Sometimes, when teams sign players to mega-deals, it works out.
That player performs great in his new uniform and seemingly becomes a fixture of the franchise.
Other times, it doesn’t work out so well, and that team is stuck paying an astronomical amount of money to a player who is clearly not performing up to par.
Such is the case with the Los Angeles Angels, who just designated veteran outfielder Justin Upton for assignment.
Upton is in the final year of his five-year, $105 million contract, and the Angels are on the hook for $28 million as noted by Joel Sherman of the New York Post.
Angels release Justin Upton owing $28M on 5-$105M. Padres looking to deal as much of 4-$59M left on Hosmer 8-$144M pact. Pujols released last yr a month into $30M final yr of 10-$240M. Those pacts you loved that your teams signed this offseason might not go great.
— Joel Sherman (@Joelsherman1) April 2, 2022
Bad Investments
Sometimes, it just doesn’t work out and it ends up hurting the team involved in the long run.
In the case of the Angels, this comes less than a year after they released Albert Pujols in the final year of his 10-year, $240 million deal.
The Angels were on the hook for $30 million with the Pujols deal.
Sherman here is providing us all with a reminder that long-term investments can be risky, while also warning fans of other teams who may have made some long-term investments with superstars that though it’s exciting to have them now, it might not work out so well for their teams in the end.
Often times, it just isn’t worth it to get locked into a huge contract like that.
Bad investments happen from time to time, but they often reveal themselves early on and each case is a cautionary tale.
We’ll see if another team decides to take a chance on Upton.
If nobody gives him another chance, his MLB career could very well be over.
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