Nationals third baseman Ryan Zimmerman opened up about his next contract, talking to beat writer Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post on Sunday. Zimmerman, who has repeatedly stated his desire to remain with the Nationals beyond his current contract, expressed confidence that a new deal will get done.
Kilgore lays out the many factors sure to figure into the negotiations. Troy Tulowitzki and Ryan Braun will come up as comparables, which is cool since the three players were drafted so close together in 2005. The new portion of Tulo's contract averages $19MM per year over six free agent years, while Braun received $21MM per year over five. Braun received more per year than Tulowitzki partly because he was closer to free agency, so will Zimmerman receive more than Braun since he's just two seasons away? Zimmerman told Kilgore he's going to need a contract longer than his current five-year pact, and that 29-year-old free agents get seven to ten years. Noted Zimmerman, "You only get one shot to try to get a big deal; if you’re lucky enough to get one shot, that’s the time you have to get it."
Kilgore touches on Zimmerman's injury history, a major factor. Out of six full seasons in the bigs, Zimmerman has missed large chunks of two of them. He had a shoulder injury in 2008, after which he signed his five-year, $45MM contract. This year, he had surgery to repair a torn abdominal muscle. The Nationals know better than anyone whether these two injuries were isolated occurrences.
Back in March, Zimmerman remarked that "if you have one year before free agency, you might as well play your year out and see what happens." That feeling hasn't changed much, as he told Kilgore Sunday that while he wouldn't completely rule out an extension with one year left before free agency, when a player gets to that point in his career he wants to make teams compete against each other. If the Nationals want to hammer out an extension with Zimmerman and his agent Brodie Van Wagenen of CAA Sports, they've probably got a year or less to do so, since he's signed through 2013.
Zimmmerman is thinking at least seven years, which would take him through the 2020 season and tie him with Braun and Tulo for the latest any player is currently under contract. Kilgore tosses out an eight-year, $175MM figure if Zimmerman wants to exceed Jayson Werth by $1MM through 2017 and then continue for another four years at $22MM per. Such a contract would be the sixth-largest in baseball history, and he'd be the only player signed through 2021. Zimmerman doesn't think his injury this year affects his contract situation at all, and if Washington matched Kilgore's estimate it'd suggest they feel the same.
That’s a lot of dough. If I were the Nats I think I would take my chances via FA.
yep. nationals’ hedge: anthony rendon
Anthony Rendon? a guy who was just drafted and hasn’t even played in the minors. Yea the nats are gonna let Zimmerman go for Rendon. That would be so stupid for them.
zimmerman isn’t going anywhere until 2014, so i think rendon might have a minute or two to prepare
However, it is not out of the realm of possibility that Rendon is more than ready at age 23 during the 2013 season, which just so happens to be the last year that Zimmerman is signed through. You don’t base the decision on whether or not to sign Zimmerman long-term on this, but it’s definitely part of the thought process.
Nats have no choice but to sign him. He is the real deal. You can’t throw money at Werth and then let this guy walk.
The Dbacks should throw the farm at this guy in the offseason. They’ll only have him for 2 years but with Bauer and Skaggs coming up it makes them legit WS contenders.
good
You do realize that Zimmerman is under contract with the Nats for two more years, right? So “throwing the farm at him” means trying to trade with the Nats for Zimmerman. I’d guess to get Zimmerman it would take Upton, Hudson and/or Kennedy and a couple of AAA guys.
I like Zimmerman a lot, but the idea of Zimmerman for Upton straight up is hilarious enough without adding the “plus” to the mix.
Upton? Good one… Rizzo knows their chance to compete is 2013 and beyond. If they believe he’ll re-sign then this talk is useless but Strasburg, Rendon, Harper will be ready to make an impact by then and Phillies will be aging. If Washington can get the farm for Zimm’s remaining 2 years it would make sense for them to do so.
You do realize that Zimmerman is under contract with the Nats for two more years, right? So “throwing the farm at him” means trying to trade with the Nats for Zimmerman. I’d guess to get Zimmerman it would take Upton, Hudson and/or Kennedy and a couple of AAA guys.
you have to resign him, he is the franchise player of the Nats. Would be cool if more players started pulling a “jered weaver”, but i doubt that will happen
Any team that gives a contract of 7-10 years should get a huge discount in terms of per yearly salary. Giving him 20-22 million per is fine but 7-10 years is to risky, he will never earn his contract. If Zimmerman really thinks another team will pay him more they should sell now and take their chances to sign him as a free agent. I know “the Nats signed Werth so they should sign him too.” The problem with that is they would then have 40+ million tied up in two players for the next 6 years(this is not the Yankees). If Zimmerman gets hurt and we know Werth sucks you have now spent 40 million for what? The Nats need to get a package of 2 A’s and couple B prospects and save their money. In the last 6 seasons Zimmerman has only hit .300(Once) 30+HR(once) 100 RBI(twice) and the number is 175 million for 8 years? He’s not worth more then 15 million a season and NO WAY the team takes the risk of 8 years.
This is how teams like the Nats, Jays, Giants, Cubs and others spend their selves out of contention for years. Werth, Wells, Soriano, Zambrano, and Zito can slow a francise from competing for years.
The giants just won the WS. When have the Jays ever spent themselves out of contention? The cubs just misallocated the funds. They might be the only relevant comparison.
The giants just won the WS. When have the Jays ever spent themselves out of contention? The cubs just misallocated the funds. They might be the only relevant comparison.
At this point the Werth contract does seem bad. Do you have any other instances the Nats misspent. Did they resign Dunn or Soriano? Why aren’t the White Sox on this list? Can the billionaire Lerners really spend themselves out of contention for years with the Werth contract? The Giants (World Series champs) really seemed to have spent themselves out of contention. Since the Yankees didn’t win the series they apparently very well may have spent themselves out with all the bad contracts that they have taken on.
LOL, The ants need WAY more than 2A’s and a couple B prospects. If they were to trade him, which the never will. They would have to get two young high ceiling players already in the majors, 2 A prospects and a b prospect
I respect Zimmerman and I hope he does well for himself but I think it’s kind of funny that he says that you only get one chance at a large contract when he’s playing out a five year, $45 million dollar deal as we speak. Most of us would consider that a pretty big deal.
but obviously he is not talking about most of us.
I respect Zimmerman and I hope he does well for himself but I think it’s kind of funny that he says that you only get one chance at a large contract when he’s playing out a five year, $45 million dollar deal as we speak. Most of us would consider that a pretty big deal.