The Nats don't look to be in on Soto.
That may disappoint but it shouldn't be a surprise given that he's going to push 700 million total and 60 per year. Soto is for teams that are fine being Top 3 payroll letting money cover up their mistakes. That's not the Nats and it never has been the Nats.
But that doesn't mean they won't spend.
Now could it inflate the salaries of everyone to the point where the Nats are too gun shy over any single one? I suppose but we're talking conjecture here. Right now what we know is this :
- The Nats have a fair amount of money to spend. Depending on what they want to do that could be 50 to 100+ million*. That's a lot!
- The Nats have shown in the past they will spend and be a Top 10-Top 5 ish payroll in the league if not out and out compete with the big boys.
- The Nats have made hints that they will be more aggressive in FA this off-season
- The Winter Meetings haven't taken place yet. We're still very early in the process.
I still have high-ish expectations, with the issues being more about the talent on the FA market than the Nats willingness. You can get worried in a normal FA period when we get later in January, but not early in December.
*ok if they want to do nothing it could be 0 million but no one thinks that's the case
3 comments:
But ... but ... we're counting on our anger and disappointment to keep us warm during the cold weather!
I will be very angry and disappointed if he signs with another team and the deal comes in at under a $50M AAV and a $600M total commitment (as computed for luxury tax purposes). I were the Nats GM or the owner, I'd be willing to breech at least one of those numbers in my best and final offers, but not by a whole lot. And at that point I can see both sides of it and I won't begrudge Rizzo and the Lerners bowing out of the auction.
Harper is right that there's no reason to be worried, yet, about the lack of signings. It's very early in the offseason, and Rizzo is always quiet until the deal is done. The absence of evidence and all that. At a minimum, fans should remain calm until more of the field has been cleared off the board. There's been like 3 significant signings so far, and they're all pitchers. No reason to panic yet.
And I certainly agree that the Nats aren't going to run a top 3 payroll, and I"m not asking them to do so. But the 8th or 10th largest payroll in the league, comfortably under the cap, would still give them like $120M of room or something for next year. And with Stras coming off the books as our players hit arbitration, we can pay Soto $50M a year without limiting our plans one iota until 2030 at the earliest. I guess that, if the internal pipeline runs dry, we could be in trouble at that point, but that's not something I'm willing to worry about until, say, 2028.
Yeah my big worry is this crop of FA. I just don't really like any of them.
Nats have been most closely linked to Bregman...and I really don't want that. An old 30 looking for a long contract when we have House knocking on the door? No thanks.
Alonso could be a decent fit, but I'd be surprised if he lands with the Nats
Realistically, I see some wheeling and dealing. Maybe the Nats trade for someone like Cronenworth or Arenado plus someone like Luis Castillo. I dunno, but In Rizzo We Trust
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