Wire Taps: Washington Nationals Beat Florida Marlins, Michael Morse = Hero, Javier Vazquez's Last Start.
by Patrick Reddington on Sep 27, 2011 12:14 PM EDT
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Print• Programming Notes: If only the season had ended last night with the Washington Nationals sticking it to the Fish. Then again, who wants this season to end right now? Michael Morse's 9th inning blast last night gave the Nats the win, but Davey Johnson's decision to send both runners with Ryan Zimmerman up in the previous AB may have been just as big a play. Former Montreal Expos' ace Javier Vazquez, who left the franchise in '03 and never pitched for the Nats, pitches in what will likely be his last start of a 14-year career. It's not going to easy to beat the right-hander, who's allowed 1 ER in his last 36.0 IP, including a complete game shutout of the Nats. Over that stretch he's walked 1 (0.25 BB/9) and K'd 33 (8.25 K/9). A win gets the Nats to .500. A loss guarantees they finish under .500. It's John Lannan's 27th birthday. Wish him a happy one on the Twitter (@JLannan31). MASN 2 HD, MLB.tv, 106.7 the FAN in D.C., 1500 WFED, Sirius/XM ch. 188. Who's Watching The Nationals?
• LINKS AND LINKS AND...
• NATS BEAT:
• "Late Monday night, Michael Morse crushed a game-winning home run and thrust his right fist in the air before his left hand even let go of the bat." - "Michael Morse’s three-run homer in ninth lifts Nationals over Marlins" - Adam Kilgore, The Washington Post
• "On Wednesday, the Marlins kiss their ballpark goodbye. Sad stuff, right? 'If I was to say I’m sorry to see it go, I’d be lying - big time,' [Jeff] Conine said." - "No tears as Marlins play last series at Sun Life Stadium" - Steven Wine, Washington Times
• "General manager Mike Rizzo says Sunday that he already has 'semi-calculated' the number of innings Strasburg will be allowed to throw in 2012." - "Nationals to put Stephen Strasburg on innings limit in ’12" - AP/BostonHerald.com
• "'I love where we're at in the development stage of some of these young players,' Johnson said. 'The other thing is, my wife seems to enjoy getting back on the road again. She likes to travel, more than I do.'" - "Davey Johnson says he wants to keep Nationals' staff intact" - Ben Goessling, MASNSports.com
• "[Javier] Vazquez said before Monday's game that he probably would not be returning to play a 15th MLB season." - "Washington Nationals at Florida Marlins: "Lannan, Vazquez set to square off in Miami" - Louie Horvath, MLB.com Preview
• "'It wasn’t a goal to end up in third place. We haven’t accomplished anything. You don’t accomplish anything until you’re fighting for a pennant.'" - "Michael Morse's 3-run, 9th-inning HR gives Nats 6-4 comeback win over Marlins" - Amanda Comak, Washington Times
• "Rizzo signed Cora to a minor league contract this winter, in part, to help mentor middle infielders Ian Desmond and Danny Espinosa, which unfolded just as Rizzo hoped." - "Alex Cora will keep playing in 2012" - Adam Kilgore, Nationals Journal - The Washington Post
• "[Morse] is one of the great surprises,' Johnson said. 'He has been the most consistent guy all year long.'" - "Morse singing a different tune" - Byron Kerr, MASNSports.com
• "Yet, despite their interest in other areas, the Nationals have submitted their latest request for upgrades — about $700,000 worth — to Space Coast Stadium." - "Brevard concerned about Washington Nationals' future at Space Coast Stadium" - Don Walker, floridatoday.com
• "'Tough one,' Marlins manager Jack McKeon said. 'I thought we had it in the bag, but I guess it's just one of those years. We just can't close it out. It's tough.'" - "Washington Nationals at Florida Marlins: Morse's blast gives Nats win in series opener" - Bill Ladson, MLB.com WSH Recap
• "'Bo Porter is an outstanding third base [coach] and baseball man,' [Davey] Johnson said Monday. 'I hope he’s back. I hope [his interview] went well. But I hope we don’t lose him.'" - "Nationals' manager search to work off shortlist" - Amanda Comak, Washington Times
• "From 59 wins to 69 wins to 79 wins. Any way you want to slice it, the Washington Nationals have shown clear improvement since Mike Rizzo assumed the general manager's duties in March 2009." - "The beat goes on" - Phil Wood, MASNSports.com
• "General Manager Mike Rizzo has given Porter his blessing to pursue managerial openings, and Porter has assured Rizzo that he will remain with the Nationals if another team does not hire him to become its manager." - "Nationals third base coach Bo Porter interviews to become Marlins’ next manager" - Adam Kilgore, Nationals Journal - The Washington Post
• "But for the first 6 1/2 months of their on-field relationship with [Henry] Rodriguez, they only saw flashes of what they hoped they were getting in the Josh Willingham trade." - "Henry Rodriguez ending his uneven first year with Nationals on a high" - Ben Goessling, MASNSports.com
• "Nationals outfielder Rick Ankiel made it known recently that he wants to return to the Nationals next year. He believes their future is bright and he wants to be a part of it." - "Ankiel wants to return to Nationals" - Bill Ladson, nationals.com: News
• "The most stunning thing about Michael Morse's breakout 2011 season is just how closely it's followed a linear progression of what he did last season." - "Michael Morse's breakout season continues with homer to beat Marlins" - Ben Goessling, MASNSports.com
• "His April struggles behind him, Morse has been basically as unstoppable as they come." - "On Morse's consistency and Tommy Milone's September wrap" - Amanda Comak, Washington Times
• "This September, Milone posted a 3.81 ERA in 26 innings, striking out 15 while issuing four walks, two of which were intentional." - "Tommy Milone wraps up his first month in the majors" - Adam Kilgore, Nationals Journal - The Washington Post
• Your Daily Message From Joe Posnanski On Twitter (@JPosnanski): "With Ozzie Guillen reportedly out, I'm reminded of my favorite quote of his: '#!%@$ #(#* the #&#)# #@^#*$ #&@^# #*$. Yeah.'"
