Headlines

  • Rays To Promote Junior Caminero
  • Tigers Name Jeff Greenberg General Manager
  • Qualifying Offer Value To Land Around $20.5MM
  • Shohei Ohtani Undergoes Elbow Surgery
  • Marlins Claim Matt Moore From Guardians
  • Rays To Announce New Stadium Deal
  • Previous
  • Next
Register
Login
  • Hoops Rumors
  • Pro Football Rumors
  • Pro Hockey Rumors

MLB Trade Rumors

  • Home
  • Teams
    • AL East
      • Baltimore Orioles
      • Boston Red Sox
      • New York Yankees
      • Tampa Bay Rays
      • Toronto Blue Jays
    • AL Central
      • Chicago White Sox
      • Cleveland Guardians
      • Detroit Tigers
      • Kansas City Royals
      • Minnesota Twins
    • AL West
      • Houston Astros
      • Los Angeles Angels
      • Oakland Athletics
      • Seattle Mariners
      • Texas Rangers
    • NL East
      • Atlanta Braves
      • Miami Marlins
      • New York Mets
      • Philadelphia Phillies
      • Washington Nationals
    • NL Central
      • Chicago Cubs
      • Cincinnati Reds
      • Milwaukee Brewers
      • Pittsburgh Pirates
      • St. Louis Cardinals
    • NL West
      • Arizona Diamondbacks
      • Colorado Rockies
      • Los Angeles Dodgers
      • San Diego Padres
      • San Francisco Giants
  • About
    • MLB Trade Rumors
    • Tim Dierkes
    • Writing team
    • Advertise
    • Archives
  • Contact
  • Tools
    • 2023-24 MLB Free Agent List
    • 2024-25 MLB Free Agent List
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Arbitration Tracker
    • Agency Database
  • NBA/NFL/NHL
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors
  • App
  • Chats
Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Nationals Pitchers With Major Incentives

By Tim Dierkes | May 10, 2010 at 10:25am CDT

The Nationals guaranteed over $22MM during the offseason to free agent pitchers, with the lion's share going to Jason Marquis.  But that total also includes three interesting signings, hurlers who scuffled in 2009 but had prior success.  Matt Capps, Chien-Ming Wang, and Scott Olsen were lured to Washington D.C. in part due to big-time incentive clauses.  Let's take a look.

  • Capps was non-tendered by the Pirates and drew interest from a dozen clubs.  It came down to the Nationals and Cubs, and Capps ultimately took a one-year, $3.5MM guarantee from the Nats.  They have the added bonus of controlling him in 2011 as an arbitration-eligible player.  Capps' contract includes solid incentives for games finished – up to $425K.  He's already finished 16 games, tying Francisco Cordero for the MLB lead.  Capps should be able to max out his incentives this year and earn $3.925MM in total.
  • Wang signed for a $2MM base salary, and he's also arbitration-eligible after the season.  His incentives exceed his base, as he can tack on $3MM.  Wang is recovering from shoulder surgery and hasn't headed out on a rehab assignment quite yet, so it appears he won't max out his incentives.
  • If you blinked, you might've missed Scott Olsen's time as a free agent.  After earning $2.8MM in '09, Olsen was non-tendered on the December 10th deadline.  The Nats scooped him back up on the 13th with a $1MM base salary.  Olsen can earn $2.825MM in incentives based on starts, up to 33.  The 26-year-old southpaw is making over $85K extra per start.  He's already made five, and sports a 3.54 ERA, 8.4 K/9, and 2.9 BB/9.  Like the others, the Nationals control Olsen for 2011 as an arbitration-eligible player.  If he continues looking like the Olsen of '06, another non-tender is out of the question.
Share 0 Retweet 0 Send via email0

Washington Nationals Chien-Ming Wang Matt Capps Scott Olsen

D’Backs Reach New Agreement With Socrates Brito
Main
Where Will Jayson Werth Sign?
View Comments (15)

Comments

  1. Triteon

    13 years ago

    Capps has been a steal, and Olsen is starting to look like he’s back on track. Still a young guy too.

    Reply
  2. lasordaforpresident

    13 years ago

    Rizzo and the Nats were blasted this offseason by non Nat followers, while Marquis hasnt paid off at all so far, who is willing to blast them for Pudge now? Flores wasnt going to be ready and they had nobody to put up Pudges numbers. Most people applauded the Brunney deal, whom they got for free since JH went back to the Dodgers, but he is off to a slow start. This teams starting is the weakness right now, but with a winning record and lots of help on the way there is a lot to like about where this team could end up. What if Wang comes back and throws decent going from ALeast to the NLeast? Lannan could end up without a job if Olsen continues to pitch well…could he be trade bait? And they should be able to close the book on Stammen.

    1. Livan
    2. Strasburg
    3. Wang
    4. Olsen
    5. Marquis

    Reply
    • WolandJR

      13 years ago

      Don’t forget about Ross Detweiler. He has all the tools to be a useful major league starter and should be coming back around June. That Luis Atilano seems like he may be serviceable as well, though I am not totally sold on him yet.

      Reply
    • martinfv2

      13 years ago

      I am, I still think they wasted millions signing Pudge.

      Reply
      • venn177

        13 years ago

        Yeah. I agree wholeheartedly.

        They got a catcher having a wow-year so far that’s not going to help them do anything but be .500. And there’s no way Pudge stays this way.

        That’s money they could’ve spent on the draft.

        Reply
        • gwells

          13 years ago

          the “spend on the draft” argument is only valid if/when you show that they didn’t spend legitimately this/last year.

          Reply
          • venn177

            13 years ago

            I’m not saying they haven’t, I’m just saying it’s more they could spend on the draft.

