Post-Lockout MLB Free Agency Thread - Washington Nationals Edition
Now that the lockout is over, let the post-lockout MLB Free Agency frenzy start. Here is the latest about the Washington Nationals free agency rumors and more
UPDATE: 3/12/2022; 1:20 PM EST: Will we see Anibal Sanchez Return to the Nationals?
Jesse Dougherty just reported that the Washington Nationals were one of the "10" teams that saw RHP Aníbal Sánchez throw in Miami today. [Twitter Link]. If true, it's interesting to see that the Nationals are looking to improve their starting rotation and start improving their pitching staff before making other moves. Just this morning, the Nationals signed free agent RHP Steve Cishek to a one-year contract.
As Richard pointed out also today, Pitching will become a big storyline for the Washington Nationals in 2022.
UPDATE: 3/12/2022; 10:32 AM EST
It looks like the Nationals have made a move in free agency. According to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic [Tweet link], the Washington Nationals have signed free agent RHP Steve Cishek to a contract. Steve Cishek has a career 2.85 ERA over his 12 years in the majors.
UPDATE: 3/12/2022, 9:54 AM EST
Looks like LHP Clayton Kershaw isn't going anywhere. According to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, the Cy-Young award winner and free-agent left-hander Clayton Kershaw is in agreement with the Dodgers on a one-year deal, pending a physical. During the lockout there was speculation that the lefty would be moving on to another team, however, it looks like that will not be the case.
The three-time CY-Young award winner and MVP has an impressive 2.49 career ERA with a 185-4 Win-loss record over 379 game appearances.
UPDATE: 3/11/2002, 11:55 AM EST
We have our first big signing post-lockout! According to Mark Feinsand, the St. Louis Cardinals have announced that they have agreed to a two-year $5.5M deal with RHP Drew VerHagen.VerHagen recently pitched for the Tigers from 2014 to 2019 and played in NPA for the last two years. The right-hander will earn $2.5M in 2022 and $3M in 2023 with up to $1M in performance bonuses each season.
ORIGINAL POST:
With the collective bargaining agreement negotiations resolved, Major League Baseball lifted its lockout of the players, opening up free agency to resume Thursday night. It will be the first time in nearly 100 days a player can sign with a major-league club.
Free agency is expected to resume around 6 p.m. Thursday night once the MLB owners officially ratify the CBA.
We’ll keep you updated here with deals Nationals- and non-Nationals-related as they come in through the night and over the next couple days. Larger signings and Mets-related signings will get their own news posts, as well. Some of the big names left on the market include Carlos Correa, Freddie Freeman, Clayton Kershaw, Kris Bryant, Carlos Rodón, Kyle Schwarber, Trevor Story, and others.
