Nationals Daily Evolutions 12/29/10
by David Huzzard on Dec 29, 2010 11:01 AM EST
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PrintThe Nationals look to have improved in several areas while getting weaker at a few, and depending on the moves they have left that level of weakness might not be as dire as some think. Overall it looks as if the Nationals have a chance to improve on their record from the 2010 season. --Mark Zuckerman at natsinsider.com
Extremely early calculations show that the Nationals have improved and with a real 1B that might improve more. --rlyw.net
The bullpen is listed as getting weaker, but I am not so sure that is the case. While Clippard, Burnett, and others might not have as strong of seasons as they did in 2010 guys like Ramirez, Rodriguez, and Kimball are ready to step in and add depth to what was already a deep bullpen. --Byron Kerr from masnsports.com
Carlos Baerga would easily make the baseball hair wing of the Hall of Fame, but as a baseball player he is an easy no, but that doesn't mean his contributions to the game should be forgotten. --Joe Posnanski at si.com
Those with minimalistic taste might like the new Nationals jersey shirts, but others feel that something else needs to be going on. --Cheryl Nichols at natsnewsnetwork.com
Adrian Beltre is the only impact free agent left on the market. --Dayn Perry from foxsports.com
The rest of the free agents are of the bargain variety, but that doesn't mean they can't be useful to a club, and Penny, Eckstein, Rauch, Sheets, and Branyan might be a good fit for the Nationals. --William Yoder at thenatsblog.com
Reportedly Derrek Lee wants to go to a contender* and neither the Nationals or Orioles fit that description. --Ken Rosenthal from yardbarker.com
*I do not like players that want to go to contenders. I would rather have players that want to make a team into a contender and are confident in their own abilities instead of feeling the need to be a Robert Horry. I also feel that if the Twins miss out on Pavano that a guy like Lee could help them in case Morneau isn't healthy.
If the Nationals do end up with Derrek Lee they will have a very right-handed line-up. This won't be an issue if the right-handers can hit right-handed pitching well. --Ben Goessling at masnsports.com
New Nat Matt Antonelli and I should play golf together it seems we would have the same way to fix the issues with the clubs that insist on hitting the ball in the wrong direction. --Matt Antonelli from matthewatonelli.com
It may not come down to the Nats settling for Nick Johnson or Casey Kotchman as Troy Glaus could be a one year stopgap at first. --Ben Nicholson-Smith at mlbtraderumors.com
The Nationals are going to need all the help they can get offensively as they didn't do a good job in getting guys on base and when they did they didn't do a good job of getting them in. In 2011 the Nationals are hoping for impacts from several young players in order to have a deeper line-up that isn't the 3-4-5 and pray of last season. --Jesse Wolfersberger from fangraphs.com
The 2010 rookie class has the chance to go down as one of the best ever. --Ian Browne at mlb.com
Yunesky Maya missed an entire year of baseball because of his defection to the Dominican and while Cuba has a plan to share in the profits of Cuban ballplayers it might not be a feasible plan due to the US embargo against the Cuban government. --Jeff Passan from yahoosports.com
One overlooked aspect of baseball teams is how they added payroll throughout the season. Looking at the end of year payrolls is one way to see how things have changed. --Maury Brown at fangraphs.com
Rob Dibble being Rob Dibble is one of the best sports media moments of 2010. --Richard Deitsch at si.com
Adam Dunn leaving the Nationals and Strasburg's TJS are two of the worst moments of the year in D.C. sports. --Daniel Victor from tbd.com
The arrival of Harper and Werth and the debut of Strasburg are some of the best moments of the year in D.C. sports. --Dan Steinberg in The D.C. Sports Bog
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I like Rauch, but I don’t know why we’d need to spend the money on him. Is he really a closer candidate? I’d think that we’re trying to Matt Capps somebody if we bring in a reliever at this point.
John Carlson: A real American hero taking names and settling scores.
I wouldn't want him to be the closer
I do think he could help get the ball from the starter to Clippard and Storen. Only if he comes cheap. If he is still on the board in the middle of January, I bet he would come cheap enough.
Why not us? Why not now?
Not sure............
we have room for Rauch……….Ballester, Bernett, Slaten, Roriguez, Clippard, Storen
Also
Toss Kimball in there as well, and why would they want a more expensive version of Kimball?
"I throw as hard as I can when I think I have to throw as hard as I can." - Walter Johnson
*Formerly known as Giant Torture
Also, also
The bag of balls they traded Josh Willingham for, Rodriguez.
"I throw as hard as I can when I think I have to throw as hard as I can." - Walter Johnson
*Formerly known as Giant Torture
And Elvin Ramirez, the Rule 5 pick from the Mets
I think that one of Ramirez and Rodriquez will make the Opening Day roster, and I wouldn’t be astonished if they both did. Rodriquez might be a bit more polished (if his winter league stats indicate better control) but they both have power arms.
