The Best-Paid Bench Warmers

See who is raking in the big bucks for just sitting around.

ByABC News
June 23, 2008, 5:40 PM

June 24, 2008— -- It's every general manager's nightmare: shelling out millions for players who can't stay on the field. Whether because of chronic injuries or just poor play, some highly paid pros just don't hold up their end of the bargain.

The rising revenues and strong unions of the sports business have lifted all boats. Where once stars made big money leaving the bench guys hunting off-season jobs, seven figures is now common all over the roster. And that leads to more potentially expensive mistakes. Paying for a quality backup is one thing. Laying out starter-type money for one is another.

Click here to learn more about the best-paid bench warmers at our partner site, Forbes.com.

"It's called dead money," says industry consultant Marc Ganis of Sports Corp. Limited. "It's the single most illogical part of the signing of players." And while it's tough to figure a precise number--how much of the $126 million the Giants spent on pitcher Barry Zito, who was banished to the bullpen after a string of weak performances, would be considered dead money, exactly?--there is "far more" of it lining unproductive players' pockets than there used to be, according to Ganis.

To determine those who are paid the most for sitting, we searched out playing time and production vs. salaries in the National Football League (NFL), National Basketball Association (NBA), Major League Soccer (MLS) and Major League Baseball (MLB). (Other than the goaltender position, hockey, played in shifts, doesn't lend itself as much to the starter-backup breakdown.)

Many athletes who make the list tend to be aging former starters riding out big contracts in their declining years, after they've been busted down to part-time duty. Baseball outfielders Jay Payton and Jacque Jones fit this bill. (The Florida Marlins just released Jones this week.)

Baseball has already learned about the difficulties of getting rid of dead money. During the 1980s, Commissioner Peter Ueberroth pointed out to the owners how much they were flushing down the drain on players that didn't play. The problem is that when the owners decide collectively to clamp down, they're guilty of collusion (a legacy of the Ueberroth era, resulting in legal rulings that forced owners to fork over millions to the players union).