The Washington Nationals’ Stephen Strasburg (35), considered the worst free agent signing of all time, has decided to hang up his uniform.
The Washington Post (WP) reported on Sept. 25 (ET) that “Stephen Strasburg, who began his career in unprecedented limelight and culminated as the 2019 World Series MVP, has decided to retire after years of struggling with injuries, according to three sources.
“The retirement press conference will be held prior to his Sept. 10 game against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Nationals Park,” WP added.
Strasburg has pitched in seven games and 31⅓ innings over the past four years since signing a seven-year, $245 million free agent contract in December 2019. During that time, he’s been on the disabled list seven times with nagging problems with his wrist, shoulder, neck, thoracic outlet, and ribs.
His most recent major league start came on June 10 of last year, against the Miami Marlins at Rondipo Park. Strasburg left the game after giving up seven runs on eight hits and two walks in 4⅔ innings, and was placed on the disabled list shortly thereafter with another rib stress reaction.
He trained hard in hopes of being ready for spring training camp earlier this year, but thoracic outlet syndrome forced him off the field again. The defining event that ended his career was the surgery he underwent in July 2021. After undergoing surgery to remove one rib and two neck muscles, he was unable to play a single game for more than two years. In other words, it was actually two years ago that he hung up his jersey.
Strasburg, who averages $35 million per year, is in the fourth season of a seven-year contract. According to WP, “the Nationals didn’t take out casualty insurance on Strasburg’s contract,” meaning the “raw money” just went out the door.
After being drafted with the first overall pick in the 2009 draft, Strasburg made his major league debut the following year. In his first full season in 2012, he went 15-6 with a 3.16 ERA and became an ace, and despite a few injuries through 2019, he went on to post double-digit wins every year for eight years except 2013.
He was at his best in the 2019 World Series against the Houston Astros, pitching 14 1/3 innings in two games to earn two wins and a 2.51 ERA, and was named Series MVP.
When Strasburg became a free agent later that year, the Nats were determined to get him, signing him to the second-largest contract ever for a pitcher. Strasburg’s agent was Scott Boras.
In 247 career games, Strasburg pitched 1470 innings with a 113-62 record, a 3.24 ERA, and 1723 strikeouts. In the postseason, he went 6-2 with a 1.46 ERA in nine games, earning him the nickname “The Man of the Fall. However, at the age of 31, he was unable to avoid a series of injuries that forced him to leave the field.
‘Ahead of this year’s season, Strasburg threw several bullpen sessions in Northern Virginia, where he lives, to get in shape, but in late January, he informed the team that he was not feeling well enough to participate in spring training. He traveled to Washington in April to see the team’s medical staff, but did not visit Nationals Park. His locker was untouched, and he has been out of all physical activity since late April. 바카라