The Washington Nationals have already shocked the baseball world by stealing Jayson Werth away with a seven-year, $126 million contract, but they may not be done. They have reportedly remained extremely aggressive, and may end up making an even more shocking move with Cliff Lee, the top free agent on the market.
ESPN's Buster Olney reports that there's a sense among baseball executives that the Nationals may make a huge offer for Lee sometime in the next few days.
There is a growing speculation among rival agents and executives that the Washington Nationals are going to throw a HUGE number at Cliff Lee
This would truly be shocking. It's unclear what a "HUGE" number would be, but after the Werth deal, you never know. Lee is reportedly likely to get a seven-year contract from some team, though most are only willing to offer six years. If the Nationals are that mystery team (as SI's Jon Heyman reports), then you'd have to think Lee would cost more than the $126 million Werth got from the Nationals. Otherwise, are we talking about a contract for longer than seven years? It's kind of staggering to think about this.
We'll keep you posted on this rumor in this StoryStream. As of right now, though, all we know is that the Nationals met with Lee's agent yesterday and that Lee's agent, prior to that meeting, said the Nationals were "not eliminated" from the Lee sweepstakes.