The Nationals announced that they have officially signed Jerry Hairston Jr. to a one-year contract with a $2MM base salary. Hairston, a CAA client, can earn another $1MM in incentives.
Hairston hit .244/.299/.353 in 476 plate appearances for the Padres last year, playing all over the diamond, as usual. The 34-year-old appeared at short, second, third and in both corner outfield positions in 2010. Hairston hasn't shown much of a platoon split throughout his career; the right-handed batter has an OPS of about .700 against right-handers and left-handers.
The Nationals have been in the midst of a back-and-forth with the Mets this week. First, the Mets signed longtime Nats utlity player Willie Harris. Then the Nats signed former Mets utility player Alex Cora. We heard yesterday that the Mets are likely to sign Scott Hairston and the Nats responded by agreeing to terms with his brother today.
MLB.com's Bill Ladson first reported the deal, and Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports added details (Twitter links).
So that means it’ll be Mets vs. Nats, and Hairston vs. Hairston on Mets’ Opening Day!
Bench ‘warfare’!
Congrats to Jerry, fantastic for the Pads last year…..hopefully he can be a tad more patient at the plate with the nats.
Mets got the wrong brother at the right price.
More depth for the Nats. No really big moves of late by Rizzo, but a lot of incremental ones, and it should help keep them above water in ’11 as they gear up for Strasburg’s return and Harper’s arrival in 2012.
u serious laroche is one of the most underrated players in basebal just think the nats are getting the wrong players. THEY NEED PITCHING
So much for the Yanks getting Hairston Jr. for a sub at pretty much all positions, I thought he would’ve been a huge upgrade from Nunez and Pena, plus being able to play the OF to boot. Oh well, I guess the Yanks bench will have to be upgraded mid-season, yet again. Solid pick-up by the Nats, I’m excited to see how this season plays out for them.
Excellent! This is the guy they wanted. Looks like the Alex Cora signing was just an insurance move to put pressure on Hairston in the negotiations. “See, we’d love to sign you, but we’ve got someone else, so we’re not giving you the farm.” Nice work, Rizzo.
jealous
I dont remember a time when the roster looked this good going into spring training. Great job Mike Rizzo!!!
Of course they sign him- he meets the only pre-requisite- he has played for the Reds.
Im liking this Nats team it looks like somthing someone would do in mlb2k10
Two Hairstons, two deals, two days.
Perhaps I’m too big a believer in “clubhouse chemistry,” but I like these recent veteran utility signing for the Nats. A young team could really benefit from some wisdom from someone like Cora and/or Hairston. (Cora, incidentally, seems to be the run-away pick for active player who will manage some day, based on some SI poll last season.)
The Nats have done nothing but impressed me this whole offseason.
Nats fans should really thank Mike Rizzo, he has built the farm system, and now in his first year as GM we have made great strides to becoming a very solid team.
Jerry is seriously awesome, might have been the Padres MVP last season….cant believe the Pads didn’t have 2 Mil to keep him…but we have 6 for Ludwick? Oi vey