According to Sports Illustrated's Jon Heyman, Jayson Werth has agreed to a seven-year deal with the Washington Nationals worth $126 million.
While Jon Morosi says the Tigers were in the Werth discussions until the very end, I can't blame Dave Dombrowski for not trying to outbid the Nationals on this one. Werth's deal averages out to be about $18 million per season when it's all said and done.
If Dombrowski offered him this kind of money, it would've ultimately landed him the same type of criticism he has received in recent years for Ordonez's latest contract, and Werth doesn't have even remotely close to the same track record Ordonez had when he was 31 years old.
For the Nats, who are looking to change the direction of their franchise, this isn't the worst deal, but it's a desperate deal the Tigers didn't need to make. (Also, it tells us how the Nationals felt about Adam Dunn, who wanted to stay in DC, but the Nationals weren't willing to give him the years he probably deserved).
The deal does hurt the Tigers' odds of re-signing Ordonez or snaring Carl Crawford, though. The Nationals somewhat came out of left field with this, which leaves several big name teams still looking for outfield help. As a result, this could drive up the price for Ordonez and force the Tigers to pay more for him than they would've originally preferred.
That is, of course, if they decide they must have him in their lineup with recent signee Victor Martinez and MVP candidate Miguel Cabrera. The Tigers certainly would like to have Maggs back in Detroit, but it seems they're being a little bit more responsible with their funds, despite having more than enough to compete with the wealthiest of teams (save the Yankees, duh).
We'll see what happens when the Winter Meetings begin tomorrow.