I can see the team adding a lefty, or a closer, but the only quality one of either category that is available is Rafael Soriano. Unless the team makes that move, or some of the players are traded, I don’t think there’s a spot for Rauch. You’ve got Stammen and Ballester dueling for the long relief spot, Slaten and the two fireballers (Ramirez and Rodreguez) for the middle relief, and Clippard, Burnett and Storen at the end of the game. No room at the inn.
Barring a total tragedy, you’ve got believe Rodriguez will be on the roster because he’s out of options. He’ll get a Bruneyesque amount of rope. That also tells me that Rizzo must actually believe him quite a bit.
I like our bullpen and do believe that it will be fine. It was good at the end of last year. I realize Peralta’s production is a big loss, but I also don’t see much Bruney FAIL at the beginning of the year either.
John Carlson: A real American hero taking names and settling scores.
Ramirez is the same deal
Since he was Rule 5’d they have to give him back to the Mets if he’s not on the roster
is he out of options?
I’ve heard it a lot, but if his SBN page is correct about when he was put on the 40 man (after 2007 season), and he didn’t go to A ball until 2007, he should have a 4th option year.
He used option years in ‘08, ’09, and ’10. There’s a rule that if a player has less than 5 full years of pro ball experience after he uses his 3rd option, he gets a 4th option. If I’m counting correctly, HRod has 4 years, so he should get the 4th.
I might be totally wrong though.
Here's a whacky idea to win now (warning: rosterbation follows)
What if the Nationals signed Manny Ramirez, yes I know his defense is atrocious, but he could replace some of the production they lost with Dunn. You plug Manny into LF, move Werth to CF if Morgan doesn’t bounce back quickly and plug the LF platoon into RF, except on days Ankiel plays then he’s in CF. Toss on LeeRoche at 1B and it’s not a bad lineup.
CF Morgan
2B Espinosa
3B Zmm’n
LF ManRam
RF Werth
1B LeeRoche
SS Desmond
C Ramos/Flores/Pudge
Hope the some of the starters step up and the bullpen is lights out to shorten the game and you’ve got a contender. Of course there’s about a katrillion what-if’s in there, but ManRam is a Boras client….
"I throw as hard as I can when I think I have to throw as hard as I can." - Walter Johnson
*Formerly known as Giant Torture
*sings* Rosterbation ... can be fun ...
But it would be more fun if it didn’t involve the post-women’s-fertility-drugs version of Manny – 9 home runs in 265 at bats. Yawn. And expecting an improvement from a guy who turns 39 this spring is not a good wager to make. At this point Boras is shopping Ramirez around solely as a DH. He’s more likely to end up in Baltimore than DC, although MLBTR thinks that, if he does play (and he may retire) he might end up with the Rangers or Rays.
You're probably right
Sometimes, I should think before I type. Still, one above average bat, changes this lineup from “meh” to “could do some damage”. Count me in the camp that’s not looking for Zimm’n to regress, but instead to take the next step towards top players in the game. He’s just too young to expect a regression and should be entering his truly prime years.
"I throw as hard as I can when I think I have to throw as hard as I can." - Walter Johnson
*Formerly known as Giant Torture
Of course, if the Rizzo disregarded defense enough to sign ManRam he’d have probably kept Dunn or Willingham in the first place. I just want to see LeeRoche signed. It’s sounding more like it’s an Orioles vs. Nats for Lee and then wait a long, long time to see if LaRoche comes down from 3 years.
John Carlson: A real American hero taking names and settling scores.
No to ManRam !!!
All we need at this point is a force off the bench. Sign someone like Vladdy G. Sure, doesn`t have the legs or arm for a full 162 he once did, but the pop is there and what a force off the bench to recon with. Aside from this, our arms `SP`s` should turn out as follows: zimmerman (great rebound season coming up), marquis (A proven winner who had a bad first half, he`ll recover… bank on it), Lannan (plenty of anger in his eyes when he returned, look for more of the same), Wang (praying on a return-to-form year), Maya ( plenty of potential and will learn how to avoid that one big inning of mental breakdown, pudge should be his designated catcher)…. I like Livo as our long reliever to take a lot of innings away from clippard in order to save clippard for later in the game. The bullpen is solid. The only thing we actually need is D. Lee… a lineup as follows would be very good.<
morgan (key to our offence, look for a comeback year)
desmond (hit very well in the 2 spot)
zimmerman (simply great)
Lee ( Dunn-like protection and HR power, better D and hits for average too, clubhouse +)
Werth ( 290-25-90, 20sb)
Ramos
Espanosa
Bernadina
Honestly, offensively there`s some great balance there of speed power and on defence, I don`t see a weak spot. if Morgan can return to his pre-2010 production, we`ve got a lineup… pending the outcome of acquiring Lee.
Just my 2 cents…
I agree, it was just an idea.
And while Vlad’s defense is absolutely atrocious, he would be a good bench guy, but he’s probably going to be someone’s DH next year.
"I throw as hard as I can when I think I have to throw as hard as I can." - Walter Johnson
*Formerly known as Giant Torture
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