The Cincinnati Reds opted to pay Mike Moustakas $22 million to not play for them after the 2022 season. The Reds previously opted to pay Shogo Akiyama $8 million to not play for them during the 2022 season.
That’s $30 million to the chin for a pair of guys who, combined, gave the club 142 and 184 games previously in their careers with an ugly 57 OPS+ (Shogo) and 83 OPS+ (Moose). We haven’t even reached the topic of Wil Myers, who was paid $7.5 million for his efforts during the 2023 season before being released mid-June during an atrocious campaign of his own.