Jayson Werth Signs Elsewhere

According to Ken Rosenthal and Todd Zolecki by way of MLBTradeRumors, the Washington Nationals have come to an agreement with outfielder Jayson Werth.

I can’t say I’m disappointed that the Tigers weren’t able to sign Mr. Werth, I’ve made my opinions known already (at great length). He’s not a bad player – he’s a good player – but I don’t consider him a to be worth what he’s being offered.  Assuming Scott Stewart at Teddy Never Wins is correct, the Nats are going to be paying Werth roughly $18 million per season for 7 years.  I wouldn’t have been in favor of 6 years at $16 million per.  This, perhaps, highlights the difficulty that the Nationals have been having in getting free agents to consider them seriously – something we Tigers fans can empathize with.

If, as believed, the two options being seriously considered for the Tigers’ outfield vacancy were Werth and Ordonez it may well be that Werth’s early signing gives Magglio more leverage in contract negotiations than he would have had otherwise. It also suggests that a deal with Ordonez could come quickly. On the other hand, if Dombrowski has been considering options that the Tigers’ blogosphere has not this should become apparent very quickly.