Screw you Mike Rizzo

[uncleteddy]

This is NJ's last year on his contract with us. Why not dump him at maximum value and acquire a young starter/reliever?

Because it's the last year on his contract; nobody's going to give you a young starter (who's worth a damn) for him.

Name a few targets.  Look around the league.  Which contender needs a 1B/DH, and what's your wish list from them?  There aren't a number of great matches.

[cmdterps44]

Hey, theres nothing we can do, were stuck with what we've got unless someone is willing to make a silly trade for kearns/NJ.

I say, if NJ stays healthy this year and we keep him the entire year, we just sign him for 2 more years, we did that with Belly and Young, mine as well do it with someone actually doing something worth a damn, so far. We dont really have a first baseman that is actually ready, I dunno just how I feel.


Anyway, a Tyler Clippard Call up is definitely mandatory

[JMW IV]

how so?

fire the entire bullpen. all of them. I used to like Mock but he's turned into nothing more than a cocky crapbag pitcher.

I'm talking about Rizzo/Bowden.

Bowden built the landscape that Rizzo has to pull from in order to fix the bullpen. at the AAA level we have Clippard, and a bunch of Kip Wells/Julian Tavarez types. it's re-arranging deck chairs on the titanic at this point. nobody besides clippard is really ready to take a MLB bullpen role, Stammen is being groomed to replace Crabrera, and everyone else is pretty much a redux of Wells/Tavarez.

that's Bowden's legacy,  he improved the offense and absolutely ignored the Bullpen. you should make a "Screw You Jim Bowden" thread for that.

Bowden made the mess, and left Rizzo to clean it up.

now Rizzo, it is his job to fix it and he has not done so yet. I understand that completely. but there is no magic cure that Rizzo is supposed to have for this. it is going to take time and effort to fix, and while I do not agree one bit with the way Rizzo is going about doing it(dumpster-diving and signing bums like Macdougal is absolutely not the answer), but I realize where the blame for the current situation lies, and what Rizzo is working with here.

you aren't willing to concede that. you are acting as if Rizzo has a magic cure sitting at AAA that he's just refusing to use because he's stupid, and that's not the case. you are acting as if trading is one-sided, and that's not the case. you can't just say "hey, trade Nick Johnson."   there has to be someone willing to give us something of value that we need for him. there doesn't seem to be at the moment.

Clippard is one pitcher. he should be called up, yes. but even so, he can't pitch every relief inning of every game. Tavarez and Wells and co. are still here, and they will still have to pitch. the only thing we have to replace them with, is another set of Tavarez and Wells going by different names.

the situation isn't as clear-cut and simple as you are making it out to be. we've got SERIOUS, SERIOUS problems here.

[JMW IV]

This is NJ's last year on his contract with us. Why not dump him at maximum value and acquire a young starter/reliever?

while this is a great idea on its face, I have to ask:

who are we trading NJ to? and for who? 

[shoeshineboy]

Getting a decent reliever in a trade is a pipe dream.  Let it go...

No it isn't. A guy like Wells is viewed around baseball as absolute garbage. There is no way that there isn't an available arm in some level of some organization somewhere that we can get in return for expendable assets. It is laughable that we can't get a serviceable arm who can throw at least one pitch for strikes to pitch in relief in exchange for a legitimate major league bat like Josh Willingham. No one cares what he has done for us riding pine most of the season. People know what he is capable of. The fact that he wasn't dealt before now is ridiculous. And that is only one of our options.

And it should not be about a guy's salary. The Nats are in position to eat salary on every trade they make, and that is what they should have been doing for over a year now.

[JMUalumni]

No it isn't.

Get back to me when it happens.  I've watched this club's moves long enough to know it won't happen.

Also I said DECENT, not serviceable arm.  You may be able to trade for something better than Kip Wells, but he isn't going to be much better (well, maybe better but probably not even average in terms of ability).

[JMW IV]

I agree. either Willingham or Kearns should have been traded by now.

