Melvin Upton Jr. changed his name, but not his luck. Or more to the point, the Braves' luck. Upton Jr. suffered a foot injury that will keep him out a couple months, merely the latest blow in the Braves' thinly-disguised goal to be rid of the player formerly known as B.J.
Josh Hamilton suffered a drug relapse a couple months back and is awaiting word on a suspension, and Angels people surely have all but written off his season. One wonders whether the Angels will get anything out of Hamilton this season and the next two, as well. If they don't that'll really hurt, as his salary each of the next two seasons is a whopping $30 million. That's $30 million per season!
Alex Rodriguez arrived at Yankees camp a few days earlier, and even that seemed to upset his bosses, who would have preferred to be notified. Reading between the lines, it appears they'd most prefer not to have him in Tampa at all (otherwise the question about whether he's happy to have A-Rod back wouldn't have set off manager Joe Girardi the way it did).
A-Rod actually looks by far the most prepared of the three players to play (the other two aren't ready, obviously), as the competition for MLB's most untradeable contract is starting to be defined. Here are the toughest 20 to trade, the worst 20 players and their contracts in terms of remaining pay, not necessarily actual value. This is all about how difficult it would be to deal them, a relevant discussion since several of them have at least come up in talks over the past calendar year.
1. Angels OF Josh Hamilton: Coming off a generally terrific five seasons in Texas, where they did a nice job of watching him and monitoring him, Hamilton did virtually nothing his first two seasons in Anaheim/Los Angeles. But they may look positively fabulous compared to the past three years. Hamilton's relapse, first confirmed by CBSSports.com, may still result in a suspension. While this was technically his first transgression as a full-fledged major leaguer, ex-commissioner Bud Selig's decision to let him back may give some leeway to new commissioner Rob Manfred, who's expected to take his time in making a careful call, and has time thanks to Hamilton's inability to play because of a shoulder injury. There were hints the Angels looked into dealing him this winter. Now that is a pipe dream. In all, he has $83 million to go, and it looks like a tax write-off at this point.
2. Braves OF Melvin Upton Jr.: Excepting ex-teammate Dan Uggla, who was the second-highest paid Braves player (to Upton Jr.), Upton Jr. likely the worst offensive player in an offense-starved league last year. Atlanta tried several strategies to rid itself of the albatross deal, such as attaching valuable players to him in a package deal, but understandably nothing worked. There was fleeting hope his former Rays manager Joe Maddon might have a spot for him, or that the outside-the-box Astros might somehow take him. But both teams are too smart. Phillies GM Ruben Amaro must be relieved he was outbid on this one. This deal is very likely the main reason Frank Wren no longer is employed as the GM, and one of these days we'd love to solve the riddle of what the extra 250K was for (the deal was $75.25 million over five years). Anyway, there's $46.35 million over three years to go, and it looks unlikely Upton will have value anytime soon. An eventual release may be the most probable result.
3. Yankees DH Alex Rodriguez: A-Rod could win the DH job if he can still hit at 39½ on two rebuilt hips off a year-long suspension. So while it's doubtful anyone would touch him in trade, at least he may have some value to his current team, whether they like it or not. For now, he appears to be in a battle with Garrett Jones, an impressive physical specimen discarded by the Pirates and Marlins. Beyond his playing, A-Rod also retains strong curiosity appeal. He still has box-office power, and although he may not attract fans because he's a beloved "Core Four" member or even a dignified "true Yankee," he is attracting most of the attention in Tampa for the marquee organization that many see falling to .500 for the first time in more than two decades. Plus, his record $275 million contract did lead to the Yankees' only World Series title since 2000, so it was far from a total waste. One plus: the deal was frontloaded so the biggest salaries already have been paid (or not, A-Rod didn't receive his salary last year while suspended). There's $61 million to go over three years, and while the No. 61 is a magical figure in Yankeeland, that's 61 million reasons no one would take A-Rod in trade.
4. Dodgers OF Carl Crawford: He's still good enough to lead off for a World Series favorite. But thanks to his bloated deal, he apparently attracted no takers this winter, allegedly even less than Andre Ethier, who lost his starting job last year and seems unlikely to regain it quickly. Crawford never should have gone to Boston, where once inside the fishbowl he instantly transformed from one of the best players in the league to one of the worst. He's somewhere in the middle now; too bad that contract still ranks near the top here. There's $62.25 million left over three years; he may be worth a third of that, if the Dodgers are lucky. Let's remember, though, that the Dodgers' strategy was to add marquee names to regenerate interest following Frank McCourt's disgraceful tenure. It worked, to the point of an $8 billion local TV deal.
5. Dodgers OF Andre Ethier: He's vowed to try to win back his job, but if touted rookie Joc Pederson is anything close to what's expected, that may be a long shot. Ethier always was a liability against lefty pitchers, but his overall productivity has diminished with his playing time. Say this for him, he was a pretty good sport. So are Dodgers owners, on the hook for $56 million over the next three seasons.
6. Phillies 1B Ryan Howard: The Phillies have tried desperately to trade him, offering to drastically pay down the deal that became a mess the moment Howard's Achilles went out on the final play of 2011. The Phillies need to get on with rebuilding, but unfortunately, the two teams that provided the faintest of hopes, the Royals and Orioles, didn't pan out. Kansas City wound up paying $17 million over two years to Kendrys Morales, who had an awful 2014. Howard isn't much of a first baseman anymore, but he outhit Morales by quite a bit, logging 23 home runs and 95 RBI, which still isn't bad. Perhaps a hot start would enable Philliy to get out of close to a third of the remaining money, though that may be wishful thinking.
