Struggling not to make a Tiger Woods joke...

MLB Trade Rumors has an interesting post up this afternoon. The premise is simple: If each MLB team had the chance to erase a single contract from their books, which one would it be? There aren’t too many surprises on the list – guys like Vernon Wells (five years, $98.5 million), Jeff Suppan ($14.5 million), and Alfonso Soriano (five years, $90 million) are routinely cited as having some of the worst contracts in the game – but it got me thinking about which contract the Phillies would take a mulligan on, if given the opportunity.

The obvious choice, and MLBTR’s, is Brad Lidge’s deal. He’s due $11.5 million this season and next, and holds a 2012 option for $12.5 million that will almost certainly be bought out for $1.5 million. I may have been the only person on the planet who hated this contract the second it was signed. I understand the motivation behind it – Lidge was in the midst of his perfect ’08 and would be a free agent at year’s end – but paying a reliever an eight-figure salary is almost always a bad idea. There’s so much potential for high variance in such a small sample size, and even the best relief performances are diminished in overall value due to the limited number of innings a reliever can pitch. In the eight seasons WAR has been calculated (since 2002), only 12 closers have been worth three wins or more in a season: Eric Gagne (three times), Robb Nen, John Smoltz, Francisco Rodriguez (twice), B.J. Ryan, Francisco Cordero, Joe Nathan (twice), Mariano Rivera (twice), Lidge (in 2004, believe it or not), J.J. Putz, Takashi Saito, and Jonathan Papelbon (twice). Using WAR for pitchers is less than optimal, but it gets the point across.

Anyway, Lidge is the clear winner of this dubious honor. The only other contract that even comes close to having an argument is Raul Ibanez’s deal. Like Lidge, he’s owed $11.5 million this season and next. With his advanced age, recent injury concerns, and horribly shortsighted no-trade protection, even last season’s monster first half only goes so far in easing the sting of that contract. I suppose you could throw Jamie Moyer in there as well, but his deal doesn’t carry the same negative consequences going forward as the Lidge or Ibanez contracts, since it expires after this season.

Is it painfully obvious that I’m just killing time until today’s game starts?