The Former Nationals Watch (2023)

[imref]

He's an alleged starting pitcher who has thrown 188 innings...in the last 5 years, total.  Does that answer the question?

so worth a minor league deal with a ST invite.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

I remember feeling so happy about the 4th and 5th starter options back in 2019. Voth, Fedde, Ross, all were internal, pitched well that year, and would be able to fill in behind Scherzer and Corbin regardless of what we did with Strasburg.

[imref]

https://calltothepen.com/2022/02/01/last-active-montreal-expos-draft-pick-calls-career/

[JCA-CrystalCity]

Bally did a chat on MLB Trade Rumors.  Transcript is linked:
https://live.jotcast.com/chat/live-chat-with-former-mlb-pitcher-collin-balester-14943.html

Righty Collin Balester was part of the last-ever Montreal Expos draft in 2004, as the club took him in the fourth round out of Huntington Beach High School.  Though he came from a surfing family, according to Baseball America, Balester moved quickly through the lower minors.  By 2007, he was considered the Nationals’ best prospect and a future number one or two starter.

During the summer of ’08, Balester was deemed ready to join the rotation of the tanking Nationals club.  He made a career-high 15 starts as a 22-year-old rookie, putting up three quality starts in the process.

Balester eventually moved into a relief role for the Nats, but was traded to the Tigers in December 2011.  His career also included stops in the Rangers, Pirates, Reds, and Giants organizations, as well as a stint with KBO’s Samsung Lions.  Along the way, Balester underwent Tommy John surgery in June 2013, battling to get back to the Majors with the Reds in after a gap of more than three years.

Ultimately, Collin topped 200 total innings in the Majors in parts of six different seasons. 

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2023/01/chat-with-former-mlb-pitcher-collin-balester.html

[tomterp]

https://calltothepen.com/2022/02/01/last-active-montreal-expos-draft-pick-calls-career/

 

[tomterp]

Bally did a chat on MLB Trade Rumors.  Transcript is linked:
https://live.jotcast.com/chat/live-chat-with-former-mlb-pitcher-collin-balester-14943.html
https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2023/01/chat-with-former-mlb-pitcher-collin-balester.html

Very cool.  Wonder how Spinman is doing, didn't he say he had health issues?

[Natsinpwc]

Just watched the old Buffalo gun down a runner at 2B. Bernadina having a nice series also.

[welch]

Aaron Gleeman of The Athletic counts the acquisition of Michael A. Taylor as an important "under-the-radar" move by the Twins:

Michael A. Taylor finally gives the Twins a starting-caliber backup in center field, which is hugely important given Byron Buxton’s lengthy injury history. Taylor is one of the best defensive outfielders in baseball, so that can remain a strength for the Twins even when Buxton isn’t playing, and he also fits the roster as a right-handed outfield bat who can platoon in a corner spot against tough lefties. For the cost of two marginal reliever prospects (Evan Sisk and Steven Cruz) and $4.5 million, Taylor adds value as an under-the-radar piece in an offseason full of bigger, headline-grabbing Twins moves. — Aaron Gleeman

Should Rizzo have made that deal first?

https://theathletic.com/4155058/2023/02/07/mlb-offseason-moves-2023-season/

[Five Banners]

Aaron Gleeman of The Athletic counts the acquisition of Michael A. Taylor as an important "under-the-radar" move by the Twins:

Should Rizzo have made that deal first?

https://theathletic.com/4155058/2023/02/07/mlb-offseason-moves-2023-season/

Last year’s offseason at least had a smidge of an impression that cost considerations weren’t the overriding factor. Not about to say that for this year.

[Natsinpwc]

At this point no one is spending a few million for an extra win or two. Why sign Taylor for two years and block Hassell possibly in 2024?  They really needed a corner Of with some pop. Duvall comes to mind.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

At this point no one is spending a few million for an extra win or two. Why sign Taylor for two years and block Hassell possibly in 2024?  They really needed a corner Of with some pop. Duvall comes to mind.

I'm a Duvall fan, but I'm mostly happy with Corey Dickerson as a pick up.  They needed a lefty outfielder to go with Thomas / Robles / Garrett / Call.  Taylor wouldn't have solved  that, either. If there were another lefty out there, I would have been happy, too. 

