The Washington Nationals signed two deals almost a year apart to two very different pitchers: Patrick Corbin, a left-hander with a nasty slider and Steven Strasburg, a dominant right-handed ace when healthy.

Corbin was signed to a 6-year, $140 million contract in 2018 while Strasburg was signed to a 7-year, $245 million contract in 2019.

Corbin’s play and arm have effectively fallen off a cliff since the 2019 season. Meanwhile, Strasburg has pitched just 31.1 innings since the 2019 World Series as he has struggled with injuries for three consecutive seasons.

Not to mention, these two contracts make up exactly 60% of Washington’s payroll for 2023.

Why are these two contracts so painful to the team now? Let’s look at how they were structured.

Patrick Corbin: signed a 6-year, $140 million contract on December 4, 2018.

• $2.5 million signing bonus
• $10 million deferred to 2025

Stephen Strasburg: signed a 7-million, $245 million contract on December 9, 2019 – nearly one year after Corbin signed his deal.

• No signing bonus
• $80 million deferred to 2027-29

[Stats from Spotrac: Corbin | Strasburg]

The first obvious reaction to both contracts is how heavily they were backloaded. Corbin’s contract sees him making significantly less than what people would think in his first few years. By pushing back his salary and how much cash Corbin was making, the Nationals did give themselves the ability to sign more players at the time.

Meanwhile, Strasburg’s contract includes a full no-trade clause and deferred $80 million to 2027-29. His contract is like Corbin’s but on steroids. At the time Strasburg signed the contract, it was the most lucrative deal ever signed by a pitcher in MLB history.

One main reason Strasburg’s contract looks so awful is how much money the Nationals paid him, and the injury struggles he has dealt with ever since the 2019 season. The Strasburg contract is structured for Strasburg to be pitching like an ace for seven years in the league – yet he isn’t even pitching at all. A staggering $80 million was deferred and includes a $3.9 million interest payment.

Additionally, the full no-trade clause guaranteed that Strasburg would remain a National for the entirety of the duration of the contract.

Let me make this clear: the makeups of the contract are not entirely to blame for how badly they look now; the complete dip in performance for Corbin and lack of any performance for Strasburg certainly worsen the amount of money the Nationals are giving the duo.

Since signing his contract with the Nationals, Corbin has a 31-49 record. His ERA has risen every season, including a then-career high 5.82 ERA in 2021 only to be broken by a career-high 6.31 ERA in 2022.   

The Nationals couldn’t have seen this coming. Strasburg and Corbin were integral parts of the 2019 World Series team – one of the main reasons Strasburg received the contract he did was his performance in the 2019 postseason, including winning the World Series MVP. Finally, it is much easier to criticize a contract after it looks like a mistake than it is when it was signed.

But there were warning signs which could have been taken into account by the Nationals yet were seemingly ignored.

For Strasburg, the obvious red flag was his arm health. Strasburg had Tommy John surgery all the way back in 2010 – his rookie season – after truly electrifying the fanbase and the MLB with his debut on June 8^th.

Despite remaining relatively healthy throughout the rest of the decade, Strasburg was 30 years old when the contract was signed and to think he had seven more years of health and success in his arm was clearly wrong.

Meanwhile, Corbin was coming off his best season in 2018 where he posted a career-low 3.15 ERA and recorded 11 wins. He pitched his way into a contract, but once he got his money, he regressed heavily.

Shorter contracts, less deferred money, and a trade clause for Strasburg all would’ve made these contracts more favorable looking instead of feeling like a storm cloud hanging over the Nationals’ head.

Plenty of arguments can be made for the neutrality of the situation and that the Corbin and Strasburg contracts don’t necessarily matter because – let’s be honest – the 2023 and 2024 Nationals are likely to be not-so-good anyways, regardless of two hefty pitching contracts.

However, Washington is still throwing money away to two pitchers – one of which is not even playing (Strasburg) and one of which posted a 5.82 ERA in 2021 and a 6.31 ERA in 2022 (Corbin).

An article written back in August of 2022 puts Corbin’s performance into perspective. An article entitled “Is Nationals Starter Patrick Corbin Having the Worst Pitching Season Ever?” was published by Sports Illustrated and tells you all you need to know about just how bad of a season Corbin unfortunately had.

One potential silver lining of the Nationals’ current payroll situation is the future financial flexibility and prospects that they have acquired from dishing away so many players – including the likes of Trea Turner, Max Scherzer, Juan Soto, Josh Bell, and Kyle Schwarber – to name a few.

Yet the notion that the Nationals plan on paying players high salaries moving forward neglects the reality of the situation of the team. Owner Mark Lerner, who passed away this past February, became increasingly stingy with money after the World Series win. Now that the Lerner family is looking to sell some or all of the team, Washington’s payroll looks like it will sit well below the league average for the foreseeable future – uncharacteristic for a team who had been above the payroll average from 2013 to 2021.

As the Nationals continue a long-winded rebuild, they’ll be paying Corbin for pitching that is indeed hurting the team until 2025 and Strasburg to sit on the injured list and even three years after his contract ends. Teams can look at these two contracts as another example of either bad fortune or bad management for the Nationals, while agents can point to these contracts as another model for them to capitalize on their clients who might not actually have their best play in front of them.