So long, Beard: Jayson Werth signs with the Nationals

At least we will still be seeing plenty of the beard. As reported by multiple sources on Twitter, Jayson Werth has signed a 7 year, 126 million dollar deal with the Washington Nationals. Yes, you read that right, Werth has chosen to go to DC to play for the lowly Nationals.

Despite how they tried to spin it, signing Werth was never a viable option for the Phillies. By signing with the Nationals, Werth shows that all he ever wanted was the money and he wasn't concerned about playing on a winning team. The Phillies could never match the kind of long-term contract offers that Werth was getting on the open market and would only have signed him if he agreed to a hometown discount.

With the Werth saga out of the way, look for the Phillies to focus all of their efforts on signing a right-handed bat to platoon in right field with Domonic Brown. While some of the names out there aren't that exciting (Jeff Francoeur??), the Phillies have a definite need for a righty power bat now that their best one has left for DC.

Thanks for everything, Jayson Werth, and enjoy losing 90 games a year with the Nationals!