Wire Taps: Washington Nationals Sign Mark Teahen, NL East Prospect Lists.
by Patrick Reddington on Feb 7, 2012 12:11 PM EST
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Print• Mike Cameron. Mark Teahen. Rick Ankiel. Brett Carroll. Mark DeRosa. Chad Tracy. Jason Michaels. Xavier Paul. Jarrett Hoffpauir. Jeff Fulchino. Andres Blanco. Waldis Joaquin. Teahen was just the latest veteran name the Nats inked to a deal this winter. They traded for Gio Gonzalez, signed right-hander Edwin Jackson. The Nats re-signed Chien-Ming Wang early this winter. They claimed Carlos Rivero off waivers from Philadelphia. They traded Collin Balester for Ryan Perry...signed a bunch of minor league free agents. They added Brad Lidge to the bullpen. That's off the top of my head. There will be new names in Spring Training, but not too many spots available on the Opening Day roster. The biggest story of the Spring, however, is going to be Bryce Harper. He topped another prospect list released yesterday...LINKS...RIGHT NOW!!
• THE BIG STORY:
• "When it comes to Harper's immediate future, Nationals farm director Doug Harris chooses to take a very conservative approach dealing with the steady swirl of media and fan interest." - "Nationals' organization preview, Top 20 Prospects" - Doug Miller, MLB.com
• NATS BEAT:
• "[Mark] Teahan, 30, will compete for a spot on the Nationals’ bench and could give them needed depth at Class AAA Syracuse." - "Nationals sign Mark Teahen to minor league deal" - Adam Kilgore, Nationals Journal - The Washington Post
• "Though he'll have a chance to crack the Nationals' Opening Day roster, he'll face long odds." - "Nats add Teahen on minor-league deal" - Mark Zuckerman, NatsInsider.com
• "NatsTown has generally welcomed the return of Rick Ankiel, who has agreed to a minor league deal with an invitation to spring training." - "Possible fits for Ankiel in the Nats' outfield (updated with Teahen move)" - Pete Kerzel, MASNSports.com
• "FanGraphs took down talk of Bourjos for John Lannan, countering that Jordan Zimmermann would be a better return. That's probably a little too favorable for the Angels..." - "Fake Trades: Breaking Up The Angels' Glut Of Center Fielders" - Grant Brisbee, Baseball Nation
• "'And if the deliberate attempts to keep out Phillies fans persist, the Nats’ attendance will likely plummet further, ultimately driving down the franchise’s revenue...'" - "Nats ‘Take Back the Park’ campaign hits front page of Philadelphia Inquirer" - Dan Steinberg, DC Sports Bog - The Washington Post
• "If you've been to Nationals camp before, you know the drill. But if you're a first-time visitor, you want to know what to expect." - "Spring Training Fan Guide Part 1: The complex" - Mark Zuckerman, NatsInsider.com
• "[Mark] Teahen, who served as the third baseman and then first baseman for the Kansas City Royals for the first five years of his career, is coming off a career-worst offensive season..." - "Nats sign Teahen to minor-league deal" - Amanda Comak, Washington Times
• "Have we mentioned that Bourjos is under team control for the next five seasons and will make something close to the league minimum for the next two years?" - "Bourjos for Lannan? Surely You Jest." - Dave Cameron, FanGraphs Baseball
• "In a city that has so often served as a backdrop for racial debate, progress and controversy, it's rather remarkable that the integration of the Washington Senators' roster in 1954 barely drew attention." - "Senators' color line broken quietly" - Mark Zuckerman, NatsInsider.com
• "Harrisburg Senators closer Hassan Pena is another reliever that could easily move up to Triple-A this season and has the stuff to pitch in the ..." - "Hassan Pena has the stuff for the majors" - Byron Kerr, MASNSports.com
• "Last week, Nationals media relations manager Bill Gluvna resigned in order to take a job working for Boras Corporation." - "Nationals media relations manager Bill Gluvna leaves for Boras Corporation" - Adam Kilgore, Nationals Journal - The Washington Post
