What’s Werth worth?
A lot more than the Phillies were willing to pay.
The beard is taking his act down I-95 to the nation’s capital. Jayson Werth has signed an incredible seven-year, $126 million offer from the Nationals.
The thunderbolt kicked off baseball’s annual Winter Meetings even before they were supposed to start today. Word leaked out late Sunday afternoon on the blockbuster deal.
Werth and super agent Scott Boras obviously were being courted by several teams, the REd Sox among them, but the Nats were not usually mentioned.
They are now.
The signing of the popular, bearded right-fielder creates an instant rivalry with the Phils in the National League East. The teams will see plenty of each other, and die-hard Werth fans who can’t get into sold-out Citizens Bank Park can make the trip down I-95 to Washington to see their hero.
That’s one of the puzzling things about this deal. The Nats have trouble drawing gnats, even with a sparkling new park. They’re banking on Werth to change all that.
It is believed the Phils made an offer to Werth in the vicinity of three or four years and $40-50 million. The startling thing about Werth’s deal– aside from the money, of course – is the length. Not many teams are willing to lay out that kind of cash over seven years.
Maybe the best line came from new Mets general manager Sandy Alderson.
“I thought they were trying to reduce the deficit in Washington,” he quipped.
All of this is to say what has been said a million times before. We went through it with Reggie White, who told us – with a straight face no less – that Jesus told him to go to Green Bay. Yeah, that and a whole lot of another kind of green, the kind Eagles owner Norman Braman liked to keep in his wallet.
Now it’s Werth, a very popular Phillie who said all the right things about wanting to say here in town.
Right up until the Nats dangled that deal in front of him. I don’t blame Werth a bit. It was a once-in-a-lifetime shot at a huge deal.
Werth simply did what all pro athletes seem to do when they get the chance.
He took the money.
A lot more than the Phillies were willing to pay.
The beard is taking his act down I-95 to the nation’s capital. Jayson Werth has signed an incredible seven-year, $126 million offer from the Nationals.
The thunderbolt kicked off baseball’s annual Winter Meetings even before they were supposed to start today. Word leaked out late Sunday afternoon on the blockbuster deal.
Werth and super agent Scott Boras obviously were being courted by several teams, the REd Sox among them, but the Nats were not usually mentioned.
They are now.
The signing of the popular, bearded right-fielder creates an instant rivalry with the Phils in the National League East. The teams will see plenty of each other, and die-hard Werth fans who can’t get into sold-out Citizens Bank Park can make the trip down I-95 to Washington to see their hero.
That’s one of the puzzling things about this deal. The Nats have trouble drawing gnats, even with a sparkling new park. They’re banking on Werth to change all that.
It is believed the Phils made an offer to Werth in the vicinity of three or four years and $40-50 million. The startling thing about Werth’s deal– aside from the money, of course – is the length. Not many teams are willing to lay out that kind of cash over seven years.
Maybe the best line came from new Mets general manager Sandy Alderson.
“I thought they were trying to reduce the deficit in Washington,” he quipped.
All of this is to say what has been said a million times before. We went through it with Reggie White, who told us – with a straight face no less – that Jesus told him to go to Green Bay. Yeah, that and a whole lot of another kind of green, the kind Eagles owner Norman Braman liked to keep in his wallet.
Now it’s Werth, a very popular Phillie who said all the right things about wanting to say here in town.
Right up until the Nats dangled that deal in front of him. I don’t blame Werth a bit. It was a once-in-a-lifetime shot at a huge deal.
Werth simply did what all pro athletes seem to do when they get the chance.
He took the money.
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