Jayson Werth Signs Seven-Year Contract With Nationals, Leaving Phillies

All-Star outfielder Jayson Werth agreed to a seven-year free agent contract with the Washington Nationals after spending the past four seasons with the Philadelphia Phillies.

The Nationals didn’t disclose financial terms of the contract in a news release. ESPN reported that the 31-year-old Werth will get $126 million over seven seasons, without saying where it got the information.

Werth batted .296 with 27 home runs and 85 runs batted in for the Phillies during the 2010 season. He led the National League with 46 doubles, had a career-high .532 slugging percentage and also stole 13 bases.

Werth has 87 homers over the past three seasons and may help the Nationals offset the loss of first baseman Adam Dunn, who signed with the Chicago White Sox. Dunn had a team-leading 38 homers for Washington last season.

To contact the reporter on this story: Erik Matuszewski in New York at matuszewski@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Sillup at msillup@bloomberg.net