• "And they have a secret weapon -- a 19-year-old wunderkind who could come up to the majors and explode one of these years." - "Could Bryce Harper Start The Season In The Majors?" - Grant Brisbee, Baseball Nation
• "There are going to be no shortage of possibilities, and there could still be plenty of changes via either trades or last-minute signings." - "The depth chart ... for now" - Mark Zuckerman, NatsInsider.com
• "Instead, Stairs will have to settle for a number of smaller accolades. He is the only player to ever play for 13 different Major League teams (though Edwin Jackson has this one marked on his to-do list)." - "Matt Stairs Was Good at Baseball" - Paul Swydan, FanGraphs Baseball
• "Rick Schu got a glimpse of just how hard it would be to follow in the footsteps of a legend, if only for a single game, when he was called up by the Phillies in September 1984." - "Advice for O'Brien: How to succeed a legend" - Mark Kram, Philly.com
• NATSTOWN:
• "The Nats don’t have a lot of superstars (at least until the next wave of youngsters come through)." - "Lookie What New Nat Jackson Can Do!" - Keara Dowd, Win For Teddy
• "The best part of the whole situation for the Nationals is that the one-year deal puts the onus on Jackson to perform in 2012." - "Edwin Jackson Turned Down Three Year Deal From Pirates" - Will Yoder, The Nats Blog
• "After the Washington Nationals signed free agent pitcher Edwin Jackson, the common thought around baseball was that John Lannan, who has been with the organization since 2005, was expendable..." - "Why Washington Nationals should keep John Lannan" - Zach Myles, Rant Sports
• "While you're sitting around measuring the shift in the balance of power in the NL East after the Nationals signed Mark Teahen to a minor-league deal today..." - "The Michael Morse 38 Special T-Shirt" - Nats Enquirer
• "The Nats are getting so much good publicity these days, many national baseball writers are picking them as their 'surprise team' for the upcoming season, with some picking them for the post-season." - "The Doomsday Scenario" - Dave Nichols, District Sports Page
• "#Ourpark? Or #Theirpark?" - Nats Enquirer
• Your Daily Message From The Dalai Lama On Twitter (@DalaiLama): "Compassion is the ultimate source of success in life."
• NL EAST UPDATES:
• Mets: "Headlining their approach and a fresh crop of young, high-upside pitchers is a trio of powerful right-handers: Zack Wheeler, Matt Harvey and Jeurys Familia, who ranked Nos. 28, 38 and 90, respectively, on MLB.com's Top 100 Prospects list." - "Mets' organization preview, Top 20 Prospects" - Jon Star, mets.com: News
• Marlins: "Marlins director of player development Brian Chattin can envision the future, and he likes what sees coming." - "Marlins' organization preview, Top 20 Prospects" - Jesse Sanchez, marlins.com: News
• Braves: "Right now, Atlanta fully intends to make the right-handed trio of Julio Teheran, Arodys Viczaino and Randall Delgado -- the team's top three prospects, and in that order -- a part of its future plans..." - "Braves' organization preview, Top 20 Prospects" - Evan Drellich, braves.com: News
• Phillies: "When you're built to win, your prospects sometimes suffer. The Phillies have leveraged their farm system to help bring more talent to the parent club in recent seasons..." - "Phillies' organization preview, Top 20 Prospects" - Spencer Fordin, phillies.com: News
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"I call it my samurai cobra snake..." uh, it's called [crane kick], Mikee...
LINK: Morse on his “unique” swing via ESPN.
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 Feb 7, 2012 12:23 PM EST reply actions
Oh, those wacky Phillie Phans
And if the deliberate attempts to keep out Phillies fans persist, the Nats’ attendance will likely plummet further, ultimately driving down the franchise’s revenue..
If by “plummet further”, you mean increasing average attendance another 2,300 fans (like they did in 2011), then I’m all for it.
