12/21/24
December 06, 2010
Werth agrees to $126 million, 7-yr deal with Nats: The Washington Nationals signed FA Jayson Werth to a 7-year, $126 million deal. NY Mets new GM expressed his surprise, saying "I thought they were trying to reduce the deficit in Washington." Werth, in the meanwhile, in a conference call said "To just spend money wildly on people is not the point. What we're going to do is create an atmosphere ... of winning...," which begs us to ponder the obvious question: Is a soon-to-be-32-year-old, lifetime .272 batter really "werth" such a long contract that averages $18 mil. per year? (Sorry, I couldn't resist the pun.)
posted by billinnagoya to baseball at 05:25 AM - 11 comments
Tom Hicks Disease strikes again.
It's diagnosable.
But apparently untreatable.
posted by beaverboard at 08:10 AM on December 06, 2010
What kills me about this is that the Nationals low-balled Adam Dunn. Dunn said that he would have taken less than market value to stay with the Nats (who knows why), but they let him go. Then, they go and do this. WTF.
posted by bperk at 09:43 AM on December 06, 2010
I'd say it's because Adam Dunn brings exactly two things to the table -- he hits home runs and he walks. His OBP dropped significantly last season, and his 13 errors at first base means he can't play the one place an NL team could play him.
Werth's contract is too long, I agree, but Washington gets an outstanding outfielder with power, speed and a good OBP. That beats the crap out of Dunn.
posted by wfrazerjr at 11:18 AM on December 06, 2010
Dan Snyder no longer has the lock on throwing ridiculous money around in Washington.
posted by Bonkers at 12:31 PM on December 06, 2010
In the words of Kyle Broflovski's mother, "Wha..wha...What?"
posted by Demophon at 12:33 PM on December 06, 2010
Werth's contract is too long, I agree, but Washington gets an outstanding outfielder with power, speed and a good OBP. That beats the crap out of Dunn.
Well, he isn't better than Crawford. How much is Crawford going to be getting? And, I don't believe that Werth is $70 million better than Dunn, which is the difference in their contracts.
posted by bperk at 02:38 PM on December 06, 2010
Does Scott Boras wear a ski mask and carry a gun to his contract negotiations? 7 years is about 3 too many, and $18M per year is $3M too much. The reasoning I have heard is that because of their poor record, Washington cannot attract free agents without overpaying. Sad.
posted by Howard_T at 03:42 PM on December 06, 2010
Washington gets an outstanding outfielder with power, speed and a good OBP
Who will be 40 when he collects the end of this contract. I know they have to overpay, but by this much? What other offers were on the table for Werth?
posted by yerfatma at 04:25 PM on December 06, 2010
In a few years Washington will be whining about not being able to afford Werth and looking to unload him and his contract.
posted by dyams at 05:25 PM on December 06, 2010
Yeah, that one's going to be an albatross in a couple. Hard to see a 36 year old Werth being tradeable anywhere. That had to be about $30-40 million more than he was getting elsewhere.
posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 08:14 PM on December 06, 2010
Good for Jayson Werth. I'm sure for a ridiculous contract like that, for a guy who will turn 32 in May, he'd gladly go from a perennial contender to a terrible team. No more of that pesky "gotta win" crap.