Phil Wood on Nats Wish List for 06

[natslive]

This from the DC Examiner

Labor Day has come and gone and the Nationals remain in the playoff hunt. Who predicted that back in March?

Before we get caught up in that, it's worth spending a few minutes thinking about the off-season and free-agent comings and goings.

It appears to me the Nats have four players on the verge of free agency: pitchers Esteban Loaiza and Tony Armas, infielder Deivi Cruz and outfielder Preston Wilson.

 
Loaiza would seem the quartet's likeliest returnee. He's not been as consistent as fellow starters Livan Hernandez and John Patterson, but he's actually pitched better than his won-lost record indicates and on occasion is brilliant. He came here on a one-year deal, and is likely to get a pretty substantial offer on the open market.

The premier free-agent starters -- Florida's A.J. Burnett, Houston's Roger Clemens and St. Louis' Matt Morris -- will command more dough than the Nats are willing to pay or already have an '06 destination in mind.

 
 
That means keeping Loaiza in D.C. may be the way to go.

Other free-agent starting pitchers worth a look include Philadelphia's Kevin Millwood, the Angels' Paul Byrd and St. Louis' Jeff Suppan. The next tier has San Francisco's Brett Tomko and Minnesota's Joe Mays. The Angels' Jarrod Washburn is a left-hander, which makes him more attractive to Washington than he might be otherwise.

Wilson has been less than what the Nats hoped for when they acquired him from the Rockies for Zach Day. But he's worth considering for 2006 -- at a deeply discounted price. He's far from the eight-figure player he once was, but can still contribute.

 
 
However, the Nats have to take a close look at San Diego's Brian Giles, a power hitter who can draw a walk. Other free agent outfield candidates include the four J's: Minnesota's Jacque Jones, Oakland's Jay Payton, the Cubs' Jeromy Burnitz and Florida's Juan Encarnacion.

It's safe to say Cruz's time in a Nats' uniform will be short. The club is fairly certain shortstop Cristian Guzman's dreadful offensive performance -- I'm not being redundant -- is an aberration and he'll get back to that .250-plus range next year. Just a year into his four-year contract, they certainly hope so.

If recent call-up and top prospect Ryan Zimmerman is realistically the everyday third baseman, then Vinny Castilla, with a year left on his deal, likely joins Carlos Baerga as a bat -- or glove -- off the bench.

There are a ton of utility/bench-type players who will be free agents, including St. Louis's Abraham Nunez, the White Sox's Tony Graffanino, Boston's Kevin Millar and the Yankees' Mark Bellhorn.

Nunez is the most intriguing of the lot, given his performance in relief this season of the injured Scott Rolen.

To even have an off-season to contemplate in Washington still takes some getting used to. The degree of contemplation will ratchet up dramatically once we know who the new owners are. In mid-July, MLB said we'd know by September, or at least by Labor Day.

How slow is the process?

It now seems certain that if the Nats make the playoffs and win the World Series, Bud Selig will present the trophy to himself

[Jerspos]

Millwood plays for the indians

[UMDNats]

jay payton = beast.

i doubt the A's will let him go after what hes done for them.

[tomterp]

jay payton = beast.

i doubt the A's will let him go after what hes done for them.

The A's operate under strict budget limitations.  They will let him go once the price exceeds their limits, and find someone else for a better price/value ratio, in other words, they practice strict "moneyball".

The leagues are full of superstars let go by the A's for salary - Damon and Giambi for two.

[natslive]

Yes the As have a good GM and do a great job scouting and developing talent. They also keep winning.

I hope the new owner gets the best people available and builds a good organization, that is job #1.

[hillnat]

What am I missing here? Who the hell is Phil Wood?

[Kenz aFan]

This from the DC Examiner

Labor Day has come and gone and the Nationals remain in the playoff hunt.

Sadly, in this hunt (or race) they are talking about, the Nats are using a car that only runs in reverse.

