Sunk Costs-For Reds, It's Griffey

LA Times (via Ritholtz):

Standing at his locker shortly before the Angels' home opener against the Toronto Blue Jays, outfielder Vernon Wells had mixed emotions about facing the team that traded him away last winter.

It would be good to see old friends, but he also wanted to defeat them. And there was an added twist.

Wells was playing against a Toronto ballclub that was still covering part of his salary.

"It's obviously strange," he said.

Not in baseball, it isn't.

Call it "sunk costs" or "dead money" — teams' still paying for athletes no longer on their rosters.

Juan Pierre, Andruw Jones and Manny Ramirez remain on this season's payroll for the Dodgers, though Ramirez is retired, Pierre is with the Chicago White Sox and Jones is with the New York Yankees.

The Angels took Wells only after Toronto agreed to contribute $5 million toward the remainder of his hefty contract. At the same time, the Angels have Gary Matthews Jr., who is out of the game, on their books for more than $11 million this season.

I'm not sure how many years the Reds continue to pay Griffey, but it is a bunch.  Of course, they already set that money aside, so I guess it doesn't matter much.