| Andrew Perna. 5th December, 2010 - 10:32 pm
 The Washington Nationals want you to know they mean business and they stated that emphatically on Sunday afternoon by agreeing to a seven-year, $126 million deal with free-agent outfielder Jayson Werth a day before baseball?s winter meetings begin.
Not only did Washington land this offseason?s first top-shelf free agent, but they also signed him away from the divisional Phillies, who will know have to face Werth more than a dozen times in National League East.
Washington hasn?t had a winning season since 2003 when they were known as the Montreal Expos, but their young talent and commitment to roster upgrades via trades and free agency will give them a chance to at least approach 80 wins in the coming years.
He essentially replaces Adam Dunn, who signed a four-year, $56 million deal with the White Sox after spending two seasons with the Nationals. Werth will be Washington?s starting right fielder on Opening Day and likely hit fourth, as Dunn did in part to protect third baseman Ryan Zimmerman.
Werth hit .296 (two points off his career-high) with 27 home runs, 85 runs batted in and 46 doubles (the most in the NL) in 156 games for Philadelphia in 2010.
He had a career-high OPS of .921, higher than any of Washington?s position players, including Dunn and Zimmerman. There were actually only nine players in all of baseball with an OPS higher than Werth this past season. Those names (Josh Hamilton, Miguel Cabrera, Joey Votto, Albert Pujols, Jose Bautista, Paul Konerko, Troy Tulowitzki and Matt Holliday) are impressive, including both the AL and NL MVPs.
Werth exploded onto the scene as one of baseball?s best offensive players when he landed as a late bloomer with the Phillies in 2007 and will no longer have the benefit of playing in hitter-friendly Citizens Bank Park.
Werth has played 276 career games in Philadelphia with a .913 OPS, 52 home runs and 165 runs batted in while hitting .293.
Nationals Park isn?t exactly a pitcher?s park either and Werth predictably has great numbers hitting there. Werth has hit .307 with six homers and 13 runs batted in and had an OPS of .970 in 25 games at Washington?s semi-new ballpark.
Werth won?t hit for power like Dunn did during those two seasons for Washington when he hit 76 home runs, but he?ll hit for a much better average and be on base more often.
Dunn hit just .260 this past season and had OPS numbers of .928 and .892 in 2009 and 2010, respectively. By and large, Dunn?s lack of patience gets magnified while Werth?s isn?t exactly above-average.
Werth had a WAR of 5.2 this past season, just a touch below perennial MVP candidates such as Evan Longoria (7.7), Pujols (7.2), Cabrera (6.9), Adrian Gonzalez (6.3), Votto (6.2), Hamilton (6.0) and Tulowitzki (5.6).
In terms of outfielders in 2010, Werth trailed only Shin-Soo Choo (7.3), Hamilton (6.0), and Bautista (5.6) in WAR.
Over the last handful of seasons the top outfielders in terms of WAR were still within striking distance of Werth?s most recent numbers. Magglio Ordonez (8.9, 2007), Holliday (7.3, 2007), Carlos Beltran (6.8, 2008) and Vernon Wells (6.7, 2006) were among baseball?s leaders.
There is no question that Werth will make the Nationals better, but is he worth $126 million over seven years?
At the end of the contract, he?ll be 38-years-old. Not even Derek Jeter has been able to keep his production up as he approaches forty. It?s one thing for New York to pay an aging superstar too much, but can Washington endure doing the same?
It?s unlikely that the Nationals will be able to continually throw money around like this indefinitely, but it?s obvious that the signing is a step in the right direction for Washington.
Grade for Nationals: B
Free agents rarely think about much else other than where they can make the most money, but Werth's defection very likely comes at the price of winning. The Phillies have reached the NLCS in three consecutive seasons and a fourth appearance isn?t out of the question, meanwhile the Nationals will consider it a success if they go 82-80 within the next five years.
Andrew Perna is Deputy Editor of RealGM.com. Please feel free to contact him with comments or questions via e-mail: Andrew.Perna@RealGM.com. You can also follow Andrew on Twitter: APerna7.
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