Author Topic: Dimitri  (Read 3460 times)

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Offline Air Zimmerman

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Re: Dimitri
« Reply #25: July 01, 2007, 09:55:30 PM »
Dmitri in left is a little far fetched, literally. He is as slow as molasses. 5-10 years ago, Dmitri could play left. Anyways, as much as i appreciate what he has done it would be stupid not to trade him. We made the mistake of not trading Alfonso last year, we can't make the same mistake twice with Dmitri. Now, I'm not putting Alfonso and Dmitri in the same company talent wise, but I'm just saying. Dmitri best be gone by the deadline, we can really get some value in return. He can go to a contender in the A.L. that is longing for a bat (Yankees) or a 1B filler (Yankees).

Offline metssuck

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Re: Dimitri
« Reply #26: July 01, 2007, 09:56:49 PM »
Belliard<<<<Dmitri<<<Nationals

I have no problem keepin Dmitri. I would only trade em if we got some "good" prospects, not no career minor leaguers with no potential.

Offline Air Zimmerman

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Re: Dimitri
« Reply #27: July 01, 2007, 09:57:31 PM »
By the way dude, it's DMITRI. I love it when people can't even spell their favorite players name right.

Offline tomterp

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Re: Dimitri
« Reply #28: July 01, 2007, 09:59:20 PM »
Here's Ladson on Dmitri making the All-Star team.

PITTSBURGH -- Nationals first baseman Dmitri Young is living proof of what a person can do if given a second chance.
After being released by the Tigers near the end of the 2006 season -- a year in which he was going through a divorce, given a one-year probation for domestic violence as well as being diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes -- Young has made a remarkable return to the Majors. He is currently the Nationals' leading hitter with a .340 batting average and .392 on-base percentage.

And now, he is an All-Star.

Young, 33, was selected by Cardinals skipper Tony La Russa -- his first big-league manager -- to be on the National League squad for the second time in his career on Sunday, punctuating an already successful season.

Young's first All-Star selection came in 2003 as a member of the Tigers, but he did not get a chance to play in that game as the American League edged the National League, 7-6. Young said he would like to get at least one at-bat in this year's All-Star Game.

"This is a great feeling. I've come full circle and this pretty much made it official," Young said. "Let this be a lesson to people who deal with adversity that you never quit. Keep fighting, believe in the Lord, keep working and day-by-day, you can realize dreams."

"I never thought [about being an All-Star]," he added. "I looked at the season as getting my swing back, being able to go out there and play and show I had something in the tank. This is a bonus for me. I'm fortunate. This is my second one. It's definitely rewarding for everything I've been through. I will continue to work."

Young received the word early Sunday morning from general manager Jim Bowden, the man who gave Young a second chance. Bowden acknowledged that he had a tear in his eye when he told Young the news.

"It was an emotional phone call. I really care about Dmitri. I'm just so happy for him," Bowden said. "He did this all by himself and he turned his life around all by himself. He made the most of his second opportunity."

Young is planning to take his parents, three children and high school pal/teammate Robert Fick to the All-Star festivities.


"I'm so proud of him. He has turned into a man. He is a great dad, teammate and a great hitter," Fick said.
The 78th Major League Baseball All-Star Game will be televised nationally by FOX Sports, in Canada by Rogers Sportsnet and Sportsnet HD and televised around the world by Major League Baseball International, with pregame ceremonies beginning at 8 p.m. ET. ESPN Radio will provide exclusive national radio coverage, while MLB.com will provide extensive online coverage. XM will provide satellite radio play-by-play coverage of the XM All-Star Futures Game.

Young thought his career was over after the 2006 season. His plan was to drive his camper across the country and watch his siblings, including Devil Rays outfielder Delmon Young, play sports. But Delmon and his father, Larry, told him he had too much left in the tank to quit.

The Nationals were the only team interested in Young. He had a history with Bowden, as the two worked together when both were with the Reds from 1998-2001.

Bowden wasn't convinced that Larry Broadway and Travis Lee would provide the consistency with the bat, so he invited Young to Spring Training. The Nationals told him there was a no-tolerance policy if Young had problems off the field again. They would release him the moment he got himself in trouble.

With Young out off shape, the Nationals let him work with the top prospects in the accelerated camp and it was those Minor Leaguers that pumped him up to play again.

"Those kids down there, man, they are the future and they brought life back in me," Young said. "I was not sure that I still had it. They had that little profound way to get it out of me. They asked innocent baseball questions and they made me feel good to answer them. They just wanted to hear about the big leagues."

