10/11 offseason

[Potomac Cannons]

DeJeus was traded for a pitcher with an almost 5.00 ERA

4.27.

[cmdterps44]

c-c-c-c-c-c-c combo breaker!!

[tomterp]

Langerhans for Morse.  Capps for Ramos.  If that approach brings us one trade each year of that quality, I'll take it.

Very disappointing to hear Rizzo mention Pena as a possibility.  Hope tomterp is right and he was just taking whatever name and saying that they're a possibility.

I heard a replay of the conversation this morning.  Kevin Kennedy, who does Rays broadcasts, was touting Carlos Pena as being a great fit for the Nats and really recommending him as a ballplayer and person.  Rizzo joked, "think I better write down that name", went on to say that Pena was one of a group of players who could provide both offense and defense, and thus fit the need.

[DPMOmaha]

Supposedly, Rosenthal says Beane was considering Willingham as one of the options before he was able to snag DeJesus.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

Willingham would have to DH in Oakland. They have Barton for first, and left field is too big for him to cover.  There should be plenty of DHs who could be looking for jobs in January. That's when Beane will make his move.

PotCan - DeJesus can be flipped at the deadline once he gets back healthy, and, as you point out, Oakland had pitching to burn. 

[Potomac Cannons]

Willingham would have to DH in Oakland. They have Barton for first, and left field is too big for him to cover.  There should be plenty of DHs who could be looking for jobs in January. That's when Beane will make his move.

PotCan - DeJesus can be flipped at the deadline once he gets back healthy, and, as you point out, Oakland had pitching to burn. 

DeJesus and Crisp both can be flipped if they want, but the A's have nothing else in the OF.  If Hammer had gone there, I'm not sure he doesn't play LF as their other options (Rajai Davis etc.) just aren't good enough to trot out there everyday.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

DeJesus, Crisp, an arb eligible Sweeney, and Conor Jackson.  That's not flashy, but with decent health (an if with all of them coming off injury) gives them OFs that project to be above average in all three positions.  The three starters are all plus defenders and all are slightly above average hitters.  9 WAR, I'll guess, if they stay healthy.

[imref]

Pete Orr signs with Philly.

[Potomac Cannons]

Pete Orr signs with Philly.

See what happens when you give Ryan Howard 20-25m/yr.

[HalfSmokes]

See what happens when you give Ryan Howard 20-25m/yr.

you go deep into the post season consistently? glad we don't have a dumb GM like that

[cmdterps44]

Pete Orr signs with Philly.

I guess I should change my wow name, eh? Bye bye Petewarriorr

[Sharp]

you go deep into the post season consistently? glad we don't have a dumb GM like that

Howard's contract already looks bad and he's barely entered his decline phase so far.  In a few years the Phillies are going to look like the Cubs do now--boatloads of money tied up in aging, unproductive players with contracts that make them effectively untradeable.

[HalfSmokes]

Howard's contract already looks bad and he's barely entered his decline phase so far.  In a few years the Phillies are going to look like the Cubs do now--boatloads of money tied up in aging, unproductive players with contracts that make them effectively untradeable.

and until then? I'd rather be in that position than having 'financial flexibility' (i.e. low payroll) and hoping guys develop while finishing last every year

[Sharp]

and until then? I'd rather be in that position than having 'financial flexibility' (i.e. low payroll) and hoping guys develop while finishing last every year

Well Howard's contract is a bad decision regardless just because it's so ludicrously bloated for what Howard had done and compared to contracts past.  But if the Nats were where the Phillies are, I would be totally on board with big long-term contracts to aging players because we would likely have a 4-5 year window to win rings and you don't want to shorten that in the interest of "hopefully" being competitve in the future.  But we're not, and on any team that isn't virtually guaranteed a spot in the postseason for the next few years that sort of deal is a killer.

[HalfSmokes]

Well Howard's contract is a bad decision regardless just because it's so ludicrously bloated for what Howard had done and compared to contracts past.  But if the Nats were where the Phillies are, I would be totally on board with big long-term contracts to aging players because we would likely have a 4-5 year window to win rings and you don't want to shorten that in the interest of "hopefully" being competitve in the future.  But we're not, and on any team that isn't virtually guaranteed a spot in the postseason for the next few years that sort of deal is a killer.

I don't disagree at all

on another note, Andy LaRoche may get cut loose this offseason, could be a good Nats dumpster dive/reclamation project

http://pittsburgh.pirates.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20101110&content_id=16053798&vkey=news_pit&c_id=pit

[Nathan]

I guess I should change my wow name, eh? Bye bye Petewarriorr

I hope blue has to change his toon's name too.

[Potomac Cannons]

and until then? I'd rather be in that position than having 'financial flexibility' (i.e. low payroll) and hoping guys develop while finishing last every year

It's not going to take 4-5 years.  2 at most.  By 2013 they're going to have a ton of money tied up in a few old players who don't produce well.  They'll lose Werth this offseason and Rollins could be gone soon as well.  The 20-25m doesn't even kick in till next season and runs through him being 37.

[Lintyfresh85]

Not that anyone cares... but today during a Fangraphs chat, Dave Cameron speculated that Greinke will end up being traded to the Nats.

[UMDNats]

Not that anyone cares... but today during a Fangraphs chat, Dave Cameron speculated that Greinke will end up being traded to the Nats.

Did he say for who?

Edit: He didn't. Just checked it out. Hope he's right.

[Evolution33]

Did he say for who?

Edit: He didn't. Just checked it out. Hope he's right.

http://twitter.com/#!/JimBowdenXMFOX/status/2805834035765248

Not likely at all but they did just trade DeJesus for crap.

[Lintyfresh85]

http://twitter.com/#!/JimBowdenXMFOX/status/2805834035765248

Not likely at all but they did just trade DeJesus for crap.

I know it sounds like I'm joking... but it's Dayton Moore... you never really know with that guy.

[DPMOmaha]

It's going to be Pudge with Ramos/Flores backing him up until sometime in May at which time it'll be close to a platoon until sometime in July in which Pudge will be backing up Ramos/Flores.  The Ramos/Flores battle will be a huge storyline in the spring, I'm predicting unless one of them gets traded.

[Sharp]

Not that anyone cares... but today during a Fangraphs chat, Dave Cameron speculated that Greinke will end up being traded to the Nats.

I don't put much stock in anything Cameron says.  He also had the Mariners as the #6 organization before this season began, and he isn't awesome at predicting what GMs will do.  He also allows his personal biases to influence him to an unhealthy extent (considering that he runs a site about the objective use of statistics in baseball).

[DPMOmaha]

He also had the Mariners as the #6 organization before this season began, and he isn't awesome at predicting what GMs will do. 

To be fair, there were a lot of people other than him and Harold Reyonalds, predicting a big season from the M's.

[Sharp]

To be fair, there were a lot of people other than him and Harold Reyonalds, predicting a big season from the M's.

Well yeah, including the M's themselves... nobody trades good prospects for a year of Cliff Lee unless they are serious about contending.  But even though Jack Z obviously couldn't anticipate one of the worst offensive seasons of all time, people probably should have looked at the situation with at least a slightly more critical eye, especially sabermetricians, one of whose mottos is to question what "everyone" knows and see if it can be backed up factually.