Jayson Werth Hates the Team He Won a World Series With

Jayson, Jayson, Jayson...

Sigh.

This is not the post I planned to put up today, but this is bothering me and I have to get it out.  Jayson Werth is professing his hate for the Phillies. In front of reporters. Along with Mike Rizzo, the Nats general manager.  My Fox Philly reports with an article I read today in the Washington Post:

The Washington Post was at spring training with the Nationals', Werth's new team, when it caught an exchange between Werth and Nationals' general manager Mike Rizzo.

Post reporter Thomas Boswell makes it clear the trash talking was for the benefit of the press - and maybe sell a few tickets in Washington.

"Once Werth got back behind the cage, Rizzo said, 'I hate the [expletive] Phillies,'" Boswell recounts.

Rizzo then talked at length about how the Phillies used "dirty plays" in recent years

"I hate the Phillies, too," Werth added.

Werth was never a real fan favorite in Philadelphia, but he mostly wasn't hated, either.  Sure, there was the time when he told a fan to "get the F*!k out of the way when a fan was interfering with a ball that might have been catchable, in turn scaring the crap out of the guy's young son.  But we Philly fans let that go, eventually.

You see, he was just not as likeable as some of the other guys, but he brought that upon himself.  His demeanor was never warm and fuzzy, or seemingly humble or appreciative.  Now I don't know the guy personally (obviously) so my projections are only based on what I have seen, heard, and read about him.  Maybe he is the nicest guy ever off the field. 

Regardless of that, this whole debacle of signing with the Nats really has revealed his true colors when it comes to baseball. 

We all know baseball is a business and these guys don't play for free.  Werth was a free agent and had the right to explore the open market to see what was out there.  All indications were that the Phillies made an offer, but the number of years and dollars were not what Werth (and his new agent Scott Boras) was looking for.  Then the Nats came knocking with $126 million dollars and a 7 year contract on the table.  Werth made his choice.  Ok, so move on and be a Nat, right?  Not so fast.

Someone else's photoshop.

Backtracking a bit, Werth did win a World Series with the Phillies.  He made some stellar plays in right field. He hit fifth, after Ryan Howard, who we all know can strike out a lot.  Werth cleaned up Howard's damage many times.  He was always good for contact and had his hot streaks.  His right handed bat will be missed in the lineup, there is no doubt about that. 

Presumably when Werth didn't hate the Phillies.

Werth chose to go to a team who is in the same division as the Phillies.  He mentioned he had many offers to consider, but he chose the Nats. For this reason, he will see his former teammates many times this season and for the next six seasons he will have to play in his old home ballpark plenty of times.  That ballpark will be sold out. Every. Single. Game.  Nationals Park? Not so much.  The energy from the crowd that Werth has played in front of for the past few years will not be there for the home games.  Instead, he'll feel that energy in a negative way in places like Philadelphia, where he is now enemy number 1.

The first inning of a Nats home game last year.



Philly fans are unforgiving.  Many of them are straight up asses.  Cross a Philly fan, and you will  pay.  Whether it is right or wrong, Philly fans don't care.  Werth is going to pay, not only when he is at Citizens Bank Park, but when the Phillies play at Nationals Park as well.  Expect signs like, "We Hate You Too," and much worse, even at Nats Park when the Phillies are in town.  People will clamor to get seats in right field when the Nats are in town, just to shake up Werth.  I don't condone this, nor participate in it, but it is a fact that it happens and will happen.  Remember the NLCS?

Burrell was, of course, a former Phillie.

They were especially tough on Timmy.

I've mentioned many times on the blog that going to Nats home games when they play the Phillies are like a home game for Phillies fans.  That is a fact that can not be disputed.  The Nats have very little fan support.  This year they were offering a special: buy two season tickets, get two season tickets FREE.  Think about that for a second.  They are giving away season tickets.  The Phillies have a wait list for those who want to be season ticket holders, and they are setting attendance records in the opposite way the Nats are.

This made me chuckle a bit. Even Google isn't used to this phrase being searched.

Anyway, what really stands out for me in all of this is not so much the words, but instead the conduct.  Werth is classless.  He is now supposed to be a "franchise guy" for an underachieving organization that has a challenge to earn the respect of  fans and foes alike.  Are Werth's words meant to incite some kind of "war" with his former team, and thus give his new team more incentive to win?  My question to that is, why do the Nats need incentive?  Or is it that Werth is extremely bitter about the Phillies choosing not to sign him, but to sign Cliff Lee for a large sum of money? 

You be the judge. Says Werth:

Last Tuesday, Werth also said the Phillies had a choice to keep him in Philadelphia, but they overpaid Cliff Lee.

“They ended up paying him a lot more than they would’ve signed him the year before," Werth said.

"Then we would have had him. Chances are if they signed him before they traded him, it probably would’ve made it a little easier to sign me.”

Oh so it really IS all about money.  It had little to do with winning, and much to do with dollars.  Ok, fair enough, but consider what Cliff Lee had to say about coming back to Philadelphia. When speaking of money, he said:

“When you hit a certain point, enough is enough.”  I'm sure he gave this look while saying it:

All indications are that Werth was pretty pissed when he found out the Phillies signed his friend Cliff Lee, but the team had their motives:

Question (from many viewers): Why did you say signing Lee would be better for the club than signing Werth?

Ruben Amaro Jr.: I love the guy. I wish we had him back. Sometimes you have to make tough choices. For us, having a number one starter as compared to a right handed bat, the impact on our club was greater. Is that the right way to look at things? I don’t know. For me, it is. I got a long text message from him last night booing me, in classic Philly style. He was upset. But hey, that’s how it works sometimes. Business is business. I think he was half kidding. I told him he could still have been on our club if he accepted arbitration.
 
Shouldn't Werth be concentrating on preparing for his first season with a new team, instead of dwelling on what could have been?  The Nats are counting on him to be "the guy."  They are certainly paying him like the face of the franchise.  It's clear he is bitter, and ok, I get it.  He feels betrayed, disrespected, all of the adjectives you can think of that are synonymous with those words.  And surely there are behind the scenes things that none of us will ever be privy to.  The thing is for a guy who is supposed to be the new face of the franchise, he is acting extremely unprofessional.  Maybe he isn't used to all the attention, and therefore cannot censor himself?

The Phillies gave Werth a chance. They resurrected his downward spiraling career by giving him an opportunity.  The least he could do is remain silent on his negative opinions about the team, regardless if he feels spurned or disrespected.  Be a professional.  Take cues from some of the other big names in baseball and show some restraint.

It'll be interesting to see what Werth's production is like this year with so much of the pressure on him due to not being a part of a superstar lineup. Part of the criticism towards the Nats inking him to such a big contract is the belief that he is not a franchise type player.  Werth has much to live up to.  He claims he wanted to be a part of the Nats so he could help build the franchise into a winner.  Letting go of the past and focusing on the future is a good start to that goal. 

But maybe this is just the way the Nats are planning to roll from this point forward.  Werth isn't the only new National who can't stay quiet.  

"I think in the next couple years we will be the Yankees of the NL East. I have been telling everyone that. We are going to roll. We are going to win some World Series. That is everyone’s goal. [Field coordinator] Bobby Henley preached that from day one: “We are going to win the NL East someday.” I really believe that. Hopefully, we bring a couple of World Series to Washington, D.C."-Bryce Harper

One day at a time, kid.

As I mentioned, you're going to see some real negativity towards Werth from the Phillies fans this season.  It all could've been so different had he shown just a little respect, restraint, professionalism, and decorum.  I didn't think I could be more excited for the season to start, but this situation has given me another shot of adrenaline.  Play ball.