10:20 pm: Boras and the Nationals plan to start re-negotiating Strasburg’s deal on Sunday, according to USA Today’s Bob Nightengale (link). Of course, that’s no guarantee that the two sides will come to an accord, but it’s certainly noteworthy that both parties appear committed to sustaining a working relationship.
9:28 pm: In a development that promises to have far-reaching implications on this offseason’s free agent market, starter Stephen Strasburg has decided to opt out of the remaining four years and $100MM on his contract with the Nationals, as first reported by Mark Feinsand of MLB.com (link). As Feinsand notes in a follow-up tweet, the present-day value of the remaining money on his Nationals deal is closer to $88MM, due to the original agreement’s heavily deferred structure (link).
To say that Strasburg heads to the open market with momentum at his back would be a gross understatement. Always an excellent pitcher when healthy, the 31-year-old truly put it all together in 2019, leading his league in both innings pitched and wins, while maintaining typically pristine ERA (3.32) and strikeout (10.81 K/9) marks across 33 starts. And for a follow-up? The San Diego State product and former #1 overall pick laid waste to postseason hitters, allowing just 8 earned runs through 36.1 October innings; his two starts in the Fall Classic were dominant enough to see the righty named 2019’s World Series MVP, despite some tough competition from his offensive teammates. Strasburg will likely garner a fair deal of Cy Young support and now heads into free agency for the first time in his career with superagent Scott Boras as his sidekick.
The prevailing sense around D.C. has long been that the pitcher’s historical allegiance to the team that drafted him would lead to the two parties working out an extension. After all, it was just in 2016 that the hurler decided to extend with a seven-year, $175MM deal with Washington in advance of his impending free agency–a true rarity for a Boras client. However, today’s 12pm EST deadline for his opt-out decision came and went without word, and it appears that both parties declined to arrange a deadline extension to help facilitate negotiation around a new deal, as occurred with the Dodgers and Clayton Kershaw last offseason.
Instead, Mike Rizzo and his Washington front office will likely find themselves negotiating for the starter’s services against the bidding of several other competing organizations in short order. All of the teams in Strasburg’s native Southern California appear as logical fits, with the Padres, Angels, and Dodgers all projecting to have both spending capacity and rotation needs this winter.
Wow wasn’t expecting Strasburg to be on the market. This could be a game changer in FA. Hoping New York goes hard after both him and Cole now. Break the bank for them
I hate to be that guy…but the Yankees aren’t signing both Strasburg and Cole…
As a Yankees fan, I hate to agree with you. Sign either one of them and hope Severino can return to ace form.
He was talking about the Mets…LOL. Unless Strasberg prefers the west coast, this seems more of a test the market to establish his value thing for Washington to re-sign him. Addison also cost may allow Rendon to walk.
I’d stay away. Strasburg has a huge injury history. Only made 33 starts twice in his career. Now age 31. No thanks.
Sorry to break it all of you but Cole will be playing in So Cal. He and his wife are from there.
hate to break it to you but he will go to the highest bidder,,he’s already said that west coast crap is a lie. boras is his agent,,let’s be real here.
Hate to break it to ya. But he just bought house in Newport Coast. So he’s going to sign with a SoCal team
I expect it too but so is Strasberg who many including me to re-sign with Washington, an east coast team.
Agreed. Cole will say what needs to be said to potentially keep all teams in the bidding but then do what he wants which is expected to return home.
Starting pitching has gotten so put of control salary wise. If you pay a pitcher $32m per and he gives you 32 starts and averages 105 pitches per start, the guy is making $9,300 for every pitch he throws.
Annoys me slightly less than the opt out.
I’ll take 7 years please! If I pitch great tou have to put more cash on top of tge boatload. But if I suck or get hurt… I honor my commitments. Pathetic
So is the next big opt out date the 4th or the 5th? I know JD Martinez has to opt out by the 5th but I can’t remember if that is before or after every other player that has a potentially unused opt out clause? Who else has one? I know that You Darvish and Elvis Andrus have already said they won’t opt out but I haven’t heard anything definitive about Jason Heyward other then he “likely” won’t opt out. Who else is out there and when do they have to decide by?
Heyward!!??
No way!
Lol… Ok
No…he will just renegotiate his Nats contract…he is a free agent in name only
Weakest result clause I’ve seen in a while. There is no reason to think it was bought as an offseason/ retirement home, players buy them all the time.
At 31 Strasburg has more wins than de Grom and has been more durable than Harvey and Syndergaard. He only has half the innings on his arm as Verlander. He is at the perfect age to get him, no long term contract and he is an ace.
One million per home run for hitters isn’t great either!
Proximity to home is 2nd on a player’s list. 1st is the amount of guaranteed money.