Young is playing like a youngster again. His .423 batting average (63-for-149 ) in his last 40 games since May 17 leads the Major Leagues and is the leader in the clubhouse.

"He went through a lot," first baseman Nick Johnson said. "He is a good player swing the bat. He hits the ball extremely hard. He has a great spray chart working."

How long will Young continue to hit for the Nationals? He is on the trade block and the Nationals would love to get prospects for him. Young has made it clear that he wants to stay with the Nationals.

"I was given a chance over here. I love the guys over here. I love what they are going to do wit they organization. I don't want to go," Young said.

Bill Ladson is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.


Offline tomterp

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Re: Dimitri
« Reply #29: July 01, 2007, 10:00:13 PM »
By the way dude, it's DMITRI. I love it when people can't even spell their favorite players name right.

Right.  I wish one of the mods would correct the spelling on the thread.  What if he were to stop in and read the thread?  Embarrassing.

Offline sportsfan882

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Re: Dimitri
« Reply #30: July 01, 2007, 10:03:10 PM »
Right.  I wish one of the mods would correct the spelling on the thread.  What if he were to stop in and read the thread?  Embarrassing.
Yes, or any other Nats fans checking out the site for the first time.  Not a huge deal but whatever

Offline UMDNats

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Re: Dimitri
« Reply #31: July 01, 2007, 10:06:29 PM »
Dmitri is awesome. I take back any animosity I had for him in spring training. I can't wait to see him reppin us in the ASG.

Here's to the comeback player of the year!

Offline metssuck

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Re: Dimitri
« Reply #32: July 01, 2007, 10:14:04 PM »
The Chief will fix the title sooner or later. Its not really that big of a deal. The threadstarter should be more disspointed with himself then you guys are.

Offline ronnynat

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Re: Dimitri
« Reply #33: July 01, 2007, 10:21:49 PM »
I don't think Dmitri would come on here and I REALLY don't think he would mind his name being misspelled on a thread of praise...TO HIM!

Offline Ericas Nats

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Re: Dimitri
« Reply #34: July 01, 2007, 10:43:40 PM »
Dmitri is awesome. I take back any animosity I had for him in spring training. I can't wait to see him reppin us in the ASG.

Here's to the comeback player of the year!

kudos to you !! 


Offline Obed_Marsh

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Re: Dimitri
« Reply #35: July 02, 2007, 02:20:33 AM »
Dmitri is a veteran. If its lip service, by all means trade him for prospects and more power to the man with his rejuvenated career.

If he truly wishes to stay, he's welcome in my book. Respect.  8)

Offline Kenz aFan

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Re: Dimitri
« Reply #36: July 02, 2007, 03:39:23 AM »
When was the last time Dmitri played OF?  It had to be at least 30 lbs ago.

A player's weight has nothing to do with how well he plays a position, if it did, Kirby Puckett never would have lasted past his rookie year, neither would Tony Gwynn for that matter.

He doesnt make errors, but like you said, he has limited range at 1b. I would say very limited range.

Aside from Langerhans and Logan, none the Nats outfielders have very good range, and certainly never the Nats could play him in CF. Everyone was happily surprised at how well Fonzi played LF last season, and until you give a motivated and rejuvenated Dmitri Young a shot at the position, who's to say how he might perform?

Offline ronnynat

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Re: Dimitri
« Reply #37: July 02, 2007, 04:04:55 AM »
Let's get something straight here. We all want good things for and from Dmitri, but him doing well is what we NEED him to do so that we can get some good prospects to take us into the future. I know it's easy and all to get attached to a new player that's doing well for us, but come on, didn't we go through the same thing w/ Soriano last year? The difference, though, was that most of us knew that Soriano had quite a few great years ahead of him. Nothing good ended up happening there. We had a bad year and lost a great player with barely anything in return.

How about this year, we trade a good older player that contending teams would want, and be excited about what we get in return. Dmitri is not the future of this team, no matter how well he may do this year. But it's a great thing that he's doing so well...for himself AND for the team because of the players that he'll bring us.

Offline Dave B

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Re: Dimitri
« Reply #38: July 02, 2007, 08:40:41 AM »
A player's weight has nothing to do with how well he plays a position, if it did, Kirby Puckett never would have lasted past his rookie year, neither would Tony Gwynn for that matter.

