The Nats could have afforded to sign him. Honestly they can afford to sign anyone with this payroll.
While it seems like a huge overpay it really isn't based on the current market rates for production and what Bregman does. The gamble is that he doesn't get injured or continue his slide. The former is just something you have to live with. The latter is more worrisome but is what makes him available. It took teams a couple of years but they realized current Bregman (does nothing wrong) isn't past Bregman (a beast) and they began challenging him, getting ahead, and getting him to chase more. The end result was production bouyed by the quirk of defensive stats.
The hope would be he does really well and opts-out or does about what he did the past couple of years but decides to stay, so you get him without committing to his down years.
It's a good contract. Has risks. But it doesn't bind the Red Sox for too long.
Seems like the Nats would have had to put out something like 5/200 to get him.
Just spitballing bc pitchers and catchers interest no one after Day 1.
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Yeah I imagine if he signed a deal like this then pretty much the entire league passed on him, so this one’s not just on the Nats. I saw the way he regressed last year and really think he’s on the wrong side of things. That said maybe it was mostly from the slow start in something was holding him up and he does do well. Regardless, it’s a good contract as mentioned…It’s ok I’ll keep the second round pick and money allotment!
But do I wish we signed him? IDK, five years for 200 million for him. Doesn’t really get me too excited to be honest. If it wasn’t the biggest position of need in the organization, then I would definitely say no.
Not saying, I have completely lost hope in Brady house. Which I think is part of the reason why the nationals did not get more involved here.
Irrelevant to the content, but is it "a Red Sox"? Can a single player be a plural? Is Sox even plural? So many existential questions arise whenever I think about the red/white sox
Count me in as interested in pitchers and catchers on Day Two! Also discussions of players reporting early. Like CJ---which given how last season ended is at least interesting.
Not to mention watching and waiting for the first "ITBSOHL" Spring Training quote!
I’d be cautious about furthering the narrative of what the Nats “could have afforded.” Are we certain ownership intends (or even has the ability) to roll out a roster similar to what we saw pre-2019?
I’d appreciate Rizzo or Mark Lerner addressing this dismal offseason. Truly, I’ll take any excuse: 1) we’re cutting back on investing in this team because we don’t care or we’re looking to sell in the next 2-4 years, 2) many of the available free agents this off-season were good fits for our organization and the few that were demanded an asking price too high for our budget, 3) we’re still a year or two away from competing because our young core—while talented—needs further developing, 4) the Mets, Phillies, and Atlanta are too loaded to compete with in the near term so we’re eyeing 2027 and beyond, 5) the MASN deal has hamstrung our ability to keep pace with the rapid increase in FA spending, or 6) we’re just a mid-market team—what do you expect us to do?
Something… anything. Please. Because trying to get fans excited about this group is dishonest. This is the same thing I’d expect to hear from the Harrisburg Senators PR department: “come on down to the ballpark! We have a great group of hungry, young, talented kids ready cut their teeth in professional baseball.” But instead, that’s what we get from the MLB team in Washington.
Forgive my naivety but what does the acronym stand for? When I see it, I will probably recognize it.
In the best shape of his life. I do agree I get a kick out of those comments as well. Haha
Completely agree. That’s actually a very well-made comprehensive list of the excuses they could give as well. Lol. While I do actually agree with a lot of of the reasons to not spend this off-season, it would be nice to know what they were actually thinking. As I’ve said many times so far, I’m not a fan of a lot of these guys this off-season and with how loaded the division is this year? I really think it’s a situation to wait and see how these guys develop so we know what we are working with going forward. Still huge variability in what they could produce and development to
Per John Heyman, Bregman has a 1.240 career OPS at Fenway.
If only he could hit against his own team’s pitchers.
Granted, I would not have minded the Nats pushing out harder on spending this offseason. But my understanding is that the Nats have actually been about the middle of the road among the 30 MLB teams this off-season in the amount of spending made. And they even made a modest move to start tapping into the Japanese baseball talent pool--something a lot of fans (like me) have been wanting them to do.
Yes, there is room to add more. FWIW I was in on the "sign Bregman" team, though to me $40M/year with a one year opt out would have been a terrible idea for the Nats.
But it is also true that the Nats have to plan for their future salary levels so they can still make moves as the NextGen Nats start riding the "arb escalator" as well as keeping room available to convert willing (*) young Nats to extensions that convert MLB minimum or <$5M/year players to $10-15M/year players with an extra 2-3 or more years of team control.
(*) No, Nats cannot force anyone to sign extensions. But Ruiz's extension shows they are willing to negotiate extensions--and it's an interesting sign that LG Jr "fired" Scot Boras as his agent. Which is of course what Ruiz did before signing an extension with the Nats.
With the Nats in the middle of the pack in MLB in spending this off-season (not DFL/no moves at all), do not expect Mark Lerner or Mike Rizzo stepping out and saying "here are our excuses for a dismal off-season."
As for saying "trying to get fans excited about this group is dishonest"...um, well, YMMV. But I am very interested in seeing if/how Nats like CJ, Wood, Crews, and Garcia come together with Lowe (and Bell, though I'm a lot less excited about him). The young pitching staff has done well with a couple of intriguing adds (and NO MORE CORBIN ThxForTheRingBye). Not thrilled about Tena, am intrigued by Young. Baseball is almost here!
Our payroll was among the league's lowest last year and it looks almost certain to be even lower this year.
I don't think this offseason proves definitively that the budget is gone indefinitely. I just think that going into it there was a strong balance of probability that the team would be willing to spend appropriately and now that balance essentially inverted. It would not be shocking if they do in fact spend next offseason -- but at this point I would not bet on it.
I do agree, however, that our mileage can freely vary about how much our excitement is dampened by those changing circumstances.
Bregman is a RH fly ball pull hitter. It wouldn't;t surprise me if he wears out the Green Monster and puts up big numbers there. $40m is almost certainly an overpay but Red Sox have the cash and it's a short term deal. It's a good contract for them and would have also been for the Nats- but we all know the Lerners aren't paying that money to anyone these days.
You all spoke too soon. Mark Zuckerman has reported that the Nationals have signed Paul DeJong to a one-year, $1 million contract.
Happy days are here again!
The skies above are clear again,
Let us sing a song of cheer again,
Happy days are here again!
@Chas R: I wanted the Nats to sign Bregman. But signing him to THIS deal would have been nuts. If he’s good/great, he opts out after one year and the Nats have punted their draft pick and IFA money for one $40M season of a player that they could not even QO to recoup part of the cost (because he’s already received a QO). And if he’s bad, they get to pay him another $80Mover two more seasons. That’s a “heads you win, tails I lose contract. No, thanks b
Didn't want him, he's a douchebag, and they'd be giving up early on a guy who's show a lot of promise and is only 21.
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