Don’t Blame Jayson Werth For Taking The Money

First, the fact that he signed with the Nationals was a shock. Since Werth played his final game with the Phillies, rumors had the Red Sox, White Sox and Phillies as the contenders to land the power right handed bat. While Werth was not expected to demand as much money as free agents Carl Crawford or Cliff Lee, people knew that Werth would land a major deal. It was allways assumed, however, that it would be with a contender. To see Werth sign on to one of the doormat teams of the league was a shock to many.

The second big surprise was the deal. To see the Nationals, a team about as far away from contending as you can be, commit that kind of money to a player that is at best debatable as an impact player, was shocking. It is hard to imagine that in 7 years Werth will still on be on the Nationals. Werth will put up numbers, but without the talent surrounding him in Philly, it will be harder to do so. Don’t be surprised to see a contender take Werth from the Nationals in 2 years, as they realize they can not pay a player 17 million on a loosing team. People around the league right now are shocked at the money Werth was given.

But those same people, and the ones that were close to the situation and followed it knew that from day one, this was about the money with Werth. And why shouldn’t it be?

Since Werth became a major leaguer in 2003, he has earned roughly 13 million dollars. Break that down over 8 seasons, and that is around 1.5 million a season. Clearly, that is more then enough mone

y for anyone to live the most lavish of lifestyles. But this is baseball. In baseball, that is about as underpaid as you can get. Werth, who saw his career almost end after a wrist injury in 2006, knows that you have to cash in when you can. When Werth broke his wrist, he had made only 1.3 million dollars in 4 seasons.

For the past 3 seasons, Werth has been greatly underpaid. He made only 1.7 million in 2008, when he helped the team win its first World Series. 2.5 million when he helped them get back in 2009.  7.5 million last season, when he was the only right handed power bat in the line up, and protected 20 million dollar man Ryan Howard.

Could Werth have taken less money to stay in Philadelphia and try to win his second ring? Absolutely. But players take pay cuts in sports to win their first ring, not their second.  Werth was looking at taking over 60 million dollars less. Rueben Amaro Jr. stated that the contract that was offered to Werth from the Phillies was around 16 million dollars for 3 years, with an option (he did not specify if it was team or player) for a 4th. With the 4th year, Werth was looking to make around 64 millions dollars. That is roughly half of what he will make with the Nationals.

Fans will rip into Werth, stating that he took the money over winning, and that makes him a coward. But what it makes him is a smart business man. Nothing is guaranteed in baseball except your contract. There is no guarantee that Phillies will be good next year or the years to come. No guarantee that Ryan Howard, Chase Utley and Jimmy Rollins will continue to be the players they are. No guarantee that Cole Hamels can have 2 good years in a row, or that Halladay won’t break down.

But what is guaranteed is that Jayson Werth will get 18million dollars for the next 7 years, whether it be from the Nationals or whichever team chooses to trade for him.

So if anyone is to blame here, it is the Washington Nationals, for giving him such a crazy contract. But don’t blame Werth. When he comes to Philadelphia next season, cheer him for what he did during his time here, not for taking the money and running.

Because any player would have done the same thing, and rightfully so.