Bleacher Report’s list of the worst contracts in MLB decidedly mixed news for Astros

With some of the more odious contracts in baseball starting to come off the books, the list of the worst contracts in MLB has undergone a good bit of change the last couple of years. The Houston Astros are no strangers to handing out some stinkers, as they had to admit their Jose Abreu mistake in the middle of the 2024 season when they cut him loose.

Bleacher Report's Joel Reuter took a crack at updating the list of the worst contracts in baseball recently. The good news for Astros fans is that none of Houston's current contracts rank among the top nine contract duds, whereas the division rival Rangers and Angels each have one with that distinction.

George Springer's contract with the Blue Jays -- which the Astros famously avoided -- was singled out as pretty rough.

The bad news is that the No. 10 spot was reserved for every bad deal with two years left and, unfortunately, Lance McCullers Jr.'s contract made the list in that grouping.

Criticism of Lance McCullers Jr.'s contract a reminder of Astros' previous mistakes

All things considered, the news could be worse for the Astros. Mike Trout's massive contract, combined with all of his health issues, put him in the No. 1 spot. Deals given out to guys like Giancarlo Stanton, Jacob deGrom, Kris Bryant, and Javier Baez are all clearly worse than any player Houston still has on their payroll (aside from dead money, of course). Even among the two-year contract duds, Springer's remaining $48.3 million and Anthony Rendon's $77.1 MILLION (hahahaha) are absolutely brutal.

Unfortunately, McCullers Jr.'s deal still looks pretty bad. While he was a very productive pitcher when he was on the mound, the Astros gave him a lucrative $85 million extension before the 2021 season despite the fact that he already had a Tommy John surgery on his record. After signing that extension, McCullers Jr. put together a strong 2021 season before only making eight starts from the start of the 2022 season to present, limited by a variety of injuries, setbacks, and surgeries.

At almost $18 million a year for the next two years, McCullers Jr. has a chance to change the narrative around the rest of his contract. If he can actually get healthy (at least by early in the 2025 season), he has the stuff to be an extremely valuable pitcher for Houston. However, if he can't find his footing, or if he regresses after his lengthy downtime, the Astros could have another turd of a contract confirmed to be on their books.

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