Wang thread - from first rumor through signing and thereafter....

[KnorrForYourMoney]

It would be a great bonus to have Wang pitch close to his 06-07 year for this team, if signed. That would be a pleasureable relief.

We just need to make sure we yank Wang at the right time, unlike the Yanks.

People are saying he chose Washington but a formal announcement wont take place atleast for another 2 to 3 days due to the weather.

Which people? jw

[JMW IV]

unbelievable.

someone is actually arguing that we shoulodn't sign Wang because he gave up that GW homer to Zimmerman back in 2006.

"if he couldn't beat the Nationals then why should we expect him to beat anyone else".



http://natsinsider.blogspot.com/2010/02/dodgers-out-of-running-for-wang.html?showComment=1265852738354#c8503195623341387857

[PANatsFan]

unbelievable.

someone is actually arguing that we shoulodn't sign Wang because he gave up that GW homer to Zimmerman back in 2006.

"if he couldn't beat the Nationals then why should we expect him to beat anyone else".

Zimmerman sucks because he plays in DC. He'd be the greatest of all time, maybe as good as Michael Jack Schmidt, if he played in Boston.

[NatsDad14]

If Tim Redding can beat the Nats, we should expect that he can beat anyone

[JMW IV]

RT @washingnats: I spoke to a baseball source a few minutes ago. The person insisted that a deal is not close between the #Nats and Chien-Ming Wang.

bah. every time someone steps up to give us hope, here comes Blue Lobster to bring everyone back down.

[KnorrForYourMoney]

unbelievable.

someone is actually arguing that we shoulodn't sign Wang because he gave up that GW homer to Zimmerman back in 2006.

"if he couldn't beat the Nationals then why should we expect him to beat anyone else".



http://natsinsider.blogspot.com/2010/02/dodgers-out-of-running-for-wang.html?showComment=1265852738354#c8503195623341387857

Craig Stammen beat the Yankees; thus, he is the best pitcher in the National League.

[PANatsFan]

Craig Stammen beat the Yankees; thus, he is the best pitcher in the National League.

Nationals took the season series with the Yankees - they are world champs.

[tomterp]

Nationals took the season have taken every series with the Yankees since 1971- they are world champs.

Fixed.

[Hondo]

I am really hoping we get this deal done.  This would be a great move for us.  If we lose out.....................

[DPMOmaha]

I would do precisely opposite for just the reason you mention.  Pudge has logged so many innings at catcher that he's even more prone to the decline I fear.

No way.  Take the vet with a good career.  You're not expecting to get production from either.  I'd rather go with the experienced vet than the perpetual suck.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

Hard to unscramble the impact signing Pudge in the off season had on other signings.  In many respects, it appeared to be too costly for the player's likely direct offense and defense, but if it helped the Nats sign other veteran pitchers like Marquis, Wang, Capps, Batista, Estes, Guardado, etc . . ., generates extra confidence in the likes of Lannan, Detwiler, Balester, Stammen, and made the team seem more credible to Kennedy, then it is already paying off, I/M/O.  I anticipate I'll whine when he refuses to walk and hits like a slow Guzman, and his vaunted defense proves to be pedestrian, but I am more than willing to say his presence probably helped the psyche and image of the team both with the young system guys and the FAs.

[sportsfan882]

so is it real? This Davidoff character insists the deal is done.

[shoeshineboy]

Craig Stammen beat the Yankees; thus, he is the best pitcher in the National League.

Levale Speigner beat Johan Santana. Clearly he is HOF bound.

[The Chief]

so is it real? This Davidoff character insists the deal is done.

GOD HELP HIM IF HE'S WRONG!!!

[sportsfan882]

http://www.newsday.com/sports/baseball/ken-davidoff-s-baseball-insider-1.1278117

First of all, don't believe the non-hype. Chien-Ming Wang and the Nationals have agreed to a deal. As I reported last night on Twitter, Wang will get $2 Million guaranteed, and he can more than double that if he hits all of his incentives.

[Minty Fresh]

so is it real? This Davidoff character insists the deal is done.

No.  He's taunting you.

[tomterp]

More taunting by Craig Calcaterra, NBC Sports :

http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2010/02/wang-and-the-nats-have-a-deal.html.php

UPDATE: First he signed, then he didn't, then he signed and then he didn't:  Chien-Ming Wang's agent is now saying that the reports are inaccurate, there is no deal with the Nats, and that Wang hasn't finalized anything with anybody.

And with that, I'm officially out of the Wang business. He could carve his signature into a granite contract with a diamond-tipped chisel in front of 200 notaries public tomorrow and I won't accept it as fact until I hear three pinky swears and a blood oath as to the deal's veracity.