Aside from Langerhans and Logan, none the Nats outfielders have very good range, and certainly never the Nats could play him in CF. Everyone was happily surprised at how well Fonzi played LF last season, and until you give a motivated and rejuvenated Dmitri Young a shot at the position, who's to say how he might perform?

weight is a good indicator.  the two you mentioned are exceptions.  are there some heavy people who can move well? yes, but dmitri isnt one of them.  soriano could at least move very well, so the ability to succeed was there.  dmitri almost falls over when he picks up a ground ball.  we can try him, but i wouldnt count on it working or plan on it as a regular position for him

Offline spidernat

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Re: Dimitri
« Reply #39: July 02, 2007, 10:11:16 AM »
Dmitri is awesome. I take back any animosity I had for him in spring training. I can't wait to see him reppin us in the ASG.

Here's to the comeback player of the year!

 :doh:

At some point we have to give up on the idea that, in today's trade market, rental players will yield anything of significant value. Teams have become reluctant to part with blue chip prospects. As far as the Soriano no deal from a year ago, we still don't know what was offered or wasn't offered in return for him, and didn't we wind up picking up Josh Smoker with the sandwich pick? If so, then we have to wait a few years to determine how much of a mistake it was to hang on to Soriano. Speaking of Soriano, I'll be at RFK booing him tonight  :)


Offline Kenz aFan

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Re: Dimitri
« Reply #40: July 02, 2007, 01:27:39 PM »
How about this year, we trade a good older player that contending teams would want, and be excited about what we get in return. Dmitri is not the future of this team, no matter how well he may do this year. But it's a great thing that he's doing so well...for himself AND for the team because of the players that he'll bring us.

Sounds like you have an overinflated opinion of Young's worth. Any prospect the Nats might get very likely wouldn't help the big club for at least a couple of years, and maybe not even then.

Offline ronnynat

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Re: Dimitri
« Reply #41: July 02, 2007, 02:48:36 PM »
Sounds like you have an overinflated opinion of Young's worth. Any prospect the Nats might get very likely wouldn't help the big club for at least a couple of years, and maybe not even then.

Maybe, but there is that chance that a team needs hitting far more than pitching and they'd give up 1 major league ready pitcher for him and maybe one AA pitcher. Heck, they could even trade a young hitter for him if they have too many at any given position. I'm not going to hesitate to say that Dmitri could be as valuable, if not more valuable, as Livan was last year. A .300+ hitter should bring us plenty.

Offline Kenz aFan

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Re: Dimitri
« Reply #42: July 02, 2007, 02:52:24 PM »
Maybe, but there is that chance that a team needs hitting far more than pitching and they'd give up 1 major league ready pitcher for him and maybe one AA pitcher. Heck, they could even trade a young hitter for him if they have too many at any given position. I'm not going to hesitate to say that Dmitri could be as valuable, if not more valuable, as Livan was last year. A .300+ hitter should bring us plenty.

I really hope you're right, but I'm not going to expect much in the way of major league ready prospects or even guys already in the majors. If Bowden is able to get someone that can help the Nats now, I'll be singing and dancing along with everyone else.

Offline ronnynat

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Re: Dimitri
« Reply #43: July 02, 2007, 02:54:01 PM »
I really hope you're right, but I'm not going to expect much in the way of major league ready prospects or even guys already in the majors. If Bowden is able to get someone that can help the Nats now, I'll be singing and dancing along with everyone else.

I know, I really want to see Bowden work his magic this year.

Offline Dave B

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Re: Dimitri
« Reply #44: July 02, 2007, 03:16:35 PM »
I dont think dmirti will get us much. Basically because we apparently didnt get any good offers for Soriano.  Whether or not Dmitri is worth more is debatable.  I dont think he is.

I think the best we can hope for is to keep him and sign him and hope he has enough stats to be a type A or B FA and get us some picks should we lose him.  I know those designations are based on the last three years and Dmitri has had one good year. So I dont know where he would fit in.

Offline shoeshineboy

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Re: Dimitri
« Reply #45: July 03, 2007, 09:19:27 AM »
Before the season even started, the vast majority were expecting at least a couple dozen errors from Young at first base by the All Star break. He currently has 7. His fielding percentage is only 2 points worse that NJ's was all of last season, and amazingly, Dmitri has been improving. I know he doesn't have the same range that NJ did. Then again, I don't think Nick Johnson's range will ever be the same again. For a guy who's best defensive position has been the outfield up until this season, I'd say he's reversing the opinions of many doubters. Young would be no worse that Robert Fick in left field, that to me means I can use the term "play" where he's concerned.

