Washington Nationals will be awful come 2025

The Washington Nationals habit of deferring money in their free agent contract and extensions. That will eventually cause a financial nightmare.

Deferring money in contracts is a major part of the Washington Nationals business model. Instead of being a random happening, like the Mets continuing to pay Bobby Bonilla, the Nationals have made this a habit. After all, next season, the Nationals are paying Joe Blanton, who pitched for the team in 2017, $2 million next year. There is also another $2 million due to Rafael Soriano, who last pitched for the Nationals in 2014, and who will be paid that amount through 2022. It is just their business model.

This deferral of financial obligations has continued. Max Scherzer is receiving $15 million deferred beginning in 2022, after his seven year deal with Washington is over. Stephen Strasburg will be getting $10 million in deferred money after his extension expires, beginning in 2024. Newly signed pitcher Patrick Corbin is also in on the deferred money bandwagon, with his six year, $140 million contract slated to have deferred money as well.

In addition to those contracts, the Nationals have other players receiving future paydays without actually playing for the team at the time. Players like Daniel Murphy and Matt Wieters also have their own deferred payouts coming up, beginning this upcoming season. In fact, since 2017, the Nationals, without counting in Corbin’s contract, have deferred $196 million in salary.

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Much like a college kid making minimum payments on a credit card and racking up debt, those charges will one day come home to cause disaster. That day may well come in 2025, as Scherzer and Strasburg are set to receive a combined $25 million that year, theoretically without throwing a pitch for Washington. That total does not include whatever money the Nationals are putting aside from Corbin’s deal, which will only push that total higher.

Over the years, the Nationals payroll has climbed steadily higher. They ended 2017 with a payroll over $202 million, and started last year with over $180 million in salary. 2019 looks to be another record setting year in terms of payroll.

Yet, at some point, that money will need to be paid. Washington is still battling with the Orioles for regional television rights, an important source of revenue. Even if Nationals manage to maintain a payroll of approximately $150 million, on average, moving forward, $25 million of that, at minimum, will be eaten up beginning in 2024. Then, whatever Corbin will have put aside will come into play in the following year. That payroll will need to absorb a significant chunk of dead money.

The day that money comes home to roost may come in 2025. The Nationals will have a formidable rotation next season, with Scherzer, Strasburg, and Corbin as one of the best pitching trios in the game. But at some point, they will actually need to pay them, as the future has been mortgaged. Of course, if the Nationals do end up winning a championship in one of those years, it will be worth all the future pain. If not, those payouts will be even more painful.

The Washington Nationals have invested $525 million in their starting rotation. However, when they actually have to pay off that salary after the contracts are over, the Nationals could have a tough time.