Strasburg’s contract was terrible in that he was injured for basically the entire duration. Chris Davis’s contract was terrible in that he was completely shitty for the entire duration.
On its face 7 years $245MM for Strasburg is significantly greater than 7 years $161MM for Davis. But Davis had a -5.9 WAR over this seven year deal compared to Strasburg's -.5 WAR. Assuming 1 WAR is approximately worth $7MM, that's $37.8MM in comparative additional opportunity cost to the O's that is worse than simply being hurt and not playing. That brings the cost to the O's of $198.8MM over 7 years. If Davis continued playing rather than getting benched, he likely would've surpassed Strasburg in value detracted. There was a bit of salary inflation between 2016 to 2020 that may also be taken into account. But my guess is that Strasburg's ended up being more costly even after taking that into account.
injury.
had 23+ HRs and 98+ RBIs, before his injuries finally took over. Strasberg hardly pitched any part of his seven-year deal.
One thing Fielder and Strasberg have in common: both were Boras clients.