So I just spent a silly amount of time researching the greatest flops in the history of free agency. My goal was to determine if any free agent of any significance has ever had a first year as bad (as measured by fangraphs WAR) as either Sandoval or Hanley's 2015. The surprising answer -as far as I can determine- is no.
Amazingly, and unless I somehow missed someone, Sandoval and Hanley's 2015 seasons represent the worst and second worst, first-year performance in the history of free agency (at least among significant signings).
The list below is the worst 27 I was able to find, but by no means do I think it's complete. I include the whole list so that anyone interested in confirming Panda/Hanley's status as worst-ever won't have to look up names I've already researched.
Worst first year flops in the history of free agency:
1.)Pablo Sandoval (2015): -2 WAR
2.)Hanley Ramirez (2015) -1.8 WAR
4.)Andruw Jones (2008) -1.1 WAR
5.)Derek Bell (2001) -.9 WAR
5.)Danys Baez (2007) -.9 WAR
6.)Dave Collins (1982) -.8 WAR
7.)Carlos Beltran (2014) -7 WAR
8.)Mark Davis (1990) -.6 WAR
9.)Melvin Upton (2013) -.6 WAR
10.)Bruce Sutter (1985) -6 WAR
11.)Kei Igawa (2007) -.4 WAR
12.)Russ Ortiz (2004) -.3 WAR
13.)Lance Berkman (2013) -.3 WAR
14.)George Foster (1982) -.3 WAR
15.)Carl Crawford (2011) -.1 WAR
16.)Joe Nathan (2014) .0 WAR
17.)Shin-Soo Choo (2014) +.1 WAR
18.)Jason Schmidt (2007) +.2 WAR
19.)Vernon Wells (2011) +.3 WAR
20.)Danny Jackson (1995) +.3 WAR
21.)Julio Lugo (2007) +.4 WAR
22.)Omar Infante (2014) +.5 WAR
23.)Carl Pavano (2005) +.6 WAR
24.)Vince Coleman (1991) +.8 WAR
25.)James Loney (2014) +.8 WAR
26.)Aaron Rowand (2008) +.8 WAR
27.)Ricky Nolasco (2014) +.9 WAR
EDIT: Apparently Adam Dunn's 2011 saves Panda from worst ever status after all. As TheYaz67 correctly points out, Dunn had a -2.9 WAR in his first year of his free agent deal with the White Sox.
Other players of note: Kendrys Morales 2014 campaign for the twins which was a Hanley equaling -1.8 WAR. Stephan Drew's 2014 with the Sox (-1 WAR) also should be mentioned. That said, I think I don't know if either Drew or Morales qualifies as a significant free agent signing. Both signed late because no one thought they were worth losing a draft pick over (something their abysmal performance proved correct). I had also originally conceptualized this as the worst performance in the first season with a new team in the free agent era (which would have disincluded Drew).
Amazingly, and unless I somehow missed someone, Sandoval and Hanley's 2015 seasons represent the worst and second worst, first-year performance in the history of free agency (at least among significant signings).
The list below is the worst 27 I was able to find, but by no means do I think it's complete. I include the whole list so that anyone interested in confirming Panda/Hanley's status as worst-ever won't have to look up names I've already researched.
Worst first year flops in the history of free agency:
1.)Pablo Sandoval (2015): -2 WAR
2.)Hanley Ramirez (2015) -1.8 WAR
4.)Andruw Jones (2008) -1.1 WAR
5.)Derek Bell (2001) -.9 WAR
5.)Danys Baez (2007) -.9 WAR
6.)Dave Collins (1982) -.8 WAR
7.)Carlos Beltran (2014) -7 WAR
8.)Mark Davis (1990) -.6 WAR
9.)Melvin Upton (2013) -.6 WAR
10.)Bruce Sutter (1985) -6 WAR
11.)Kei Igawa (2007) -.4 WAR
12.)Russ Ortiz (2004) -.3 WAR
13.)Lance Berkman (2013) -.3 WAR
14.)George Foster (1982) -.3 WAR
15.)Carl Crawford (2011) -.1 WAR
16.)Joe Nathan (2014) .0 WAR
17.)Shin-Soo Choo (2014) +.1 WAR
18.)Jason Schmidt (2007) +.2 WAR
19.)Vernon Wells (2011) +.3 WAR
20.)Danny Jackson (1995) +.3 WAR
21.)Julio Lugo (2007) +.4 WAR
22.)Omar Infante (2014) +.5 WAR
23.)Carl Pavano (2005) +.6 WAR
24.)Vince Coleman (1991) +.8 WAR
25.)James Loney (2014) +.8 WAR
26.)Aaron Rowand (2008) +.8 WAR
27.)Ricky Nolasco (2014) +.9 WAR
EDIT: Apparently Adam Dunn's 2011 saves Panda from worst ever status after all. As TheYaz67 correctly points out, Dunn had a -2.9 WAR in his first year of his free agent deal with the White Sox.
Other players of note: Kendrys Morales 2014 campaign for the twins which was a Hanley equaling -1.8 WAR. Stephan Drew's 2014 with the Sox (-1 WAR) also should be mentioned. That said, I think I don't know if either Drew or Morales qualifies as a significant free agent signing. Both signed late because no one thought they were worth losing a draft pick over (something their abysmal performance proved correct). I had also originally conceptualized this as the worst performance in the first season with a new team in the free agent era (which would have disincluded Drew).
Last edited: