With the update of nationals.com Trade Page News of Stephen Strasburg’s official retirement became public as negotiations over how exactly to end his career hit a deadlock and a rumored ceremony ended up being called off. It was less than a year ago.
Currently 35 years old, the current status update for the 2009 No. 1 overall pick comes 667 days after his 2019 pick. world series MVP last pitched in a Nationals uniform on June 9, 2022.
Strasburg never fully recovered from thoracic outlet surgery in 2021, but the club and pitcher are still dealing with a series of injuries, nerve issues, and health concerns that the starter has suffered in the years since helping the club. I was hoping to get back on the mound. Won the 2019 Fall Classic. After winning the World Series, he signed a seven-year, $245 million contract with the Nationals, but he ended up starting just eight games and throwing just 31 pitches. 1⁄3 Number of innings over the past five years.
As USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reported last night, Strasburg “will receive the remaining $105 million of his original contract bonus.” [7-year/$245M deal]“…a person with direct knowledge of the situation told USA TODAY Sports,” the person spoke on condition of anonymity. “…because the team had not announced the terms of Strasburg’s retirement.
Photo by: Kelly Gavin/MLB Photo by: Getty Images
GM and Director of Baseball Operations Mike Rizzo talked about the need to find a solution over the winter, telling reporters at winter meetings that while he didn’t want to talk about “the Strasburg situation,” he The spot, which admittedly was problematic to have selected on the 40-man roster, was clearly not ideal. He was placed on the 60-day IL again before opening day.
“But these things are beyond your and my pay grade,” Rizzo said.
“We’re going to let the players’ union and Major League Baseball resolve this. The bottom line is that Stephen Strasburg is ours too. He’s a pillar of the organization.
“His name will be on the Ring of Honor one day. And I love the guy. So I’ll leave it there.”
Rizzo speaks before the 2024 season opener, Quoted by Mark Zuckerman of MASN In last night’s article about Strasburg’s retirement, he said the two sides were still in talks and trying to work things out as of early this spring.
“‘We’re in talks with Strasburg’s team, and we hope that it’s resolved and we can embrace him the way he should be embraced,’ Rizzo said on March 12.”
According to Nightengale’s report, “as part of…” [Strasburg’s] Pursuant to the severance agreement, the contract was restructured to provide further deferrals. ”
“A formal announcement is yet to come,” Zuckerman wrote. “However, two people familiar with the deal confirmed that the agreement was finalized on terms favorable to both the pitcher and the organization.”
We’ll share more details as they become available…
[ed. note – “Sorry to be that person, but ‘capital’, Stephen. All the best in retirement. Glad to have watched every one of your professional starts.”]
Managing Principal Owner Mark D. Lerner and President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Mike Rizzo spoke about Stephen Strasburg’s retirement. pic.twitter.com/e7L0ygBMYe
— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) April 7, 2024
Abrams scar:
CJ Abrams was thrown off trying to convert a single into a double in the series opener. phillies Manager Davey Martinez said Friday night that while the decision to go for the extra bag was unwise, Abrams appeared to have avoided injury after an awkward slide at second base.
“He had his head down, I thought it was a base hit and we were up by three.” [Nats’ third base coach] Ricky Gutierrez did a good job without sending [Luis García home] The top of the standings is just around the corner. CJ bowed his head and walked away. He’s trying to be aggressive there. He had a bit of an interesting slide, so I’m glad he didn’t get hurt. ”
Abrams was originally selected to be in the Nationals’ starting lineup for the second of three games against the Phillies on Saturday in Washington, D.C., but was injured hours before the first pitch.
After the 5-2 loss to the Phillies, manager Martinez explained, “I suffered a bone bruise on the little finger of my non-throwing hand from sliding yesterday.”
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Photo by Greg Fiume/Getty Images
“He came in and said it hurt. I didn’t want to push him. He took an X-ray and it came back negative. So he’s going to feel better day by day, but tomorrow he’s going to feel a little bit more. I hope it gets better.”
Abrams exited Friday’s game after sliding at second base, and Martinez said he felt it a little bit.
“I saw him swing yesterday and it looked kind of weird, but he came in today and said it really hurt just to hold the bat. So he tried to hit it a little bit and put pressure on his swing. This is here with his little finger [in his grip] That bothered him, so I said, “Hey, let’s not take any chances.” Let’s see how it goes tomorrow, one day. ”
What is his level of concern?
“We’ll see tomorrow. Right now, the hope is that he can play tomorrow, but if he can’t play tomorrow, I’d be a little concerned.”
Further losses:
In Davey Martinez’s opinion, Bryce Harper simply missed an 0-1 curveball to center field inside the zone in the first inning Saturday, so he reappeared in the third inning with two outs and two runners on base. In that case, the captain had pitcher Jake Irvin walk Philadelphia’s slugger in favor of facing catcher JT Realmuto. Realmuto was down 0-2, but Irvin hit a three-run shot to left-center field; The visiting Phillies, 4-0, ended up winning 5-2 in the nation’s capital.
Irvin retired nine of the next 10 batters and got through the sixth inning with five hits, one walk, and four runs allowed. He finished his pitching with 93 pitches overall, including 58 strikes, 9 whiffs, and 17 called strikes. But that hanging curve to Realmuto got caught.
“Overall the trip was really good. There was only one really bad pitch, and that’s baseball,” Irvin told reporters. Quoted by Mark Zuckerman of MASN After the match.
“He was one pitch away and made an unbelievable pitch,” Martinez said.
“But I thought he threw really good ball. He threw six innings, 93 pitches, and he threw the ball really well, so we just kept him there. .”
His decision to walk Harper to get to Realmuto?
“The numbers matched up for me,” Martinez explained. “And we’ve seen what Bryce can do for us. The first ball, he just missed. Any other day in the summer, that could be a problem. Yeah, I thought the opponent was Realmuto, but like I said, he got two strikes, so it’s unfortunate that he didn’t get as far as he wanted.”
What if he bounced his curveball?
“He was trying to bounce it back 0-2 and he didn’t get that far, but I said to him, ‘Overall, Jake, you should be proud of what you did. That’s not an easy lineup to get through, and he went through those guys four times and it worked out really well. So, based on that, do you want to bounce it back or do you want to bounce it back? , let’s understand how to make sure it hits the soil.”
