9:00am: The two sides have finalized a one-year deal that promises Kendrick a $6.25MM guarantee, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reports (Twitter link). It’s the same guarantee that Steve Pearce received from the Red Sox on the heels of his own postseason heroics following the 2018 World Series.
8:47am: The Nationals are “closing in” on a deal to bring postseason hero Howie Kendrick back to the team, Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post reports (via Twitter). It’ll be a one-year deal with a mutual option for the Reynolds Sports client once completed, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic tweets, adding that Kendrick spurned guaranteed two-year offers to return to Washington.
Kendrick, 36, has been nothing short of outstanding with the Nats over the past two seasons, hitting a combined .331/.375/.541 with 21 homers, 37 doubles and a triple through 530 plate appearances. With Ryan Zimmerman, Matt Adams, Brian Dozier and Asdrubal Cabrera all entering free agency, the Nats have some uncertainty at first base and second base, making a reunion with Kendrick a rather sensible pursuit.
Of course, as good as Kendrick has been during the regular season, it was his postseason heroics that truly endeared him to fans and entrenched his place in franchise lore. Kendrick’s 10th-inning grand slam against the Dodgers in the NLDS put Washington up for good and sent them toward a date with the Cardinals in the NLCS, where Kendrick was named the series MVP after hitting .333/.412/.600 in a four-game sweep. And in the World Series, it was Kendrick’s remarkable Game 7, opposite-field shot off the foul pole that put the Nationals ahead by a 3-2 margin they’d never relinquish.
Kendrick becomes the second member of the Nationals’ championship club to re-up on a new contract, joining catcher Yan Gomes, who agreed to a two-year, $10MM contract two weeks ago. The Nats still have bigger targets to address, as both Stephen Strasburg and Anthony Rendon are looming on the free-agent market, but Kendrick’s return shores up some infield needs and ensures that one of their most productive bats over the past two and a half seasons will remain in the fold.
Even with Kendrick aboard for another season, the Nationals’ 2020 payroll currently projects to about $132MM, while their luxury-tax considerations come in around $142MM (via Jason Martinez of Roster Resource). Viewed through that lens, it certainly seems as though the Nats have the payroll capacity to retain both Strasburg and Rendon, although owner Mark Lerner perhaps dubiously suggested otherwise yesterday in claiming his club could only afford to sign one of its two departing stars to a long-term deal. The Nats do have some pricey arbitration cases beginning to mount — Trea Turner is a second-time-eligible Super Two player in 2020 and Juan Soto will be eligible in 2021 — but Patrick Corbin is currently the only player the team has signed beyond the 2021 campaign.
Love Howie.
You would.
You don’t?
He seemed to always hurt the Yankees when he was an angel. Always one of the toughest outs.
No surprise
Where did Ted get the money?
Nothing not to like about Howie but this signing reminds me of Boston inking Pearce and Eovaldi last year. Hope it doesn’t work out the same way.
Not even close to being the same. The Red Sox guys have not had the consistency over time of Howie Kendrick. Howie’s a pro.
I wonder why the article mentioned it then.
Because both were World Series MVPs and received the same dollar amount one year guarantee. You didn’t read the article you couldn’t see that?
Similarities end there.
The only time Steve Pearce and Howie Kendrick are mentioned in the same sentence is when people say, “Steve Pearce is no Howie Kendrick.”
Howie has been far and away the better player but my point was (in my head if not mentioned in my earlier post) was his history of injuries matches Eovaldi and until last year, Pearce had no such history that I’m aware of. The Sox overpaid on both last year but if healthy, they would have likely been productive even if not up to 2018 standards. I expect the same out of Kendrick. At his age, I’m not expecting him to again be WS MVP.
Makes sense Dewey, good stuff.
The length and $ are the same. That’s it. Pearce is more of a one hit wonder though.
Absolutely but never had the injury history and that’s what I was referencing in 2018. Kendrick has been all star caliber when healthy.
Why doesn’t anyone ever mention loss of Cabrera or Adams when they mention loss of Zimmerman and Dozier? They played a lot, too.
Think about it
Adams has a 0.0 War over 310 ABs – there is better available. They also need to decide on a starter to see what platoon mate they may need. I’m not sure why Cabrera isn’t really being mentioned – he’s a switch hitter and was good last year
Need some good news after Lerner dampened spirits yesterday. This is HOWIE do it!
Man, I’m on a role! Although this was pretty predictable
What’s your role on? TV? A Commercial? A movie perhaps?
Yikes, Phil.
Would’ve liked to see the Dodgers bring him back
At the parade he mentioned losing his love for the game while with another team. I’m pretty sure he was talking about the Dodgers
I think he was actually talking about the Phillies there. They were his last team before the Nats.
I dunno. He was there for only 40 games before being traded to us. Look at the stats and his numbers in LA were the worst of his career.
couldve been Philly due to the injuries though. that year was not kind on him health-wise.
was thinking the same thing as a Phillie fan. cant believe we trade him away for McKenzie Mills/a handfull of at-bats from Justin Bour.
Agree. I always liked him, never liked trading him away, even if we did suck. Better utility/bench option than any of the crap we’ve had recently
Would like to see the Phillies bring Brad Miller back as a bench piece, he showed some real pop down the stretch last year. Although hes not a very good defender, he would at least provide depth all around the diamond.
He warned every penny of this for what he did in the playoffs. Any production is a bonus.
Sure, he was hot, but do you really think a warning was required?
And really, what can you threaten a penny with?
Low interest rates? Putting it in a coin roll? No, wait- train tracks. Yeah, train tracks would do it I bet.
Lol comment of the day there Chico. Cracked me up with the train tracks
Guess this means Zimmerman moves on.