7. Angels 1B Albert Pujols: He was reasonably productive last season, especially for a 35-year-old, and should have a couple more decent years left. The problem for this future Hall of Famer is the length of the deal. It seemed like a bad idea at the time, and now that he's had leg issues, it looks like half the money may be wasted. At this point you still need a calculator to ferret it all out. There's $189 million over the final seven seasons. One big positive: the Pujols deal may have helped land their mega bucks TV deal, and while owner Arte Moreno's two vanity purchases look bad on paper, no one should feel sorry for Moreno; the Angels are up several fold since he bought the team from Disney.
8. Orioles SP Ubaldo Jimenez: His up-and-down career took a decided turn downward his first year in Baltimore, following his spring signing for $50 million over four years. The contract may force another rotation chance, but he would appear to be quite the gamble. The only blight on Dan Duquette's fabulous early record as O's GM has $38.75 million to go over three years.
9. Indians 1B Nick Swisher: The one problem with the Yankees was poor postseason performance. But perhaps his regular seasons were enhanced by being surrounded by several bigger-name players. Back home in Cleveland, he hasn't shown near the same productivity, though he miraculously still leads MLB players in Twitter followers (can someone please explain how he is many times more popular than Mike Trout, Clayton Kershaw and David Ortiz?). The Indians tried to unload him this winter to no avail. If the Orioles could deal Jimenez, the former Indian, for Swisher that makes sense for them. Cleveland has a lot of young players on excellent team contracts, but Michael Bourn ($27.5 million, two years) could qualify here, as well.
10-12. Diamondbacks SP Trevor Cahill, OF Cody Ross, INF Aaron Hill: Competing execs say they are on the market (though new Diamondbacks GM Dave Stewart insists their names have never come up in trade talks). Maybe he's using code, who knows? In any case, it's all probably moot. Nobody's going to want Ross at $9.5 million for 2015, Cahill at $12.3 million for '15 or certainly Hill at $28 million through '16, not without drastic offset.
13. Twins SP Ricky Nolasco: The Twins surely knew they overpaid to land this native Los Angeleno who'd spent the bulk of his career in Miami, and they got virtually nothing in Year One. Twins people suggest he's in better shape the second time around, though there's still the question about whether the league switch was prudent for the career-long National Leaguer. He'd better be in better shape, what with $37 million over three years left.
14-15. Reds 1B Joey Votto, 2B Brandon Phillips: On some level, Reds owner Bob Castellini should be applauded for bestowing a $225 million contract in tiny Cincinnati. Anyway, it seemed unnecessarily long at the time, and now it seems scary, with Votto's recent knee problems wrecking his 2014 season. The Reds have looked into finding a new home for Phillips, who publicly complained that Votto's even more overpaid than he is (he didn't actually put it that way, but it was bad form nonetheless). What he actually suggested was Castellini, who deserves medals for trying to keep his stars in one of baseball's smallest markets, misled him in talks. If anyone should be complaining, it's Castellini.
16. Cubs SP Edwin Jackson: Chicago has a roster of promising kids and nice pickups. This is a reminder that anyone can make a mistake. Not that Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer were the first in this case. E-Jax has broken hearts around the game. The rumor of Jackson for Upton has been out there, but seems preposterous. Jackson's has less than half as much money coming to him.
17. Phillies RP Jonathan Papelbon: His performance in Philly has been superb, and that shows how far over this contract was to begin with. The bad part is a vesting option that vests with 48 games finished and Papelbon wants picked up to approve a trade. If there ever was a chance with Milwaukee, that pronouncement killed it. Things could get ugly if Philliy replaced Papelbon with promising Ken Giles, a 100 mph thrower, causing Pap to miss the vest.
18. Yankees SP CC Sabathia: The onetime ace opted for arthroscopic knee surgery over a microfracture rebuild, but that doesn't mean the issue is solved. He's still getting shots to alleviate the pain in an arthritic knee. Sabathia is a gamer, but the odds seemed stacked against him, with the damaged knee and a diminished fastball. Good job by his former agents, Legacy, getting him the record deal, and also the opt-out that gave him an extra year. There's $53 million to go through 2016, and even he can't take a guess at how things will go.
19. Twins 1B Joe Mauer: He can't catch since taking a wicked foul off his head, and his numbers have fallen precipitously. He was fairly judged an all-time great when he signed for $184 million over eight years, but isn't nearly the same player now. The Twins aren't trying to dump the St. Paul, Minn., product, but if the thought ever came up ... well, it looks impossible at present.
20. Angels SP C.J. Wilson: Hard to recall, but he actually turned down a $99 million offer from the Marlins to accept the $77.5 million Angels deal to be close to his Orange County home (and get a full no-trade clause). Word came this winter the Angels were investigating a trade, but it's no surprise they didn't get very far. He's had postseason struggles before, and Angels manager Mike Scioscia pulled him in the first inning of an elimination game, which told you where Scioscia stood. The $38 million owed over two years doesn't help, either. Interesting note: Baseball's best team in the 2014 regular season, the Angels, have three on the list. Just because someone is overpaid doesn't mean they are totally unproductive.
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