Goodbye, Mr. Werth
Congratulations, you got paid significantly more than you're worth. You got Ryan Howard money, except, you're not Ryan Howard.
You never had more than 100 RBIs in one season. You never hit more than 30 home runs (only did that once), batted .300, or won a gold glove. Technically, you've only played three "full seasons" in the Major Leagues, despite being 31-years-old. And the few times you were called upon to be a cleanup hitter, you failed miserably. But hey, you hit a lot of doubles.
The Nationals are dumb to pay you the kind of money they did.
You've batted cleanup five times with the Phillies (seven total for your career), going 5-for-20 with seven strikeouts. Eek.
You don't like playing in front of small crowds. Remeber this quote from August?
"We're used to playing with 45,000 people," Werth said, "and here we had what, four?"
Get used to it. Playing in front of four people, that is.
What do others think of your contract? Christ, even the Mets are making fun of your new team. Mets GM Sandy Alderson: [NY Daily News]
"Makes some of our contracts look pretty good. That's a long time and a lot of money. I thought they were trying to reduce the deficit in Washington."
No Sandy, the Nats are counting on Werth, Ryan Zimmerman, Stephen Strasburg, and Bryce Harper to lead them to the promised land. Here's the problem: Only half of the players in that equation will play this season. Strasburg will sit out, as he's coming off of Tommy John surgery, and Harper, who may very well turn into a star, is only 18-years-old, but believes the Nationals are the new Yankees of the NL East.
Perhaps they are. Of course, the Yankees have 27 rings to go with their ridiculous contracts. Signing Jayson Werth is in no way a move that will put the Nationals over the top. It's a classic case of the small-time team overvaluing a player they've watched play in October. The Phillies lineup wasn't strong enough with Werth batting fifth and surrounded by a couple of perennial All-Stars. By the time the Nats have enough talent around him, Werth will be in his mid-thirties making… too… much… money.
And that's what it was all about- the money.
Werth, like any other player, wants to win. He says all of the right things. He tells fans during scoreboard interviews, that the one thing he would like to do in his life is win another World Series. Good luck with that now. But who can blame him? Two weeks ago, he said he wasn't close to signing anywhere. Yesterday, he signed with the friggin' Nationals. It's clear that there wasn't much of a market for Werth.
The Red Sox, Yankees, Angels, and even the Phillies were all potential suitors for him. Most of them had the money, all of them could win now. For Werth to sign with the Nationals only means one thing: No one wanted to pay him anywhere near what he was given.
So, good for you, Jayson, you're filthy, filthy rich. But you're going to be playing in baseball purgatory for the next few years, except, of course, when you make the 120-mile trip north to play in baseball heaven.
All of that being said, we'll miss you. We'll never forget that leadoff single to start a ninth inning rally against Billy Wagner. We'll never forget your World Series fist pump in 2008, or the way youproudly drank Gatorade out of a comically large red fist.
We'll never forget the time you stole home, or the go-ahead single in Game 4 of last year's NLDS. We'll never forget the way you raked against the Dodgers. We'll never forget Sex on Fire, Right Above It, and your awesome batter walkup music.
And, of course, we'll never forget your beard, your "I don't give a shit what you think" attiude, and that sliding catch you made in your last game as a Phillie. You helped make baseball cool again in this city. And for that, we thank you. Now go have fun in Washington. We'll see you on May 3rd.