MICHAEL BOURN – 4 YEARS – $48 MILLION

The Cleveland Indians signed Bourn to a 4 year $48 million contact. This doubled his pay and guaranteed 4 years of income. He was 31 years old. He battled injuries in the first two seasons. His batting average in those years .263 and .257. His stolen bases dropped to 23 in the first year and 10 in the second. Half way through the third year, the Indians gave up. In August 2015 he was traded to the Braves This included $10 million to continue paying Bourn. The Braves released him after playing 4 games.

While still getting paid by Indians, Bourn played 2016 with the Arizona Diamondbacks. He played 89 games, hit .261 and stole 13 bases. At the end of the season, he was traded to the Baltimore Orioles. He played 24 games with them. This was the final year of his contract with Cleveland and he never played in the majors again.

To summarize, Cleveland doubled Michael Bourn’s pay. They never got a full healthy season from him. In the end, they paid 1.5 years salary to him while he played for other teams. Known as a league leading base stealer, he stole a total of 43 bases for the Indians in 2 1/2 seasons, less than 20 per year. He stole 42 bases in one season the year before his big contract. This is $40 million they wished they had never spent.