Bryce Harper

MLB playoffs have Nats fans wondering, 'Why can't we get guys like that?' Image without a caption.

They were eight games out in the NL East and trending in the wrong direction. The dust settled, and Strasburg took the ball, but it was a lot of dust — and the Nats didn’t extend Baker. What’s clear, according to people with knowledge of the situation: the fact that the Lerner family is exploring a sale of the franchise affected this situation. At the trade deadline, Rizzo had a deal in place to send Harper to, of all teams, the Astros. Harper stayed, received a 10-year, $300 million offer with significant deferred payments, didn’t counter it, met with the Lerners in Palm Springs, Calif., on the day before Christmas Eve, got an offer for less money and more deferrals, and moved on to the Phillies for $330 million over 13 years. To my mind, the Nationals should have offered him $500 million over 13 years. The other hamstrings the Angels. That debate could outlast the existence of the franchise. In the middle of the 2017 season, Rizzo was adamant that the club would take care of its skipper, who was in the midst of winning back-to-back division titles. For an October without the Washington Nationals — because they finished 46 games out of the division lead, a mere 32 out of a wild-card spot — there sure were a lot of Washington Nationals. The only way is to go through it, case by case. That followed Baker’s 95-win Nationals debut in which Harper was playing at an MVP level before he slipped on a wet base in August, curtailing his campaign.