Worst Free Agent Signings

With Manny Machado and his impending free agency in town, I thought this was as good a time as any to look at some of the worst free agent signings in Phillies history.

Free agency is a way to help your club by adding a player without losing a player in return. Machado is almost guaranteed to help whatever team signs him. But the Phillies have a somewhat checkered history when it comes to free agency. There have been the good (Jim Thome), the bad (David Bell), and the downright ugly. Here are my worst 5 Phillies free agency signings.

5. Adam Eaton
He went 14-18 in 2 seasons (2007-2008) with the Phils with a stratospheric 6.30 ERA. He also was the losing pitcher when the Phillies lost their 10,000th game. His Phillies earnings topped $15 million.

4. Danys Baez
Baez saved 41 games for the Tampa Bay Rays in 2005 with a 2.86 ERA. But over his next 4 seasons, he posted marks of 4.53, 5.40, 6.44, and 4.02. So of course the Phillies signed him. In 80 games in 2010 and 2011, he logged a 5.81 ERA, allowing 98 hits in 83.2 innings with 40 walks and 11 home runs.

3. Lance Parrish
Parrish was an all-star catcher with the Tigers and the Phils tried to build a winner around him. They even used "Lance Us a Pennant" as a marketing campaign. More like lancing a boil. The slugging catcher hit 32 HR with 127 RBI. That's combined in his 2 seasons with the Phils. He hit .215 in 1988 and somehow managed to make the NL All Star team. I guess the rest of the catchers in the league REALLY sucked.

2. Paul Abbott
He was released by Tampa in 2004 and signed by the Phils 4 days later. For some reason, the Phillies let him start 10 games. In return, Abbott went 1-6 with a 6.24 ERA. He gave up 14 HR in 49 innings and didn't last longer than 6 innings in any of his starts. He was released nearly 3 months to the day that he was signed.

And the worst Phillies free agent signing of all time is...
1. Danny Tartabull
Tartabull was a power-hitting outfielder who had good years with the Mariners, Royals, Yankees, and White Sox. He even had the distinction of being baseball's highest-paid player in 1992 when he signed with the Yankees. After hitting 27 HR with 101 RBI in 1996 for the White Sox, he became a free agent and signed with the Phils for the 1997 season.

In his first at-bat of the season, Tartabull fouled a ball of his foot. He played through the pain for 3 games, going hitless in 7 at-bats with 4 walks and 2 runs scored. After the third game of the season, he went on the disabled list with a broken foot and never played again. He made $2 million in his 3 games with the Phils.

Happy 4th of July.