I dont think of Stras as an ace. But even if you do, there were several other pitchers that were his equal the last three seasons. And you have two other "aces"
Rendon is a top 5 player in all of baseball. You're not going to make that up. Theres a huge drop off between him and Donaldson, particularly two or three years from now.
And then there are injury histories to consider.
If money is really that tight, then find a way to cut it from somewhere else. Hunter Strickland, Wilmer Difo, and Michael Taylor can be replaced with minimum level guys. Give Sanchez an extension that lowers his AAV.
If the Nats turn in a sub-90 win, non-playoff campaign, they will lose the entire fanbase they just gained with this postseason run.
These contracts are never about the next 1-2 years, they are about the years after those. And the money comments are never about the Lerners keeping more money for themselves, they are much more about how to best allocate salary next year and years going forward.
It seems that Rizzo's directive for a while now has been to plan and build a team that is a contender every year at a budget that can brush up against the lux tax but not go over.
I don't know what term both these guys are really seeking, but if they are both 6-7 years, then signing them both brings a real risk we could end up with 70-80 million tied up in 2 guys who are nowhere near worth that for a good 3-4 years.
Looking at it unemotionally, I don't see how signing both makes good long term sense from a baseball standpoint, and could very easily lead to a few very bad years.
I never thought we'd sign both anyways. I also don't think any other team is going to sign two of Stras, Rendon or Cole.
As to who to sign, I've always though that a starting pitcher is a better value in free agency through their mid 30s than a position player is. It's easy to say we have 2 or 3 other great starters. but losing Strasburg means we go from having Stras,Max,Corbin,Sanchez,other to Max,Corbin,other,other and we're basically replacing Strasburg with Fedde and that's probably a bigger difference over a year than replacing Rendon with Donaldson.
I appreciate how this team is managed. As much as I'd love to keep the band together and see what happens, I am ok with our management considering the long term risk of going for it. I want to watch 162+ entertaining games in 3 years just as badly as I do next year.
I also think that this year validated that approach of fielding a contender every year vs blowing it up and trying to build a powerhouse that more than likely will not win it all anyway.
