Washington Nationals reach one-year deal with Stephen Strasburg

The Washington Nationals may have not done a whole lot this offseason, but they took care of some housekeeping earlier this afternoon. The front office reached a one-year agreement with their ace, Stephen Strasburg. The contract is worth just $7.4 million, which is pretty cheap for a guy as talented as him. However, all the contract accomplished was avoiding arbitration, which although isn’t such a huge deal, is big to get out of the way.

A lot was made about Strasburg when he came into the league and made his debut in the middle of the 2010 season. He started 12 games in his rookie year, pitching to an ERA of 2.91 and a WHIP of 1.07. However, towards the end of his first season, he suffered an injury that required him to get Tommy John surgery and miss almost the entire 2011.

He started just five games in his second year, and there was question as whether or not this injury would affect the rest of his career. However, he has answered those questions over the last three seasons, and has shut critics’ mouths all around.

Over the next three years following his procedure, he has pitched to ERA’s of under 3.20, and has started 28 games or more in each season. Although injuries have continued to plague him a bit, he has been a consistent guy that the Nats could rely on to go out there about every five days or so.

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He has also built a name for himself. He is now pretty much a fixture in the All Star game, and is known league-wide as one of the top pitchers in the National League. However, he is only the spearhead of a very impressive Washington Nationals rotation.

The fact that I could name four players from the rotation and most people will recognize them, says a lot right there. Ever heard of Gio Gonzalez? You know, the guy that has finished the season top five in NL CY Young voting twice. What about Jordan Zimmerman, or former Detroit Tiger Doug Fister, who pitched lights-out for Washington last season?

Fister himself held a record of 16-6 with a 2.41 ERA. To the shock of absolutely no one, the Nats ended the season with the best team-ERA in all of baseball.

Even with those other three guys, there is no question that Washington would not be the same team without Strasburg. Not only has he performed incredibly ever since coming into the league four and a half years ago, but he has also been the voice and the leader of this club.

This is a big move and the Nats don’t really need to do much to stay atop the National League. However, as I have stated before, another bat or two certainly wouldn’t hurt. That discussion, however, is for a different time.