So
Hate to break it to “all” of you but Cole’s wife is not a major league ball player. They will live where they want to live and he will work where he has to work.
Once again, why do you view it as “Starting pitching has gotten so put of control salary wise.” instead of “MLB makes so much profit, why do the players get so little of it?”
The house purchase does not mean that he is signing to play in California. CC Sabathia has had a home in California during his whole playing career mostly spent in the East. So buying a house anywhere means only that he is financially capable or soon will be, to have a home where he wants after the season is over or his career is over. He will stay with someone or rent something near his place of work.
Hate to break it to you jameyc but when your a free agent you do NOT state publicly that you are eliminated any certain team or many teams. Get it? You want to increase budding not decrease it.
But he is going to Southern California. Book it.
hate to break it to you all, but a lot of people buy homes in Newport Coast. i’m from Newport Beach, just because you own property here does not mean this is where you make your business life. especially if you are a world traveling athlete. even if you never spend a day during the season here and only use this for your offseason, it’s a great real estate investment opportunity. prices rarely go down here and never stay down. this is a seller’s market like few have seen. so it makes sense that a top line free agent would buy here. especially if they and their family is from here or ultimately wants to live here.
that being said, Cole could very well want to return home and live near where he plays. but it’s also unlikely that the Padres or Dodgers or Angels have reached out to Cole and explicitly said “when you’re a Free Agent, we’re gpnna match or beat any offer out there, cause we want you that bad! cause that is what you might base a home purchase on.
what’s gonna happen if the Yankees offer 8 years and 275mill. and the best a so cal team offers is 6 and 185mill. is Cole gonna sue them for unrealized expectations? is he gonna sell his Newport Coast home and then buy one in NY? Is he gonna fire his agent and throw a tantrum:? unlikely.
we’ll see….
There are signs of Cole signing all over the place. Many players have homes all over the country far far away from the city they play in. He may prefer to end up in So Cal and be willing to take a discount to do so. He may get the highest bid from a So Cal team even. But many people thought there was no doubt Corbin would sign with the Yankees especially when they showed strong interest but when the Nats offered a huge payday he took it. Assuming that So Cal is his preference and it does make a lot of sense that it would be how can we be so sure those teams will come close to the highest bid. His market is going to be big. Any number of teams could decide that an ace pitcher with shutdown playoff caliber stuff don’t come available often and decide to jump into the bidding war. How big of a discount are we to assume he’s automatically going to give? Is it such a foregone conclusion that he has to end up there? It’s a toss up in my eyes their are some big spenders with payroll flexibility ready to bid big. The Angels need him bad but they also need more than just Cole they may spread that money around. My guess is that if he wants to play in So Cal he will have to pass on the biggest offer. He might just do that if it’s close. But if it’s a situation like Corbin where he’s overwhelmed I’d bet he goes to whomever that offer comes from. His dissatisfaction with Houston from what I’ve read certainly comes from his perception of their spending habits. He likely takes money as a sign of respect or how bad a team wants him. If that’s the case I think it makes it less likely he signs at a substantial discount. We shall see but I think assuming he’s going to So Cal is a mistake for sure
Can you repeat this in English please?
That lucrative contract he might get if he decides on a Southern Cal city will be eaten alive by that states regressive income tax and huge cost of living. If he had any sense he would steer clear of California and New York. And if Pocahontas ever got elected – which thank God she won’t – Cole will be hit with a 1% tax on the wealthy to fund her national medicare scam.
One would be fine, we shall see
yanks arent signing either one, they dont want to play for them
I know they won’t get both. I’m sure hoping for one though (cough cough, Cole)
Why wouldn’t they sign both? They have financial flexibility too. I know the sons spend differently then George but these are 2 of the top 10 pitchers in baseball.
What are you basing it on, “2 of the top 10 pitchers”
They 100% aren’t signing either of them.
I think most were expecting this after the playoffs.
He’s from San Diego
sure that would be great for MLB. add Cole and Strasburg to Paxton, and Severino with Tanaka as their #5. German and Happ could slide to their pen.
He is not going to sign with the Yanks! They have high tax threshold problem already on the books.
How where you not expecting this?
Poor Strasburg, can’t seem to manage on $480 K per week. Some people just have it rough. I pitty the team that signs him.
Strasburg is staying. Nothing to see. Just opting out for more money and another year guaranteed in DC
He’ll be asking more than 1 extra year is my guess
5/$140-150m is my guess. Or maybe 4/$125 with 5th yr. option.
He’s gonna want 6 years. And he almost certainly will get it
6/150 will be the minimum he’ll take.
