Denny Neagel was a major league pitcher for 12 years in 2001 when the Colorado Rockies signed him to a 5 year $51.5 million contract. In 1997 and 1998 he did win 36 games with the Braves. However, in the next three years he failed to win 10 games. Despite that, the Rockies brought him in to stabilize their starting pitching.
It did not work as he never had an ERA under 5.26 in the first three years. His record was 9-8, 8-11, and 2-4. He started only 7 games in the third year and missed the fourth season with ligament and elbow surgeries. Before his final contract season he was arrested on a morals charge. The Rockies used the arrest to cancel his contract.
The end result was four years of payments. During that time his ERA was always over 5.00. He won a total of 19 games in those years. This is a true SwingBadder contract.
