Stephen Strasburg Retires

[imref]

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/nationals/2023/09/07/stephen-strasburg-retirement-washington-nationals/70788914007/

Just seems baffling that the team would try and low-ball Strasburg when he has absolutely no incentive to take anything that doesn't pay him the full amount of the contract.

[HalfSmokes]

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/nationals/2023/09/07/stephen-strasburg-retirement-washington-nationals/70788914007/

Just seems baffling that the team would try and low-ball Strasburg when he has absolutely no incentive to take anything that doesn't pay him the full amount of the contract.

If they force him to go to WPB to rehab, we'll know how bad it's gotten. Is Lerner Enterprises on the verge of bankruptcy? The level of cost cutting has gone from predictably cheap to Major League level comical in the last month

[OfftheBat]

With the Rizzo thing, the scouts being let go and now the Strasburg confusion, is it possible the Lerner's other businesses are tanking. Just seems strange all these things are coming at once.

Might be possible, it'd be interesting to look at their companies' latest financial statements if they are available...

[UMDNats]

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/nationals/2023/09/07/stephen-strasburg-retirement-washington-nationals/70788914007/

Just seems baffling that the team would try and low-ball Strasburg when he has absolutely no incentive to take anything that doesn't pay him the full amount of the contract.

So apparently this isn't actually the case and Manfred is the one who stopped it, FYI.

[imref]

So apparently this isn't actually the case and Manfred is the one who stopped it, FYI.

Bowden deleted his tweet claiming apparently that Manfred didn't want the nationals to make a big deal of paying Strasburg.

[Lintyfresh85]

Lerners are cheap! I hope Stras sits on his ass and doesn't retire and collects every penny he's owed.

[nfotiu]

I'm kind of lost in all of this.   TalkNats still has Bowden's tweet screenshot.

https://twitter.com/TalkNats/status/1700175589762560177

What is the bad look on the team?   Manfred didn't want the Nats to let him retire and still agree to pay his whole salary, but it is the Nats who are the bad guy?   And how does that make them cheap?

[JCA-CrystalCity]

Lerners are cheap! I hope Stras sits on his ass and doesn't retire and collects every penny he's owed.

Lerners are not cheap because  . . . I don't know.

[Natsinpwc]

Not sure what to believe now. How hard would it be to declare him medically unable to play (as was done with Fielder) and then let him work out a settlement with the Nats on the deferred money timeframe. No harm done to anyone including MLB.

[Kevrock]

https://x.com/markzuckerman/status/1700264001337221275?s=46

Lol. And Mark negotiating through the media as he called others out for it. Yikes.

[Slateman]

Private negotiations getting leaked. I've heard this one before.

[SkinsNatFan21RIP]

Good lord this team needs new ownership badly. I appreciate the World Series win but it’s time for the Lerners to move on. Maybe Josh Harris and crew can buy the Nats too…

[Mattionals]

Good lord this team needs new ownership badly. I appreciate the World Series win but it’s time for the Lerners to move on. Maybe Josh Harris and crew can buy the Nats too…

The DC metro area has two baseball teams that are run by equally incompetent morons.

[imref]

https://x.com/markzuckerman/status/1700264001337221275?s=46

Lol. And Mark negotiating through the media as he called others out for it. Yikes.

The line about looking forward to seeing strasburg at spring training seemed like quite the dig at him.

[NatsLSU]

Very Dan Snyder’ish by the Nats here. Real bad look.

[Smithian]

I’m morally opposed to Strasburg getting $100 million to walk away.

I’m also morally opposed to the Lerner family leaning on Strasburg to let them out of a signed contract.

Both sides lose at this. Nats fan lose the most the longer this goes on.

[nfotiu]

The line about looking forward to seeing strasburg at spring training seemed like quite the dig at him.

If he wants to quit trying to rehab and retire, then there should be some give and take on settling the contract.   Otherwise it's retire and get nothing further, or keep trying to get back on the field and keep getting paid.

Boras is the villian in all this.   He gets his stable paid for sure, but at what cost.   Harper worked out well, Rendon is enemy #1 on the Angels, Soto looks to be feeling some pressure and has lost a lot of his shine going into his free agency.   

If Boras had worked out a no nonsense/no option 8-9 year deal for Strasburg at the beginning and he broke down after 5-6, then we'd all love him.   Instead, the only way Strasburg stayed was with an option contract that put all the risk on the Nats.  All the cards came up Boras where the option came up at the perfect moment, and we ended up in a place where he got a brand new 7 year contract that he provided absolutely no value on whatsoever.

