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Nationals Re-Sign Daniel Hudson

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JANUARY 14: The Nats have announced the signing.

JANUARY 6, 3:29pm: The deal’s worth $11MM with up to $1MM in performance bonuses based on games finished, per Passan. The total falls in line with the two-year, $12MM guarantee MLBTR projected for Hudson at the beginning of the offseason.

2:17pm: The Nationals and free-agent reliever Daniel Hudson have reached a two-year contract, Jon Heyman of MLB Network tweets. Jeff Passan of ESPN first reported the two sides were nearing an agreement. Hudson is a client of Jet Sports Management.

This is the second significant bullpen signing in a matter of days for the Nationals. They added righty Will Harris on a three-year, $24MM commitment last week, and signing him and Hudson shows a desire on the team’s part to avoid last season’s well-publicized bullpen foibles. The Nationals’ relief corps was a major problem throughout the season, but they still earned a wild-card spot and then rallied to win their first-ever World Series title. Hudson, whom general manager Mike Rizzo acquired from the Blue Jays before the July 31 deadline, was a key reason for Washington’s triumph.

Between Toronto and D.C. a season ago, the flamethrowing Hudson, 32, put up a 2.47 ERA/3.97 FIP with 8.75 K/9 and 3.33 BB/9 over 73 innings. For the most part, those aren’t great numbers, and Hudson hasn’t been lights-out for the majority of his career, but he was an important part of the Nats’ playoff run. Hudson converted all four of his save attempts in the postseason, in which he threw 9 2/3 frames of four-earned run ball with 10 strikeouts against four walks, and closed out the Astros in Game 7 of the World Series.

While the Nationals did lose star third baseman Anthony Rendon to the Angels earlier this offseason, the Hudson re-signing continues a busy winter for the club. Before bringing back Hudson, they picked up Harris and re-signed four important members of their title-winning team in starter Stephen Strasburg, infielders Howie Kendrick and Asdrubal Cabrera, and catcher Yan Gomes. The team also agreed to sign established infielder Starlin Castro last week, and it could still be in the running for the No. 1 free agent available in third baseman Josh Donaldson.

An ideal offseason for the Nationals likely would’ve meant keeping Rendon. Even in the wake of his departure, though, it’s clear this isn’t a club that’s ready to rest on its laurels after a championship season.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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Comments

        • Because he is still deciding does he want to play for a champion who could go back to back, or get some more early offseason fishing in from another early exit failure

          2

        • The Nationals were the favorite to win it all for so long you must have been holding onto that gem for a decade.

          1

        • Don’t have to sound bitter. It was funny and true. Can’t help Atlanta took over the come up short title

          3

        • Braves came up short? As usual they weren’t even the favorite to win the division. The Braves just emerged from a rebuild. I’m not bitter over anything.

          The Nationals though..well, I can see why you might overcompensate. I mean the Nationals have been dissapointing for a very loooooooong time. So just in case the Braves do repeatedly dissapoint ALMOST without fail, maybe you can tell me how you got through? Binge eating bonbons? =)

          2

        • They were the favorite to win the division in a lot of circles. And despite the Nats winning the WS, I have the Braves winning the division yet again.

        • Nats have only been around for 15 years. I wouldn’t say that’s a very loooooooong time. If you think that’s long, how many “o”s would you use for Red Sox or Cubs?

    • Nationals should have an unbelievable staff in 20, that will clearly be the strength of the team next year. I guess Rizzo thinks that the offense, led by trea/Robles/Soto will be good enough to win enough games for the division, and I can’t blame him.

      • Pitching is still key. Who’s going to be the first everyday $300m player to sip champagne after winning the WS?

        • Eaton has had two injury shortened seasons and his most recent one was pretty mediocre even with a full season..but you still put his name in with those core members.

      • It’s the guy who is pissing off GMs by pumping up his salary demands and tagging non-negotiable on the deal.. The Twins bailed the moment that announcement was brought up,and now the Nationals appear to be backing off too…He should have learned a lesson from his old buddy Bautista, He made a non-negotiable type of demand to the Jays and never ever got a multi-year deal again, and he was the same age Josh is now..

