The eve before the start of the baseball winter meetings was buzzing with an announcement that the Washington Nationals closed a seven year deal with outfielder Jayson Werth. Scott Boras was shifting between the Dolphin and Swan hotels, and closed a deal with Mike Rizzo that secured a defensive right fielder possessing a strong arm that also produces offense. Werth scored 106 runs last season batting in the heart of the lineup for the Phillies, and his ability to hit to all fields makes him a tough out. It also didn’t hurt the Nationals to soften the Phillies up taking away one of their productive bats from a stacked lineup. Mike Rizzo has a plan and is executing it to perfection as he filled a defensive void in right field and almost matched Adam Dunn’s offensive productivity from a season ago. Jayson batted .296 with 27 HRs and 85 RBIs, and his strong base running lead to 46 doubles. The Nationals needed run production and this is quite the move to generate more offense for next season.
Look at this deal a little closer Nats Town, and what you will find is that Rizzo has just leveraged himself early enough in the winter meetings to explore more scenarios. Adrian Gonzalez was traded to the Red Sox and there is no deal in place as of yesterday. Rizzo could also make a trade for a starting pitcher using the depth of his roster as well. There is more to come, so hold on rough riders the week has opened with a charge. Rizzo has the upper hand closing a significant deal this early in the week positioning the Nationals to close another deal before week’s end.
The length of the contract is worrisome if Werth lays an egg in Washington, but here’s something interesting to ease any panic. Werth has been a productive player throughout his career especially in the playoffs, batting .268 with 13 HRs and 26 RBIs for his playoff career. An interesting comparison to Alex Rodriguez who also has 13 HRs and 38 RBIs with 19 more playoff games played than Werth. Rodriguez had terrible playoff stats until his monster performance in the 2009 post season where he accumulated almost half of his HR and RBI career totals. Now one can understand the leverage that Boras had in negotiating a long term deal for his client who possesses playoff stats rivaling Arod.
The most important element of this deal is that the Washington Nationals are defining the type of team they are going to be. The plan is to bring in players that fit a certain mold, and that is athletes who can play both offense and defense. Unfortunately for Adam Dunn his lack of athleticism and defensive ability compared to where the Nationals are going was the limiting factor to closing any deal. Werth makes sense because he fits the mold of player the Nationals are pursuing, so it is not like Rizzo made this deal just to bring a name into Nats Town. The days of Jim Bowden pulling a rabbit from his hat are long gone, and now the Nationals have a management team in place that know what they are doing. It is easy to accept this deal with Werth as a Nat’s fan because the team is developing an identity. The Nationals are shaping their roster similar to that of the Tampa Bay Rays, in which speed, aggressive base running, and great defense lead to both wins and entertaining baseball. Now it is time to shop for a starting pitcher.