Yeah, all that maneuvering worked out perfectly from a financial standpoint for Boras and Strasburg, but maybe acknowledged that you've provided zero value on a 245 million contract and find some room to give so that you can go live your life in peace.

I'm no fan of the Lerners at this point either, so don't really care if they get stuck with the bill.   I guess I'm just being long winded agreeing with Smithian above, and screw them all.

[Natsinpwc]

The contract must be met under the CBT no matter what. There must have been some negotiations about possibly changing the payout of deferred money.  No reason for Strasburg to walk away.  The Lerners knew the risks. They took the risk and lost. 

[Slateman]

I’m morally opposed to Strasburg getting $100 million to walk away.

I’m also morally opposed to the Lerner family leaning on Strasburg to let them out of a signed contract.

Both sides lose at this. Nats fan lose the most the longer this goes on.

Why are you morally opposed to Stras getting paid? Its not like he's being lazy and refusing to work. Its not like he just sucked and is trying to duck playing. Strasburg's body is literally failing and there is nothing he can do about it.

[Slateman]

If he wants to quit trying to rehab and retire, then there should be some give and take on settling the contract.   Otherwise it's retire and get nothing further, or keep trying to get back on the field and keep getting paid.

Strasburg isnt quitting. He is likely going to be getting treatment and therapy for the rest of his life. And thats to do every day stuff, like take out the trash and drive his kids to school. So every spring training, he's going to come with a note from his doctors that say that he needs 3-6 months of non-baseball activity, in order to conduct therapy for nerve damage.

Boras is the villian in all this.   He gets his stable paid for sure, but at what cost.   Harper worked out well, Rendon is enemy #1 on the Angels, Soto looks to be feeling some pressure and has lost a lot of his shine going into his free agency.   

Boras is not, nor has he ever been, the villain. He works for the player. He gets the best deal in the place his client wants.

Lerners negotiated against themselves. No one else was going to give him that many years. Particularly since it was obvious Strasburg was willing to take less to stay.

[HalfSmokes]

Along with Zimmerman, Stras should have been positioned to be a long term ambassador for the team. He’s still one of the most beloved players the nats have ever produced and the Lerners’ cheapness is going to poison that relationship

[1995hoo]

Lerner is correct, however, that the team never announced anything for today. Various media ran reports based on anonymous "sources" and treated those as a established fact. Now their reports are being shown to have been unreliable or unfounded, so they have to find someone other than themselves to blame. Maybe part of the lesson here is not to rely on anonymously sourced media reports that lack corroboration beyond other anonymously sourced media reports.

[Smithian]

Why are you morally opposed to Stras getting paid? Its not like he's being lazy and refusing to work. Its not like he just sucked and is trying to duck playing. Strasburg's body is literally failing and there is nothing he can do about it.

I don’t like fully guaranteed contracts that don’t require you showing up to do the work.

I like Strasburg. I think he has worked as hard as humanly possible to get back. Not his fault baseball contracts are structured in a way this internet posters doesn’t like.

I think ultimately he gets his full money. Just depends on how much pain the Lerners want on the way out of the door.

[Natsinpwc]

I don’t like fully guaranteed contracts that don’t require you showing up to do the work.

I like Strasburg. I think he has worked as hard as humanly possible to get back. Not his fault baseball contracts are structured in a way this internet posters doesn’t like.

I think ultimately he gets his full money. Just depends on how much pain the Lerners want on the way out of the door.

He has to get his full money under the collective bargaining agreement.  He is medically unfit to play. This is about how long to stretch the deferred money.

You might not like guaranteed contracts but that is the reality in MLB.  So be it. This is just a distraction from the rebuild. And a clue that the owners won’t pay the money they need to in order to compete long term. That’s what is really sad to me. Just sell the damn team. They had a fair offer apparently.

Also he has been showing up to do the work. All he can do is rehab.

[aspenbubba]

As I stated last Thursday it is in the best interest of both parties to negotiate a settlement. If Strasburg doesn’t go to WPB when pitchers and catchers are due to report and start the rehab process away from his family for 6 months then he doesn’t get paid. He is in violation of his contract. Obviously Mark Lerner is in agreement as his last comment was “ see you in ST”.