Ranking the 5 worst contracts in the AL East: Where do the Blue Jays land?

2. Giancarlo Stanton, New York Yankees – 13 years, $325 million, $25 million AAV (2027)

Following his MVP season in 2017 with the Miami Marlins in which he hit a whopping 59 home runs and drove in 132 runs, Giancarlo Stanton became a prime target for the New York Yankees to add to their potent lineup. They made that a reality when they traded for the star outfielder during the 2017-18 offseason. In doing so, they took hold of the remaining 10 years of his massive 13-year contract that Stanton signed with the Marlins back in 2015. That meant he would be the property of the Yankees all the way until his aged-37 season. 

However, Stanton hasn’t been living up to the value of his contract. Prior to joining the Yankees, he was a four-time All-Star, two-time Silver Slugger, along with capturing NL MVP honours in 2017 while finishing runner-up on a separate occasion. But in the following seven seasons with the Yankees, Stanton had only one All-Star season with no World Series appearances to show for as well.

Aside from putting solid numbers for two seasons in 2018 and 2021, his tenure with the Yankees had been plagued by injuries. On top of that, Stanton has even began to show signs of regression in the past three years. His batting average has fallen below his lifetime .257 mark as he hasn’t hit above .233 since 2021. In addition, Stanton has registered less than 50 runs scored, less than 30 home runs and less than 75 RBI in each of his past two seasons. Those were still decent numbers, but considerably off from what he had been putting up during his prime.

In fact, the Yankees actually explored opportunities to potentially move Stanton in recent years. However, with his full no-trade clause, it became impossible for any options to come to fruition. With still another three years left on his contract that seems practically untradeable, the Yankees are likely stuck with him for the foreseeable future.