Jayson Werth

Well, the news has broken that Jayson Werth is officially a Washington National, reaching a seven year, 126 million dollar deal. 

As a Phillies fan, I was holding out hope that Werth would be in a Phillies uniform next season, but after looking at that deal, I am very happy the Phillies did not make such a drastic mistake and pay that much money for Werth.  The Nationals tied themselves down to a player who will be 38 years old when this contract expires and who has never shown he can be the star player by himself. 

In a shocking move, Jayson Werth has signed a seven-year deal with the last place Washington Nationals, snubbing higher-profile teams like the Red Sox. 

After losing Adam Dunn to the White Sox and star rookie pitcher Stephen Strasburg to Tommy John surgery, the Nats needed a seat-filler.  Attendance in DC has been pathetic over the years due to a lack of success for the team and high ticket prices. 

The "Lerner's are cheap" mantra lasted just four days.

Jayson Werth, a late-blooming slugger who helped turn the Philadelphia Phillies into a playoff fixture, has signed a seven-year contract with the Washington Nationals that will pay him $18 million per season.

A few thoughts that are bouncing around my head:

On the ground at the winter meetings in unseasonably cold Orlando, Fla., there has been quite a bit of action already.

Actually, in much colder Boston, the Adrian Gonzalez trade is currently off, as the slugging first baseman and the Boston Red Sox could not agree on an extension. They had a window until 2 p.m. today, and while the Red Sox were willing to given Gonzalez a six-year extension, the player wanted eight years and "Mark Teixeira money."

In a stunning move that has most MLB GM's screaming and crying, the Washington Nationals have signed free agent OF Jayson Werth to a seven-year, $126 million contract. Werth is a very good player and one of the top three free agents available, but seven years is far too long and $126 million is way too much money to be given to a 31 year old player.

In trying to rationalize the deal for the Nationals, it makes the loss of Adam Dunn a bit easier to take. Problem is that's about where the rationalizations end.

Let's face it: The Washington Nationals has always been the dark horse in chasing big-name free agents over the years.

There was Mark Teixeira, who signed an eight-year, $180 million deal.

There is still former Cy Young Award winner Cliff Lee, who is chased by the Texas Rangers and the New York Yankees. But every time they are mentioned, so are the Nats, though it doesn't look like they're going to sign him.

But finally, Washington has made a big move. They have a new $100 million man.

The Red Sox have Adrian Gonzalez wrapped up in a nice little package, ready to play. The good thing for the Red Sox is they now can focus on the other cogs in the machine that is the Red Sox. This clears the air for many issues which people have been debating, but there is no question now that the Red Sox have a dangerous batting team. Depending on what they choose, you could see Boston have a powerhouse team, or a sickening combination of speed and power. Regardless, getting Gonzalez to 1st gives the Red Sox great defense at the corners.

Derek Jeter, Carl Crawford, Cliff Lee, and Jayson Werth have the Hot Stove burning up and the MLB landscape is bound to look different, with Jeter the only one likely to end up back with the same team.

Rumors are flying around like mosquitoes in the summer time. The non-stop talk about Jeter can also be related to mosquitoes because they both do one thing to people: annoy them.  

Enough about mosquitoes, it's time to get back to Hot Stove talk and address everything worth talking about right now in baseball.

The Detroit Tigers have already made a big splash in the 2010 offseason. Victor Martinez and Joaquin Benoit were key signings for Detroit. 

Detroit has said it would like to have a lower payroll than it had in 2010. After adding $29 million in new contracts (Brandon Inge, Jhonny Peralta, Martinez and Benoit), Detroit still has room to add another contract or two and still remain under the $60 million it dropped.

MLB Rumors continue to swirl as free agents Cliff Lee, Jayson Werth and Derek Jeter await their next massive deal.

The Yankees are considered the favorites to land Lee. But the Rangers remain in the picture with the new ownership group ready to spend following the World Series appearance.

While New York continues to talk to Lee, the fate of the Captain remains up in the air.

After both sides handled early negotiations through the media, they finally met face-to-face Tuesday in Tampa.