Brandon McCarthy was a journeyman pitcher. While he showed some promise from time to time, he never won more than 9 games in a season. He battled various injuries including a brain contusion and skull fracture from a line drive to his head in 2012.
At the end of 2014, after being traded to the Yankees he won 7 games with a career best 2.89 ERA in half the season. With this one half of a season as promised the Dodgers signed the 32 year old pitcher to a four year $48 million contract. The results were terrible.
In the first year, he appeared in only 4 games due to injuries. The second year, he won 2 games with a 4.95 ERA. The third year was his best season with the Dodgers. He won only 6 games. Finally the Dodgers gave up and traded him to the Braves in his final season as both teams traded bad contracts to each other.
Final results for the Dodgers were 11 wins in 3 years. $48 million? Could a triple A pitcher have been better?