I honestly think that, had Robles won his arbitration case, he would have been released and they would have gone with Garrett, Thomas, or Call in center, and possibly Meneses in a corner.  My guess is that they left themselves plenty of flexibility for that.  With Robles in the fold, or Taylor, or Duvall, they are kind of stuck with a Candelario, Smith, Meneses alignment at 3rd, 1st, and DH, and likely committed to Thomas in a corner.

[welch]

At this point no one is spending a few million for an extra win or two. Why sign Taylor for two years and block Hassell possibly in 2024?  They really needed a corner Of with some pop. Duvall comes to mind.

"Blockage" is baloney. The better player plays. In the case of MAT, he turns 32 at the end of March, a perfect bridge to Hassell. If Hassell is ready. Robles makes only $2 million a year less than MAT, and Robles has no baseball skill except to catch fly balls.

[Natsinpwc]

"Blockage" is baloney. The better player plays. In the case of MAT, he turns 32 at the end of March, a perfect bridge to Hassell. If Hassell is ready. Robles makes only $2 million a year less than MAT, and Robles has no baseball skill except to catch fly balls.

They didn’t trade Soto for someone to sit behind MAT. Anyway the Twins signed him as a reserve.  No contending team wanted him.  He’s not that good. He’s a decent player.  Nothing more.  If they signed him maybe they win 70 games instead of 67. It’s not a big deal at this point.  Why sign a 31 year old with no power for a non contending team?

[dracnal]

"Blockage" is baloney. The better player plays. In the case of MAT, he turns 32 at the end of March, a perfect bridge to Hassell. If Hassell is ready. Robles makes only $2 million a year less than MAT, and Robles has no baseball skill except to catch fly balls.

Doesn't seem to be for some guys. Dusty Baker, in particular, comes to mind as a guy who would happily play the cold vet over the hot rookie every day and twice on Sundays

[Elvir Ovcina]

They didn’t trade Soto for someone to sit behind MAT. Anyway the Twins signed him as a reserve.  No contending team wanted him.  He’s not that good. He’s a decent player.  Nothing more.  If they signed him maybe they win 70 games instead of 67. It’s not a big deal at this point.  Why sign a 31 year old with no power for a non contending team?

They didn't sign him.  They traded for him, because they have a really good CF who is also really, really injury prone.   

[welch]

They didn’t trade Soto for someone to sit behind MAT. Anyway the Twins signed him as a reserve.  No contending team wanted him.  He’s not that good. He’s a decent player.  Nothing more.  If they signed him maybe they win 70 games instead of 67. It’s not a big deal at this point.  Why sign a 31 year old with no power for a non contending team?

Taylor is a fine fielder...just as good as Robles. Taylor can hit some, while Robles hits nothing. Until Hassell can make the majors, the Nats are stuck with Robles in CF. This obsession with "blockage" assumes that Taylor would start for years, and that Hassell would never be better than Taylor. That's the "blockage fallacy": if the blocked player is not better than the blocking player, and never becomes better, then why keep that "blocked" player?

 

[JCA-CrystalCity]

They didn't sign him.  They traded for him, because they have a really good CF who is also really, really injury prone.   

This.  Even if you think Taylor on balance (considering O and D) would outperform Robles as a CF, under no circumstances do you give up any trade value in order to get him.  This wasn't a salary dump where you just accommodate the other team by taking a burden off of it.  This was value for value. 

[welch]

This.  Even if you think Taylor on balance (considering O and D) would outperform Robles as a CF, under no circumstances do you give up any trade value in order to get him.  This wasn't a salary dump where you just accommodate the other team by taking a burden off of it.  This was value for value. 

Minnesota traded two minor league relief pitchers for MAT:

- Steven Cruz looks like a "never will be", or, at least, he has never shown much in the minors. His highest level was AA, last season, where he had a 5.14 ERA. https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=cruz--000ste

- Evan Sisk is a 26-year-old "maybe" who pitched well in AA and AAA last season. https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=sisk--000eva

While the Nats organization has plenty of minor league relievers with numbers that look like Cruz, Sisk looks like the sort of guy Washington would have pulled up to the majors last season. Sadly.

