Burly W

(Welcome to Washington, Jayson Richard Gowan Werth. Quick, someone get the man a Caps sweater. Getty Images Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images.)

Suck it, Philly.

Wow! Desperate times...But can he pitch?

Nationals sign Jayson Werth to a (reported) 7 year, $126 Million deal.

Scott Boras can't get enough of Ted Lerner's money.

Wait. 126,000,000. That's a lot of zeros. And years. Seven years? Like, 7? Has Mike Rizzo lost his mind? Bryce Harper will be, like, 20 and playing for the Yankees when that contract expires.

"Absolutely batshit crazy."
(Some unnamed GM, via Ken Rosenthal/FOXSports.com, 12/5/2010)

"It makes some of our contracts look pretty good."
(Mets GM Sandy Alderson, via Nationals Journal, 12/5/2010)

We're not complainin' (yet). Just sayin'.

Just a huge statement by Mike Rizzo. Apology accepted, NatsTown? In Rizzo we trust? So Rizzo wouldn't go four years for a 31 year old Adam Dunn...but doesn't blink at seven years for a 31 year old Werth?

After the jump, the text of the press release from the Nationals announcing the deal:

NATIONALS AGREE TO TERMS WITH
RF JAYSON WERTH ON SEVEN-YEAR DEAL
          The Washington Nationals today agreed to terms with free-agent right fielder Jayson Werth on a seven-year contract. Nationals Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Mike Rizzo made the announcement.
 
          Werth, 31, is a career .272 (684-for-2519) hitter with 138 doubles, 15 triples, 120 home runs, 406 RBI, 77 stolen bases and 433 runs scored in 775 games spanning eight seasons with Philadelphia (2007-10), Los Angeles-NL (2004-05) and Toronto (2002-03). For his career, Werth also owns .367 on-base and .481 slugging percentages, as well as an .848 OPS.
 
          In 2010, his final season with the Phillies, Werth batted .296 (164-for-554) with an NL-leading 46 doubles, 27 home runs and 85 RBI in 156 games. He established career highs in hits, doubles, extra-base hits (75) and runs (106). He also notched a career-best .532 slugging percentage in ‘10, and thus, increased his slugging mark for the fourth straight season. 
 
          An NL All-Star in ‘09, Werth burst upon the scene as a premium middle-of-the-lineup bat in 2008, and in three seasons since, he has batted .279 with 88 doubles, 87 home runs, 251 RBI and 53 stolen bases in 449 games. In the same three-year span, Werth has paced MLB having seen 4.46 pitches per plate appearance. In the two-season stretch from 2009-10, Werth’s 204 runs scored, 173 walks and 63 home runs ranked third, fifth and eighth, respectively in the NL.
 
          An excellent baserunner, Werth has twice posted 20-stolen base seasons (2008, ‘09), and in 2010 his speed and senses helped him to score 100-plus runs for the first time in his career.
 
          Drafted in the first round by the Orioles as a catcher in 1997, Werth has proven durable, as he is one of only 12 National Leaguers to have played in 155-plus games each of the last two seasons.
 
          A proven post-season performer, Werth’s .607 slugging percentage and .987 OPS rank third and fifth, respectively, among active players who have played in at least 20 playoff games.

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Comments

[ckstevenson]

He looks a lot like this guy:

http://blogwaybaby.com/Picture%2079.png

[Rachel @ Nats Fangirls]

Dude, your posts are HUH-larious!

[Section 3, My Sofa]

as Norman Bates used to say, "Everybody goes a little crazy sometimes."

[Anonymous]

And so two myths get killed with one stone: "The Lerners are cheap," and "The Lerners are smart businessmen."

[jdc]

Love it. It makes no sense at all to lowball Dunn then make a batshit crazy 7 year deal for Werth (who is 6 months older) but we'll take it. Next: overpay for Pavano.

[Anonymous]

Even Jim Bowden couldn't have dreamt of a long-term deal this messed up. But only because Werth never played for the Reds.

[Kevin Rusch]

Sitting on a park bench.... eyeing little girls with bad intent...