Jayson Werth.

[ryankcollins]

Sorry, but I'm suffering from some major boredom right now after I read some information on Metaphysics. What does everyone think of the Jayson Werth 7year/$126M dollar contract with the Nationals? Good team for him? Too much money? Signed too soon? What's your input? Will this affect Cliff Lee's amount? What do you think Cliff Lee will get?

[lynchy34]

Way too much money for Werth. Unreal. And that deal definitely priced my Red Sox out of the Carl Crawford sweepstakes, what with the Gonzalez deal and all.

[ryankcollins]

Way too much money for Werth. Unreal. And that deal definitely priced my Red Sox out of the Carl Crawford sweepstakes, what with the Gonzalez deal and all.

I completely forgot about Carl Crawford! Yeah, and what is sad is that Crawford, in my opinion, is a better player than Werth. However, I think this contract could end up hurting Crawford if he is wanting a similar payout. It is not so much that Werth screwed up the other notable free agents, it is that the Nationals do not know how to spend their money wisely.

Do you think the Nats have a chance at making a run (definitely not play-off, but better than their usual last place team)?

[jcrmoon42]

Way too much money for Werth. Unreal. And that deal definitely priced my Red Sox out of the Carl Crawford sweepstakes, what with the Gonzalez deal and all.

Grrrrrr...exactly right. He's going to be looking at 20 bills plus, and I don't think Theo will do that. Crazy money out there right now. And five years from now, I think that nearly all the off season deals from this year will be looked at as mistakes. Even Cliff Lee, whatever he eventually signs for.

[bschr682]

read the article on mlb.com about this deal. They interviewed the nationals gm and i think he gave an acceptable reason for making this deal. He even seemed to agree that it was too long of a contract and for too much money but the way he put it, it almost made sense that the nats did it.

[LambeauLeap]

As if they werne't before, but this REALLY screws the Brewers now with Fielder.

[aaronweiner]

Um, isn't that what basically happens every five years? Besides, it's picking the one that DOESN'T suck that's the hard part...

Grrrrrr...exactly right. He's going to be looking at 20 bills plus, and I don't think Theo will do that. Crazy money out there right now. And five years from now, I think that nearly all the off season deals from this year will be looked at as mistakes. Even Cliff Lee, whatever he eventually signs for.

[bschr682]

As if they werne't before, but this REALLY screws the Brewers now with Fielder.

The moves we are making such as non tendering Coffey and shipping Villanueva to the Jays and even bringing in Marcum for Lawrie suggest to me that we are trying to resign Fielder not trade him.

[LambeauLeap]

If Fielder re-ups with the BrewCrew I'll eat my underwear.

[Manny]

I think it's a great contract for Werth but I would not pay that for him at all. It does suck that it probably means that Crawford wont be joining the Red Sox now but I'm glad that Werth went to washington as I didnt want him to sign in Boston. It seems like Lee is holding out for a 7 year contract and if he gets it...wow...7 years for a 32 year old pitcher.

[jcrmoon42]

I think it's a great contract for Werth but I would not pay that for him at all. It does suck that it probably means that Crawford wont be joining the Red Sox now but I'm glad that Werth went to washington as I didnt want him to sign in Boston. It seems like Lee is holding out for a 7 year contract and if he gets it...wow...7 years for a 32 year old pitcher.

Not only is he 32 years old, but if you take away his one 22-3 Cy Young season, he is 80-58 with a 4.10 ERA. Take away his 18-5 season in '98 when he was a just above average pitcher who got good support, and he is 62-53. Win-lost record isn't everything, but a 32 year old with a record just over .500 and an ERA north of 4 suddenly stops looking like a $20 million pitcher. Did you know he has only been top 10 in ERA+ twice in his career.

[LambeauLeap]

I think it's a great contract for Werth but I would not pay that for him at all. It does suck that it probably means that Crawford wont be joining the Red Sox now but I'm glad that Werth went to washington as I didnt want him to sign in Boston. It seems like Lee is holding out for a 7 year contract and if he gets it...wow...7 years for a 32 year old pitcher.

Not only is he 32 years old, but if you take away his one 22-3 Cy Young season, he is 80-58 with a 4.10 ERA. Take away his 18-5 season in '98 when he was a just above average pitcher who got good support, and he is 62-53. Win-lost record isn't everything, but a 32 year old with a record just over .500 and an ERA north of 4 suddenly stops looking like a $20 million pitcher. Did you know he has only been top 10 in ERA+ twice in his career.

This is exactly why I think owners should collude on salaries. No way a baseball player should make that kind of money when we have military getting shot at every day making a pittance.

[aaronweiner]

Well, the plus side is that the baseball player gives those soldiers something to talk about in-between gunshots. Not that they're particularly bored.

[ryankcollins]

I think it's a great contract for Werth but I would not pay that for him at all. It does suck that it probably means that Crawford wont be joining the Red Sox now but I'm glad that Werth went to washington as I didnt want him to sign in Boston. It seems like Lee is holding out for a 7 year contract and if he gets it...wow...7 years for a 32 year old pitcher.

Not only is he 32 years old, but if you take away his one 22-3 Cy Young season, he is 80-58 with a 4.10 ERA. Take away his 18-5 season in '98 when he was a just above average pitcher who got good support, and he is 62-53. Win-lost record isn't everything, but a 32 year old with a record just over .500 and an ERA north of 4 suddenly stops looking like a $20 million pitcher. Did you know he has only been top 10 in ERA+ twice in his career.

7 years is ridiculous. New York said they would go 6 maximum. In the end, I think Cliff Lee will go six years with New York and I don't even know how much money they'll vomit up.

[BigRed Mosquito]

Yeah, I think I'm right in line with the majority. Werth should be doing cartwheels on his new payday, but the Nationals really overpaid for the guy. Although, it's interesting being a Royals fan, because that's what it pretty much takes to get anyone to play for you. Torii Hunter comes to mind, the Royals were supposedly one of the teams in on him but unless the Royals were willing to overpay for him why would he choose to KC, and sure enough he ended up in LA/Anaheim. It's all part of being a losing franchise trying to make the leap, and in the end it either works for you or you fall deeper in the hole! Jayson Stark is a regular contributor to one of the local sports talk shows, and he has said as much to, just because you make an offer doesn't mean the guy is going to come, especially if you are a consistent losing franchise.

While I think the Nationals overpaid, I sure would like to see the Royals take some risks in signing guys!