Rob
--"Well my days of not taking you seriously are certainly coming to a middle." -- Mal Reynolds
and surely the media storm is hitting philly
So realistically the Nats are probably going to pack the park by increasing Nats attendance and still selling the same volume to phillies fans now that its a media storm in Philly.
So actually its a win win.
You guys. You lollygag the ball around the infield. You lollygag your way down to first. You lollygag in and out of the dugout. You know what that makes you? Larry!
Yeah, I had mentioned yesterday that it was a marketing ploy to sell-out the stadium, regardless who fills the seats, even though it does give Nats fans, and Philly fans who live in the DC area, first take at the tickets. I’ve traveled over a few of their boards, and it is a big brag-fest for them. I’m sure they are gonna try and flock to Nats Park during that series, just to try and prove they can.
BTW….a full stadium still makes money, so I agree that it is a win-win.
exactly,
people aren’t dumb, if anything I am sure there is a decent volume of individuals buying their tickets and putting it on stubhub
You guys. You lollygag the ball around the infield. You lollygag your way down to first. You lollygag in and out of the dugout. You know what that makes you? Larry!
Truer words...
truer words…
Ross Detwiler will have a breakout year...Believe It!...and I'm serious this time!
I got mines
Sunday night game – izzat a network game of the week or some such?
"I can go to my left or right, I am amphibious." - Charles Shackelford
Its' a Busted Myth.....
……All this hoopla how they always “fill” our stadium. Yes, they give us a run for our money by making up a large portion of the attendance, but they hardly “fill” our stadium. The past two seasons, we only averaged 28K per game against them, with credit for 3 total sell-outs (one of which was an opening day game).
No, they don't always fill the stands
But for series between the holidays (i.e. June-August) on weekends, they actually do pack the stadium. Which is fine, as long as they lose.
Rob
--"Well my days of not taking you seriously are certainly coming to a middle." -- Mal Reynolds
Last year, we had the two sell-outs, so I give them that…..in 2010, not a bad weekend series, as the average attendance was 35K. In 2009, there was only one weekend series with them, which was in early May (just like this upcoming one) and the average attendance was 22K.
Other than those two weekend series, and a couple of opening day games, the attendance against the Phillies has actually been rather poor.
Three Seasons Ago.....
The Nats had a similar series against the Phillies, a May weekend series, and the Friday-Saturday-Sunday games only averaged 22K per game. So, I don’t understand why you think this series is suppose to be, or expected to be a sell-out. The ONLY games that have had decent attendance rates in this series are, as Rob pointed out, weekend games in the summer, and the two opening day games which would have been sell-outs regardless who we played.
Come on, sully,
We’re trying to drum up some controversy here! ;-)
Rob
--"Well my days of not taking you seriously are certainly coming to a middle." -- Mal Reynolds
As a general rule
I don’t like to claim membership in my local sports team (“we are going to win tonight!”). I ESPECIALLY wouldn’t want to claim to be part of the team three years ago (other than as one of their poor suffering fans).
Rob
--"Well my days of not taking you seriously are certainly coming to a middle." -- Mal Reynolds
But There You Were......
Faithfully cheering on our beloved Nats from the Club Sections! How many of us have faithfully purchased those season tickets since the RFK days? I didn’t start till the last season at RFK, but have been faithful since. Unfortunately, I can’t afford the Diamond Club that you now have though….I’m assuming you are staying there. Almost feels like that country song….we were Nationals when Nationals wasn’t cool. lol
Heck, *I* can't afford those seats
But I buy them anyways…
Rob
--"Well my days of not taking you seriously are certainly coming to a middle." -- Mal Reynolds
Two sell-outs and a 38,000+ Friday game in 2011.
Got to face it, the Phils bring in more fans than any other NL East team. Precisely, the average attendance the last three years against Philly has been 26,621; vs the rest of the division it’s been 23,146.
Rob
--"Well my days of not taking you seriously are certainly coming to a middle." -- Mal Reynolds
Viewed another way
Four Saturday games against Philly, average 31,600 fans. All other Saturdays: 26,200.
