The Nationals officially agreed to terms with outfielder Rick Ankiel on a one-year, $1.5MM deal. He can earn another $1.25MM in performance bonuses.
Ankiel, a Scott Boras client, signed a one-year deal with the Royals a year ago but failed to deliver. The 31-year-old former pitcher still provides pop against righties and can play all three outfield positions, but has had difficulty hitting lefties, getting on base, and staying healthy.
Earlier this month, Boras and the Nationals hammered out an agreement worth 84 times as much for right fielder Jayson Werth. The Nats shipped out Josh Willingham, but still have Nyjer Morgan, Roger Bernadina, and Michael Morse in the outfield mix. Bernadina and Ankiel will compete for the left field job, tweets MLB.com's Bill Ladson.
SI's Jon Heyman broke the news of Ankiel's agreement.
