Glass Houses and Whatnot

I've been railing about the stupidity of giving these young players small renewals for a couple of weeks now, arguing that these guys are the exact people you don't want to piss off. The idea of giving Prince Fielder $600,000 when he'd be thrilled by $1m is complete idiocy in my eyes. Ditto for Papelbon, Cole Hamels, all those guys. Young, proven players are not the kinds of guys you want to plant the seed of discontent within, especially when they fit squarely into your idea of where your franchise is going. Penny wise and pound stupid is the classic expression, and I think it really fits in most of these cases.

So when I saw today that the Nationals had renewed Ryan Zimmerman for $465,000 this year, I almost shit a brick. Ryan, because he's a true class act, hasn't been whining about wanting more money the way some of the other young players have, but this gets my dander up. The persistent discussions about renewing him long term are this same brand of idiocy, with the front office vowing not to "break the bank" on Zimmerman. Zimmerman wants more than Troy Tulowitzki's 6 years and $31 million, and personally I feel like he should get it. Zimmerman's offense has been solid, his defense is exceptional, his leadership appears to be growing, and the most important factor, Ryan Zimmerman IS the Washington Nationals.


I know I'm spending the Lerners' money here, but give Zimmerman 6 years and $40 million if that's what it takes. I am absolutely convinced that without Ryan Zimmerman, this franchise is the same sad sack Expos who played half their home games in Puerto Rico. There are no other hallmark players on this team yet. There are guys you want to get behind, guys like Shawn Hill and Jay Bergmann who've had some impact on the team, and you'd like to see that continue, but you're not attached in the same way. Dmitri Young is a great story, but he's old and slow. He's a veteran presence for sure, and he'll be good for Elijah and Lastings Milledge, but he's not the kind of guy you build a franchise around. Chad Cordero has inexplicably good numbers when you look at what he throws, and part of me thinks without Schneider's excellent game calling, he'll fall apart this year. Additionally, the Chef (see what I did there? Because he serves up meatballs!) has been responsible for most of the heartbreaking single moments so far in the Nationals history. He too, while he may remain a perfectly good Closer for years to come, is not the kind of guy you build a team around.

When you look at the Nationals, there is really only one person who fits that bill, and the front office just decided to low ball him. Since Ryan is too much of a class act to complain, I'll do it for him.