Nationals were not happy Jerry Blevins beat them in arbitration, traded him

The Washington Nationals traded relief pitcher Jerry Blevins to the New York Mets on Monday amid a poor spring training for the southpaw, and a few other interesting factors may have contributed to their decision to deal the player.

Blevins allowed nine runs — eight earned — including four home runs in eight innings this spring. That was after he allowed 31 earned runs in 57.1 innings out of Washington’s pen last season, his worst statistical year since his debut in 2007.

FOX MLB reporter Ken Rosenthal says the Nats had two lefties who were out of options and chose to keep Xavier Cedeno over Blevins. He also shared one other interesting nugget:

For what it’s worth, #Nationals were NOT happy that Blevins beat them in arbitration, getting $2.4M instead of team’s offer of $2.2M.

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) March 30, 2015

Blevins has much more experience than Cedeno, who has also struggled at times during the spring, so it seems like the veteran is the guy you would prefer to have. But with his salary at $2.4 million instead of $2.2, the Nats might not have felt like Blevins was worth keeping.

It’s amazing how much impact those arbitration or other salary disputes can have, as we even saw over the offseason with Bryce Harper. One side will be happy while the other will not.

Photo: Jerry Blevins on Twitter