Debate: Who owns Big Apple's worst contract, David Wright or Jacoby Ellsbury?

Who has the worst contract in Big Apple baseball?

There is no shortage of candidates, but there are two raw deals that stand out above the rest.

Both New York Mets captain David Wright and New York Yankees outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury are signed through 2020. Wright's health has sidelined him repeatedly -- he is on the DL again -- while Ellsbury's performance has been a major disappointment in the Bronx.

So which deal is more odious?

Check out our debate between ESPN.com team reporters Wallace Matthews and Adam Rubin, who also co-host ESPN New York 98.7 FM's "Balls & Strikes." Then cast your vote below.

Jump to:
Wright | Ellsbury | Vote!

Matthews: While Wright sits, Ellsbury roams the outfield

There are, by my count, a half-dozen candidates for the dubious title of the worst contract in New York baseball, and five of the six are on the Yankees.

But the one who doesn't play in the Bronx is the proud owner of clearly the worst contract of all: David Wright, the erstwhile face of the New York Mets.

Yes, worse than the contracts the Yankees doled out to Alex Rodriguez, Mark Teixeira and CC Sabathia. At least the Yankees won a World Series with those three, and got world-class performances out of them for a portion of their contracts.

And yeah, worse than Masahiro Tanaka's contract, from which he can opt out after 2017, and no worse than Jacoby Ellsbury's deal, which runs through 2020, as does Wright's. For all Ellsbury's nagging and annoying injuries, at least he doesn't (yet) have a degenerative condition that is likely to force him off the field well before the end of the contract's term.

I understand that Mets fans are emotional when it comes to evaluating Wright. After all, he was the Chosen One, the one the Wilpons anointed as their cover boy over the other likely candidate, Jose Reyes. And while history tells us they made the right pick, they were dead wrong to extend Wright for another eight years, at $138 million, after the 2012 season.

By their nature, all free-agent contracts are bound to end badly; by the time players reach free agency, they are either at their peak or just beyond it, and are being paid mainly for past performance.

Since the Mets extended Wright before the 2013 season, he has had one good year -- the first, when he batted .307, hit 18 home runs and posted a .904 OPS -- and three increasingly poor seasons, marred by injury. Over the past three seasons, Wright has hit all of 20 home runs, knocked in a total of 94 runs, and batted a cumulative.266.

And now, having been hit with the dual whammy of spinal stenosis and a herniated disk in his neck, it's fairly unlikely that he'll even be able to play to those diminished standards again over the next 4-plus years of his contract.

I don't want to hear that he's insured and that the Wilpons will recoup most of that money; most big league contracts are insured the same way. We're talking about which player of those six is likely to return the most on the remaining dollars that are coming to him.

Teixeira is done after this year, A-Rod and CC after next year. Like Bobby Bonilla, David Wright will be on the Mets' payroll long after his playing days are over.

If this were a popularity contest, David Wright would win it in a landslide. But it's not. It's a measure of value, and in that one, David Wright comes in dead last.

Rubin: Wright's health is insured; Ellsbury's poor play isn't

When the New York Mets signed David Wright to an eight-year, $138 million extension in December 2012, Wright -- not the ballclub -- was accepting the greater risk. The Mets had not produced a winning season since 2008, and let's just say that did not end splendidly. If Wright had waited another season, he had the capacity to earn significantly more as a free agent.

In a simplistic way, Wright's contract may now be considered a bust. He missed four months last season with spinal stenosis in his lower back, an affliction that continues to torment him. He is now sidelined for a prolonged period with a herniated disk in his neck, which forced him to the disabled list Friday.

Wright is receiving $20 million per season through 2018, followed by $15 million in 2019 and $12 million in 2020. It's highly improbable he will still be on the field when that contract expires.

Yet concluding that the Wright deal was a bust -- and especially the worst in New York -- ignores two important truths:

The first is practical. Wright's contract is insured by the Mets. They begin recouping 75 percent of his salary after any period in which he misses 60 days. They collected last year. And let's say Wright never plays again. The Mets' obligation next season and the season after that would be a far-less-onerous $5 million -- not $20 million. It then would be $3.75 million in 2019 and $3 million in 2020. That's not even the cost of a middling middle reliever.

But there's a second highly logical reason that any Yankees fan would understand for not negatively viewing Wright's contract. The Yankees have often paid their stars beyond their strict on-field value. Was Derek Jeter worth $17 million in 2013?

Wright's agreement to remain a Met after receiving a visit in Virginia from GM Sandy Alderson averted further fan despondency at a time when it was challenging to watch the Mets.

There's a reason Ed Kranepool owns so many franchise records. It's because none of the Mets' legitimate stars has ever been a lifelong Met. Tom Seaver was traded away. Doc Gooden and Darryl Strawberry had their issues and ended up elsewhere. Mike Piazza began with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Even if Wright never plays again, which is not the intention, he is worth the after-insurance payment over the next few years just to be a Mets ambassador. To be someone who chose to be a Met for his career.

Contrast that with the Yankees' litany of albatross contracts, which don't seem quite as onerous now only because many are nearing expiration. CC Sabathia, who will earn $25 million this season, is only on the books until his contract expires after 2017. Mark Teixeira, back on the DL, becomes a free agent after making $22.5 million this season. Alex Rodriguez -- oh, Alex Rodriguez -- has only one more season to go on his 10-year, $275 million deal.

The deal that now stands out for its stench: Jacoby Ellsbury's seven-year, $153 million contract that runs through 2020, like Wright's deal.

And there's no insurance against subpar performance.