        • The only reason he did that was to try and up the price the Braves would offer him. He never wanted to leave Atlanta and now that the Braves have made a ballpark offer he is trying to see if anyone will blow him away. They won’t and he is happy with that because he has said all season and offseason he wants to stay a Brave. Once the Braves made their offer he basically told them to hold tight so he could see if any other team flinched. The other teams obviously aren’t going to flinch and he will sign with the Braves for the original offer they made without them having to raise it. He’s not signing with the Twins because he doesn’t prefer to play for them. If he did, he would have told the Twins they could match any offer ad he would sign there. Instead, he said that to the Braves and only the Braves. Once Atlanta made the 4 year offer it was a done deal unless some other team got really stupid with their checkbook. He has a family to look after too so if that happened he might need to pay attention. That didn’t happen so he is coming back to Atlanta for near, equal to, or less than what the Twins offered him. The Twins knew they were going to have to outbid the Braves in order to acquire JD’s services. Every team knew that. Maybe the Twins did outbid the Braves. Maybe they didn’t. We don’t know. All we know is that if the Twins outbid the Braves it wasn’t by enough to make Donaldson want to go there.

        • Loved the “he has a family to look after” that was a great moment

          Yea that difference between 100 and 110 mill is weighing heavily on the future of his “family”

          I like Josh but have found this charade a bit much, if you really want to go back to the Braves yourself you dont take them hostage and drive up the price on them all knowing they are a team that really watches thier wallet

          Would Love to see all 3 teams put the clamps on him for a bit and make him sweat for a change-

          There is instances of being greedy by both players and managers, this sure feels like one from the player-

          I hope Minny prevails in the end but it sure feels like Atl…I hope they dont go a penny over 100 though

      • That is what groupies and effeminate men call Josh Donaldson.

    • Nice to see a group of MLB Owners and a Front Office who actually cares about their team such as the Nationals!! They are positioning their team to make it to the 2020 World Series!!! My new team!!! How’d you like to be a Cardinals fan??? The Cardinals and their front office have just strived to make the playoffs for the past 7 years. The Cards Ownership make no bones about it!!! They said they weren’t going to do anything at last years trading deadline and this winter. They’ve certainly made a believer out of me!!! Go Nationals!!!

      1

      • that’s a very short sighted view on the cardinals. go back and look at history. free agency isn’t the only thing that builds a winning culture

        • I agree on the short sightedness of the Cardinals. I’ve followed them from the 50’s. If you won the National League in the 40’s 50’s and 60’s, you’d done something!! You had the best record of all National league teams….Just to get there!!! The Cardinals followed that tradition of not accepting defeat through 2013. Most recently acquiring Larry Walker for a stretch run, then Bergman, then Beltran. All added to teams who already had at least 2 players who could hit clean up!! Since 2013, the only strong addition they’ve made are Goldschmidt and Ozuna. The rest were past big names, past their prime, who are bust. The current Cardinals philosophy of the owners and President of Baseball operations is to do nothing to upgrade their team at the trading deadlines. Do nothing to upgrade during the winters and use they excuse that they didn’t see anything they needed to upgrade the team they already had!!! The Cardinals Owners philosophy now is MAKING LOTS OF MONEY!!! Quote from the Cardinals Owners; “We intend to put a competitive team on the field!” In other words…..The Owners are satisfied by putting a team on the field who can finish above .500 and put 3 million fans in the seats each year!!! Tha Cardinals wouldn’t have made the playoffs last season if it hadn’t been for Shildt leaving Carpenter on a prolonged IL and playing Fowler sparingly. Plus benching them both in the playoffs.

        • “Only” added Goldschmidt and Ozuna….”Only.” I thought Cardinal fans were supposed to be good and knowledgeable fans?

          I hate the Cardinals but they are one of the most consistently good franchises and are run extremely well. No, they will never be the team that signs all the big time free agents, but they build from within and are one of the best at doing it. They’ve “only” won 4 NL pennants in the last 15 years. Some fan bases are ridiculously spoiled

    • This just in, Nationals sign all free agent bullpen arms. Take that league.

      2

      • This just in, White Sox cry a little.

        Bullpen wasnt bad for my beloved last year, but could have used a shot in the arm. Too many risks with Jimmy Cordero, Kelvin Herrera and Alex Colome for a team that looks to compete.

      • This just in, White Sox cry a little.

        Bullpen wasnt bad for my beloved last year, but could have used a shot in the arm. Too many risks with Jimmy Cordero, Kelvin Herrera and Alex Colome for a team that looks to compete

  3. I thought for sure his new team would be the Rockies. Bummer bit on the other hand great deal for Hudson and the nats

  5. Wow. Didn’t expect Nats to give Hudson a second year. Good for him.

    1

  8. I think the Nats have done a great job of upgrading this off season, maybe the best of any team.. There pitching could be the best in baseball!

    1

    • How do you figure
      They lost their best offensive player

      7

      • Last year proved that one player (Harper), doesn’t make the team.

        7

        • But this is a second player. First Harper, now Rendon. I think the pen additions are super, but you gotta wonder at least a bit about the bats.