10:28 A.M.: There was a lot of back and forth yesterday about whether the Nats and Chien-Ming Wang had a deal or not.  Pete Abraham said they did first, only to have some others say, no, no deal is in place. I had called these later reports "debunkings" but in hindsight that was a really poor choice of words, because it automatically assumed that the latest reports were right, and there was no reason to assume that. Why? For one thing Abraham, I later learned, is really tight with Wang's camp and is trusted by people who know things to know what's going on with him.

For another thing, it appears as though Abe was right.  Last night the China Times reported that, yes, there is a $2 million deal with the chance of it getting to $3 million if certain incentives are met.  Later Ken Davidoff of Newsday tweeted the same thing, and no one has since said anything to the contrary.

So apologies to Mr. Abraham and congratulations to Mr. Wang and the Nats, who I think will make a nice pairing.

[PANatsFan]

He doesn't have the same agent as Rafael Furcal, does he?

[DPMOmaha]

He doesn't have the same agent as Rafael Furcal, does he?

nope.

[cmdterps44]

Damn. I think it'd be smart to sign here. He'll have a comeback year. He'll be able to double his money if his comeback goes well for the team and when his contract is up he may have higher offer on the tables. All of this will help out the nats as well in developing and maybe attracting some big name pitchers in the future. Well this is all 'in a perfect world' attitude.

[tomterp]

What Went Wrong with Wang

http://fackyouk.blogspot.com/2010/02/what-went-wrong-with-wang.html

As a fan of the Yankees in general and of Chien-Ming Wang in particular, it was extremely difficult to watch the demise of the former staff ace play out over the course of the past two years.


Wang started out 2008 strong, winning 6 of his first seven starts. Then he hit a rough patch, working up an ERA of 6.45 over his next six outings before briefly getting back on track just as the second round of interleague play was beginning. Of course, he injured the arch of his foot running the bases after 5 innings of shutout ball in Houston and it was all downhill from there.


When he came back in 2009, he had one of the worst three game stretches possible to begin the season. In just six innings, he gave up 23 runs. Wang had transformed from a dominant sinkerballer to a batting practice pitcher.


What caused this seismic shift?

continued....

[Lintyfresh85]

Here's a short reply by Will Carroll

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/unfiltered/?p=1505

Fack Youk has a post up about what went wrong with Chien-Ming Wang. I was originally just going to comment there, but I had some issues getting it to take and figured, why not put it here? So read the post, then come back and this will make more sense. My response is:

“There’s also the major problem of whether the internal mechanics of his shoulder were at issue. The sinker requires a great deal of pronation (turning the thumb down at release or “pouring out the can”). Go ahead and try this at home and you’ll feel the head of the humerus (the bone of the upper arm, where it meets the shoulder) rotating inward. Studies by Jim Andrews and his team have shown that pitchers tend to have an anatomical change called “humeral retroversion” - very simply, their bone changes to accomodate the demands of pitching. Combine changed anatomy with damaged biology and altered mechanics and things get bad quickly.

Stunningly, the Yankees have never done a biomechanical analysis of the type Andrews offers at his Birmingham facility - not just on Wang, but on ANY of their pitchers. Some pitchers, like Sabathia, have had this done before coming to the Yankees. As far as I know, no team has asked Wang or any other pitcher to have one of these analysis done as part of a condition of contract. I’m not sure it’s “legal” in the sense that a team could even ask for it, but then we’d have to ask the question, why not? Why would a team commit millions of dollars to a pitcher, especially a risky pitcher, without having this kind of information?”

Wang and Brandon Webb are two very interesting cases. They’re similar pitchers, in pitch type at least, and have similar shoulder issues. Al Leiter made the point on MLB Network that a sinkerballer might get some positive effect from shoulder surgery. I have no idea on that and I’m not sure Al does either, but he knows more about sinkers and surgery than I do, so it’s another thing to watch.

Really hope that's true.

(Linty, you omitted a lot of Will's comments - I took moderator's powers to insert them in your quote.)

[amanuel]

You know what guys I have a feeling that Rizzo did get a deal done with Wang and someone had leaked it out. So now hes just trying to keep on the DL for now.

[PANatsFan]

People are saying he chose Washington but a formal announcement wont take place atleast for another 2 to 3 days due to the weather.

Kennedy has not taken his physical yet per Nationals.com so I doubt this is true.

[CatsEye]

 I hope Wang doesn't turn out to be another D. Cabrera......cause that would be sooo Wong......