Jayson Werth officially left the Philadelphia Phillies yesterday when he signed a massive seven-year, $126 million contract with the Washington Nationals. Some are questioning whether or not this was “Werth” it for the Nats.
Aside from Carl Crawford, Jayson Werth is the best outfielder on the market. More importantly, Werth will help shape the winning culture that Washington Nationals’ management is trying to build.
The Nationals lost Adam Dunn, as expected, to the Chicago White Sox. This didn’t sit well with the Nationals’ players, though. Ryan Zimmerman recently spoke out against letting one of the top free agents walk.
Washington needed to fill the big void he left. Werth will be able to do just that.
Werth is a very good outfielder, but more importantly, a great hitter. Last season, he hit .296 with 27 HRs, 85 RBIs and 106 runs scored. He also had 46 doubles and 13 stolen bases. Werth will be able to make sure pitchers can’t simply pitch around Ryan Zimmerman, one of the game’s best third basemen.
Perhaps the gaudy deal was too much. Really though, this is what the Nationals need to do. Washington has been a laughing stock for years now. They were a “bottom of the barrel” team. Now, their future is as bright as arguably any team in the majors.
This team has reinforcements on the way. With Jordan Zimmermann returning late last year from injury, along with Jayson Werth, Ryan Zimmerman, Bryce Harper and Stephen Strasburg on board, the Nationals have one of the best young cores in baseball.
Although Stephen Strasburg will miss the entire 2011 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery, we have seen players come back from the surgery and regain their superstar form.
This was a move the Nationals had to make. They could not let themselves stay at the bottom of the MLB forever. The Nationals are positioning themselves for a run at the NL East crown. Jayson Werth is just another important piece to their puzzle.
Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com