This looks like a deal the Nats could not have made for a short-term CF.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

Minnesota traded two minor league relief pitchers for MAT:

- Steven Cruz looks like a "never will be", or, at least, he has never shown much in the minors. His highest level was AA, last season, where he had a 5.14 ERA. https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=cruz--000ste

- Evan Sisk is a 26-year-old "maybe" who pitched well in AA and AAA last season. https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=sisk--000eva

While the Nats organization has plenty of minor league relievers with numbers that look like Cruz, Sisk looks like the sort of guy Washington would have pulled up to the majors last season. Sadly.

This looks like a deal the Nats could not have made for a short-term CF.

He projects as a lefty bullpen option with a fastball/cutter/slider combination out of a low arm slot. There’s a lot of modern pitching design to his game; he pairs a sweeping slider with a tailing fastball and uses a cutter more often than a changeup as a pitch to get righties out. He sits 91–93 and sometimes touches 95, but his game is less about velocity than deception. . . . I think Sisk has a future as an up-and-down reliever who gets lefties out reliably, and it wouldn’t shock me to see him end up as the best lefty in a bullpen someday, though that would be an upside surprise for sure.

Steven Cruz is a bigger prospect, both on our lists and literally, though like Sisk he’s not yet on the 40-man roster. He’s a mountain of a man, 6-foot-7 and strong, which lets him top 100 mph with his fastball and sit in the upper 90s. Despite his height, his stride and arm slot give his fastball that coveted shallow shape that lets four-seamers play well up in the zone. There’s not much danger here of him being one of those hollow-velo types.
...
That’s a nice haul for a Royals team that wasn’t realistically contending this year, and it probably doesn’t hurt that their assistant pitching coach, Zach Bove, came over from the Twins this offseason, where he’d been the assistant minor league pitching coordinator (title inflation in baseball is so hot right now). Teams in contending windows either need to have relievers like Sisk and Cruz in their system or trade for them as the need arises. I don’t think either of them has a ton of value as a standalone trade piece, but if the Royals are good in a few years, their bullpen will have more length as a result of this trade.

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/michael-a-taylor-is-the-second-center-fielder-the-twins-needed/

I guess the equivalent for us would be Cronin for the Sisk piece and a raw, hard thrower for the Cruz piece.  I agree with the conclusion that this was a good get KC given the non-contending status.  I don't see how on Earth Taylor would have pushed us into contention, so I can't see why we would be willing to give as much as the Twins. TBH, if there's value for glove first back up outfielders, we'd be much better off trying to sneak out a passable 1st half of the season from Robles and then dealing him for a similar package.

[welch]

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/michael-a-taylor-is-the-second-center-fielder-the-twins-needed/

I guess the equivalent for us would be Cronin for the Sisk piece and a raw, hard thrower for the Cruz piece.  I agree with the conclusion that this was a good get KC given the non-contending status.  I don't see how on Earth Taylor would have pushed us into contention, so I can't see why we would be willing to give as much as the Twins. TBH, if there's value for glove first back up outfielders, we'd be much better off trying to sneak out a passable 1st half of the season from Robles and then dealing him for a similar package.

Cronin was who I thought of when I read about Sisk, although Cronin has had his lumps in the minors. Cruz is harder to imagine, since he sounds a lot like the amazing Henry Rodriguez.

If only another team was willing to trade for Robles...but that should have happened in 2021 or 2022. He seems pretty much the superb fly-catcher, pathertic hitter, and brain-dead player we have seen for all these years. Of course, Robles "would look good in pin-stripes"...

[imref]

Luke Voit is still a FA.  Looks like the Nats were correct in cutting him.

[Ali the Baseball Cat]

If no one picks him up he can be the next Fabio on the cover of bodice-rippers

Luke Voit is still a FA.  Looks like the Nats were correct in cutting him.

[imref]

Eric Thames announces his retirement.

[imref]

mlb.com has Trea as the #1 overall pick in fantasy baseball. Soto is 7th. Carter Kieboom did not make the top-10.

[KnorrForYourMoney]

I think we should at least wait until Kieboom gets waived before we consider him a former Nat.

/sbutnotreally