Over the years we've had a number of speedsters with great defense, who couldn't get on base hence were useless. 52 games is not sufficient to establish an ability to get on base.
And .... "mental midget"? Where does this nonsense come from? We have pitchers with very different personalitlies - Strasburg, Gio, Zimmermann, and Fister, four completely different personalities. Strasburg is perhaps on the high-edge, sensitive side. So what?
Betts has had double digit walk rates his entire minor league career, has OPS'd over .800 everywhere. He's basically Altuve with more walks.
Strasburg is a mentally weak. He cried about being shut down. Cried about it being to hot. Cried about icy hot. Cried about the mound being bad. Cried about being told to pitch inside. He has naged about every little thing and continued to struggle when it mattered. He's the definition of not an ace. He's definitely not the pheneom we all thought he would be. He's not even going to be the best pitcher in his draft class, nor on his team.
Trade Stras for some slap hitting infielder who's played a few weeks in the majors? No thanks.
And if you trade Stras and then JZimm and Fister walk next year, you've effectively decimated the SP staff. Even if the young guns like Giolito, Cole, Treinen, etc. are ready, I don't think you want to go there.
As JCA said, if he's a slap hitter, so are Jose Altuve, Howie Kendrick, and Ben Zobrist. In other words, he's not. Dude is going to be a monster and the Nats should consider themselves lucky if they only have to give up Strasburg (who is gone in two years anyway).
Plenty of starting pitching to add to the rotation next offseason. Cueto, Chacin , Gallardo, Latos Leake, and Samardzija will all be on the market. Any one of them can fortify the rotation until the young guys get up. And to be perfectly honest, I'd much rather just tell Jordan we'll match whatever offer he gets plus a little more and trade Strasburg. JZ has it. The man is a beast and we should ride him to the world series.
Strasburg will never win a Cy Young. He will never win "the big game." He is not the next Verlander, Wainwright, or Bumgarner. He doesn't have the mentality for it. He's simply going to be a very good pitcher, who chokes when it counts the most.
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