expressions - What does "have nothing on someone" mean here?


From what I know "have something from someone" means to know secret or damaging knowledge about someone, I was reading this article on espn.com and it is an excerpt from that article



Carl Pavano for $40 million, A.J. Burnett for $82.5 million and Kei Igawa for $20 million have nothing on Rodriguez for $275 million.



I don't understand what "have nothing on" means here. Even though it is fairly obvious what the article is about, and what the comparison is here, but I cant quite figure out the meaning.



Answer



ODO on have nothing on:



have (got) nothing on
informal



  1. be not nearly as good as:
        bright though his three sons were, they had nothing on Sally

  2. (have nothing or something on) know nothing (or something) discreditable or incriminating about:
        I am not worried—they’ve got nothing on me



The first sense is obviously the one to interpret the phrase as here, although it needs a bit of nuancing to match the context:



The Yankees aren't ready to comment on the specifics of this case, but there's nobody in the organization who would dispute the fact that Rodriguez now represents the worst investment they've made, 2009 title or no 2009 title. Carl Pavano for $40 million, A.J. Burnett for $82.5 million and Kei Igawa for $20 million have nothing on Rodriguez for $275 million.



The phrase "have nothing on Rodriguez" could be replaced with "have lost not nearly as much as Rodriguez".


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