I think 6/150 is either too low total money or too low aav. I vet he makes at least 150 and he is only taking that little if its at an aav of 30 a year which would make it 5/150 with zero deferred and a full no trade with maybe some opt outs in there. It would be funny if he got an opt out after every season so the Nats would have to go through this every time he has a good season. He is either going to make $30 mill a year or he is going to at least match Corbin’s $160 total value. If they wanna pay him less than 3O a year they are gonna have to give that 6th year and he will pull at least 160 in that scenario. My bet is on 5/150 full no trade though. He is a better pitcher then Corbin after all. Paying an injury prone pitcher through his age 37 season is extremely high risk though.
Or maybe the Nats counter with “we’ll stop deferring your money and give you a slight raise?” A long term mistake here could cripple the Nats.
And they should open the vault for an older pitcher with an injury history!!??
I mean, you either open the vault or you lose him. Whichever works, but there’s not really an in between
lmao you wish, that guy LOVES san diego!!!
San Diego spent all their money on Machado. They don’t have any left for Stras.
Pads have plenty of money, it’s just who to spend it on
According to this site the Padres have been on the verge of signing everybbig free agent for the past five years
That’s what folks said after they signed Hosmer.
I could use a few mill
He lives full time in DC. His wife loves it here a d his girls grew up here. He has not ties to San Diego any longer.
@brothbart
I have no idea where he’s going but YOU sir made me chuckle. I even skeeted a tinkle.. The guy was born and raised in SD, went to high school in the area and college too. How does he NOT have ties to the city? He may well resign to WAS but to say he has no ties to that city is ludicrous.
Just because he grew up there doesnt mean he wants to go back. As I said he lives fulltime in DC and it is the only home his daughters know. He’s moved on from that area. Just because someone was born and lived in a place for 22 years of his life doesn’t mean anything. He has lived in DC for 10 years.
@ brothbart I would think that he has family in San Diego. He has ties to San Diego, for sure. That does not equate to him signing with the Padres but he has ties there and you said he does not. You are wrong on that point.
He is going where the money is. He lives full time in DC because that’s where he has worked for the past several years. Anyone would move full time to DC if they were under a $25 mill a year contract that required them to work there for years and years on end. I think he will go to whoever gives him the best contract. My guess is he would prefer San Diego or Washington but that would only matter if both of those teams gave him an equal contract and both of those contracts tied for the best contract. If DC wants to stand a chance they will have to cut out all the differed money they love. He is not staying with DC for differed $ if San Diego pays it straight up. If any team offers him more money than SD or DC then he won’t sign with SD or DC. Stras has always been a “pay me for my services” kind if guy. That’s why he hired Scott Boras in the first place. That’s why he demanded $10 million before he ever even played in a minor league baseball game. It’s gonna come down to which team offers the best combination of money, non-differed money, no trade clauses and opt out clauses. If all things were equal I would guess he picks SD or DC. The offers are in the hands of team ownership though. He’s not taking anything he perceives as a discount.
What about Aroldis Chapman? Wasn’t he supposed to have announced whether he signed an extension with the Yanks or opted out by now too? I know he and Stras were on the same deadline and we are on day 4 after the conclusion of the World Series now. The last news I heard was that he was either going to extend or opt out and neither of those things have been announced even though the deadline for the decision has passed.
You don’t know what you’re talking about. Strasburg told Scott Boras to renegotiate a deal with the Nationals while he was still under contract to get him paid because he wanted to stay in DC. He got Boras to be his agent because Boras gets things done and does what his clients ask of him. Strasburg got financial security in case he continued to have injury history but gave himself opt outs in this season and next of the extension to renegotiate more if he was able too. Strasburg deserves a raise and will get one, but to just blanket statement say he is going to the highest bidder is just false. He wants to remain in DC and the Nationals want him. He opted out of 4/$100 million so I’d expect something on the neighborhood of 5 years for a total of $135-$150 million
Stras is going to sign with the highest bidder. Book it.
He hasn’t been a pay me for my services guy. He loves dc and his wife lives it here. He feels comfortable here and he is loyal. He respects that the Nats shut him down and thought about his health and long term career. That is why he didnt become a free agent when he had a chance because he wanted to stay. The same thing will happen. He will get a new 6 year contract around $180 million
As you may now know, Chapman has re-upped with NYY.
Your logic is skewed @brothbart. You sound like a nats homer than someone with actual sense. Again loyalty means little when dollars are on the line. He did his part in dc won chip as far as he is concerned its time to take care of his family. He will have several offers to look at and rosters to glance over, whoever he sees as a fit that pays him and gives him the best chance to win he goes.
He met his wife Rachel at SDSU and lives in Poway in the offseason. His girls are 5 and 2.
Yeah, I’m not even a Nats fan and I feel this is pretty much a certainty. It’s nice to dream… heck, I’m dreaming about the White Sox signing Gerrit Cole but we all know that’s not going to happen.
