Fan perspective: Jayson Werth continues to confirm his unrest about jumping to the Nationals for the money

Have you ever been the last man out on the playground? Doesn't matter what the sport is: kickball, football, basketball, etc., when the kids on the playground don't pick you, it just doesn't feel good.

As a child you may, in retaliation or self-comfort, have sentiments along the line of, "I didn't want to play on that team (or in that game) anyway, those guys are losers."

This past weekend, that's exactly the emotion Jayson Werth(notes) had displayed when he verbalized his hate for his former team, the Philadelphia Phillies.

The Washington Post reported on Saturday, Feb. 26:

"Once Werth got back behind the cage, Rizzo said, 'I hate the [expletive] Phillies.' The GM then ran off a list of borderline dirty plays and purpose pitches in recent years by the Nats' nemesis. 'I hate the Phillies, too,' said Werth. Unspoken, but hanging in the air was a new idea for the Nats: So, let's play more like the Phillies: mean, grimy and a little nasty.'"

It's clear to me, despite what Werth's trying to convince himself, that he is not happy, so far, with the overall choice he has made. Since he has made the decision, he has sounded like a bitter man.

Dec. 5, 2010 Werth signed a $126 Million, 7 year deal with the Washington Nationals. Some eight days later, the Phillies signed the biggest deal of last off-season in grabbing Cliff Lee(notes) from two other bidding teams. After which, Werth expressed in candid fashion that he had no clue Lee was going to sign with the Phillies, even suggesting that he had an unsigned verbal deal with Lee to sign with the same team.

In the end, Werth left Philly for D.C., and Lee came to the newly Werthless Phils.

On Dec. 15, when both Lee and Werth had their press conferences, it became apparent that the Phillies consciously chose Lee over Werth when Phillies' GM Ruben Amaro Jr. stated, "If it comes down to a choice, frankly I'm pleased with the one we made," Amaro said at Citizens Bank Park. "No disrespect to our former right fielder … but we made the right decision."

Yikes.

Werth's responses after that started with, "I'm not going to say anything bad about Philly" but became increasingly bitter, with evolving, subtle and bitter quotes like, "They got their boy back, I guess,".

His gracious responses to the media's loaded questions were always anything but concrete.

When asked about his decision on a Philadelphia radio station, his responses were littered with things "I think" he meant. "You gotta do what's right for you and I think I did that here," Werth said on 610-WIP. "I think the situation's right."

Now, only a couple months later, whether he's simply playing the part or not, his speech has become much more explicit on the matter.

The Philadelphia Daily News has Werth speaking on the apparent conscious decision of the Phillies organization.

"I think if (the front office) would have played it right they would have had us both," Werth said. "I mean, they traded Cliff away for prospects (after the 2009 season) and then realized that was probably not what they should have done. They ended up paying him a lot more (five years, $120 million) than they would have if they'd signed him the year before. Then we would have had him. Chances are if they had signed him before they traded him, it probably would have made it a little easier to sign me."

As a fan of the Philadelphia Phillies, I'll say, it's over. The majority of Philadelphia does not care anymore. The new season is here, and the Phils with or without Werth, are the favored to win the fall classic.

That's what Werth is struggling internally with.

The decision is made. The Phillies are possibly gunning for MLB history, and Werth…well, he's starting over.

Sources:

Philly.com - Paul Hagen - Werth on Phillies, Lee: 'They could have had us both'

Washingtonpost.com - Thomas Boswell - Can Jayson Werth bring swagger to the Washington Nationals?

Baseball Reference

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