Insert Punny Headline About Werth [Here]

Yesterday, the news of Jayson Werth signing a monster deal with the Nationals came out of the blue so quickly that it left the baseball community collectively shaking their heads in disbelief. Seven years, $126 Million to play in DC?

How do you like Ryan Howard’s contract now?

The biggest question on everyone’s mind seems to be “why the Nationals?” Why indeed. Why would someone voluntarily leave a team that has achieved postseason births four years in a row? Why would someone willingly stay in the same division as Roy Halladay, Cole Hamels and Roy Oswalt and bat against them? Why, why, why?

Because he’s going to be getting paid $18 Million dollars a year when he’s 38 years old, that’s why.


The Phillies reportedly offered Werth a 3-year, $48 million deal – a not-at-all-outlandish upgrade from the 2-year/$10 million contract he fulfilled at the end of the 2010 season. In fact, it stacked up nicely to the deal Adam Dunn made with the White Sox last Thursday at $14 Million per year over 4 seasons.

With Dunn being the first headliner free agent to successfully land a gig (and a good one at that!), it looked as though he was going to be setting the pace for the rest of the Class of 2010. Dunn will begin his 11^th year of service in the majors next year with a .250 career batting average, .521 SLG%, .902 OPS, and averages a hearty 40 long balls per year – all of which have remained relatively consistent over the course of his career.

Like Dunn, Werth is 31 years old, and will begin his 9^th season in the majors at .272/.481/.848/25, respectively. The biggest difference? Besides having a relatively bang-up contract year (barring any streaks, which we all know he’s prone to,) Werth will still be making a more than comfortable $18 million per year when he’s 38 going on 39 years old for doing who-knows-what at that point, and Dunn may or may not be batting DH for whatever random American League team will have him so long as his power numbers don’t decline. Whether you think he’s worth it or not, J-Dubb is getting paid.

Before Dunn signed with Chicago, the Nationals had a fighting chance to be taken very seriously very soon. Even though their shiny new Strasburg is going to be out until close to the end of the 2011 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery last year, they were left with a team that had a ton of moving parts – GOOD parts – that just needed to find a way to come together as a whole once a for all.

Dunn, Guzman, Zimmerman, Morgan – the core pieces were there, along with a wealth of pitching, and maybe adding Werth at not so nauseatingly inflated cost would have really helped to start the machine heading in the right direction. But all they did was replace one superstar with another. As a partial season ticket holder at Nats Park (which started as a convenience, but has grown into a bit of a fondness), it’s incredibly frustrating to watch good ball players walking away hanging their heads night after night… but I digress.

So where does that leave the Phillies? After a less than impressive stint at winter ball (read: batting 0.069 and getting sent home early), Dom Brown needs to show up fighting for his roster spot this spring. More than likely he’ll be spending time in Lehigh Valley making up for the AB’s he lost sitting on a bench in pinstripes last season, and the club wouldn't mind eventually making him a regular around Citizens Bank Park – but they’re not looking to him to lead them to a championship.

Ben Francisco and Ross Gload are still going to be around and would presumably platoon with Ibanez and Brown respectively. There are a few names that have come up in the past few days, though, that may be viable options to fill Werth's spot in the corner pocket.

Matt Diaz and Jeff Francoeur seem to be on Charlie’s radar and a preemptive short list. Both players could be a bit of a crap shoot, and need a place to call their own so they can start to create a niche for themselves. If they can get playing time, either could fit it nicely with the Phillies, but if they’re left to sit on the bench most of the season, they may never find that Holy Grail, that “groove” that is so easily lost when a player isn’t out there on a regular basis.

There are still a few more days left of Winter Meetings, and dozens of Free Agents on the market for the Phillies to feast on, but Ruben Amaro, Jr. & Co. plan to stay relatively quiet during their time in Florida. The Phillies have more than enough time to come up with a solution in right field before pitchers and catchers report to Clearwater in just 68 short days, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they keep plowing along with who they have. Werth stated that the team didn’t seem to want him around, which contributed to him choosing DC over Philly. While he may simply be covering up his real reasons for making the switch (read: money), he may be on to something. Maybe it’s not that the Phillies didn’t want him; maybe they just didn’t feel like they needed him so much. After all, everyone is replaceable... even beards. Pin It Now!