Actually he did not re-up. He agreed to a 1yr extension to his current deal.
He extended today.
More like 5/150 at least
Cole will sign first then the Market will be set
hate to break it to you but he will go to the highest bidder,,he’s already said that west coast crap is a lie. boras is his agent,,let’s be real here.
id think that at least one of Rendon or Straw stays, if not both. Washington cant afford to lose both, and Rizzo might be gone in a flash if he lets that happen.
Not shocking; I’m sure it’ll take a while but he’ll get what he wants
Sign with twins plz
Lol
Yes, Twins!
Do they still have a team?
Wasn’t expecting this. Maybe he will just resign for more money
How did you not expect this?
Padres here he comes
Hopefully Arte Moreno is waiting to sign him and or Cole. Both would be be a game changer and make them instant contenders.
lmao nah he’s SD bound
south dakota? sure, why not!
Why would he win a championship and than go into baseball purgatory?
Unless the Padres are willing to give the Price contract to him, than he’s all yours.
Players love SD and have routinely signed with them because either titles dont mean anything to them, or they already have a ring and would rather the best quality of life in all of MLB.
Sounds like a bunch of losers. I wouldn’t want anyone on my team that didn’t care about winning.
Saying this like its a guarantee is just as ridiculous as your “Warriors are still the best team” takes
Hi hater, where’s your 3 titles in 5 years?
3 in 5 is cute. My team has had a 3 peat and 2 extra titles this cuenty. Lake Show doesn’t blow a 3-1 finals lead.
Move along. Lake show hasn’t shown up in years.
And the Warriors won’t make the playoffs this year.
No way he goes from a WS winning team to at best, a 3rd place finisher in 2020
Meaning the Angels
5/150m from…The Nats, Padres or Angels.
The Nats might offer him 150 but they will want to differ about 49 of that. Stras won’t sign for differed $ at this point. He has no reason to. People used to complain about Harper wanting the most $. I promise that Stras wants it even more and counts every penny including inflation. Like they said. The deferred $ the Nats owed him makes his $100 million contract actually worth $88 million. Stras is very aware if that $12 million and will calculate that with every deferred dollar the Nats try to and will offer him.
You do understand that adding top players means adding wins, right?
well thats a slippery slope.
Just ask the Phillies right? (Re: Harper)
If he really was so die hard about staying with the WS champs he wouldn’t have opted out of a 4 year $100 million deal to stay with them. He got his championship. Now he is going after as much money as possible. If the worst team in baseball offered him the most guaranteed money and none of it was differed he would sign with them. And in case you didn’t read the article, he did just walk away from the world series champs.
Money talks
if the angels did so they could be looking at upwards of $700 million on just trout and cole alone..and your talking maybe strasburg too? doubtful, and that still doesn’t guarantee them the playoffs.
It wouldn’t hurt.
He’s absolutely leading the Padres rotation/hopes for a first title from here on out…
yeah, madden is his manager, lol!
Ha
That is your cue Preller. Get it done.
Just because he went to college there? That was a LONG time ago dude. His wife and family aren’t from there. He has as much chance of going there as any other team, except the Nats, with which he will almost certainly stay.
seamaholic
From birth to college is how long he spent in San Diego. Doesn’t mean he will go there but his ties are a lot more than college.
Because he was born here, played college here, met and married his wife here, revered Tony Gwynn who is called Mr Padre, and lives here in the offseason.
He just opted out of the deal with the Nats. If he wanted to stay, he would have signed an extension. He almost certainly will not stay if he gets another year or two at $24-25 million AAV with no deferred money from another team.
“If he wanted to stay, he would have signed an extension.”
Not necessarily true. He could realize that the Nats will likely offer more money if he has up to 29 other teams bidding on him than they would if they have the captive market.
Regardless of that, I do expect him to sign with the highest bidder, who may very well end up being the Padres or Nationals.
seemaholic, he’s born and raised in SD, its his home whether Yankee fans like it or not, and how he has a ring, he’s coming home to try and win a title with his hometown team.
Yanks better get him or Cole no excuse to not get one now.
There’s plenty of excuses, NY media is trash and the fans are lower than dirt. SD is relaxing and they have Tatis and Machado and Yates and a top 5 farm. They’re not far off.
Welcome to the Phillies
Cole isnt going to Philadelphia. he’s going further west. To Anaheim. It’s almost a guarantee
Wrek305………….
“Before the Astros beat the Yankees in the ALCS, Houston right fielder Josh Reddick made a prediction.”
“He probably wants to be closer to home. It’s definitely going to be west of Nevada.”
“Asked about Reddick’s comments on Thursday, Cole responded, “No, that’s not a fair assumption. I never said that.”’
Why would a smart man want to limit his negotiating power by saying he only would play for 4 teams?
why would a smart man potentially greatly limit his earning power by only wanting to play for four teams?
