Former San Francisco Giants Ace On List of Worst Contracts in Baseball

A former San Francisco Giants pitcher has not lived up to the gargantuan contract he signed after leaving the team.

Sep 23, 2022; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Carlos Rodon (16) throws a pitch against the Arizona Diamondbacks during the first inning at Chase Field. / Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images

The San Francisco Giants may not have success when it comes to signing free-agent hitters, but their track record with pitchers has been impressive.

Blake Snell, who signed a two-year deal with the team in March 2024, entered the market again this offseason after declining his 2025 option. It was the right move, as he landed a massive five-year, $182 million deal from the rival Los Angeles Dodgers.

After early-season struggles, he looked like the reigning Cy Young Award winner following his return from a second stint on the injured list. He parlayed that into a huge multi-year deal.

Just the offseason before that, it was Carlos Rodon who made the most of a one-year stint with the Giants.

He signed in San Francisco as a free agent ahead of the 2022 campaign after spending the first seven seasons of his career with the Chicago White Sox. The best was saved for last, as he earned his first All-Star appearance in 2021 before hitting free agency.

A multi-year pact didn’t come out of it, as he settled for a one-year prove-it deal with the Giants. He did exactly that, putting together the best campaign of his career to that point and earning a second All-Star nod.

Across 31 starts, which was a career-high at the time, he pitched 178 innings with 237 strikeouts and a 2.88 ERA. His FIP of 2.25 and K/9 of 12.0 were both the best in baseball. His 5.2 WAR is a single-season best as well.

This time, that large contract was landed.

The New York Yankees signed him to a six-year, $162 million deal. Unfortunately, he hasn’t come close to living up to the expectations that come with such a contract in his first two seasons in the Bronx.

His first year was marred by injuries, as he made only 14 appearances and had a 6.85 ERA across 64.1 innings. Rodon was better in Year 2, but it wasn’t enough for him to avoid the worst contracts in baseball list put together by Cody Stavenhagen of The Athletic.

He landed at No. 9, as there are four years remaining with a yearly salary of $27.833 million. It will take more than a few flashes of brilliance to get off this list.

“Rodón was worth only 1.7 fWAR this past season and lasted only 3 1/3 innings in his lone World Series outing," Stavehagen wrote. "The good news is that Rodón had a 2.91 ERA in the second half and saw his strikeout numbers return to near-elite levels after the All-Star break. However, the 31 home runs Rodón surrendered in 2024 tied for the second-highest total in the majors.”

The home run issues were actually worse in his first year with the Yankees than the second. He surrendered 15, which came out to 2.1 HR/9. That is the worst mark of his career, as the 1.6 is tied for the second-worst single-season number.

2024 was a step in the right direction, but a lot of work remains to be done for Rodon as he hasn’t pitched like the ace New York thought they were getting to pair with Gerrit Cole.