I dunno what Rizzo is waiting for, or whether he is just not creative enough to come up with a trade that someone will accept. or perhaps there just really isn't a drastic need for OFers at this time. who knows.

but one of those two should be gone by now.

[JMUalumni]

I agree. either Willingham or Kearns should have been traded by now.

I dunno what Rizzo is waiting for, or whether he is just not creative enough to come up with a trade that someone will accept. or perhaps there just really isn't a drastic need for OFers at this time. who knows.

but one of those two should be gone by now.

It would have been much better if they had got rid of one of them before the season started.  Trading in season is a lot harder unless you are trading to a team in a position of need.  Unfortunately, we are THAT team in the position of need.  Sure, trade Kearns or Willingham for a decent arm, but most of the teams with quality arms aren't going to take one of those guys for a quality arm at this point.  Most teams have at least one prospect outfielder they are willing to give a try at the ML level before trading for a guy like Kearns or Hammer.

[JMW IV]

Rizzo needs to be monitoring the Medical Reports nonstop and as soon as a starting outfielder gets hurt, he needs to be on the phone with that team ASAP.

[PC]

And it should not be about a guy's salary. The Nats are in position to eat salary on every trade they make, and that is what they should have been doing for over a year now.

Not if the owners squeeze a nickel so hard that the buffalo poops!

...at least a nickel up to 1938 and I'm sure the Lerner family still has a few of those around, grasping them tightly. 

[shoeshineboy]

Rizzo needs to be monitoring the Medical Reports nonstop and as soon as a starting outfielder gets hurt, he needs to be on the phone with that team ASAP.

Current OF Injuries:

Lou Montanez   LF   Thumb                Questionable for May 5 at Tampa Bay
Rocco Baldelli   RF   Hamstring   15-day DL. On Triple-A rehab assignment
Mark Kotsay   CF   Back, hamstring   15-day DL. On Triple-A rehab assignment
Dewayne Wise   CF   Shoulder   15-day DL. Out until at least early June
Brian N. Anderson   CF   Oblique   15-day DL. Out until at least mid-May
Jermaine Dye   RF   Hand   Questionable for May 5 at Kansas City
Carlos Guillen   LF   Achilles', shoulder   15-day DL. Out until at least late May
Vladimir Guerrero   RF   Pectoral   15-day DL. Out until at least late May
Ryan J. Braun   LF   Back   Questionable for May 5 at Pittsburgh
Angel Pagan   LF   Elbow   15-day DL. Out until at least late May
Xavier Nady   RF   Elbow   15-day DL. Out until at least late May
Cliff Floyd   LF   Shoulder, Knee   15-day DL. Out until at least late May
Andres Torres   CF   Hamstring   15-day DL. Out until at least late May
Rick Ankiel   CF   Neck   Out until at least May 6-7 series vs. Pittsburgh
Fernando Perez   CF   Wrist   15-day DL. Out until at least early August
Josh Hamilton   CF   Ribcage   15-day DL. Out until at least mid-May
Roger Bernadina   CF   Ankle   60-day DL. Out until at least early July

[cmdterps44]

Isnt Nady out for the whole year, think the Yanks would want one of kearns or willingham?

[JMUalumni]

Isnt Nady out for the whole year, think the Yanks would want one of kearns or willingham?

Probably not, they just started using Swisher in right because he has been effective at the plate.  Also they have Brett Gardner who is now the 4th OF since Cabrera became CF.

[sportsfan882]

Probably not, they just started using Swisher in right because he has been effective at the plate.  Also they have Brett Gardner who is now the 4th OF since Cabrera became CF.

Gardner = Nook Logan

.234/.296/.281

Melky won't keep up his hot start to the season.

[JMUalumni]

Gardner = Nook Logan

.234/.296/.281

Melky won't keep up his hot start to the season.

That may be true, but the Yankees don't think that and that is all that matters if we are talking about trading an OFer to them.  They also have Austin Jackson waiting to be called up.  Besides, Yankees have horrible relievers anyway (6.50 bullpen ERA).

