The defending World Series Champions Washington Nationals have re-signed World Series MVP and right handed pitcher Stephen Strasburg. Strasburg, who recently opted out of his 4 year, 100 million dollar contract with the Nationals, has now signed a record breaking contract.

The contract, which is 7 years worth 245 million dollars, shatters Red Sox pitcher David Price’s record contract worth 217 million dollars. That being said, let’s breakdown Strasburg’s contract by year. Each year, Strasburg will make 35 million dollars. That is already a pretty penny for a pitcher, but if you break it down even further, you’ll have to look at his games started. An average pitcher will start about 32 times per season not including the postseason. With that being said, that means Stephen Strasburg will be earning 1.09 million dollars every time he steps onto the rubber. 

With Strasburg signing, that pretty much means the Nationals will not be signing the third place in MVP voting Anthony Rendon. The front office of Washington had already said that the Nationals would only be able to afford one or the other and it seems as if they made their choice. But with Rendon out of their pay scale, they have checked in with the Chicago Cubs about their franchise third basemen, Kris Bryant and his availability on the trade market. 

With the defending champs taking a top free agent off the market, other teams will have to look elsewhere for a starting pitcher. As for the Nationals, expect them to remain a little more inactive throughout the rest of the off season after this blockbuster signing of Strasburg.