Seeing Young at ST, he was a disaster at 1B. He has lost some weight since then, but he has also put in a lot of hard work at playing the position. He does not have great range, but he has shown to have good reflexes, and he picks the ball out of the dirt better than Nick did last year. He is still not ideal, but he is at least serviceable if not more so at 1B which is all we could have hoped for.

Regarding the power numbers, Young has a fair share of doubles which is great. He is hitting very well, because he is taking what he is given - unlike most of this lineup. HRs come from two main sources - a slugger who does nothing but swing for the fences and wastes too many at bats, and batters who simply try to get hits and naturally get their share of HRs. If Young was in a lineup where more people were hitting he may be getting more HRs. But he has really focused on simply taking what he is given, and I'm all for that. After all, he does lead the team in slugging percentage. And his current mark of .494 is higher than his career average and higher than all but two of his previous 11 season totals.

Offline nats2playoffs

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Re: Dimitri
« Reply #46: July 03, 2007, 12:49:49 PM »
I dont think dmirti will get us much. Basically because we apparently didnt get any good offers for Soriano.  Whether or not Dmitri is worth more is debatable.  I dont think he is....

We were paying Soriano $10 million for 2006, while we're now paying Dmitri $500,000.  For another team to simply take over the payments to Soriano for the remaining 10 weeks would have cost them about $3.9 million.  Add to that whatever we wanted for him, to get their total cost to simply rent a player for 10 weeks, to improve their playoff chances.  To other teams, Soriano wasn't worth that high of a cost.

In the case of Young, the other team takes over payments of a mere $192,308 (if its only the last 10 weeks.)  So the total cost to the other team is extremely conducive to making a deal, especially since Young was actually paid $8 million in 2005 and 2006.  At that price, he's worth $3,076,923 for 10 weeks work and we should get something worth $2,884,615 in return.  Young has been consistent and is red hot and motivated to get to the World Series, which he missed last year.  I can see us getting a MLB starter for him, or a bunch of very good prospects or both. 

How much would we pay him to stay here in 2008, and what position would he play?  I was an early fan of his comeback, but I think we'll be wishing him well in the playoffs playing for another team.  He really should be a DH in the American League.   
     

Offline Dave B

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Re: Dimitri
« Reply #47: July 03, 2007, 12:55:48 PM »
We were paying Soriano $10 million for 2006, while we're now paying Dmitri $500,000.  For another team to simply take over the payments to Soriano for the remaining 10 weeks would have cost them about $3.9 million.  Add to that whatever we wanted for him, to get their total cost to simply rent a player for 10 weeks, to improve their playoff chances.  To other teams, Soriano wasn't worth that high of a cost.

In the case of Young, the other team takes over payments of a mere $192,308 (if its only the last 10 weeks.)  So the total cost to the other team is extremely conducive to making a deal, especially since Young was actually paid $8 million in 2005 and 2006.  At that price, he's worth $3,076,923 for 10 weeks work and we should get something worth $2,884,615 in return.  Young has been consistent and is red hot and motivated to get to the World Series, which he missed last year.  I can see us getting a MLB starter for him, or a bunch of very good prospects or both. 

How much would we pay him to stay here in 2008, and what position would he play?  I was an early fan of his comeback, but I think we'll be wishing him well in the playoffs playing for another team.  He really should be a DH in the American League.  
(Image removed from quote.)    

I think in these deadline deals, money is almost irreleavant.  It was the talent teams didnt want to part with.  If a team was willing to give up two legit prospects and money was a sticking point, the Nats could have helped them out

Offline Kenz aFan

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Re: Dimitri
« Reply #48: July 03, 2007, 06:24:47 PM »
I agree, what a team needs to either stay on top, or make a push is usually what ends up being the criteria for making any trade deadline deals. Then again, some GM's are so dumb, they just make the deal because they think it might help them keep their jobs.

Offline ronnynat

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Re: Dimitri
« Reply #49: July 03, 2007, 06:32:08 PM »
We need to keep in mind that "major league ready" prospects are defined differently by each team. In the Nats case, a player doesn't need to be a crazy badass to be eligible to move up. What's great about this, though, is that there are always one or two that come out of no where and become something in the majors. If we don't get a top 100 prospect, this is what we should hope for, but you're always taking a chance in these situations... a chance we NEED to take.