          2

        • Last year they were able to replace a ~3.5 WAR OF with a ~ 2.5 WAR OF. That won’t be the case with 3B if it’s not Donaldson. That gap is much larger. You’re talking about a 6 WAR player like Rendon being replaced by a 2 WAR guy like Castro or Cabrera. It may not be a death sentence; but they will really feel that downgrade.

          They also got a full season from Eaton last year and Howie Kendrick hit like a MVP when he was in the lineup—which obviously helped as well. Last year it was lose Harper— add Corbin, Robles, Kendrick, a full season of Eaton, and Yan Gomes. That’s why that loss wasn’t felt.

          4

        • Juan Soto is going to have a better 2020 than Harper. Nationals look very good.

          2

        • But with this pen, they win 105 games last year. They’ll be good with 101 in ’20.

          Turner, Soto, Castro and Robles pick up the slack.

        • True, but there is plenty of time to see what happens. I miss Rendon already and can only hope the Nats just stay their course and let the pieces fall where they may.

      • Pisses me off the Sox couldn’t get either Harris or Hudson.

  9. I knew they’d get Hudson too. Nats are missing a big bat, but have a solid bullpen for the first time in awhile…at least on paper.

    1

  10. Nats be bringing back most of their championship club. They got Stras, Kendrick, and now Hudson. But the question is, will they bring back Zimmerman?

      • They’d be better off signing Todd Frazier to play 3B and backup 1B

        1

      • I would like Zim to play one more year after getting his ring. I know he will not play for anyone else and I love those type of players that stay with one team their whole career, miss those days.

      • He was hurt last year and his best hitting isn’t far in the past–his exit velo and HH% hasn’t dropped off.

    • Yes they will. And maybe Adams, they have the $ now that they’re out on JD who only wants to play for the Braves. As other commenter noted, we all believe it, time for JD to sign so we can go back to more entertaining reading like Cespedes fighting off wild boars.

      2

  11. Frazier’s probably a better fit all around, but, come on, who doesn’t want to see Zim back in DC?

    2

    • Rizzo should sign Zim and Moreland/Thames as a complimentary bat on the left side. That’s all that’s left outside of 3B. If miss on JD , Frazier can plus in at 3B sharing time with Cabrera.

  13. Nats are filthy. Wish our bullpen resembled this model. They have like 5 closers on there team to go along with the best 1,2,3 in the league. If they somehow sign donaldson they got wayyyy better than last year

    • I’m kinda disappointed that Friedman hasn’t been addressing that issue. If the Yankees get back to the big dance like we’re expecting, I’d like to see the Dodgers across the field in the other dugout. That’d be a classic

      2

    • Nats bullpen has improved without a doubt. But let’s be honest, it was the worst in baseball last year. It is MAYBE middle of the pack now.

  14. All these signings make me think that the Nationals never truly wanted JD. They were driving up the bidding for the Braves. Good signing by the Nats. With him and Harris I think they are a better team than last year

    1

    • I think they wanted. And waited for JD. And waited. And then got tired of waiting and moved on.

      3

      • Sorta reminds me of last year, they waited a while for Harper but eventually moved on to signing Corbin and others. Seems like this year they waited on Donaldson but when they got tired of waiting for him they moved on.

        1

    • If the Nats have moved on (which I agree they have) before Donaldson signed, have they really driven up the bidding for the Braves? Braves can still say, sorry, our deal is off the table now.

    • Nats aren’t out on JD. About 20 million left in “tax space” and only two 40-man spots left to spill. Even if they went say 30 million on Donaldson per year that leaves them under the second threshold. 20% of going say 15 million over the first level is 3mm. That’s ashtray money for the Lerner family. They aren’t scared to spend money or go over that luxury tax.

  15. Between Charlie Morton closing out the WS in 2017 and Daniel Hudson doing the same last year, and Steve Pearce winning the 2018 MVP, I am wondering which former Pirate cast off will be bizarrely central to the 2020 World Series….

    Travis Snider?

    2

  16. Connor,
    “The deal’s worth $11MM with up to $1MM in performance bonuses based on games finished, per Passan. The total falls in line with the two-year, $12MM guarantee Hudson projected for Hudson at the beginning of the offseason”, my question to you is why you put Hudson twice?

  17. Here we go again… back to the series.. still need a rock solid 3rd baseman though.

  18. Nationals had a weakness at bullpen, and they’ve definitely been addressing it. They’ll have one of the most complete pitching staffs in the game now, when considering their starters. Now if they can somehow still land Donaldson too, I don’t see how they don’t win the pennant again (on paper).
    That being said, I have a feeling that the common sentiment of JD-back-to-Atlanta rumors are true

    • It was a weakness at the start of the year, but they were solid at the end of the year.

