Washington Nationals' Big Decisions: Tyler Clippard, Todd Coffey, Jason Marquis and Pudge.

Julio Bourbon is 25, 35th overall pick in 07. Hits well in the minors, hasnt hit great in the majors 270 average this year. The silver lining is he was hitting .340 in his last 17 games before straining his left hamstring. Seems to be on the way out with the Rangers focusing on cuban defector Leonys Martin for the future. High upside and speed, but looking to be impatient with injury history in a bad situation with the Rangers; manager favoring Journey-man OF who is playing well. WAR= 0.2 (10’ war – 1.4)

Michael Bourn is 28; although a great defensive CF and decent Lead-off hitter, arbitration elig. Short term help, but more streaky then consistent, on a multi-game hit-streak now. WAR= 2 (09/10 WAR = 4.9 & 4.8)

BJ Upton isnt what he is sold as and would cost far too much. Both in $ and in taking a spot from a future prospect with the investment in him (Goodwin/Harper.) WAR= 0.6 (09/10 WAR = 2.3 & 3.9)

Upton and Bourn would cost too much. Neither are worth the money with their current performance and are not long-term answers to give up Clip. or anyone else they’d want.

Josh Reddick from boston, for Marquis at this point is NOT worth it for the Nats. Prospect for back of the rotation starter. This team needs veterans for all the young arms coming up in the next few years. This is who we thought we were getting, finally getting him & he wants to stay here…let him? Give him a 2-3 year deal with more incentives then guaranteed. Can always trade him later when the Nats have more options ready.

Same with Clipp. Bullpen issues and none of the mentioned CF’ers are worth giving him up, especially with teams also wanting prospects.

Coffey is this years Capps, Trade him to the Rangers for Bourbon. Young guy who isnt getting much of a chance with the manager favoring veterans and batting him in the bottom of the order most of the time. The Rangers like the 33 year old vet CF and want to call up the Cuban defector. Move coffey, get another high up-side guy and see what he can do. No trading arms the Nats need or valuable prospects after finally having a farm system.

With Flores constantly getting injured and no other options that are ready ‘right now,’ Pudge isnt really worth moving. He is doing more to help Ramos and the pitching staff improve then he is worth getting a low lvl prospect for. This is why he is valued so highly by Rizzo, they wont get that value back for Pudge at this point in his career.

Rather watch a young guy get a shot and learn from his mistakes, then watch Ankiel do the same thing over and over.

Trade CLIPPARD? This news is unsettling to say the least. He is the perfect set up/middle reliever and is only 26. Screw the Phillies. Why on earth would we help them out? Never!
I would trade Marquis only if we can get something great. I’d prefer to keep him and sign him to an extension, but I won’t lose sleep if we get something good out of it.

Is Boomer Whiting still on the DL in Syracuse? He is no longer listed on the roster and hasn’t played since being put on the DL May 10.

He’s a good middle to back of the rotation pitcher, he eats innings, he can hit a little, and he contributes veteran presence.

  Sounds like he’s enjoying being a National. I understand when the Rockies tried to get him back, he pretty much told them " thanks, but no thanks."

I think Clip is excellent now but I worry that he is overused and there’s a chance he will be Cordero’ed. He has super high value now…and to be honest I wonder whether its possible he can be any better. The chances are in 2 years time he will blow out his arm sving meaningless games and be no value to anyone.

Pudge is a no brainer for me – great player in his day but we’ve got surplus and should move him if there is a demand. I dont expect we’ll get much but something is better than nothing.

Lannan is one for me that should be in the mix – while I am sentimental about keeping him (he was the only decent pitcher we had for years), I think he wont be part of a pennant winning team of the future. So in that case, he’ll be in his 2nd arb year next year and I think if we got a great deal we should jump at it (especially if there is a bat involved). Hard call though and overall despite arbitration he’s not that expensive.

Marquis is a funny one- while Lannan might be best to move, I think that Marquis could be a keeper for a couple of years as we might actually get some long term value here. His 1st year was a write off but that can happen.

Desmond is the most interesting – I nearly died when someone mentioned he might just be a super utility player – if the Nats are thinking that in terms of long term, they might be best to move him now to a team that sees Desmond as a starting SS. That way at least we’ll get high value – if Rendon, etc are seen as the up and comers and better than what we have now then I would think that it’s best to get a good price for a SS than a average utlity man.

I’ve been reading all your comments, but have stayed out of the fray so far because I’ve been noodling over what kind of return I myself think is acceptable return for any one of these valuable parts of this team.

The issue is that we are discussing the trade of pieces of the team that are contributing heavily to wins right now in 2011 and in many cases are locked up to contribute to wins in 2012.

Clippard, Lannan and Desi – can the Nats afford to trade these pieces except for other quality major league players (i.e. CF/leadoff)? If the goal is to win 2012, do the Nats dare trade away a quality player who is locked up for 2012 for players who won’t play in 2012?

Marquis & Pudge – can the Nats trade 2011 wins for players who will help them win in 2012? The importance of return here is not insignificant. Losing a player like Marquis for half the season would mean losses that could make the difference between improving over 2010, which could keep free agents away and/or expensive.

All three of the young guys are under (relatively cheap) team control until 2013 or 2014. There’s no incentive to trade them away unless we get some real return: 1) major league ready talent 2) at a position of need 3) under contract for multiple years. This is not a place to gamble away the bright young pieces of our rebuilding efforts for prospects.

Trading Marquis can make plenty of sense, if you don’t see a future for him on the team. I personally would make every effort to resign him to add veteran depth both in 2012 with Strasburg’s return from the DL no sure thing (#notajinx) and in 2013 when Gorzo is a free agent. Livo’s days here are sadly soon over I predict. If the Nats are going to spend money on pitching, here is their chance. The return on a half season rental had better be good for it to be worth the short and long term gamble.

I don’t think the return for Pudge would be great enough to be worth the trouble of replacing him (Flores is not ready atm).

Overall, if the goal is improving the win-loss record in 2011 and winning in 2012, there is little value in trading any of these pieces right now. If Rizzo is still in rebuilding mode, it would be legitimate to gamble away for 2013+ prospects, but I don’t get any indication that he’s building along that route anymore. He wants a team that will win more games year over year for many years to come. He appears to be committed to showing that the years of tanking/rebuilding are behind us.

That said, trades may happen. If the Nats don’t receive major league ready talent at a position of need (starting pitching or CF) in any trade, I will be very disappointed in Rizzo.