Highest-paid Diamondback: SP Madison Bumgarner ($23,000,000)
Madison Bumgarner is set to make A LOT of money this season. Arizona will be paying the veteran starter $23 million for the 2023 season. Considering Madison’s performance since leaving the Giants to join the Diamondbacks, it might be one of the worst contracts in baseball.
To put into perspective how overpaid Bumgarner is, here is a list of what 4 star players are set to make this season: OF Juan Soto ($23,000,000), SP Kevin Gausman ($21,000,000), 3B Rafael Devers ($19,318,182), and OF Ronald Acuna Jr. ($17,000,000). I think it is safe to say these 4 players have been sustainably more valuable to their ball clubs than Bumgarner has for his over the past couple of seasons. Juan Soto has had a cumulative OPS of over .900 over the last 3 seasons. Gausman had an ERA of 3.35 in his first season with Toronto last season. Rafael Devers OPS the last two seasons for Boston; .890 and .880. Lastly, Ronald Acuna has a career .887 OPS along with 107 stolen bases in his 5-year career with Atlanta. Meanwhile, Bumgarner has a cumulative 4.99 ERA in his 3 seasons with the Diamondbacks.
Hopefully, this is a bounce-back year for the veteran southpaw. But if he underperforms again, this could very well be Bumgarner’s last season in Arizona as his contract is up after the season…
2B Ketel Marte ($11,600,000)
Looking at the numbers on and off the field, Ketel’s contract seemed to have worked out for both Marte and the Diamondbacks…
In March a year ago (2022), Ketel Marte signed a 5-year / $76,000,000 contract with the Arizona Diamondbacks, including a $5,000,000 signing bonus, $76,000,000 guaranteed, and an annual average salary of $15,200,000. In 2023, Marte will earn a base salary of $11,000,000, while carrying a total salary of $11,600,000. That being said, Marte is set to be the 4th highest-paid second baseman in all of baseball and the 36th highest-paid infielder. Over the last 3 seasons, Ketel has a cumulative OPS of .789. While he hasn’t been great defensively, his bat makes up for his fielding flaws. If we are to play the compare game, you could argue that Marte is better than these 2 infielders who are set to make more than Ketel in 23’: 2B Max Muncy ($13,500,000), and SS Javier Baez ($22,000,000).
Let’s hope for a resurgent year for Marte as he struggled for a lot of last season. If Arizona gets the 2021 Marte for another 5 years, however, that extension was worth every penny…
SS Nick Ahmed ($10,625,000)
Nick Ahmed is set to make $10,625,000 this season. 2023 unfortunately, is Ahmed’s last season from his contract extension. It is a mystery what direction the Diamondbacks organization will take when it comes to Ahmed’s playing days in Arizona; so fans better not take Nick for granted this season …
Ahmed is as good as it gets at the shortstop position. In 2018, Ahmed posted a 35 OAA. To put into perspective how impressive a 35 OAA is, from 2016-2022 Ahmed holds the MLB record for the highest OAA in a season. Meaning, Nick Ahmed had the greatest defensive season out of any player over the last 6 seasons in 2018. That is unbelievable when you think about how many elite defenders baseball has seen over the last 10 years.
Defensively, Ahmed is outstanding, Offensively, Ahmed is not great. Over Ahmed’s last 203 games, he has an OPS of .683 which is considered below average. Comparing him to others in his position, the Diamondbacks front office did a superb job with Ahmed’s contract. In 2023, SS J.P. Crawford will make more than Ahmed and SS Paul Dejong will make a little less than Nick. I think it is safe to say that Ahmed is a better all-around player than those two...
With Ahmed being unable to stay healthy over the last 3 seasons, it makes you wonder if the Diamondbacks will have no choice but to let him walk in free agency. The move would make sense as highly anticipated prospect SS Jordan Lawlar is making his way through the minors just in time to take Ahmed’s spot…