Because LAD LAA and SD could give him more than everyone else to begin with?
Funnily enough Cole said the A’s were his first choice because he likes pitching in the Coli and he’s friends with fellow Socal bro Chapman, but he also knew the A’s are never going to give him the big money, so its LA, Anaheim or SD he goes.
That’s what I said. Gerrit Cole is going to Anaheim. Cole can deny all he wants. Theres rumors that he hates the Cubs so he won’t go there unless its for 5 years and 150mil/5 years. Which is 5mil less overall than jon lester who is nearly 6 years older than gerrit Cole
actually its not.
Let the games begin …
Makes Gerrit Cole an easier get for the Phillies.
Gerrit Cole is likely going to Anaheim
Haven’t we learned not to make statements like this? After all the Trout to Phillies, Harper to Dodgers talk from last year, I figured we’d have all learned by now; no one has any clue where these players will land. That’s what makes the offseason (and by extension this entire site) so exciting.
Big difference in that Padres and Angels have unlimited money and need an ace pitcher, Dodgers had no room for Harper, and Trout was literally never interested in playing for more than one team so that was Phillies dreamers to begin with.
Harper was never gonna go anywhere but the east division from either league. If he went to the white Sox it would have been guaranteed 60% of never making playoffs. Maybe even better than I’d say 75-85% of not making a 13 year deal.
Easy to say that in hindsight. Last year no one was saying that. That’s my point. No one knows what these guys want right now. The media will spin the rumors out of control.
I have one certainty, David Price and his 217 million dollar contact will never opt out of his Boston contract.
Strasburg being on the market will not make it any ‘easier’ for the Phillies. If anything, it will make it harder because he will cost more.
Wow, they’re really pushing this SoCal stuff hard, aren’t they? They’re ignoring non-California teams with with money to spend and desperate for pitching (Yankees, Phillies, White Sox, Nats), as well as teams who could free up money via trades (Red Sox, cubs, Braves). It’s impossible take sportswriters serious when they’re obviously pushing petty agendas like this.
Don’t forget the Giants are going to be in play for a top end starter. No doubt in my mind they land one of the top 3 starters on the market
The Giants are bad, and have been for several years now. Stras doesnt fix them, and ownership wont go way into the tax to buy enough players to fix them. Signing Stras so you can eat the back end of his deal as he declines when you finally might be ready to contend again?
Even with a smart GM ownership in SF wont let them tank unless ticket sales bomb like crazy, so they keep there two best trade chips at the deadline, and never traded guys like Posey to really rebuild when they were worth real packages back. The farm is still pretty miserable with all the value tied to a few top guys, and the payroll for the next 2+ years is still lousy with underperforming overpaid unmovable veterans. SF is going down the Philly route where they refuse to pull the rip cord as there assets depreciate before they finally rebuild off of nothing. Phil had already pulled the plug at this many bad years SF still hasnt and doesnt look ready to still. It will be a long slow painful rebuild in SF.
The cold hard fact is contenders are built around young controllable stars, even teams with money like the Yanks are full of them if they are good. SF doesnt have that or the pieces to trade for it. FA players are to expensive for the ones that are worth it to build with unless you already have a young core. Hou is about to deal with year 1 of having to break up the band or pay the insane premium to keep them together and it only gets worse for them over the next 2, dont expect many more seasons of Altuve/Springer/Correa/Bregman it costs just to much. SF has Belt/Posey/Cueto/Shark to little WAR/$ to buy the rest of a contender. Most of the wins they do have are pricy with almost no cheap value!
Term papers are for college dude – keep it short on posts fgs
Just wait until
trillionaire
team owner
posts! It will
be a novel!
That’s three paragraphs.
how did signing manny’s family and friends working out for you?
Worked out great for the Sox.
yeah, right!
Really? Weren’t both guys released before the season had even ended?
I’m pretty sure “worked out great for the Sox” suggests the White Sox are glad at this point that Machado signed elsewhere.
But are they?
The White Sox should be thrilled they “missed” on Machado. In the first year of a 10yr $300m deal dude has a sub .800 ops and looks average on defense. Definitely, definitely not what the Padres were hoping for.
Meanwhile Moncada batting over .300 this season! I think the White Sox are happy they dodged that bullet with Machado.
You can’t start evaluating a ten year deal until there are multiple years down. It is common for players to tank in the first year of a mega deal and the supporting cast i SD is only going to get better..
Talk to me in ’22
@adc6r
Machado needs more time you say, before you can evaluate the deal? Like Hosmer? Can we evaluate that deal?
They’re glad because Moncada is an elite 3B, not because Machado was kinda meh this year.
How long has he been there and what % of his deal is done.
