All hail the Washington Nationals!

Why? Well, for one thing, they're America's Team. You might even say they're America's Superheroes. The next time we send a bunch of people to some far-away land to kill bad guys, I say we send the Nationals (but only after their jerseys have been infused with Kevlar, of course; safety first!).

But also because they're signing Dan Haren for $13 million. At that price he's a bargain! I saw it on the Internet! That sore hip that bothered him in 2012? No problem! Right?

Red Sox didn't like what they saw on Dan Haren's medicals on his hip.

— Nick Cafardo (@nickcafardo) December 4, 2012

Hey, where were these medicals when the Red Sox were signing John Lackey?

I kid the Red Sox because I love them. The point is that these things are tricky. And the word "like" is open to interpretation. Maybe the Red Sox didn't like him at $13 million -- Haren's reported salary with the Nationals -- but would have been fine with his medicals at $10 million. And these days $3 million is just walking-around money if you're most big-league GMs.

My real point is that $13 million probably isn't a bargain price. It's probably dead on, with a generally intelligent organization spending a lot of money on a pitcher who might, or might not, be generally healthy and productive next season. At this point, the only clear winner is Haren himself, who's going to earn $13 million pitching for Team America: Baseball Police after getting $3.5 million from the Angels to just walk away.

All hail the Players' Association!