C Matt Wieters is now the "11th Scott Boras client on the Nationals active roster" after the former Orioles All-Star yesterday signed a deal that could be for up to two years and $21M, according to ESPN researcher Paul Hembekides. The team's Boras clients, which include RF Bryce Harper, LF Jayson Werth and Ps Max Scherzer and Stephen Strasburg, are set to make more than $100M this season (TWITTER.com, 2/21). In Baltimore, Peter Schmuck notes the Nationals were "thought to be on Boras' dance card" for Wieters, even though they already had acquired C Derek Norris this offseason and have "major-league ready" Cs Jose Lobaton and Pedro Severino on the roster. The deal "seemed to lend some credence to speculation that Boras might take advantage of his good relationship with Nats ownership to find a landing spot for Wieters if he failed to get him an acceptable long-term deal elsewhere" (Baltimore SUN, 2/22). FOXSPORTS.com's Ken Rosenthal noted most people inside baseball "predicted that the Nats would be the landing spot for Wieters." Sources said that the team was "lukewarm on Wieters throughout the offseason." However, Rosenthal wrote Boras' "relationship with ownership proved decisive ... as so often happens with this team." The Nationals operate to their "own rhythm, with Boras frequently calling out the beats" (FOXSPORTS.com, 2/21).
BATTLE OF THE BELTWAY: In DC, Barry Svrluga writes there is "real rancor ... at the highest level" between the Nationals and Orioles regardless of whether the teams have "developed a scratch-and-claw rivalry that captures the hearts and minds of fans." The teams are "embroiled in a legal fight" over revenues generated by MASN, and Wieters signing with the Nats "guarantees annual matchups with his old club, his old ownership group." Svrluga: "There had to be some fantasizing in the Lerner offices ... of a moment this coming spring when Wieters might step to the plate and deliver the blow for Washington to beat Baltimore -- for the Lerners to beat [Peter] Angelos, even for a night" (WASHINGTON POST, 2/22).
