SAN DIEGO — The Nationals may have cost themselves a World Series in 2012. But they bought themselves a World Series MVP. Stephen Strasburg, who re-signed with Washington for seven years and $245 million—the largest contract ever for a pitcher—is returning to D.C. in part because of a decision that initially infuriated him.
The money is nice. The team is well-positioned to win again. But the Nationals gave Strasburg something even more important on Monday, when they offered him the deal that will keep him in Washington for the rest of his career: He knows them, and they know him.