Also, currently the Nationals aren't even last in bullpen ERA.  With an ERA of 5.08, Washington sits at 23rd in the league (given, that will change a bit after today's game).  Arizona, Baltimore, Cleveland, Texas, LAA, NYY, and Minnesota all have worse reliever ERAs, so I doubt any of those teams will be looking to trade away arms that could help their own pens.  Houston is also having bullpen troubles and only Milwaukee has blown more saves than our team.

Pittsburgh and Kansas City would be two teams to target for some relief help, if you can get either one to take Kearns or Willingham off of our hands.

[sportsfan882]

did you see that stat today where our bullpen has like a perfect ERA when we win and a sky-high ERA in games we lose?

[JMUalumni]

did you see that stat today where our bullpen has like a perfect ERA when we win and a sky-high ERA in games we lose?

how many games have we won?

[sportsfan882]

how many games have we won?

7. would be 11-12+ if we had an average bullpen. how disappointing.

[JMUalumni]

7. would be 11-12+ if we had an average bullpen. how disappointing.

My point being that we have won a quarter of our games (one of the wins was a CG with no relievers).  I am sure that overall in those games, the relievers pitched only 2 innings or so and in the games we lost the relievers were pitching 3, 4, and even 6 innings.  Figure out the ERA with the wins taken away, it won't be that big of a difference.

Additionally, it is one of those bone-headed stats.  Most times you win a game, your bullpen will be pitching well (I'll give you it won't be 0.00 usually, but within the 1.00-2.00 range).  It is the losses that make the ERA bad usually.

[JMW IV]

how many games have we won?

My point being that we have won a quarter of our games (one of the wins was a CG with no relievers).  I am sure that overall in those games, the relievers pitched only 2 innings or so and in the games we lost the relievers were pitching 4,5, and even 6 innings.

meaning that the key is for our starters to pitch longer into games. Manny, you getting this?

[JMUalumni]

meaning that the key is for our starters to pitch longer into games. Manny, you getting this?

That is a whole other issue.  I would love for the pitchers to go longer, but you have to condition for that.  If you don't let your players go more than 100 pitches ever (in season, spring training, whenever) than you can't reasonably expect them to pitch 120-130 pitches.  Nolan Ryan is preaching letting pitchers go longer, but he also has them conditioning for it ALL year long just like he did.  When they are done with their regular work, they throw live batting practice.

A lot of people bring up how Asian arms are able to pitch longer than American pitchers and part of the reason is they train the entire year to do so, not just for 3/4 of the year.

I think it might have been Ryan (maybe someone else) that said something along the lines that you can't have a runner do a marathon when they have been training for 5Ks.  I think pitch counts can have a value with younger players, but at some point you need to allow pitchers to pitch without them.  Personally, I don't think a good manager should need a pitch count to tell when a pitcher is done.

[mitlen]

I don't understand why we trot our garbage every day when we have a young reliever in AAA pitching great.

They're saving him for the pennant run.

[blue911]

This is NJ's last year on his contract with us. Why not dump him at maximum value and acquire a young starter/reliever?

Johnson's value = Kip Wells.

[HalfSmokes]

meaning that the key is for our starters to pitch longer into games. Manny, you getting this?

or meaning that those teams with crappier eras still might have decent setup/closers. Bullpen eras can get inflated in blowout losses where your good relievers (if you have them) don't pitch. Our problem is that our pitchers dont have anyone to hand the ball to in the 7th, 8th, or 9th who isn't as likely to blow the game as he is to hold the lead. A pitcher on a decent team can go seven and be reasonably confident that the 8th and 9th inning guys will get him a win. With us, no lead is safe with our bullpen.

I have no problem with Kip Wells in our bullpen, my problem is that he is a late inning guy.

[R-Zim#11]

who gives a crap? I'm talking about NOW, the present. What is Rizzo doing to fix this situation? He has arguably only made our bullpen worse by acquiring horrible bums like Kensing, Tavarez, and Wells.

I hate to spoil your childish rant with an actual fact, but the moment he became GM he signed Joe Beimel. By far the only reliever we have worth a crap.

I agree the Clippard, possibly Wagner and some of the other youngsters need to be called up...