Right now, the Washington Nationals are making big headlines on the eve of the NL Wildcard Playoff game. The reason for this is the news trickled out – the timing is ironic – that they have offered Anthony Rendon a seven year, $215ish million dollar extension.
Furthermore, the news was parroted by several sources on twitter with it originating from Barry Svrluga at The Washington Post.
Anthony Rendon is coming off an MVP-caliber season. He’s headed to free agency. The Nats are trying to keep him with an offer made earlier this month: seven years in the $210-215M range. https://t.co/4VhJ1u4CVl
— Barry Svrluga (@barrysvrluga) September 30, 2019
Rendon is coming off a 6.3 bWAR season where he hit .319 with 34 home runs. Therefore, he should get MVP votes in November and is widely considered the marquee offensive free agent on the market this winter.
Here’s what his general manager Mike Rizzo had to say regarding his star player on Monday.
“His season was outstanding,” Nationals General Manager Mike Rizzo said Monday. “. . . He’s a consummate professional. He’s as low-maintenance a superstar as there is in the game, one of the best players that nobody knows about, and he’s a true credit to the scouting and player development staffs here in Washington that drafted him, signed him, developed him and watched him turn into a superstar.”
Indeed, the Nationals are no stranger to developing a ‘superstar’ and then watching them leave. For instance, Bryce Harper was offered a competitive contract by the Nationals this past offseason only to see him jump ship for division rival Philadelphia on a slightly larger (and longer) deal.
It’s worth asking why the Nationals can’t seem to keep their players. For example, here’s what Rendon had to say earlier this season about testing free agency rather than signing an extension with Washington.
“I mean, if you’re giving me the opportunity and saying I’m this close from going to go car shopping from multiple lots, instead of staying in one lot, I mean, what would you do?”
In short, it sounds like Rendon is planning to jump ship to the highest bidder. Surely, a little surprising given that Washington has assembled a team that should contend for the next several years.
With the postseason on-deck for Rendon and the Nationals, it will be interesting to see what storyline develops. Finally, it’s interesting that this news makes way out when it did. Perhaps with that home crowd on-hand tomorrow night in Washington, the organization wanted as much positive jingoism as possible at Nationals Park? Remember, the Nationals have still never won a postseason series in their team history.
