Is Ryan Howard’s Contract the Third-Worst in Baseball?

Here’s a dash of pessimism to splash in your Pitchers-and-Catchers late winter optimism. Grantland’s Jonah Keri has ranked the very worst contracts in baseball. This is all subjective, of course. Jonah Keri is just a man. Albert Pujols at #15? Come on, sometimes you have to overpay to get your man. But Ryan Howard at #3? It makes a lot of sense not just because of Howard’s age (33), years (4) and dollars ($105 million) left on contract, but because of the circumstances under which it was signed.

Signing a player to a gigantic long-term extension a year or more before his existing deal ends has become a relatively common practice.. But when Ryan Howard put pen to paper on a five-year, $125 million extension back on April 26, 2010, with nearly two full seasons left on an existing three-year pact, this was something new. It was, according to multiple baseball analysts, a catastrophe.

Injuries, poor performance, age, + an unnecessarily hefty extension. Fans, meet your 2013 cleanup hitter! [Grantland]