Bad contracts are a part of any sport.
While organizations never want to throw money away or overpay for players, it’s something that happens to virtually every franchise.
Fortunately for the San Diego Padres, there aren’t any unforgivably dreadful contracts on the team’s current payroll, but there are a couple of deals that the team likely would have changed if the front office had a crystal ball at the time of the agreement.
Here are the two worst deals the club is carrying right now.
2. Wil Myers
Wil Myers is currently with the Padres on a six-year, $83 million deal.
Myers has had one really good season with the Padres and five really average ones.
Keep in mind, Myers spent two seasons with San Diego before he signed the aforementioned six-year deal.
He’s currently in his seventh year with the team.
Myers’ best campaign with the Padres came in the COVID-shortened 2020 season.
That year, he batted .288, posted a .959 OPS, hit 15 home runs and registered a 1.8 WAR.
For context, he would have been on pace for 44 home runs and a 5.3 WAR over a full 162.
It was enough for Myers to finish 16th in MVP voting.
2020 aside, however, Myers hasn’t had a season with the team in which he’s been able to post an OPS of .800 or better.
Myers’ contract was extremely team-friendly up until the 2020 season.
He made $2 million a year in 2017, 2018, and 2019 before the AAV picked up to $20 million for 2020 and beyond (he’s signed through 2023 including a team option in the final year).
That $20 million number is a big one for a player who is producing roughly league average results.
If you total Myers’ numbers over his tenure with the team, he has a slash line of .253/.330/.458.
Not bad by any stretch, but also not worth the big bucks.
Wil Myers has a 3-game hitting streak coming into today.
But in his 28 games before that, he hit a very sad .165/.256/.215, with 1 double, 1 homer, and 23 strikeouts in 79 at-bats.
— High Heat Stats (@HighHeatStats) May 30, 2021
1. Eric Hosmer
This one might not sit well with some fans, but the Padres have paid Eric Hosmer $21 million a year over the past three seasons only for him to be a slightly above-average player.
Hosmer is in the fourth year of an eight-year, $144 million deal which will keep him with the team through 2025.
Eric Hosmer’s contract will be the largest in #Padres history. Wil Myers used to hold that distinction. Myers started 153 games at first base in 2017 — and appears to be switching positions now. @MLB @MLBNetwork
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) February 18, 2018
This may seem harsh, but for some reason, Hosmer has always been regarded in a sense that makes him sound like a much better player than he is.
He has completed 10 seasons at the MLB level and is a career .278 hitter with a .771 OPS.
Over his 10 seasons, Hosmer has had an OPS of .800 or better in just four of them.
He has posted a WAR or 4.0 or better just twice and has never hit the 5.0 WAR benchmark, which is often referred to as the threshold for an All-Star-caliber player.
To be clear, Hosmer is certainly a good ball player—he’s just not worth the money he’s being paid.
This is a bad value deal for San Diego.
Defensively, Hosmer is a four-time Gold Glover, but oddly, he’s had a negative defensive WAR in nine of his 10 MLB seasons.
He doesn’t have particularly good range at first base.
His poor defensive metrics have hurt many of his overall value metrics over the years.
To break down Hosmer’s time in with the Padres specifically, this serves as a decent summary: San Diego paid Hosmer $21 million for a 0.9 overall WAR in 2018, $21 million for a -0.5 overall WAR in 2019, and $21 million for a 1.2 overall WAR in 2020.
Fortunately for the Padres, Hosmer’s AAV will drop to $13M in 2023 and stay there for the remainder of the deal.
NEXT: Are The Padres Still Legitimate Favorites To Win NL West?