Pitching Choices for the Post Season

[natslive]

Some thoughts on post season free agency and trades. The Nats don't have a lot of help in teh system for next year. They also don't have the talent to deal for top  line pitching.

If I left someone out sorry.

Starting Ptching

RHPs with Options

Jason Schmidt
Jeff Suppan
Elmer Dessens
John Thomson
Steve Trachsel
Joe Mays
Esteban Loaiza

RHPs

The big two are Burnett and Schmidt. Weaver, Morris, Millwood, Byrd and Johnson may be good pick ups too. Nats are in a tough position compared to the other clubs. Hopefully they can avoid a situation where they can?t get an owner while watching the big spenders grab up the best players.

The Nats need to sign Loaiza to a two-year deal. I read where the Dodgers might be interested. Having seen Armas pitch in the minors I still think he can be a good pitcher but it has been painful watching him this year.

I also want to mention that the Nats should take a look at John Maine. Maine is a good kid with the talent and nerve to pitch in the minors. The Os left him in AAA for most of the year and could be an option. How much the Os would want for him is another question.

Eric Milton was high on Jimbo?s list but Cincy didn?t want to deal with Jimbo. Odalis Perez might be a post-season target and has been mentioned (so were Schmidt and Kip Wells) in trade talks. I read where the Nats expressed in interest in Jason Johnson but no deal could be worked out, evidently the Nats also looked at Danys Baez from Tampa.

There are some pitchers who might be available from Japan but I don?t see the Nats having much of a chance with them.

Pedro Astacio
Andy Ashby
Matt Morris
Scott Elarton
Ariel Prieto
A.J. Burnett
Jeff Weaver
Hideo Nomo
Brett Tomko
Kevin Brown
Brian Moehler
Jason Johnson
Paul Byrd
Aaron Myette
Jamey Wright
Jose Lima
Ismael Valdez
Kevin Millwood
Rick Helling
Tony Armas Jr.

LKPs with Options

Tom Glavine
Mark Redman
Glendon Rusch

Of  these LHPs Washburn would have the most appeal to the Nats. My favorite is Lilly who I think would be a nice addition. Rogers would be an interesting choice to say the least.

LHPs

Al Leiter
Brian Anderson
Jamie Moyer
Kenny Rogers
Ted Lilly
Shawn Estes
Jarrod Washburn
John Halama

[tomterp]

I also want to mention that the Nats should take a look at John Maine. Maine is a good kid with the talent and nerve to pitch in the minors. The Os left him in AAA for most of the year and could be an option. How much the Os would want for him is another question.

I would have severe doubts that you could do a fair deal with Baltimore.  Angelos would sooner die than open the door to making a deal that would help Washington more than the Orioles.  Sort of like the Reds are with Jimbo, it's hard to imagine the teams actually dealing with each other in the normal fashion.

Overall great post, just wanted to comment on this small piece.

[esoteric]

I am deeply skeptical about Burnett.  I do not see him as the "obvious" addition that everybody else does, and I would rather we resigned Loaiza to a 2-year deal (no-brainer) and hunted down some quiet-but-decent 4 & 5 starters and long (aka "Sunny Kim") relief rather than blow a wad of cash on the next Ponson.

[Kenz aFan]

I think it might be best (at least for the first year of new ownership) that they keep Hernandez, Loaiza and Patterson in the rotation and add a couple of good left-handers. Since the Rangers wont be able to afford Kenny Rogers, he might be an option, as would Ted Lilly, who when healthy, is a very good starter, and then there's also Jarrod Washburn who would fit in nicely in the 5th spot in the rotation as well.

If the Nats can sign a pair of quality starters, they could then focus their attention on improving the offense. It would be nice to have an offense that can score runs consistently. Less than 4 runs a game average is not gonna cut it. The Nats needs that extra offense so those pitchers can pitch deeper into the games.

And don't forget there may very be some very interesting names who'll be non-tendered and in itself could greatly improve the Free Agent pool...