You have only seen 10% of Manny contract. That is my only point
Lol so now the White Sox didn’t throw a very public temper tantrum when Machado chose the Padres over them?
Yeah, this San Diego stuff is like “How can we hemorrhage cash quicker?” Pretty scary, really.
Preller is quickly turning into a later-day Theo Epstein when it comes to bombing on free agent signings.
Market will be like 4 years/$140M to 5 years/$180M. I don’t think he signs for less than four years and I think he’ll get enough similar 4 year/$120M offers it’ll take an extra $5M a season to lock him up.
I know it’s weird but I am guessing Yankees. I realize he’s being tipped for San Diego or the Angels but they both have issues beyond money that I think could dissuade Strasburg from signing with them. The Yankees need pitching. They have money. Strasburg could get top dollar guaranteed upfront cash and contend for the World Series every season with a young potent offense backing him. It makes the most sense. I don’t usually root for the Yankees to sign to mega deal in this day and age but I think they’d be making a mistake if they don’t go all in for Strasburg.
Everyone always guesses Yankees
Yankees have 1 title in 20 years, the worst, most overbearing media coverage of any team, and fans that boo you if you slump lol why would anyone want to go there?
I can’t see Strasburg getting an AAV of $35-36MM this offseason regardless of how well he pitched in 2019. I agree with another poster that he will be offered 5yrs/$150MM by some team but not any more.
He’s opting out to negotiate a new deal with the Nats.
Wow! Is that high? So high!!!
I am sure the Nats can re-sign him for less than $30-35M a season but more than $25M a season. I could see a 5 year/$145M straight up deal or a 5 year/$210M deal but like $50M is deferred into $12.5M annual payments from 2025-2028. Otherwise I think he does push for a minimum of $30M AAV and enough clubs will be willing to pay that that *somebody* will blink and offer $35M AAV so that Strasburg is blown away and accepts the offer immediately, otherwise, everybody in serious contention for his services will inch up $1M overall, or $1M per season in order to secure his services if the overall years and dollars are equal.
How much money
is enough!!??
HALO hallelujah!!!
MORE LEVERAGE IN THE COLE SWEEPSTAKES.
Gerrit Cole doesn’t want to be Angel. That’s fine.
We can commit less year and money to a guy who just dominated our biggest division foe, in the most important series in baseball.
Strasburg, Bumgarner and Grandal. Come inn down.
That would be a nice offseason if they can swing that!
If they press the cap line it’s conceivable.
If they go for Cole than they can only lock up one more 2nd tier pitcher and nothing else.
He staying with the Nats. He just want a new deal.
Yeah, you mean like Greinke did with the Dodgers a few years back?
Even signing them won’t put the Angels within 10 games of Houston. Best bet is for them to go for the Wild Card
Cole absolutely wants to play with Trout and Ohtani, liar.
Gotta love some players who mysteriously become great again during their contract year.
Mysteriously became great by being drafted the first pick and having a MLB debut of 12KOs?
He been a fan favorite in DC for years for all the right reasons. If there wasn’t another 1st round pick, that’ll win a AL CY young on the market, he’d be the clear cut best pitcher in FA.
Stras had an MLB debut of 14Ks. Not 12Ks. 14Ks.
Hey maybe he just remembers it differently
Strasburg has been great since his debut. What you are inferring speaks more about you than him.
Donaldson gonna get a big payday too
He is coming home
Seattle out of nowhere.
So Robbie Cano 2.0? They gonna flip Stras to the Mets one year in for like all 5 of NYM’s best players on the 40 man, cause they loco in Queens!
cubs are getting stras and cole. also heard a rumor that the cubs will sign rendon to come off the bench.
LMAO
Sarcasm alert!
That is the mind set of most Cubs’ fans who don’t realize the Ricketts want the payroll under $208 million and the farm system needs to be rebuilt.!!
You do the cubs can pay for a mega contract with money coming off the books and a few timely trades? There’s really no reason for any team to pay a salary tax. Well, the Yankees would, but that has more to do with their insecurity and ego. You don’t need a $250M payroll to win a championship.
*You do realize
Of course he was going to opt out. Boras is his agent. Like Cole, he’ll have to override Boras to play for his home town team.
With Strasburg, San Diego will be in there all the way to the end, and they’ll be outbid. With Cole, the Angels will offer big money early, and Boras will want to play it out.
Neither team is gong to sign either player unless they go against Boras.
eppler signed 2 pitchers that were boras’ clients really quickly last offseason. of course boras must have thought “ha! let’s separate money from a fool right now!”
And Boras be right. He obviously thought that was the best offer they’d get. With Cole, I have a felling no matter how much the Angels offer, Boras thinks he’s going to do better.
You realize every single one of Boras’ clients have done what they want to do, right? Boras isn’t the one who makes the decision.