Rob
--"Well my days of not taking you seriously are certainly coming to a middle." -- Mal Reynolds
Ha!
You are actually arguing against your own original comment in this thread, which I have been simply trying to defend and agree with you on! lol
Of course Philly shows up more than other teams fans….they just don’t fill our stadium with the numbers and frequency they claim. Other than your examples, which are only a handful of games, attendance against Philly is simply mediocre.
that would only be true of Philadelphians are too stupid to wait three days
…crap, I just destroyed my own point
nicely written article by zuck
one of the commenters mentioned that harper couldnt bunt last ST. lets hope he never learns….
Yeah, well, you know, that's just like, uh, your opinion man
why don't you want him to learn?
He’s got speed AND power. Knowing how to drag a bunt will keep infields honest, leading to more base-hits when he swings.
Because...
base hits aren’t nearly as valuable as dingerz and extra base hits, if they were Ichiro would be mentioned in the same breath as Ruth, Williams, Mays and Bonds.
Ross Detwiler will have a breakout year...Believe It!...and I'm serious this time!
That's silly.
I don’t know why you would ever not want a player to learn anything. Singles are better than outs. It’s possible that his being able to bunt will turn outs into singles. This is especially true when you have speed, whether or not you believe in the stolen base. Remember, even Ruth, Williams, Mays, and Bonds never had slugging %’s above 1.000.
If you could teach a player to be able to bunt for singles with 100% effectiveness,
you would do so. Problem is, that even the BEST bunters don’t approach that rate. That’s where the trade-off comes in. How much of an increase in the likelihood of safely reaching base is needed to compensate for the accompanying drop in power? For players like Harper, that required increase is probably much greater than is attainable.
Rob
--"Well my days of not taking you seriously are certainly coming to a middle." -- Mal Reynolds
I was referring to my earlier point of "keeping infielders honest"
I agree I don’t really want Harper bunting for singles often, but the ability to do so should pay off when he swings. So there really shouldn’t be much of a trade-off with power (save for the 10 or so times/season he bunts) because he’s just buying singles from ground balls/low line drives that would otherwise be fielded by an infield playing back or shifting.
Maybe he does, maybe he doesn't.
Again, he won’t reach base 100% of the time when he bunts, even if he does it only rarely. If he reaches 4 out of the 10 times he tries it may be worth it — if only because of the potential for affecting defensive positioning. But I’m not sure that he could be trained to reach even this “modest” goal — at least not without sacrificing valuable time practicing more important/valuable skills.
Rob
--"Well my days of not taking you seriously are certainly coming to a middle." -- Mal Reynolds
agreed
the “best” bunters regularly produce poor WPA… bunts are a REAL BAD waste of an out in most occasions if you can actually hit. No one is going to not “cheat” because a slugger can actually bunt, because the fact is that slugger should NEVER bunt.
by William.Hatheway on Feb 8, 2012 7:44 PM EST up reply actions
FanGraphs
First, they rightly discredit the Lannan/Bourjos rumors, then they turn around and toss out a completely bizarre Bourjos for Zimmermann idea?
Rob
--"Well my days of not taking you seriously are certainly coming to a middle." -- Mal Reynolds
In a vacuum its probably a fair deal.
You guys. You lollygag the ball around the infield. You lollygag your way down to first. You lollygag in and out of the dugout. You know what that makes you? Larry!
In a not-thinking-about-PR vacuum?
"I just want to tell you both good luck. We're all counting on you."
-Leslie Nielsen, Airplane
But for a team building a rotation, Zimmermann is more valuable than the alternative
And for a team with an aging outfield and one of the best rotations in baseball, Bourjos is probably the better alternative.
You guys. You lollygag the ball around the infield. You lollygag your way down to first. You lollygag in and out of the dugout. You know what that makes you? Larry!
but yes
they are roughly 4.0 WAR players, young, controllable, etc.
