Stephen Strasburg returns to Nationals and begins domino effect in free-agent market

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Stephen Strasburg returning to the Washington Nationals was something that had been somewhat expected heading into free agency, but now we have a number to put on it.

According to multiple reports, the 2019 World Series MVP is staying in the nation’s capital on a seven-year, $245 million contract.

That number, $35 million per year, is the highest average annual value for a pitcher in league history. Beyond taking one of the two elite free-agent pitchers off the market, it now gives a number for Gerrit Cole, the other elite free-agent pitcher, to base his upcoming contract off of.

Currently, Cole is being most heavily connected to the Yankees and Angels. Strasburg returning to the Nationals takes the backup plan off the board for those teams. Does that increase the urgency from those teams and hasten negotiations?

How much money does Cole get? He is two years younger than Strasburg so getting an eight-year deal isn’t out of the question. He’s also better than Strasburg so he will be expecting more money per year. 

The next piece of fallout from Strasburg’s deal is what this means for Anthony Rendon. Rendon was the other marquee Nationals free agent and word from Nationals owner Mark Lerner was that the Nationals wouldn’t be able to keep both Strasburg and Rendon.

If that’s accurate, that means Rendon is headed elsewhere. Do the White Sox have a shot at him? There isn’t much out there to say the answer to that is yes right now, but any time the incumbent team appears to be out of the running there’s a shot something surprising happens.

Rendon’s connection to the White Sox is tenuous at the moment, but the South Siders have been more tied to other available pitchers like Madison Bumgarner, Dallas Keuchel and Hyun-Jin Ryu. With Strasburg off the board and Cole potentially signing soon, things could move quickly for the other available pitchers.

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