You Talkin' to Me? How much will Phillies miss Werth?

From: Gonzalez, John

To: Fitzpatrick, Frank; Fox, Ashley

Subject: Werth's worth

Jayson Werth signed a seven-year, $126 million deal with the Nationals. Good deal or bad deal for the Nats? And how much will the Phils miss Werth and his beard?

From: Fox, Ashley

To: Fitzpatrick, Frank; Gonzalez, John

Subject: Werth's worth

That is an awful lot of money for a player who is not, contrary to what the Nationals said, an "elite" player. Werth filled an important role for the Phillies, but it is not like he was Ryan Howard.

But that's how these things work. Desperate teams overpay for free agents all the time. Werth capitalized in a huge way. Now he'll get to play in front of 1,000 fans a night and lose 70 percent of his games. Enjoy.

From: Gonzalez, John

To: Fitzpatrick, Frank; Fox, Ashley

Subject: Werth's worth

Werth is a damn fine player, but I wouldn't be crazy about giving him - or anyone in his 30s - a seven-year deal. Then again, the Nats are a bad team playing in an empty park. Washington probably has to overspend to sign people. It was like that when Texas landed A-Rod. No one was going to Texas back then unless they were first given enough money to buy their own Gulfstream for transportation.

From: Fox, Ashley

To: Fitzpatrick, Frank; Gonzalez, John

Subject: Werth's worth

I'm guessing Fitzy isn't broken up about this at all.

From: Gonzalez, John

To: Fitzpatrick, Frank; Fox, Ashley

Subject: Werth's worth

Are you kidding? Now he's stuck with a useless Werth Phils jersey.

From: Fitzpatrick Frank

To: Fox, Ashley; Gonzalez, John

Subject: Werth's worth

I've got my "Clay Dalrymple" as a backup.

Unless the Phils find another big righthanded bat, they will miss him immensely. That said, what the hell were the Nationals thinking? With the help he'll get in that lineup, and with that pitching staff, he's a far more ordinary player.