            Reply
            • gwells

              13 years ago

              so… if they spent reasonably on the draft, why would you think they should save FA money to spend more on the draft? that doesn’t make any sense. you’re saying they should have given the guys they signed an extra $4-5M dollars??

              Reply
              • venn177

                13 years ago

                Sorry if I implied that they would have to spend it. I’m just saying, that money going to Pudge could end up being the difference in them signing Bryce Harper or not.

                I seriously doubt it, but it seems a dumb risk considering they gave him a two-year deal and aren’t going to compete this year.

                Reply
      • lasordaforpresident

        13 years ago

        Not sure where to find salaries by position but I dont think Pudge is being completely overpaid (is he one of the top ten paid catchers?), yes there were other options for cheaper, none of them would sell a jersey or bring fans to watch, that and Pudge’s good start I dont think it was a horrible signing…at what point would you admit you were wrong about the signing?

        Reply
    • ultimetwarrior

      13 years ago

      Wait until Livan comes back down to earth, then re-evaluate that staff. His Hits/9IP is at 6.0 right now–it’s 9.9 for his career. He walks as many as he strikes out. He’s bound to get pounded for one of his usual 8 or 9 run disasters soon. Olsen is real good when he keeps his cool. Marquis should start pitching a little better soon.

      Reply
      • lasordaforpresident

        13 years ago

        Not trying to say that Livan is an ace and going to stay this way by any means…personally believe he ate himself out of being a better pitcher. Just that currently he is pitching very well and with his experience he will stay at the top of the rotation this year…my point with the staff is that they are going to be a lot better by mid-season

        Reply
  3. daveineg

    13 years ago

    I was “screaming” on Brewer fan website forums for Brewers to non-tender Bush and sign Olsen after Nats made it clear they wouldn’t tender him and again after Brewers tendered Bush to still go after Olsen during his short FA stint. Most of Brewer nation ridiculed me for that stance. It wasn’t hard to see that Olsen at age 26 was a prime candidate to rebound. His resurgence doesn’t surprise me in the least.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Please login to leave a reply.

Log in Register

ad: 300x250_1_MLB

    Top Stories

    Rays To Promote Junior Caminero

    Tigers Name Jeff Greenberg General Manager

    Qualifying Offer Value To Land Around $20.5MM

    Shohei Ohtani Undergoes Elbow Surgery

    Marlins Claim Matt Moore From Guardians

    Rays To Announce New Stadium Deal

    Reds Designate Hunter Renfroe For Assignment

    Shohei Ohtani Out For Season With Oblique Strain

    Marcus Stroman To Pitch Out Of Bullpen

    Red Sox Fire Chaim Bloom

    Orioles Select Heston Kjerstad

    Jasson Dominguez To Undergo UCL Surgery

    Max Scherzer Unlikely To Return This Year Due To Teres Major Strain

    Ryan Mountcastle Being Evaluated For Shoulder Issue, Heston Kjerstad Promotion Possible

    Nationals Agree To Multi-Year Extension With Mike Rizzo

    Mets Reach Agreement To Hire David Stearns As President Of Baseball Operations

    Orioles Activate John Means

    Cubs To Promote Pete Crow-Armstrong

    Jasson Dominguez To Undergo Surgery To Repair UCL Tear

    Rockies Extend Germán Márquez

    Recent

    Rays To Promote Junior Caminero

    Royals Outright Matt Beaty

    Padres To Select Jose Espada

    MLBTR Poll: Michael Wacha’s Option

    Brewers Notes: Counsell, Ashby, Stadium

    Guardians To Activate Shane Bieber From Injured List

    Braves Outright Dereck Rodríguez, Lucas Luetge

    Cardinals To Place Willson Contreras On Injured List

    Reds Release Hunter Renfroe

    Giants Place Brandon Crawford On Injured List, Release Paul DeJong

    ad: 300x250_5_side_mlb

    MLBTR Newsletter - Hot stove highlights in your inbox, five days a week

    Latest Rumors & News

    Latest Rumors & News

    • Shohei Ohtani Rumors
    Trade Rumors App for iOS and Android

    MLBTR Features

    MLBTR Features

    • Go Ad-Free
    • 2023-24 MLB Free Agent List
    • 2024-25 MLB Free Agent List
    • MLB Player Chats
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Extension Tracker
    • Agency Database
    • MLBTR On Twitter
    • MLBTR On Facebook
    • Team Facebook Pages
    • How To Set Up Notifications For Breaking News
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors

    Rumors By Team

    • Angels Rumors
    • Astros Rumors
    • Athletics Rumors
    • Blue Jays Rumors
    • Braves Rumors
    • Brewers Rumors
    • Cardinals Rumors
    • Cubs Rumors
    • Diamondbacks Rumors
    • Dodgers Rumors
    • Giants Rumors
    • Guardians Rumors
    • Mariners Rumors
    • Marlins Rumors
    • Mets Rumors
    • Nationals Rumors
    • Orioles Rumors
    • Padres Rumors
    • Phillies Rumors
    • Pirates Rumors
    • Rangers Rumors
    • Rays Rumors
    • Red Sox Rumors
    • Reds Rumors
    • Rockies Rumors
    • Royals Rumors
    • Tigers Rumors
    • Twins Rumors
    • White Sox Rumors
    • Yankees Rumors

    ad: 160x600_MLB

    Navigation

    • Sitemap
    • Archives
    • Feeds by Team

    MLBTR INFO

    • Advertise
    • About
    • Commenting Policy
    • Privacy Policy

    Connect

    • Contact Us
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS Feed

    MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

    hide arrowsFOX Sports Engage Network scroll to top

    Register

    Desktop Version | Switch To Mobile Version