Author Topic: Ryan Zimmerman 5 year/$10M personal-services contract, to begin once playing...  (Read 37889 times)

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Online imref

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Rehab assignment complete. Should be in the starting lineup on Sunday.

Offline The Chief

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It would be so great to see him do well.  Here's hoping.

Offline spidernat

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He'll be back on the juice so he will rake until the foot goes again.

Offline djbaseball13

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Apparently I'm the only one who is interested in this team making a deep playoff run, rather than simply be "fun to watch" in August.

Zimmerman has shown that when he's healthy and has his timing, he rakes. 2017, he hit .303/.358/.573. Last year, when he came back from the IL, he hit .295/.374/.538. Despite a great number of "fans'" wishes, Zimmerman ain't done. When he's healthy, he can hit.

Asdrubel Cabrerra has hit .257/.323/.442 the last two seasons. That's fine for a utiliy infielder, but he isn't going to sustain his current clip, just like Parra didn't. He's not, so stop pretending like he is. And Matt Adams is … plebian.  Yes, he hits homers. That's about all he does. Oh and strike out. He's a sub .800 OPS bat at a position that demands offense. Same for his position in the lineup (5th). To put it in perspective, the Dodgers first basemen are OPSing .882 and they're getting .883 out of the 5th spot in their order.

The Nats offense, as currently constructed, is not as good as the teams they will face in the playoffs, outside of the WC game. Particularly the Dodgers (who they would face if they win the WC game). The team needs to do everything it can to get better. Adding Cabrerra is a big part of that, as it gives Martinez an option to platoon second, as well as give Turner and Rendon a break now and then and make their spot an instant out. But acting like Cabrerra can be an every day first baseman on a contending team is either foolish or ignorant.

This team needs a healthy Zimmerman in the 5 spot and playing first to compete in the playoffs. No one else on that bench has the capability to hit like he does. The sooner he gets to the bigs and gets the timing in his complicated swing, the better of this team is going to be. Spending the last week in High A ball is a waste of time, particularly since Matt Grace is a useless roster spot and this team had two off days. Zim should be on the MLB team, with 20-30 PAs under his belt. And the idea of making him a bench player or leaving him off the roster is not going to happen. He is your every day first baseman as soon as he's back with the MLB team. Rizzo isn't going to pay a guy 18 million to be a bench player. Martinez isn't going to not start him. If that was the case, he'd be better of simply getting surgery on his foot and packing it in for the year.

Zim is playing every day and hitting 5th. And the sooner we get him and his complicated swing up to speed, the better this team will be. One way or another.

I agree with Slate... I'm not sure if he agrees with himself though. But, Zimmerman is dangerous because he has something to prove. I assume that he's been working on his timing, and watching film, etc. This could be Zim's last chance to play baseball with the Nats. How could he not be fired up for that?

Offline PowerBoater69

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Zim should be a front office shill buying WNFF members beer at the M&G...

Not sure if this is serious, but seriously this is correct.

Offline PowerBoater69

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I agree with Slate... I'm not sure if he agrees with himself though. But, Zimmerman is dangerous because he has something to prove. I assume that he's been working on his timing, and watching film, etc. This could be Zim's last chance to play baseball with the Nats. How could he not be fired up for that?

Some good points in there. Zimmerman is a superstar if healthy, he's far better than anyone else we have in the rotation at first, obviously though he has not been healthy too much in the recent past. Nice thing about the playoff is that we can reset the roster each round so if he is hitting in late September I'm all for letting him play in October.

Along with the Zimmerman decision is what to do with Kendrick, we've been treating Howie like he's made of glass for a while now, rightfully so, but heading into the playoffs I'd don't know how we keep Kendrick out of the line up.

Offline djbaseball13

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Some good points in there. Zimmerman is a superstar if healthy, he's far better than anyone else we have in the rotation at first, obviously though he has not been healthy too much in the recent past. Nice thing about the playoff is that we can reset the roster each round so if he is hitting in late September I'm all for letting him play in October.

Along with the Zimmerman decision is what to do with Kendrick, we've been treating Howie like he's made of glass for a while now, rightfully so, but heading into the playoffs I'd don't know how we keep Kendrick out of the line up.

Kendrick has been hitting a lot better than Adams

Online imref

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Zimm should be back today and starting at 1B, let's see what happens.

Offline mitlen

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Zimm should be back today and starting at 1B, let's see what happens.

Perhaps   ...

Expected Lineup from RotoWire:

SS  Trea Turner R
RF  Adam Eaton L
3B  A. Rendon R
LF   Juan Soto L
1B  R. Zimmerman R
C    Kurt Suzuki R
2B  Brian Dozier R
CF  V. Robles R
P    P. Corbin L

Online Natsinpwc

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Zimm is not a superstar.  He has had one good year in the last five (2017).  He is injured and washed up.  In contrast Howie can still hit despite his age.

Offline mitlen

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Zimm is not a superstar.  He has had one good year in the last five (2017).  He is injured and washed up.  In contrast Howie can still hit despite his age.

Some (not me) fans still think he's the face of the franchise.     

Online Natsinpwc

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Some (not me) fans still think he's the face of the franchise.   
Babe Ruth and Mickey Mantle were the faces of the Yankees but they have been dead a long time.

Offline mitlen

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Babe Ruth and Mickey Mantle were the faces of the Yankees but they have been dead a long time.

Ah man, that's cold.     :)

Offline mitlen

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Confirmed from RotoWire (slightly different than the expected one):

SS  Trea Turner R
CF  V. Robles R
3B A. Rendon R
LF  Juan Soto L
2B  H. Kendrick R
1B  R. Zimmerman R
C    Yan Gomes R
RF  G. Parra L
P    P. Corbin L

Online Slateman

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I mean, at this point, we need to discuss whether or not Dozier even makes the WC game roster

Offline mitlen

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I mean, at this point, we need to discuss whether or not Dozier even makes the WC game roster

OT   I thought it was only the parent leave.    What's goin' on (other than he sucks)?

Online Slateman

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OT   I thought it was only the parent leave.    What's goin' on (other than he sucks)?
I mean, Cabrerra got hot, and I thought maybe they would platoon him because hes got good splits against lefties.

Offline spidernat

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Some (not me) fans still think he's the face of the franchise.     



Sometimes that face was bruised and battered :?

Offline spidernat

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I mean, at this point, we need to discuss whether or not Dozier even makes the WC game roster



Why not? For that game you don't need 5 starting pitchers. Besides, Dozier can give you an inning if the game goes 15+ innings. :twisted:

Online Natsinpwc

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OT   I thought it was only the parent leave.    What's goin' on (other than he sucks)?
Seems odd that he has been benched when he actually was hitting somewhat better. I don’t see anything about him on the web. I thought I recall someone saying he was under the weather but I may be misremembering.

Offline spidernat

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Seems odd that he has been benched when he actually was hitting somewhat better. I don’t see anything about him on the web. I thought I recall someone saying he was under the weather but I may be misremembering.




that was before paternity leave and he's had a couple starts since coming back from said leave.

Online Natsinpwc

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that was before paternity leave and he's had a couple starts since coming back from said leave.
Ok thanks.


Online imref

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Zuck: “Thanks to his first home run since April 21, back before Gerardo Parra was a National and home runs merited only token celebrations, Zimmerman finally got to participate in his first dugout dance party. The 34-year-old with so many miles on his body responded as only he could. He took several tiny steps, mimicking the motion of a senior citizen using a walker, then broke out in a smile and did a little shimmy as teammates roared with approval.

"I'm old," Zimmerman said. "Dancing's not really my thing. But got to do it”

Offline The Chief

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