Nationals Building For Years To Come
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By DERON SNYDER
With only three games remaining before the NFL season wraps up (no, the Pro Bowl doesn’t count), baseball will take the stage shortly, when spring training begins just ahead of March Madness. We still don’t know if Prince Fielder will be among the Washington Nationals reporting to Viera, Fla., but at least pitcher Gio Gonzalez will be settling in for a while.
Signing Gonzalez to a contract extension that bought out his four years of arbitration, and potentially three years of free agency, involved some risk for both parties. But the strategy helped the Cleveland Indians become a perennial powerhouse in the mid-‘90s, winning five consecutive AL Central titles and six in seven years.
If Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo has thoughts of emulating that success by locking up additional players, he can’t find a better sounding board than John Hart.
“Tampa Bay has done it as good as any club,” said Hart, an MLB Network analyst who served as the Indians GM from 1991 through 2001. “Number one, you’re able to fix the payroll and not be at the mercy of arbitration. Number two, it sends a great message to the fans and the ballclub, that the guy you traded for isn’t going to become a star you can’t afford.”
The Nats can afford any player they desire based on Ted Lerner’s status as baseball’s richest owner. And the rich are about to get richer, with the club’s rights fees from MASN expected to double or triple. Not that Lerner needs the extra revenue to sign Fielder, but adding the free agent slugger could increase the amount received for broadcast rights.