You guys. You lollygag the ball around the infield. You lollygag your way down to first. You lollygag in and out of the dugout. You know what that makes you? Larry!
I think the projects for Bourjos' defense could very well be overblown
Seeing as UZR is such an incredibly unstable statistic (he dropped half his defensive value in 2011, and much of his perceived value is in his defense). Don’t get me wrong, Bourjos is good, but Zimmermann’s going to be a beast.
Rob
--"Well my days of not taking you seriously are certainly coming to a middle." -- Mal Reynolds
sure, there is alot to be said in that direction
Bourjos after all is having hip surgery in the near future for example. But seeing Bourjos play, he does have lightning speed, and as long as his routes are good, I am sure he is an above avg. CF.
You guys. You lollygag the ball around the infield. You lollygag your way down to first. You lollygag in and out of the dugout. You know what that makes you? Larry!
Zimmermann has the potential too be Curt Schilling. Does Bourjos have the potential to be Glen Davis?
I actually target Zim starts when I choose to head to the park
so for at least this one ticket buyer, unloading him is a very bad idea. I love Jordan, and don’t feel the same about Bourjos…
by William.Hatheway on Feb 7, 2012 8:24 PM EST up reply actions
Negative
Good young pitching is more valuable than good young hitting, look at what the A’s got for two pitchers vs. what St. Louis got for Colby Rasmus. You can also look at the Seattle-New York deal recently in which the Yankess had to give up a premier hitting prospect and a solid pitching prospect to get an elite pitching prospect and an org-filler.
Ross Detwiler will have a breakout year...Believe It!...and I'm serious this time!
I wouldn't do it
Starting pitchers are tough to come by. So are CF, I guess, but you only need one of those. And as BSullivan pointed out, it makes very little sense for the Angels, too.
LINK: #beltwaybryce©™
RT @washingnats: “Harper confident he can make club this spring” http://atmlb.com/zT6U3X – Bryce Harper: “I really feel I have a legit shot…”
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 Feb 7, 2012 5:46 PM EST reply actions
Of course he does
I’d be disappointed in him if he didn’t :). He thought the same thing last year, and this year has Davey in his corner and no obvious alternative 3rd OF (unless one is enthralled with an Ankiel/Cameron CF platoon)…
Brain: "Pinky, are you pondering what i'm pondering?"
Pinky: "Yes, ... wait, ... no, ... never mind"
I guess Ankiel and Cameron can battle for who has the biggest fork sticking out of his back.
"I was a victim of a series of accidents. As are we all."
---Malachi Constant
by The Herndon Kid on Feb 7, 2012 6:38 PM EST via mobile up reply actions 1 recs
No contest
Cameron is on the platter with an apple in his mouth, being carried into the main hall to be presented to the king and court as the main course.
Brain: "Pinky, are you pondering what i'm pondering?"
Pinky: "Yes, ... wait, ... no, ... never mind"
Rizzo thought he could sneak Cameron by you two, but he was in error...
maybe he serves so that the others don’t seem so bad…
"...I don't want to go watch American League baseball." -Lance Berkman....
I wanna watch the "... tape-measure-testing, laser-throwing, eyeblack-oozing baseball cyborg."
by cat daddy3000 on Feb 7, 2012 9:04 PM EST up reply actions
#promoteHarper
Rob
--"Well my days of not taking you seriously are certainly coming to a middle." -- Mal Reynolds
You do realize that your advocacy of Harper means he is now doomed. Like the Adam Dunn and Prince Fielder crusades, Rizzo is determined to avoid your counsel no matter how wise it may be.
Waiting to bang my drum in parades for the Nats and Caps.
Yes, I know.
We will see LaRoche for the rest of his career, Harper will be up in late 2014, and the Nats will trade for Livan later in the year.
Rob
--"Well my days of not taking you seriously are certainly coming to a middle." -- Mal Reynolds
Given all of that...
When do you think they’ll bring Willie Mo Pena back?
/Ducks
Ross Detwiler will have a breakout year...Believe It!...and I'm serious this time!
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