Stephen Strasburg to Opt Out of Contract with Washington Nationals
Every year the World Series is won by a team in baseball. Every year, that team is afforded little time before they’re reminded that baseball is a business. The Washington Nationals got their dose of this on the day of the celebratory parade of their championship run. Less than a week after winning the World Series, World Series MVP Stephen Strasburg has opted out of his remaining four years. This was first reported by Mark Feinsand of MLB.com.
Strasburg will enter the free agent market as the second of two premier starting pitchers to be had this offseason. He will be joining Gerrit Cole in a market that has surely just changed with this news. Even though Strasburg turns 31 next year, he is likely looking for one of the final lucrative mega-deals of his career. The structure of Stephen Strasburg’s deal is such that he is opting out of about $88 million, this according to Feinsand on Twitter.
The Choice
It is a no brainer for Strasburg to opt out of the remaining years on his deal. He is coming off of a great year where he threw an MLB-leading 209 innings of 3.32 ERA baseball. Strasburg did his part in making himself more money by absolutely dominating the playoffs. He won five games and held opponents to eight earned runs in 36 1/3 innings of postseason baseball. He capped it off by winning the World Series MVP.
The market for Stephen Strasburg will be robust, as will the market for starting pitching, in general, this year. This postseason saw two rotations go toe-to-toe with a three-headed monster in the World Series while dominating their competition en route. It showed the importance of the starting pitcher once again, and Strasburg is looking to cash in.
Main Photo
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