    • Forget about Donaldson…How much would you have to give up to get Seagar from the M’s?

      • hopefully not much. Seager’s value has cratered after what look liked a career year 3-4 years ago, plus he’s still got considerable $$$ on that contract.

        • Exactly, Sea should beg teams to take that contract right now. I wouldn’t mind taking a chance on bounce back from him he miss out on JD.

  20. Dont know why people think Nats are out on JD. They have tons of $ under the tax losing rendon ($18M), Rosenthal ($8M) and zim ($18M), even with the Strasburg contract (up only $5M from ’19). And the Lerner’s usually pay the tax. Reset last year.

    Small window with Scherzer and Strasburg. I think they go big to get JD, if he’ll take it.

    • They don’t have tons of money under the cap…about $12.5m or half of what folks expect Donaldson to cost a season.

      It shouldn’t deter them but they may not feel the urgency to outbid others. Tho it sounds like teams are backing off so maybe 4/100 would actually get him.

  21. Got to think this takes the nats completely out of the JD hunt. This deal takes them pretty close to the lux tax line which they have been said to be determined to stay under. A deal for JD likely would have taken them over that line anyways, but this hurts that even more. Writing is on the wall Braves. Find a way to close the deal.

    2

  23. Nats are about $12.5m under the cap now. I don’t know if they’ll drop $25m a season for Donaldson…but I could see them going $3-4m for Zimm and $5-8m for Frazier and try to give themselves a little wiggle room for absorbing an upgrade at some point during the season via trade.

    They may also add only one of Zimm/Frazier and then try to extend Trea or Robles and use some of that current space to front load the deal a little to get some relief on the backend of the contract.

  24. I thought the White Sox were pivoting away from an RF upgrade to seek BP help. Hahn’s had a great offseason, but I really hoped he’d land Harris or Hudson. Options are getting a little thin.

    • who are the Nats 4th and 5th starters ? and all these players they signed not one of them is a 3rd base guy — they are good pickups but all 2b and 1b guys —

        • those are the 4th and 5th starters ? yikes — better sign JD

        • Anibal is fine as a fourth starter I would suggest pulling up his numbers for the last two years,

          Between the trio of Ross Fedde and the under the Fedde & Voth the fifth starter spot has three reliable candidates. All 3 made large strides in staying healthy and refining their craft,.

          Asian look at the numbers particularly the monthly splits

      • Cabby player 93 Games at 3rd last year alone. He is competent at 3b SS & 2B

  26. If JD signs with Atlanta they will the East — as for the WS the Yankees are the favorite – the Dodgers will be the only team from the west — Nats – Mets – Philly – Cubs – Cards – Reds – maybe Brewers all possible playoff teams — 9 teams for 6 spots –

  27. ….and the Phils continue to be content with having Spring Training invites fill out the MLB pen. 200 million dollar payroll and how many reliable bullpen arms are there? One? Neris? Can someone go make sure Klentak is taking notes, so that he has something to discuss in his next job interview?

    “I learned a lot from my time watching the Nationals run an offseason, and someday I’d like to use those methods with my own team.”

    • You have to keep in mind that the Phillies did a lot to improve their bullpen last year. On paper I thought they had the best pen in the NL East. Unfortunately that entire bullpen was destroyed by injuries.

      Robertson is still gone in 2020. So that move was a bust, but the Phillies will be getting Seranthony back which is a huge boost. If the Phils pen avoids injuries, I think they will be a vast improvement.

      You pointed out Neris who has been very reliable and criminally underrated by Phillies fans. I’m not saying the Phillies bullpen is a strength, it certainly isn’t, but you have to remember the 2019 bullpen was absolutely crushed by injuries. Who knows how they perform in 2020?

  28. Is 2020 the first year the Nats have a solid bullpen? I know they performed well in the playoffs last year, but they were definitely a weakness during the season. Pretty exciting to see a WS winner lose one of their best players, but still manage to put a great product out on the field.

    I hate the Nats, but much respect to Rizzo.

    • Yeah, they had the worst bullpen ERA out of any team to ever qualify for the playoffs, before them, it was the 1997 Mariners.

    • Yea he lost that guy, the media consensus best player (note the word media there….
      First it was Harper- but there the replacements were already banging door
      But this one is the test.
      Rizzo had to reconfigure the team but it looks like a decent start so far

  29. And withe the Josh Donaldson signing by thr Twins, the stage is set for Rizzo’s late winter surprise signing…
    Do ya feel lucky?

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