MLB’s Highest Paid Pitchers Have Been Mostly Useless

You’d think that there would be a fairly obvious connection in Major League Baseball between spending a lot of money on players and getting star-level results.

But if you ask the Texas Rangers, Houston Astros, New York Yankees and Washington Nationals, they’ll tell you that’s not always the case. In the 2024 season, that disconnect is even more obvious.

Codify Baseball pointed out that the six highest paid pitchers in MLB this year are Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander, Jacob deGrom, Gerrit Cole, Patrick Corbin and Stephen Strasburg. Those six pitchers are making $233 million combined this season. They’ve also contributed just 0.9 wins above replacement for their respective teams this season.

The Nats, Astros, Rangers and Yankees are paying roughly $233 million per win added this year. It’s hard to imagine a worse financial investment than that.

ARLINGTON, TEXAS – JUNE 23: Max Scherzer #31 of the Texas Rangers runs out to the mound before the game against the Kansas City Royals at Globe Life Field on June 23, 2024 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Richard Rodriguez/Getty Images)

Money Doesn’t Always Buy Success, Especially in MLB

Max Scherzer’s battled injuries, making just two starts thus far in 2024. Justin Verlander’s also battled injuries, with 10 starts and a 3.95 ERA. And deGrom has yet to make his 2024 debut after yet another arm injury in 2023. Patrick Corbin signed a massive contract after an outstanding 2019 season, only to fall off a cliff. His ERA’s the past few seasons have been 5.82, 6.31, 5.20 and 5.49 this year. 

Gerrit Cole had an arm injury, just recently returned and has been mostly ineffective over 13 innings, with nine runs and 19 base runners allowed. Stephen Strasburg hasn’t pitched since 2022 and hasn’t pitched a full season since 2019. 

All these pitchers are near perfect examples of how difficult it is to evaluate pitching and pitching contracts. From one season to the next, injuries or age can rear their ugly heads, without warning. Stephen Strasburg signed his contract after an exceptional 2019 season where he was worth nearly six wins and almost single-handedly got the Nationals through the World Series at age-20. He threw just 30 innings the rest of his MLB career before retiring.

Jacob deGrom is one of MLB’s hardest pitchers to evaluate; when healthy, he’s unhittable. But he’s rarely healthy. The Rangers took the bet, and it backfired. 

Meanwhile, the Milwaukee Brewers and Cleveland Guardians are running away with their divisions with combined payrolls of just $205 million. For their entire rosters.

Then again, so are the Dodgers, with a massive, $300+ payroll. There are a few ways to build a team, and money is one of the easiest and most obvious. You just have to spend money wisely.