3) Worst contracts in the NL East: Scott Kingery of the Philadelphia Phillies
This is a contract that many fans, including myself, forget about. It's easy to forget about the Scott Kingery deal because he isn't even in the majors anymore. In fact, he's spent most of this contract away from the MLB team.
Kingery inked a six-year deal with the Phillies before even appearing in a MLB game. The idea behind doing this is signing a player the organization thinks would be good to a contract that turns out being team-friendly in the latter half. Kingery had those six years of team control already built in, but signing that deal guaranteed himself some money while giving the Phillies the chance to get him for much cheaper than the cost would've been if he broke out. The deal was only worth $24 million.
Kingery's rookie year was underwhelming but then he looked like he was developing in 2019. He hit 19 home runs and had a .788 OPS with a 101 OPS+. Unfortunately, that season was his only one of being a semi-productive player. Overall, he's slashed .229/.280/.667 with the Phillies with 30 home runs and 96 RBI across parts of five years. He's played just 16 games since 2020, and 56 games since that breakout year as he's spent most of his time in the minors. He appeared in one game last season and did not record a single plate appearance.
Kingery got to achieve his dream and play in the majors, but this was undoubtedly a disappointment for all involved. Kingery is making $8 million this year to put up a .765 OPS in the minors. Just a complete whiff.