Washington Nationals Jump in On the Fun, Agrees to Terms with Jayson Werth

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.

General manager Mike Rizzo announced today they have agreed to terms with veteran outfielder Jayson Werth to a seven-year, $126 million deal.

Werth was on of the two best outfielders this year on the market with Carl Crawford. That's no small statement.

The Washington Nationals are going to make be legit contenders in a couple of years. But Werth just guaranteed it in just five. If you still don't believe it, maybe this list of players will show you:

1. Jayson Werth: five-tool player.
2. Ryan Zimmerman: great bat, arm and glove.
3. Ivan Rodriguez: mentor to young catchers, handles pitching staff well.
4. Josh Willingham: dependable 20 home runs per season.

There are many more players, especially with big potentials such as Roger Bernadina, Ian Desmond and Nyjer Morgan.

The four listed players are the ones the team is to be built around with.

Not to mention, have you heard of guys like Stephen Strasburg and Bryce Harper?

There's also Jason Marquis rebounding from his injury-filled season in 2010.

All-in-all, this team has many positives, and it's going in a good direction towards winning: in pitching and offensively.

Getting back to Werth, let's see what he has done over the last three years. He has hit 87 home runs, and drove in 251 RBIs. Even with the good bat, he has thrown runners out with his strong accurate arm, and has robbed hits with his great glove. Let's just also add he has stolen 53 bases during that time.

He is just a great player overall at the age of 31. It's not like he is in his mid-30s where you don't know what you are going to get.

Werth will certainly fill the hole left by slugger Adam Dunn who signed with the Chicago White Sox just a couple of days ago.

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