The most reliable reason to go to a Washington Nationals game the past two years has been the chance to see Ryan Zimmerman play. He’s truly the star of the team, the face of the franchise. Because he has less than three years of major league service, the Nationals own him the way every team used to own every player before free agency.
The Nats had until March 11 (tomorrow) to sign him. He was the only player on the team still unsigned. Zim and his agent have been in negotiations with the Nats for weeks, with the possibility of a multi-year contract looming. The Nationals could have offered big bucks, or could have simply renewed last year’s contract with no change–or anywhere in between.
Barry Svrluga of the WaPo reports in his blog today that the Nats simply renewed Zim’s contract for $400,000. At first blush, this looks like a low-ball. But Ryan probably did not want to get locked into a longer-term contract while he still has time to build his market value.
Loyal Nats fans thought Zim had a very good shot at Rookie of the Year last year. Instead, the honor went to Hanley Ramirez of the Florida Marlins.
Svrluga reports that Zim will be making only $2,000 less this year than Ramirez. So I guess both hot-shot rookies are avoiding getting locked into multi-year contracts in their first big contract negotiation.
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