Jayson Werth signs autographs for fans prior to a rehab appearance in the Lehigh Valley. (Steven Kiebach/SportsTalkPhilly)
By Tim Kelly, Sports Talk Philly editor 
Jayson Werth signed autographs for a crowd that featured mostly Philadelphia Phillies fans during a rehab appearance at Triple-A Lehigh Valley last August. It took about five minutes of being around Werth to understand that he still has a passion for the game and is thankful for the people that have become fans of him (and his beard) during his stops with the Phillies and Washington Nationals.
Still, at 38, Werth has accomplished nearly everything one could hope to during his 15 major league seasons. His manager Charlie Manuel, somewhat controversially, picked him as a replacement for the 2009 National League All-Star team. He's played in two World Series, winning one in 2008 with the Phillies. He's appeared in the playoffs eight times in his career – four times with the Phillies and four times with the Nationals. He's the Phillies franchise leader in playoff home runs, having hit more playoff home runs in a Phillies uniform than Mike Schmidt, Ryan Howard or Chase Utley. His walkoff home run in Game 5 of the 2012 NLDS against the St. Louis Cardinals is considered the biggest home run in Nationals franchise history.
So while Werth would like to continue his MLB career (and is ready to do so), he appears to be at peace with what he's accomplished during his career.
“It’s not totally abnormal for guys, when you’re older, you don’t sign until after the season starts,” Werth said during a VBHS telecast, via The Washington Post. “So, we’ll see. If not, no regrets. Great run. I get to watch my kids play finally.”
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Werth completed a seven-year/$126 million contract with the Nationals in 2017. With Bryce Harper, Michael A. Taylor, Adam Eaton and top prospect Victor Robles all in the fold for 2018, returning to the Nationals never seemed like much of a possibility for Werth. But despite the fact that Werth hit just .226 at the major league level in 2018, he may still have something to offer to a major league club.
On top of his extended postseason experience, Werth slashed .282/.378/.437 last April, and was fairly productive in May before going down with a foot injury. He's declined fairly rapidly as a fielder, so he's likely limited to the American League at this stage of his career, but it seems realistic that a team could still give him an opportunity.
At this point, it seems likely that any team signing Werth would sign him to a minor league deal. As Werth's former teammate Ryan Howard did with two organizations last season, Werth would then get a fairly limited amount of at-bats to prove that he's worthy of a call-up. He says he's trained like he would in any other offseason, but would need two or three weeks worth of "actually playing baseball" to be ready to appear in a major league game.
Werth pointed to Roger Clemens in 2007 and his teammate Pedro Martinez in 2009 as two players that didn't sign until after the season started, but were able to help teams that made the postseason nonetheless. It seems he's still hoping for an opportunity like that. In the meantime, he said he's enjoying the first Spring Break of his life.
