Top 10 Worst Sports Signings of the Last Decade

It seemed like every off season in every sport brought us deals that left everyone scratching their heads at first and shaking their heads afterwards. From the Magic paying Grant Hill nearly $500,000 per game played over his seven-year contract, to the Giants paying Barry Zito $1.75 million per win, this decade brought us these terrible signings from the world of sports:

Darren Dreifort

Dreifort looked like an up and coming star when he signed a 5-year, $55 million contract with the Dodgers after 2000. During the duration of his deal, Dreifort started all of 26 games for the Dodgers while still cashing his checks every week.

Carlos Silva

Why the Mariners felt Carlos Silva deserved $48 million, we may never know. As he gets ready to enter the third year of his four year contract, Silva has a 5-18 record in 34 starts with an ERA over 7.00.

Mirko Cro Cop

Cro Cop was arguably the biggest star in PrideFC when Dana White began to buy the organization’s fighters. Since coming to the UFC, Cro Cop has gone just 2-3 in the octagon without beating a single top notch opponent. Crop Cop had come into the UFC with a 22-4-2 record riding a four-fight winning streak having beaten Wanderlai Silva and Josh Barnett in the same night.

David Boston

The San Diego Chargers were so in love with the obscenely strong wide receiver David Boston that they gave him the biggest contract they had ever given. Boston signed a seven-year, $47 million deal with San Diego, only to go on to get into constant fights with teammates and coaches and later being suspended for taking steroids. After just one season, San Diego had enough of their next big thing and traded him to the Dolphins for a mere sixth-round draft pick.

Barry Zito

Tim Hudson wound up being the only good pitcher of the Oakland Athletics’ big three as Mark Mulder has not managed to stay healthy while Barry Zito has earned gone just 31-43 for the Giants after signing a massive seven-year, $126 million deal. That’s around $1.75 million per win.

Jerome James

Jerome James did not get a massive contract but his 5-year, $30 million deal from the Knicks was worth $30 million too much seeing as how James is one of the most useless NBA players in the league. Since signing his contract, James has played all of 90 games and has scored less than 3 points per game.

Carl Pavano

After impressing people as part of that awesome Florida Marlins World Series team, Pavano was signed by the Yankees for $40 million (actually, it was $39.99 million, that $10,000 caused Pavano to fire his agent). Pavano never had a full season with the Yankees and only started 26 games, winning just 9 of them as he earned more than $1.5 million per start and more than $4 million per win.

Grant Hill

After receiving a 7-year, $93 million offer (this was a lot back in 2000), Hill went on to play just 47 games in his first four years on the Magic. In total, Hill played less than 200 games in the seven seasons he was in Orlando, meaning that he made close to half a million dollars every time that he started. Not bad for a night’s work, especially when he didn’t average more than 20 points per game in any season.

Mike Hampton

When Mike Hampton signed with the Colorado Rockies after leading the New York Mets to the World Series, it was the biggest contract a pitcher had ever received. Hampton did not stay in Colorado long and was traded to the Marlins. As if the contract was not bad enough, the worst move was on the part of the Marlins as Hampton refused to play a single game for them. The Marlins had to trade him with no leverage and had to pay most of his massive contract while he played (sometimes) for the Braves.

David Beckham

It was a huge deal when one of the biggest names in sports was signed by Major League Soccer’s LA Galaxy for a massive $250 million deal. Since then, Beckham has put up what I am told are very mediocre numbers when he hasn’t been injured and has largely failed to bring an influx of fans to the MLS.