After initial conflicts with the rest of his contract, Stephen Strasburg has officially retired from baseball at 35 years old, ending a career that was derailed by injuries but includes bringing a World Series to D.C. in 2019.
Strasburg signed a seven-year, $245 contract after helping the Nats win their first-ever title, but injuries led him to make just one start last season after missing extended time in the years prior. Regardless of how it ended, Grant is simply grateful that the former No. 1 draft pick was able to smooth things over with the only team he ever played for, so he could be honored properly.
“I hated it, because Stras is one of the most important Nationals ever,” Grant said of Strasburg and the team debating the eligibility of the remainder of his contract. “In fact, he’s one of the most important DC icons of the 2020s. If you are younger than 40 years old, he’s one of the real legend, Mount Rushmore of DC sports stars in your lifetime.
“This is a guy you should be retiring his jersey. You need to be in good standing with him. You need the greatest players in your team’s history to want to come back…to be around the ballpark. As of four days ago, that was not the case. So good on the Nationals and good on Stras and his camp to settle this.”
Listen to Grant’s full thoughts on Strasburg via the clip above.