Not at all, Howie is just a part time guy, as is Zimm. They will both hold down similar roles is 2020 as they did in 2018. Just a matter of time before Zimm signs too
Nah, they’ll bring Zim back. Still no full-time option at 1B. Zim and a Matt Adams-like young guy at 1B.
Kieboom and a Asdrubal-type player at 2B.
And Howie playing either of those (or OF or 3B?) about every other day.
This is such a underrated move. This guy hits above average. Hard to strike out and is beyond clutch. So many bums signing for more.
You gotta be kidding me 6 mil…to this guy yes hes good with the bat but horrible defensively…6 mil that could of went towards Stras or Ant.
6 mil won’t make much of a difference in 100m+ contracts. If it’s that big a deal, they could just structure the contract to spread 6 mill from a Rendon/Stras deal into future years (assuming they don’t just defer it).
His offense is worth more than $6 million!
And im over here thinking its amazing the Nats got him back on such a small deal…
Horribly defensively? Do you make this stuff up as you go along? You can say it all you want, it doesn’t make it true.
Frist Base last year. DRS -1.
Second base DRS +1.
Don’t play him at 3rd. he was -2.
Mac he played 300 innings or less at every position last year. Not nearly enough time for those defensive metrics to mean anything. You need a much larger sample for them to be relevant.
It’s fairly evident at this point in his career that Howie is not a very good defensive player. He has a ton of value with the bat and certainly brings excess value on a 6 million dollar deal. That’s before you consider any other intangible assets he may bring.
336 innings at 1B, 166 innings at 2B, 99 innings at 3B. Not a ton at any position, but added together…. nearly half a season of basically average defense no matter where he played.
But I agree on overall value. If min PAs was 350 instead of 500, he has highest average and is 12th in OPS across both leagues. Higher average, SLG, and OPS than Soto.
Average defense and that sort of offensive production, even half time, is awesome. Two $6M guys like him = a $20-25M player.
That’s not how those statistics work though. If he would’ve had 1000 innings at 1B or 2b you might have something to draw on. 300 innings at any one position isn’t enough to tell you anything. Fangraphs says as much in their description of the statistic.
There was a point in time where I didn’t know that either. But it makes perfect sense. You need a lot of data for those measures to have any degree of reliability.
I’m just spreading the knowledge. I see people quote them for insignificant sample sizes often; I just want to alert them that they’re extremely unreliable at that level.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effec…
$6 million is a drop in the bucket today. Especially to a veteran player who stepped up big in the playoffs last year and is probably viewed as a leader in the clubhouse. More to baseball than just analytics.
Jordy stinking Mercer got $5M last year….$6M for a guy who plays all over the diamond, ,leads your team in the clubhouse and hits 330 with pop? Screaming bargain…should be $10-11m, he took a home town discount for sure
He’s such a class act, too. Loved having him with the Halos for all those years. Way underrated.
Looks like he finally tapped into that “batting title” potential, too. Play your heart out and stay happy, HK47!!! You’ve earned it man.
even if he has a really bad year he at least deserves the money for his role in the WS win
Did anyone actually think the Nationals were going to let him leave?
Hopeful fans said “No way they let him leave,” about Howie, Strasburg, and Rendon.
1 for 3 so far…..
Good move for the Nats. They should consider bringing in a guy like Logan Morrison as a left handed compliment to Howie at 1B. If Morrison gets hot and they want to get both of them into the lineup they would have the luxury of moving Howie around the diamond or into an OF corner on occasion.
Excellent news. People/articles keep giving Boras free marketing regarding Rendon and Stras, but the Nationals would not have won the World Series without Howie. This man is a staple on that team. The class and leadership this man brings is not easy to replace. Not to mention he is a hitting machine. He is worth every dollar.
free marketing? I’m sure all 30 teams know all about Rendon and Stras being FAs and all.
I hope he continues to rake this year,too. Still he’s 36 going on 37 and coming off a career year so the odds of regression and age are high.
This is why they kept his at bats and days in a row to a minimum. I’m sure they will do the same this year.
Good shout @nats3256
All part of the plan that led them from 19-32 (or whatever it was) to winning it all. Outstanding team management. That and trusting a mostly veteran line-up and pitching staff to do their thing and sort it out themselves.
Nice to keep a player that will be a legend in Washington forever.
Just inside top 25 career at 2b since integration, 1947. Nice cherry on top for him to get a ring, be a hero, and get another payday.
baseball-reference.com/tiny/Lsrr0
Speaking of, this should be the last weekend in history that Lou Whitaker is not in the Hall of Fame
Agreed!
this was bound to happen
Bring back the Truck! Can’t believe AL team didn’t blow this out with much higher 2-yr deal. Do they not understand the hitter he has become? Yes, health issues, but roll dice with a barrel machine. Maybe Howie just wants to drive.
He reportedly turned down 2 year deals
Have always loved this guy! But as a Braves fan, was hoping he’d end up in AL or out west.
Great news for baseball! The Asterisks would’ve likely had another title if not for HK47. He should be drinking for free in DC at least another year.
True, but Soto, Rendon, Strasburg and even the bullpen, which was their biggest weakness this year also played a big role in denying the Asterisks of their 2nd title in 3 years.
Silly arguments about whether Howie’s stats merit this contract. You never saw Howie drive the car. If you don’t know what that means, you aren’t a Nats fan.
Nice Deal for him.
Halo fans were rooting for Howie. So glad to see HK47 shine on the big stage. I have to admit though I do miss Scioscia calling him “Howard” all the time.
This is good news, because the Nationals will certainly missed him when he’s gone.
My vision is going early. I read it as a 9 year deal
Maybe it’ll be deferred over 9 years?
Haha. Very real possibility!
Good move for the nats he was clutch all season. And was a beast in the playoffs.