By placing Austin Kearns on the DL earlier in the month, the Nats missed the chance to shed the $3.4MM remaining on his salary, according to Tom Verducci of SI.com. An unknown team claimed Kearns when the Nats placed him on waivers, so Washington was in a position to shed the remaining $2.4MM on his 2009 contract and avoid the $1MM buyout for next year. However, they placed him on the DL, meaning he could no longer be claimed.
Verducci hears that the $3.4MM won't be the difference between signing Stephen Strasburg and failing to, but as one source says, saving the money "couldn't have hurt."
