Nats outfielder eager to live up to contract It is a rite of passage for any top free agent in any professional sport. You sign the big contract with a new team and then begin the process of living up to it.
Nationals outfielder Jayson Werth was a fine complementary player the last four seasons for the Philadelphia Phillies. But there was never a question that Chase Utley, Ryan Howard and Jimmy Rollins were the biggest stars on a club that won four consecutive National League East titles, back-to-back pennants and a World Series championship in 2008.
During the offseason, Werth chose to join a division rival that has yet to post a winning record since it arrived in the District in 2005. At age 31, he agreed to a seven-year, $126 million contract with Washington that made waves throughout the sport. Some critics saw it as a vast overpayment by an organization that could have found a better use for that much money. The Nats saw it as a chance to add an All-Star at a position of need and once-and-for-all change the perception of a franchise long viewed as a loser. Their new right fielder will bat second when the team opens its season on Thursday afternoon at Nationals Park against the Atlanta Braves.
| The Werth file |
| » A first-round draft pick in 1997 (No. 22 overall) by the Baltimore Orioles. |
| » Career numbers at Nationals Park: 27-for-88, .307 batting average, six doubles, six home runs, 13 RBI. |
| » Werth was an NL All-Star in 2009 and finished eighth in the MVP voting last season. |
“I’ve never been anybody other than who I am. I’m going to be myself day-in and day-out,” Werth said shortly after signing with the Nats this winter. “I’m going to do the things in the clubhouse and off the field that maybe are overlooked in this game, but more often than not that create a winning atmosphere. … [But] I don’t have to prove anything to anybody other than my teammates.”
Werth is an excellent athlete with good range in right field and a powerful throwing arm. At the plate he had a .921 OPS last season, which ranked 10th overall in the league. Prior to that, Werth had two strong seasons with Philadelphia (.879 OPS in 2009, .861 in 2008).
But then the track record gets thin. He signed with the Phillies in 2007 as a reserve outfielder. Back then he was a former first-round pick who had yet to fulfill expectations with three different organizations.
But at 28, Werth performed well enough that first year in Philadelphia and earned a starting spot early in 2008, quickly becoming a key cog on a winning team. Can he keep up that level of production with his new club? The Nats are banking on it.
“I’ve got a philosophy of pitching, speed, defense, athleticism,” Washington general manager Mike Rizzo said in December. “We feel that’s how championship-caliber ball clubs in the National League are built. … We’ve taken those principles and brought in Jayson Werth because he exemplifies that type of player.”
