2011/12 off-season

[HalfSmokes]

Morse abreu Werth could be rough defensively - that's three guys with less than ideal range for their positions

[imref]

there's speculation on MLBTR that the Cardinals could make a play for Rollins, but JR shares the same agent as Pujols.

[Tyler Durden]

there's speculation on MLBTR that the Cardinals could make a play for Rollins, but JR shares the same agent as Pujols.

This makes a ton of sense.

[HalfSmokes]

Why should the agent matter- it's not like the card lost after making a comparable offer

[hammondsnats]

i miss the gameday threads. 

[JCA-CrystalCity]

Darvish supposedly wants 20 million a year. I'm not sure if he realizes that that's Halladay and Sabthia money

Maybe he confused yen and dollars?  I don't  know what the exchange rate is now.  Sorry, buddy, try $10MM / year for 6 years, or else go freeze on hokkaido.  Really, if Dice-K signed for $8.65MM / year (6 /$52MM), you can't get close to $20MM AAV on top of the posting fee to Nippon Ham.  Dice-K / Boras blew this kind of smoke too. 

[Lintyfresh85]

Remember when there was talks of Strasburg asking for 50 million?

Yeah... until something happens, it's just Boras blowing smoke.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

Abreu and Morse in the corners and Werth in CF would be horrible defensively.  Probably -25 to - 30 runs over a season.  That said, you can expect that at least one of Abreu or Morse will be out of the OF midseason, most likely by the Ascension of the (Other) One. 

[DPMOmaha]

There will be a 1B on a contender that goes down sometime during the season.  When he does, look for LaRoche to move...

[imref]

A column on fanspeak suggests we target Charlie Blackmon (from the Rockies) and Dave Sappelt (from the Reds) for our CF position.

http://fanspeak.com/washingtonnationals/2011/12/07/the-nationals-need-to-go-to-plan-b-in-center-field/

Charlie Blackmon:

Of the two players Blackmon is considered the better prospect. He’s a former 2nd round pick out of Georgia Tech. In nearly 1,600 plate appearances in the minors (over 4 levels), Blackmon has a .316/.376/.475 slash line, and his numbers in AAA were even more impressive last season, .337/.393/.572. He’s more of a contact hitter than a power guy, but he’s got a line drive approach that should get him a fair amount of doubles. Blackmon has done well to keep his strikeouts down, but he needs to work on increasing his walk rate for the Majors. I wouldn’t look to start him off as a leadoff hitter, but given his contact rate and good speed it is definitely a future possibility. His defense should be good, as he has quality speed an a good enough arm to play anywhere in the outfield. He’s left-handed, but might not need a platoon partner as he’s always hit lefties well.
Is he available and what will it take to land him?

Well the Rockies have have really good outfield depth right now, both on their major league roster and in the high minors. While the Rockies are also shopping Seth Smith, I don’t think they’d be opposed to moving Blackmon if they filled a need at another position. Two guys that could headline a deal that the Rockies could be interested in are INF Steve Lombardozzi and Ross Detwiler (not in the same deal). With Lombardozzi it might even be a straight up deal, while with Detwiler the Nationals would probably need to add another piece.
Dave Sappelt:

Sappelt is definitely considered more of the ’4th outfielder’ variety of prospect, but in reality he is just a notch below Blackmon in just about every area (with the exception of speed, where he is probably a tick above). While some have questioned his defensive ability, in 200+ innings last year (mainly in LF) he posted a UZR of 4.7, which translated to an incredible UZR/150 (what your UZR rating would be over 150 full games), of 29.6. While that number is probably a bit unsustainable, it does show that he could be a very productive defender. In addition to being insurance for Blackmon, Sappelt could be invaluable as a late-inning defensive replacement, double switch candidate (he can play any OF position), pinch-runner, and platoon guy (while Blackmon might not need help vs lefties, the Nats could put Morse at 1B for LaRoche). While the Nationals might not have an every role for Sappelt, I could see him getting nearly 400 plate appearances between pinch-hitting, off days for starters, interleague play(likely Morse DH’ing), and filling in for any injuries.
Is he available and what will it take to land him?

Like the Rockies the Reds are stocked full of outfielders right now (though trading Yonder Alonso could help free up the logjam), and while they appear to like Sappelt, they see him as a 4th at best or 5th outfielder. They also have some quality minor league talent meaning Sappelt should be readily available. Cincinnati need pitching, but it is more of a depth proposition. I think RHP Brad Meyers and LHP Robbie Ray would be more than enough to land Sappelt.

[blue911]

Dave Chappelle, nages.

[Vega]

A column on fanspeak suggests we target Charlie Blackmon (from the Rockies) and Dave Sappelt (from the Reds) for our CF position.

http://fanspeak.com/washingtonnationals/2011/12/07/the-nationals-need-to-go-to-plan-b-in-center-field/

Of course! Lombo for Blackmon! Up to this point, I didn't think we would be able to get Blackmon because Colorado seems to want a second baseman for him and I didn't think that Desmond or Danny would be a good deal, but I forgot about Lombo. Do that deal now.

[hammondsnats]

RHP Luis Atilano has signed with the Cincinnati Reds
RHP J.D. Martin has signed with the Miami Marlins
RHP Garrett Mock has signed with the Toronto Blue Jays
RHP Shairon Martis has signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates

...at least we have these positives from the offseason thus far.

[cmdterps44]

Charlie Blackmon's stats are pretty good.

[Vega]

Arizona is close to getting Trevor Cahill.

[amanuel]

Mark Zuckerman of Nats Insider thinks the Nationals should look at Pujols leaving the Cardinals as incentive to re-sign Ryan Zimmerman to an extension.  Zimmerman is under contract in Washington through 2013 and Zuckerman says the club's desire to save money for a Zimmerman extension is a reason the Nats haven't pushed for Fielder this offseason.

 

[cmdterps44]

Yeah... and we don't even have news on his agent and the nats negotiating. Just do both, dammit!

[PebbleBall]

Exactly. I'm not an accountant but those to transactions should not be mutually exclusive.

Yeah... and we don't even have news on his agent and the nats negotiating. Just do both, dammit!

[cmdterps44]

Exactly. I'm not an accountant but those to transactions should not be mutually exclusive.

Just like draftees and free agents.

[zimm_da_kid]

So because we want to re sign Zimmerman we can't add pieces around him?

[imref]

RHP Luis Atilano has signed with the Cincinnati Reds
RHP J.D. Martin has signed with the Miami Marlins
RHP Garrett Mock has signed with the Toronto Blue Jays
RHP Shairon Martis has signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates

...at least we have these positives from the offseason thus far.

  (though I would have liked to have kept Martis)

[hammondsnats]

no surprise.  look at who the owners are.

[DPMOmaha]

#Tigers acquire Collin Balester from #Nats for Ryan Perry.

Super sad face...

 

[KnorrForYourMoney]

WTF Rizzo?  Balester had much better numbers this year.

Granted, he wasn't great, but Ryan Perry was terrible.

[Mr Clean]

Do not understand that trade.