime and can be an issue for the team because they've given so much money to a player who is coming right out of their prime and will now begin to hit his decline right after these prime years. This is a prime example with Chris Davis, who got his money right after his prime years, and it has come back to bite the Orioles for putting so much money into a player going into his decline.

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