I think you are being glibly dismissive. Players sign with Boars for a reason. Boras wants them to take the most money. The Players Union wants them to take the most money. That has tremendous influence.
A player may prefer San Diego or Anaheim, but they’ll have to go up against Boras and the Players union and that’s not something they usually do.
For a player giving a 10 million dollar discount. Scott Boras loss of that is only $500K. how much power do you really think he has in swaying the player? They can do whatever they want. They have the power.
His opt-out was perfectly timed. And it wasnt unexpected. Probably gets a 5-6-7 yr deal with the AAV closer to 30M and some kind of deferred 10-15M.
Let’s all be realistic here- all likelihood Strasberg renegotiated with Nats for something in 4-6 year range- he’s getting older. Wouldn’t be shocked to see the Angels make a run at him for about the same maybe a hair more cash cause they can spend. It’ll Probably come down to Strasburg staying loyal to Nats or taking a shot with Joe Maddon and the Angels back in SoCal. As Mike Trout/Angel fan, loyalty is pretty rare these days and I love seeing it even when it’s not in favor of my team.
PS: Padres could also make a similar run at him- Both SoCal teams
The Nats have the inside track. If they want him to stay it will cost them. I’m guessing here but 5-6 years, close to 30 AVV and less deferred then under the old contract. Whether the Nats will go that high or Boras/Stras will take that without listening to outside bids iss a question mark.
I don’t believe anyone has the inside track if Boras is your agent, money will determine the outcome unfortunately for the Nats, maybe they should concentrate on locking up the young core on team friendly contracts while giving these guys guaranteed security.
If the Nationals have learned anything they should be trying to lock up Soto to a long term deal now!
Soto is another Boras client so highly unlikely they lock him up. We will be down this road again with Soto.
and Robles
Robles is represented by Wasserman so he is much more likely to sign a long term extension prior to reaching free agency down the road
Smart move by Stras… but he’ll return to the Nationals on a 6-7 year deal. Sorry folks, he’s not going anywhere.
DC 5/150 ish
The only way BOTH Strasburg & Rendón stay in DC is if Lerners stop their dumb forward loaded contracts which really result in less $ for the player! If ownership really wants Back to Backs then sign them ASAP. Btw I live in DC & follow NATS closely & Yanks! Next year for both in WS
Lmao at all the idiots saying he will sign with SD because he’s from there and went to college there or DC because they drafted him (when literally anyone else who had the #1 pick that year would have done the same) and because he just won a championship there.
If you want him, pay up. Dude will sign with the Orioles if that’s where the money is.
please be an Angel. we need an ace in our staff
Sorry, but wear and tear makes this 31-year-old already look 35. Smart money is a front loaded contract with opt outs somewhere in the 5-120M at best.
yeah but 35 is the new 30 says Howie
Can’t help but wonder if Tony Gwynn Sr. would be influencing Strasburg’s decision.. I believe Strasburg was very fond of him… I say the Nationals pay what they need to in the end.. If they don’t, they’ll only end up looking for another pitcher of Strasburg’s caliber and maybe paying more.
He is influencing Stras
from the great beyond?
Are the padres conducting a seance?
Strasburg is a Boras client. He’ll sign for the highest total contract, and then claim that’s where he wanted to be all along.
And whoever signs him will be sorry they ever did in a couple of years.
Negative Nelly
On one end, especially coming off the WS win, it’d be nice to see Strasburg stay in D.C. and potentially finish his career there.
On the other, free agency will be much more interesting if he doesn’t just re-up with the Nationals.
Nats won their World Series. Let him walk and start finding replacements. Too many teams fall into that trap.
Agree 100%.
Just look what the Red Sox did signing Eovaldi and Sale after their 2018 WS victory and where that got them in 2019?
The Nats payroll has suddenly become more flexible. with Rendon, Stras, Zimmerman and Adams all coming off the books the Nats find themselves with half a Marlins Budget to fill those holes. Economically the Zim declined offer is a real gain. Assuming Ryan does come back at a platoon/depth piece he fills essentially the same slot but 12-15 Million less. That is money the can be split between Rendon and Stras to pull off the unlikely feat of keeping both players
Finally the Nats have not crossed the luxury tax line and there fore a greater international budget and draft budget are in the offing this year. Those are much needed sources of depth and salary controls moving years down the road when it is Soto and Robles turn to cash in.
