How much is enough? That question has been asked many times, in many different contexts, and in many different scenarios. From buying a gift to the traditional engagement ring, how much should you spend? In baseball, with no hard salary cap, the average fan wants you to spend and spend. It’s never enough. Case and point was in 2018. The Nats finished just over the salary penalty cap — even after an August sell-off.
If the Nats just traded Bryce Harper on July 31, 2018, they would have ducked under the CBT penalty cap. They held onto him out of hope. But the angst was that even with the Nats over the penalty cap, fans wanted Harper signed to a blank check with no consideration to other needs and salary penalties. The fans didn’t do their part. Attendance dropped by 270,000 in 2019 despite winning it all.
You know the rest of the story, the Nats offered Harper a 10-year deal for $300 million with deferrals at the end of 2018. He didn’t take the offer and left. His agent didn’t even counteroffer. The Nats won the World Series less than 8-months later. After Harper signed in Philadelphia in March 2019, he said, “We want to bring a title back to D.C.” Well, that happened. Harper is getting paid $25.38 million a year with the Phillies. Not exactly a good AAV considering that at one time he said about a $400 million salary in a radio interview, “But don’t sell me short. That’s what you’re doing right now to me, so don’t do that. … The sky’s the limit.” He wasn’t happy with putting that number to his worth. Little did he know during that interview that he would get nowhere close.
While the cost to buy a World Series ring didn’t work for the New York Mets this year, it shows that even if you spend to the tops of baseball that there is no guarantee of a ring. Harper said in 2015 with the Nats, “Where’s my ring?” He’s still waiting. By the way, there’s no fixed rule for how much to spend on an engagement ring; the decision should be based on your personal financial situation, budget, and your partner’s preferences. While the outdated “two-to-three months’ salary” guideline was more of a marketing tactic, consider your financial goals and avoid going into debt. That kind of sums it up for a baseball team.
But would you rather be the Phillies and suffer postseason heartache year after year or be the Nationals with low expectations and little chance of making the postseason? Most would take the Dodgers route. Build a great farm system, and hold the belief that they can win it all every year. The Nats are far from that at this point in time. And let’s be real, the Nats are not going the Mets route of trying to buy a championship. What the Nationals need to do is get back to basics and rebuild the smart way, and that is exactly what their new President of Baseball Operation (PoBO), Paul Toboni, has articulated in every interview he has given.
“What I don’t want to do is throw something out there and then have all of you [media people] and the fan base tie me to that year or that timing, right? What I tell myself, and what I’m going to tell everyone in baseball operations, and what I’ve told ownership is: ‘I don’t think that should be the concern.’ Let’s just work on really, really creating a strong foundation so that we can be successful for years to come.”
Toboni on his timetable to get the Nats to the postseason
Yes, Toboni is asking for patience. He gave no commitment to spending big or at all — even if ownership gives him a big budget. Some have interpreted his words that he might trade players on short-term deals to rebuild the farm system. Toboni’s actions will tell us more than the words. Six consecutive years of losing since winning the World Series is not anything to be happy about. The team took a step back this year in wins, but also in the status of the farm system.
But why can’t you simultaneously rebuild that foundation that Toboni talked about, and also show a financial commitment to compete? That seems doable. Here’s the thing, Toboni holds his cards close to his vest. In every public interview, he gives similar answers that are kind of generic. He already said he doesn’t want to be tied down by his own words.
Toboni had been effusive in his praise of Alex Bregman as a leader of the Red Sox, the team Toboni just came from. So Toboni understands the value of spending the right way in free agency and getting that leader. But Bregman’s deal was only for 1-year essentially with his opt-out. The Nats need long-term leadership. The Nats need to win. FanGraphs is working on 2026 projections, and the Nats numbers have them fourth from the bottom in WAR. Not a surprise there. The talent might be there with the Nats’ core, but they sure didn’t step up from 2024 to 2025.
Give me $70 million to get the payroll to $180 million, and I will get this team to compete on a daily basis where you expect them to win when you come to the ballpark. Give me the same $50 million the Nats spent last offseason, and I will improve this roster. Don’t the fans deserve that?
Leave a Reply