[Dave B]

jay payton = beast.

i doubt the A's will let him go after what hes done for them.

I'm not sold on Jay Payton. He would look like this for weeks at a time with the Mets then cool off.  He is the third  option of that grou behind Jones and Encarnacion

Remember when the Nats almost got Encarnacion for Zach Day.

[tomterp]

What am I missing here? Who the hell is Phil Wood?

Phil Wood is a NoVa native, who for many years now has covered the Orioles as a radio host and reporter, has contributed articles to many papers, and been a generally all-around baseball geek.  In the absence of baseball in DC, he gravitated towards Baltimore in his profession.  If like many of us you are back into baseball with the arrival of the Nats, you can be excused for not knowing who Phil is.  Any Baltimore sports fan would be familiar with him.

He currently hosts several of (in my opinion) best shows on XM 175, XM satelite radio's 24/7 baseball station, and has been a relentless supporter of DC baseball, and the Nationals.  

He also writes a regular column for the DC Examiner, which is the successor to the Journal newspapers, and is distributed free to many of the better zip codes in the DC area.  I can say with experience that their distribution network leaves much to be improved.

Phil has encyclopedic knowledge of baseball history, his command of trivia is unbelievable.  When asked how one can accomplish this, he says to simply purchase one of the fine baseball encyclopedias on the market, and place it in your bathroom.  

Here's a link to past columns by Phil.

http://www.dcexaminer.com/columns_sports/phil_wood

[hillnat]

Oh he is the author. I thought it was some prospect we were trying to get that i never heard of. By the way thanks for "excusing " me for not knowing. I have been into baseball my whole life not just sense the nats came to town.  I also rarely read the examiner. anyway thanks for the info even if it was an insulting post.

[esoteric]

Oh he is the author. I thought it was some prospect we were trying to get that i never heard of. By the way thanks for "excusing " me for not knowing. I have been into baseball my whole life not just sense the nats came to town.  I also rarely read the examiner. anyway thanks for the info even if it was an insulting post.

Wow.  Touchy lately?  I mean, I guess we're all a bit punchy right now with our flailing Nats, but I read that post a couple of times and there was absolutely nothing even remotely insulting about it.  

Oh well.  We're like the Nats' clubhouse, it seems.  When we're winning all is peachy.  When we're losing, time to go for the throats.

[luckyexposfan]

I read that post a couple of times and there was absolutely nothing even remotely insulting about it.

I would have to agree with that assessment.

[natslive]

What am I missing here? Who the hell is Phil Wood?

Phil Wood is a NoVa native, who for many years now has covered the Orioles as a radio host and reporter, has contributed articles to many papers, and been a generally all-around baseball geek.  In the absence of baseball in DC, he gravitated towards Baltimore in his profession.  If like many of us you are back into baseball with the arrival of the Nats, you can be excused for not knowing who Phil is.  Any Baltimore sports fan would be familiar with him.

He currently hosts several of (in my opinion) best shows on XM 175, XM satelite radio's 24/7 baseball station, and has been a relentless supporter of DC baseball, and the Nationals.  

He also writes a regular column for the DC Examiner, which is the successor to the Journal newspapers, and is distributed free to many of the better zip codes in the DC area.  I can say with experience that their distribution network leaves much to be improved.

Phil has encyclopedic knowledge of baseball history, his command of trivia is unbelievable.  When asked how one can accomplish this, he says to simply purchase one of the fine baseball encyclopedias on the market, and place it in your bathroom.  

Here's a link to past columns by Phil.

http://www.dcexaminer.com/columns_sports/phil_wood

as you say Phil has been a big proponent of baseball for DC - he goes back to when the Senators were in town and we've had the pleasure of meeting him several times at Nats fest (for those not familiar these have been annual events put on by the Washington historical baseball society that have former Senators players in attendance - one event was a reunion of the 1969 team including Ted Williams (in 1998).

[hillnat]

He did say IF as i reread my bad.  I read it as since you are new to baseball.