Inside Washington Nationals’ ‘Massive Deal With Pitcher Michael Soroka
The Washington Nationals made their first significant free agency move on Thursday by agreeing to a one-year deal with pitcher Michael Soroka.
In baseball terms, his reported $9 million deal is, well, average. But, in recent Nationals terms, it’s actually breaking the bank.
Spencer Nusbaum, who covers baseball for the Washington Post, wrote that his deal is the fifth-largest deal the Nationals have signed with a free agent since the 2020-21 offseason.
It’s not by a wide gap, either.
Fourth on the list was the one-year deal Washington signed Kyle Schwarber to in 2021, which was for $10 million. Ahead of him was Brad Hand, who received $10.5 million for a one-year deal the same season.
Second was pitcher Trevor Williams, who just hit free agency after he signed a two-year, $13 million deal before the 2023 season.
First was slugger Nelson Cruz, who signed a one-year, $15 million deal with the Nationals in 2022.
At one time, Washington was not opposed to spending. In 2015, the Nationals signed pitcher Max Scherzer to a seven-year, $215 million deal, which at the time was one of the biggest contracts in MLB history.
After the World Series victory in 2019, the Nats signed pitcher Stephen Strasburg to a seven-year, $245 million deal. He continues to get deferred payments from Washington through 2029, which technically makes him the highest-paid player on the team, even though he retired recently due to injury.
Soroka was with the Chicago White Sox last season and went 0-10 with a 4.74 ERA in 25 games, nine of which were starts. He struck out 84 and walked 44 in 79.2 innings. He was a much more effective pitcher in relief (2.75 ERA) than as a starter (6.30 ERA).
The right-hander is a bit of a reclamation project. He missed both the 2021 and 2022 seasons with an Achilles injury.
But, before that, he was an up-and-coming pitcher with Atlanta. In 2019 he went 13-4 with a 2.68 ERA and made the National League All-Star Game, along with being named all-MLB second team. He was sixth in NL Cy Young voting and second in NL Rookie of the Year voting.
Soroka was a first-round pick of the Braves in 2015 and worked his way through the minor leagues, which included an appearance in the 2015 MLB Futures Game. The Nationals are hoping he can reclaim some of his former effectiveness, no matter what role he’s in.
