Cup Checks Awards: Stolen Money Leader

OK. So, anyone could make a case for 90 percent of major leaguers being overpaid. And, of course, no one in his right mind would argue against the Yankees' Alex Rodriguez ($33 million in 2009, according to USA Today's salary list) being the most overpaid player in the the game -- hell, in major league history.

But A-Rod showed up every day. And he produced (although not quite up to the standard that made him the highest-paid player in the game). Besides, those few who were underpaid (by the same standard), such as the Giants' Tim Lincecum ($650,000, 15-7, 2.48, 32 starts, 225.1 IP) and the Cardinals' Adam Wainwright ($2.8 million, 19-8, 2.63, 34 starts, 233 IP), sort of straighten the curve a bit.

No, the Stolen Money Leader award is not about those who took the field, were overpaid and put up decent numbers. It focuses on the overpaid underachievers (i.e., Milwaukee's Jason Kendall topped the list for about six straight years after signing a huge contract with Pittsburgh earlier this decade; even after a severe pay cut to $5 million/year he steals money with the best of them).

One more provision: I could have spent hours scouring the salary list in search of many a journeyman player who took home millions for little or no on-field contribution (i.e. Kendall, .241 average, 2 HRs, 43 RBIs; or the Cubs' Aaron Miles, $2.2 million for a .185, 0 HRs, 5 RBIs in 74 games; or the Cards' Mark Mulder, $7 million for missing the entire season). But, truth be told, I'm just not that into it. So, I kept the focus on the so-called cream of the crop, the Top 25 moneymakers.

Here are the candidates for Stolen Money Leader:

• Magglio Ordonez, OF, Detroit Tigers: $19 million for .310, 9 HRs, 50 RBIs in 131 games
• Carlos Beltran, OF, New York Mets: $19 million for .325, 10 HRs, 48 RBIs in 81 games
• Alfonso Soriano, OF, Chicago Cubs: $17 million for .241, 20 HRs, 55 RBIs in 117 games
• A.J. Burnett, P, New York Yankees: $16.5 million for 13 wins, 9 losses, 4.04 ERA, 33 starts, 207 innings
• Barry Zito, P, San Francisco Giants (last season's winner): $16.5 million for 10-13, 4.03 ERA, 33 starts, 192 IP
• Jason Schmidt, P, Los Angeles Dodgers: $15.3 million for 2-2, 5.60 ERA, 4 starts, 17.2 IP

After careful consideration (and with great emphasis on my bias against starting pitchers who appear in only one-third of games to begin with), I had to go with ...

Jason Schmidt, the leading money-stealer of 2009. Special mentions go to Soriano and Zito.