• NATSTOWN:
• "After losing the second game to the Astros on the 10th of September the dream was dead." - "Third!" - Harper, Nationals Baseball
• "Playing spoiler is all well and good, but the Nats actually have something to root for: a season over .500." - "Fighting for .500" - Keara Dowd, Win for Teddy
• "It's difficult to make too many judgments based on September baseball, but the series they took against the Braves, who are fighting for their playoff lives was impressive enough." - "GAME 159 REVIEW: Nats Clinch Third Place with 6-4 Over Marlins" - Dave Nichols, Nats News Network
• "From May 30-June 24, the Nationals went from fifth place in the National League East standings to third place, winning 17 of the next 23 games and improving their record to 39-37." - "A season to remember" - MASNSports.comNationals Buzz: Mark Hornbaker
• "Happy Birthday John Lannan!" - NATIONALS NEWS NETWORK: Off The Field w/ photos by Cheryl Nichols @cnichols14
• "Guest blogger Ryan Tatusko is a minor league pitcher for the Washington Nationals." - "Guest Blog: Ryan Tatusko, An Aspiring Minor Leaguer, Observes His Former Teammates In A Major League Game" - The Nats Blog
• "Community Top Prospect List: #18" - Sean Hogan, DC is for Baseball
• "Matt Skole, BA’s #13 NY-Penn League Prospect" - NationalsProspects.com
• "I don’t like to re/blog sad or serious things often because they don’t fit in with the tone of NationLOLs. But this picture made me openly sob so I feel it’s worth sharing." - "catcherstouchingpeople: Pudge Rodriguez touching..." - Washington NationLOLs
• Your Daily Message From The Dalai Lama On Twitter (@DalaiLama): "We need to make an effort to develop our inner values, irrespective of whether we are religious or not." -
• NL EAST UPDATES:
• Fish: "For months, Omar Infante expressed how much he wanted to remain with the Marlins beyond this season. Infante is about to get his wish." - "Omar Infante, Marlins reach agreement" - Joe Frisaro, marlins.com: News
• Phillies: "Only six National League hitters had a higher slugging percentage against lefthanded pitchers than the .602 mark that Shane Victorino carried into last night's game." - "VICTORINO IS KEY TO VICTORY" - David Murphy, Philadelphia Daily News
• Mets: "In case you missed it, the Mets recently killed a plan by the Bronx Bombers to temporarily move the latter's Triple-A affiliate from Scranton-Wilkes Barre to Riverfront Stadium in Newark." - "Mets Put Kibosh on Triple-A Yankees Affiliate in Newark. So?" - Matthew Artus, Amazin' Avenue
• Phillies/Braves: "The Braves are in desperation mode, hell-bent on winning, because St. Louis is threatening to steal the wild card from them." - "Phillies defeat Braves, 4-2, for 100th win" - Ray Parrillo, Philadelphia Inquirer
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Gaaawdd - The new advertising color scheme along with the picture of the empty Fish stadium almost blew my eyes out
"I'm going to run. You can't stop me. I'm going to run even if I don't get a single vote!." Willie Stark, All The King's Men
it was tres strange going back and forth from the frenetic football tomfoolery and the rapture of the deep like silence of the fishbowl.
Moar Oarange!!!!
Vivian Jaffe: "Have you ever transcended space and time?"
