Yesterday, ESPN.com’s popular Grantland sports blog featured an eye-opening article by staff writer Jonah Keri. He took his annual look at baseball’s worst contracts.

This is not something you want to look at if you are a fan of the Texas Rangers, which, since what you are currently reading is a Texas Rangers blog, means you are probably very much a Rangers fan.

Of the ten worst contracts currently chained to major league players, three are Texas Rangers. And a fourth Ranger is in the honorable mention list, waiting to be included on the top (or is it bottom?) ten list next year.

It’s ugly.

According to Keri, the Number 2 worst major league contract has Matt Harrison’s signiture on it, with three years and $41 million dollars remaining. The Number 4 worst contract is Shin-Soo Choo, who has six more years and $116 million remaining. The Number 5 worst contract is Prince Fielder, with six year and $144 million still to go. And the Honorable Mention bad contract belongs to Elvis Andrus. The Rangers are on the books to him for eight years and $120 million.

Read the article. At least Rangers’ fans can take some solice in knowing that the Angels have a few of their own lead balloons strapped to their ankles as well. And the fact that A-Rod, everybody’s villain, has had the single worst contract in the major leagues for the third year in a row. Perhaps the misery of others might lessen some of the sting.

Keri sums up the Rangers this way: “From their Game 6 World Series collapse to the wave of injuries and bad contracts now on their books, the Rangers are as snakebitten as any team with a $3 billion TV deal could possibly be.”

Ouch.

It seems abundandly clear now why Rangers’ ownership put such a short leash on Jon Daniels this offseason by giving him only fifteen million dollars to spend. They were smart enough to realize that with only fifteen million dollars, Daniels wouldn’t quite have enough to snag BJ Upton and his $15.4 million per year for the next three years from the Braves.

They saved him from himself. And the Rangers from Upton.

Genius.