Stephen Strasburg is staying with the only MLB franchise he has ever known.
According to Jeff Passan of ESPN, the ace right-hander has opted to re-sign with the Washington Nationals on a seven-year, $245 million deal, making him the highest-paid pitcher in major-league history.
Of course, fellow free-agent righty Gerrit Cole seems likely to shatter that mark whenever he signs this offseason, but for now, Strasburg is the record-holder, beating out the seven-year, $217 million contract left-handed David Price signed with the Boston Red Sox back in December 2015.
Strasburg is coming off of a 2019 campaign in which he went 18-6 with a 3.32 ERA, allowing just 161 hits while striking out 251 batters over 209 innings of work.
Most importantly, he was masterful during the Nationals' run to their first World Series title, going 5-0 over six playoff appearances and five starts while surrendering just eight earned runs across 36.1 frames.
The 31-year-old, who played his collegiate baseball at San Diego State, was originally selected by Washington with the first overall pick of the 2009 MLB Draft.
He made his big-league debut in 2010, going 5-3 with a 2.91 ERA, giving up 56 hits while fanning 92 hitters through 68 innings. However, Strasburg then developed some arm trouble in 2011, which led to Tommy John surgery.
Strasburg has been a fairly significant injury risk ever since, as he has only thrown 200 innings twice in his major-league career, but when he is right, he is unquestionably one of the game's best starting pitchers.
Over the course of his 10-year big-league tenure, Strasburg has gone 112-58 with a 3.17 ERA, averaging 10.6 punchouts per nine innings.
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