Assuming the Nats part ways with both players you can bet Rizzo will get some quality replacements but not the star power, and start restocking the minors to get what he wants down the road.. At third we could see an MLB ready prime prospect acquired [see Ke’Bryan Hayes- 36 ranked prospect in MLB]
Signing Pitching on the free Agent Market is always a crap shoot. Likewise, looking for a new team if you are pitchers can have as much to do with a coaching staff as anything else. Both of these things point to the Nationals and Stras working it out. This is reinforced by the success the nats had with Stras’ early career rehab. When several other teams that made the playoffs rushed their young pitchers back from the first elbow rehab almost all of them dealt with subsequent shoulder injuries the following year..That difference was not lost on Stras…
Haven’t the Pirates fans been through enough? Now you’re ceding one of their top prospects to go someplace else. Why not just kick our dog while you’re at it
Not ceding anything…
for the Nats to land Hayes they would have to give up a lot- probably a combination of prospects and MLB talent. The Pirates would only do it if they could see a significant advantage. Given where they are in the rebuild, it doesn’t have to be right away which is the frustrating part for Pirates fans.
Understood. And where they are in the rebuild is anyone’s guess. When they give away guys like Meadows and Glasnow, it’s like taking a road trip with a map that’s been scribbled in crayon
Stras spends his off-season in SDSU helping young pitchers ..he is and loves San Diego.. this is a 2 horse race..and you can quote me on this ..is Washington or San Diego.. feel free to sticky this cause he ain’t going anywhere else
Agree. And unless someone blows his doors off, Cole is going home, to a Cali team, too
Just like Trout went to Philly and Harper went to the West Coast, right?
Yeah, good points. Guess time will tell
I would be really concerned with his durability.
100/4 seemed fair already.
thanks for naming me WS MVP, cya
He may not leave, there currently negotiating a new contract.
Better spend that time focusing on something else because Stasburg is gone.
Unless you can explain why the Nats should allow him to probe the market at a peak, with some lofty idea about matching another team’s offer who likely knows a lot less about him?
imagine him and Cole signing for whoever gives them the most money instead of their local teams. if SD gets any west coast kid its Cole Hamels, and the Angles dont get jack unless they are willing to pay a bit more this offseason.
7yr at 235 MIL in my opinion. might get him signed.
It’s amazes how pitchers like Cole and Strasburg have these huge years before hitting free agency or opting out of a contract! Buyers beware!!!
Teams looking to sign the top pitchers might need to sign their other players first, Boras usually drags the process out through Feb.
Or March. He will hold out for the highest bidder. Nationals may be forced to move on before other good not Boras clients are all signed elsewhere
He’s a 31 year-old World Series MVP, but he also has a huge injury history. So any long-term deal would be a risky one. It’s really hard to predict what Strasburg would get. I think the Nats lose Rendon and keep Strasburg, but this is just a gut feeling.
I’m agree, even though they should be Rendon and like Stras walk but they’ll give him another year and raise his AAV. The postseason saved his cause.
I agree. The Nationals have a history of offering their best, final, and only offer prior to them hitting free agency. They did this with Harper, Zimmermann, and Desmond. I wouldn’t be surprised if the reported 7 year $210-215 they offered Rendon is only offer from the Nationals. We will have to wait and see with Strasburg.
Maybe in the discussions, they can work on Rendon too.
If he goes to NY, CA or any other high-tax state, he’d be a fool. A fool to the tune of millions of dollars annually.
With that said, come home to San Diego!
ya know,
If yer pain’ Millions in Taxes that means you are making 100s of Millions at least…
I think he will be OK wherever he lands
Um no.
hate to burst your bubble (ok, no i don’t) but “millions in taxes” is effectively $2 or more million. you could earn as little as $4.5 million and owe “millions” in taxes between state and federal and possibly property and school taxes.
that’s what bothers me all the time when someone screams about someone signing a $2omillion deal or winning $10million in the lottery etc. they are not seeing that number. after legal fees, agent fees, federal state local taxes etc, you’re lucky if you see half that figure. and while half any million + dollar figure still is very nice… it ain’t the figure that everyone quotes when they wonder why ‘that’ isn’t enough.
If the Nats don’t resign him I think he goes to the Yankees. For some reason I cannot legitimately justify, I don’t see Cole going to the Yankees.
Yankees will not be able to sign him because of the “penalty tax threshold.” they have already exceeded.
And the winner is . . . Scott Boras. Again.
Scott would’ve gotten his cut of the 100 million bucks owed if he didn’t. whatever Strasburg gets he gets approx 5% of. So I’m not sure how he’s the big winner here. This move has boras risking his 5 for what?7.5- 8 million at most? Strasburg is the one who gets a whole lot more here.
I guess 25 mil a year isn’t enough. Smh
I was dead wrong. I thought he would be stupid for opting out. But I thought about it – This is a smart move not dumb. His value is high and while I think he is good, every season when he does well, he comes back with a poor season. He won it for the GNats, but signing him long-term is risky.
To us “mortals” walking away from a 4 year $100million dollar contract is just plain bewildering. How much money does one need to live a lifetime?