Even if your team does not make "bad contracts," the dead money deals that overpay and underperforming or disabled list player, other teams' bad contracts can come back to haunt you in the free agent market.
The buzz this week is about Yankees outfielder, Nick Swisher, and his pending free agency at age 31.
Swisher has excelled in the pinstripes the past few seasons.
2010: 29 HR 89 RBI .288 AVG .359 OBP 3.4 WAR
2011: 23 HR 85 RBI .260 AVG .374 OBP 1.5 WAR
2012: 18 HR 69 RBI .270 AVG .355 OBP 2.1 WAR
Swisher and his agent are looking for a Jason Werth type deal, 7 years/$126 million.
Both Werth and Swisher are 31 year olds for these big free agent negotiations.
In Werth's FA year, he hit 27 HR 85 RBI .296 AVG .388 OBP 4.3 WAR.
At the time, most baseball columnists believed the Nationals overpaid for Werth.
Another similar player in age and experience, Albert Pujols signed a huge 10 years/$240 million contract with the Angels. In Pujols' FA year, he hit 37 HR 99 RBI .299 AVG .366 OBP 5.1 WAR.
Werth's contract is $18 million per season for a free agency year 4.3 WAR. ($4.18M/WAR)
Pujols contract is $24 million per season for a free agency year 5.1 WAR ($4.7M/WAR)
Swisher is making $10.25M for 2012 ($4.88M/WAR).
Many people thought Pujols contract was expensive, but palatable because of his career production. Werth's contract pushes players like Swisher to demand a $100 million deal, which looking at the current numbers, is unrealistic.
Jason Bay, as a 30 year old, signed a 4 year/$66M contract. In his free agency season, Bay was paid $7.8M for 4.9 WAR. Bay's career went immediately downhill after that deal. Michael Cuddyer, as a 32 year old, signed a 3 year/$31.5M contract. In his free agency season, Cuddyer was paid $10.5M for a 1.7 WAR. Cuddyer is having a down year with Colorado this season (0.6 WAR).
Based on age and his current numbers, Swisher is more like Cuddyer than Werth in free agency valuation. But Werth's bad contract will inflate Swisher's demands this off season.
