The 8 most hated Yankees players of all time

Carl Pavano

Starting off the list strong is Carl Pavano, whose name even today makes Yankees fans cringe. When the Yankees signed Pavano to a four-year deal worth just shy of $40 million back before the 2005 season, he was coming off a two-plus season stretch with the Marlins where he was a reliable innings eater, and finished in the top six in Cy Young voting in 2004 when he posted a 3.00 ERA in 222.1 innings of work.

Unfortunately, his time with the Yankees was not remotely as fruitful. In addition to just being bad with a 5.00 ERA in 26 starts from 2005-2008, he was constantly hurt, and some of those injuries were fairly dubious. Pavano missed the 2006 season with shoulder issues (probably legit), a bruised butt, and broken ribs he sustained from a car accident which he didn't tell the Yankees about until the day they were going to activate him from a different IL stint. He then had Tommy John surgery and suffered other "interesting" ailments that pointed to him just not being interested in pitching for the Yankees. He just wanted to cash his checks. Good riddance.

Jack McDowell

This is a fun one, because Jack McDowell only spent one season with the Yankees after being traded there by the White Sox, where he was a perennial Cy Young candidate. McDowell actually wasn't even that bad for the Yankees, as he posted a 3.93 ERA in 217.2 innings. Sure, it wasn't great and definitely was not what New York was hoping for when they traded for him, but the production was fine.

However, what DOES get McDowell on the list was his relationship with Yankees fans, specifically when he flipped off the Yankees' faithful after he was pulled from a game in the middle of the 1995 season. When you combine that with McDowell being on the mound when the Mariners bounced the Yankees from the 1995 ALDS, you have a recipe for all-time infamy amongst Yankees fans.

Jacoby Ellsbury

Acquiring Jacoby Ellsbury had the recipe for being absolutely amazing, as it is always nice to take a really strong player away from the Red Sox. Ellsbury was coming off a seven-year stretch with Boston where he slashed .297/.350/.439 with 241 stolen bases. Naturally, New York was happy to hand him a seven-year, $153 million deal to bring him into the fold.

Unfortunately, Ellsbury's time with the Yankees would not live up to his billing, as he put up a .264/.330/.386 line in 520 games with New York. Injuries took a toll on Ellsbury's production and sapped his speed, which was was arguably his best tool. Hip surgery in 2018 to repair a torn labrum was the nail in the coffin for his career. This one is kinda sad, because Ellsbury's body just didn't cooperate with him, but it still doesn't make his contract any less onerous in the franchise's illustrious history of giving out onerous deals.

Chris Carter

When the Yankees signed Chris Carter before the 2017 season, the hope was that he would be able to bring his prodigious power with him, as he had just led the National League in homers while playing for the Brewers. Sure, he struck out a lot and didn't hit for much of an average throughout his big league career, but that could have (probably) been forgiven if he was hitting dingers.

However, that did not happen, as he hit just eight homers in 62 games in pinstripes before the Yankees DFA'd him. Yankees fans turned on Carter quickly, as he was particularly horrendous when it came to striking out and playing in the field. It takes a special kind of bad to make it onto this sort of list in less than a season's work, but Carter pulled it off. The Yankees were sort of asking for this one, though, as everyone knew Carter was a strikeout machine with contact issues, including his former teams.

Kevin Brown

The Yankees acquired Kevin Brown in the twilight of his career in a trade with the Dodgers, and there were already some red flags prior to his arrival. Brown had a lengthy track record of being awesome on the mound, but injuries were already starting to pop up. Besides, the righty didn't have the best reputation when it came to getting along with his teammates over the course of his career.

Well, all of the bad came with Brown without much of the production, as he put up a 4.95 ERA in 35 starts with the team. He got so frustrated after one start that he punched concrete and predictably broke his hand, which caused him to miss a big chunk of the 2004 season. Brown returned for the playoffs and was on the mound when Boston torched the Yankees in Game 7 of the 2004 ALCS to complete the Red Sox' improbable comeback after New York had taken a 3-0 series lead. It is safe to say Brown is not missed in Yankees-land.

Kei Igawa

During one of the arms races between the Yankees and Red Sox back in 2007, New York decided to sign Kei Igawa out of Japan to a five year, $20 million contract after paying a $26 million posting fee just for the right to talk to him. This was a direct response to the Red Sox signing Daisuke Matsuzaka, but Igawa was pretty highly regarded himself, even though the track record of Japanese players finding success in MLB was spotty even back then.

Sadly, it was not to be, as the Yankees shelled out all that money for Igawa for 71.2 innings of work. From 2007 to 2008, Igawa put up a 6.66 ERA with an earned reputation of struggling to find the strike zone, especially in big spots. The Yankees held onto Igawa in the minor leagues until his contract expired, but he never appeared in the big leagues again after 2008 and returned to Japan, where the injury bug plagued him for a few more seasons before he hung it up.

Javier Vazquez

Javier Vazquez has the rare distinction of disappointing Yankees fans in two separate stints with the team. The Yankees traded a large package of prospects for him before the 2004 season and promptly gave Vazquez a four-year, $45 million contract. Then, the Yankees traded Vazquez away after one season and he pitched pretty well for five seasons before the Yankees tried again to make him work in a trade with the Braves.

Sadly for the Yankees, Vazquez never figured out how to pitch in New York. Vazquez was legitimately good in the first half of the 2004 season and made the All-Star team, but he cratered in the second half so badly that New York traded him after the season. The entirety of the 2010 season was bad, as he posted a 5.32 ERA in 157.1 innings after finishing fourth in the Cy Young voting with the Braves the year prior. Fool me once, shame on you...

Joey Gallo

Finally, we come to the most recent entrant to the list in Joey Gallo, and this is another case where it is hard not to wonder what the Yankees were expecting. Sure, Gallo has huge power from the left side that is tempting, considering they play in Yankee Stadium, and he did have a bunch of homers before the Yankees traded with Texas for his services. However, the signs have always been there that Gallo is a recipe for disappointment.

The problem Gallo had, and continues to have, is his hit tool and strikeout totals. After coming over in the trade with the Rangers in 2021, Gallo put up a .160/.303/.404 line, although he did at least hit 13 homers for the Yankees that season. 2022 was worse, as Gallo posted a .621 OPS in 82 games with the Yankees before his time mercifully came to an end when he was moved to the Dodgers. Gallo actually seemed like a decent guy, but Yankees fans were not having it, as he was booed constantly with every fruitless at-bat.

More Yankees News from Yanks Go Yard