Chris Davis retired from baseball in August 2021 after a career in the big leagues from 2008 to 2020. He played for the Texas Rangers from 2008 to 2011 and then, most importantly to this story, the Baltimore Orioles from 2011 to 2022. His career with the Orioles was… shall we say… spotty. He did a franchise-record 53 home runs in the 2013 season. He also had 138 RBIs that year, was an All-Star AND finished third in the voting for AL MVP.
The next season he was suspended for 25 games after testing positive for amphetamine use, which he blamed on Adderall. The suspension took Chris out of the 2014 post season.
Between 2015 and 2018 Chris led the majors in strikeouts-per-at-bat. In 2018 he had the lowest batting average in the league for a qualified player, he averaged just .168 that season. In 2019 he set a major league record for most consecutive at-bats without a hit! He went 0-54!
The Orioles were understandably not pleased with his performance. Back in 2016, when they apparently still had high-hopes for Chris, the Orioles offered the first baseman a 7-year, $161 million contract. Thanks to a special clause, today that contract is reminding a lot of people of Bobby Bonilla’s famous contract…
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Getting Paid
Chris Davis earned $17 million per year from 2016 until 2022. That’s $119 million total. So we’re missing $42 million of that $161 million contract.
Here’s how Chris will receive that $42 million:
Every July 1st from 2023 to 2032, Chris will receive $3.5 million. He will then receive five payments of $1.4 million every July 1st from 2033 to 2037.
When Chris receives his final payment in 2037, he will be 57 and he will have not played professional baseball in nearly two decades 🙂
In a recent interview in which Chris revealed he still enjoys watching the Orioles even in retirement. Uhh… ya. I would hope so! I hope you stay the biggest Orioles fan on earth for the rest of your life!