Albert Markovski: "Yes. No. Uh, time, not space... No, I don't know what you're talking about."
by Patrick Reddington on Sep 27, 2011 3:16 PM EDT up reply actions
I still would *much* rather have had Willingham
The Nats one big weakness for the majority of the season was production from the outfield. If they had kept Willingham, they could have skipped the whole LaRoche travesty completely. End of this year, they lose Willingham but gain compensation for him, and they can freely sign Fielder in this off-season. All that beats the heck out of a wild flamethrower any day of the week.
Rob
-- In baseball we trust.
The team may well have been better in 2011 with the Hammer
Although to get there you have to assume his level of production in DC is roughly equivalent to the production that he had in Oakland. This is tricky since, despite DHing 35 games he still missed about 30 games due to injury. But let that stand (in a way that some Dunn die-hards won’t accept when others breathe a sigh of relief that Dunn is having his epically awful season on someone else’s dime).
Because even letting that stand, the Willingham trade had nothing to do with 2011. The Hammer had no future here with Werth and Harper slated to play the corners long term, so it was about Rizzo getting what he could in exchange to serve the long term interests of the franchise. Could Rizzo have gotten more than Brown and Rodriguez? Perhaps, but the counter argument is that the A’s shopped Willingham around at the deadline and got no offers that were better than standing pat and re-signing him or getting the Type B compensation. If you think that a Type B supplemental pick offers a better chance at contributing to the club than Rodriguez that’s fine. Others (including me) may reasonably disagree with that.
We don't know what offers Oakland got for Willingham
They could very well have been comparable with HRod.
I maintain that the value of a wild short relief man pales in comparison to that of a run-producing, reasonably-ranged outfielder. In the short AND in the long term.
You have been trying for years to paint Willingham as being injury prone, for some reason or other, but your argument falls flat here. The only extended time (more than a couple of days) he missed all year was a 19-day span in late June when he strained his Achilles tendon running the bases — it was nowhere near the 30 days you claim above.
I have no idea why you bring up Dunn, other than apparently to try to deflate my Willingham argument by association, which doesn’t fly.
I have no doubt that trading Willingham was among the worst moves Rizzo has made, in part because it forced him to search out a free-agent first baseman, of which there were none available (of quality).
Rob
-- In baseball we trust.
I like Josh, I liked having him here
I believe that I don’t underestimate him – he’s a solid ML outfielder, the #3 OF on a top club and the #2 guy on a lesser club. He provided a couple of my favorite Nats memories (a walkoff against Angelos’s boys, TWO grand slams!). My only problem with Willingham for the Nationals is that he had no position on the team going forward. So whatever value he’s going to have long term, it’s not going to be for this team. Given that, the gimlet-eyed cold blooded GM will try to get whatever he can for such a player. I believe that you have argued in the past for just such an approach (playing for the short term should never ever EVER undermine the overall goal of contending). I view this as the same thing.
Where I look at his injury history is in analyzing his value in a trade (for clarification, I said he missed 30 games, not 30 days; the actual total is 26, so I was close even if you assume he plays the last two). Working against him is that it’s been four years since he played 140 games and that he’s a short term-rental. Long term his value is considerable, but he’s going to get paid. If anything, his value as an OF is one reason that he wasn’t staying on the Nats; he’s a good player, and has earned a contract of probably $6-8 million a year for 3-4 years. Why on Earth would the Nationals invest that money in a player that is going to be a bench bat when Harper, Werth and Morse crowd him out of position?
We can play the guessing game on what Willingham would have brought in a trade all night long. We value MPHRod differently, and I’m OK with that, too. I think here we just have to agree to disagree mon vieux.
Oh, and Dunn I brought up as an aside – it doesn’t go to your argument directly, it goes to the folly of assuming that Willingham has the same season here that he did in Oakland. Nearly every post I’ve seen about Dunn’s season generates loyalist commentary that he would’ve been much better if he’d stayed here. Which has the advantage of being completely unrefutable, because that’s not what happened. :-)
For the record
I have not claimed that Dunn would have done better if he stayed here. At most, I might have said he “might have done better”, because, as you say, it’s unprovable. In Hammer’s case, the season he’s having is actually not far from what he would project to do with the Nats.
Rob
-- In baseball we trust.
Yeah, I wasn't saying YOU did that
Apologies if it seemed that way.
I seem to remember Rizzo being hell bent on getting a defensive 1B. Doubt keeping the Hammer would have meant we didn’t sign LaRoche
Oooooh now you've done it
Don’t get RobBob started on LaRoche ;-)
This is precisely my point
The Nats didn’t need LaRoche’s defense (first base defense has been fine in his absence, I’ll note), and he was never going to be a true offensive producer at 1B even if healthy — regardless of what the how big the Nats lets their collective nose grow while trying to tell us it would.
Rob
-- In baseball we trust.
Does Pudge start tonight? Or tomorrow?
I thought I heard he’d start one more and I’m guessing he’ll catch Strasburg. We will miss Pudge if he goes…
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