Wednesday, January 25, 2006
Coming Up For Breath...
*UPDATE* The Denver Post is reporting that Felix Rodriguez has decided to sign with the Nats. This has yet to be confirmed elsewhere, however. If this is true, it's a very good deal, especially if it's to a minor league deal, as had been rumored.
Hello again, fellow Nats fanatics!
First off, an apology from me is in order. As you can tell, I haven't been posting for the last two weeks. Inexcusable, I know. I usually update the blog on my lunch breaks, but work has literally been non-stop the last two weeks, so I've barely had enough time to keep up on Nats news, much less write about it. There's no letup in sight at the office, so posting may continue to be less-the-daily, but I'm going to do my best to keep up the regular posting schedule.
So, now that we have the formalities out of the way, let's delve in to the latest Nats news. I'll start with the most recent stuff and work my way back to where I was with the last post...
Nats Extend Offers to Ward, Rodriguez; Interested in Urbina
According to the ever-prescient Bill Ladson, the Nats have offered minor league deals to 1B Daryle Ward and RHP Felix Rodriguez and are "monitoring" the legal proceedings of Ugueth Urbina in Venezuela. I'm not terribly fond of Ward, considering his .246/.300/.402 average line over the past three seasons. He obviously has power potential, but having shown that he can't take a pitch, I suspect it would be wasted with the Nats. The Nats say they are interested in adding depth behind oft-injured Nick Johnson. However, the logical Ward/Fick 1B platoon doesn't really work since neither Fick nor Ward has shown any ability to hit LHPs in recent memory:
2003-05 Average LHP/RHP Splits (AVG/OBP/SLG)
Fick vs. RHP (758 AB): .259/.327/.389
Fick vs. LHP (107 AB): .187/.275/.299
Ward vs. RHP (645 AB): .248/.304/.420
Ward vs. LHP (164 AB): .238/.281/.329
Granted, the sample sizes vs. LHP are somewhat small for both players, but it is fairly evident that both guys are pretty much helpless vs. LHPs with Ward being slightly less so. In an ideal world, the Nats would pair Fick's averageness vs. RHPs with an equally average bat vs. LHPs. Getting Ward signed to a minor league deal might not be an awful move, but I don't see it being terribly helpful either.
I am much higher on Felix Rodriguez. Perhaps best known for tearing cartilage in his left knee getting out of the shower in May 2005, Rodriguez from 1999-2004 was one of the more feared setup men in the big leagues, putting up a 3.11 ERA/1.29 WHIP over that span. As so many other pitchers have before him he imploded in his short stint with the Yankees in 2005 both before and after his shower injury. I think that there is an excellent chance that Rodriguez could return to form with the Nats and I suspect that he would look forward to padding his stats at spacious RFK. If we could get his to sign a minor league deal, I would consider it a steal. Assuming he returns to pre-injury, pre-Yankees form, I could easily see us getting good value for him at the trade deadline.
If Urbina can get out of jail in time for the season, I would be interested in him, considering his career average 3.55 ERA and excellent 1.19 WHIP and 2.26 K/BB over the past three seasons. I suspect that we would be lucky to get him though since he is a "name" and there are teams with much more resources than the Nats out there in search of closers (Baltimore and Atlanta come to mind).
Overall, I'm glad that Bowden is still looking to add depth to the bullpen. We're going to need it since I fully expect the combination of an anemic offense and no-so-stellar pitching (at least in the 3-5 slots) will put a lot of pressure on the 'pen again this year.
Sosa Watch: Day 15
In short, nothing new to report here. The latest news from the Post is that there have been talks and there is disagreement over the presence or absence (no, not abscess) of guaranteed money in any deal. I'll say it again: Sosa's going to have to swallow a lot of pride to come to the Nats as a NRI. If a deal does end up getting done, I think it will probably happen in the week before Spring Training begins. In the meantime, Sammy will be burning up Tom Reich and Adam Katz's cell minutes with demands that they find a deal that doesn't insult him. Phil Wood's column last week lays out the non-risk factors that a Sammy deal would entail. I've posted my thoughts on Sammy here and here. Suffice to say that I wouldn't be getting my torch and pitchfork out of the closet if he signs a minor league deal without guaranteed money. Anything more than that will likely send me spinning off into Rant-World though.
Schneider and Johnson Sign...
Just the facts m'am: Brian Schneider, 4 years/$16M; Nick Johnson, 1 year/$3.2M.
Nicely done on both counts, IMO. Re: Schneider, what's not to love about a team leader with great defensive skills and enough batting skillz that he doesn't detract? His AVG, OBP, and SLG have gotten better in each of the last 3 seasons as well, giving us a lot of promise for the future. The money is about what one would expect for a catcher of his talents. If anything, I think we may have gotten him at a slight hometown discount. My only question about B.S. is how he will handle the likely influx of young pitching that we will hopefully begin to produce from the farm system in 3-4 years (Everts comes to mind).
Johnson is a stickier situation. His injury history was obviously the major reason he only got one year. His .383 career OBP is outstanding and he is coming off a career year, despite missing some time (yet again) due to injury. His excellent defense at the position is an added bonus. The stickiness of the situation will come later in the year. If '06 is the year he finally stays healthy and put together a really great season (and '05 was already very good), everyone will be wondering why we didn't lock him up to a multi-year deal when we had the chance to sign him relatively cheaply. Of course, he could spend significant time on the DL again this season and make his $3.2M salary more palatable. If I'd had my druthers, I might have tried to get him to sign a 2 year deal since I still hold out hope that he can stay healthy for 162 games. As it stands, I could easily see Johnson getting dealt at the deadline to an OBP-obsessed team like the A's or another team run by Beane U. alumni (think Jays or Red Sox).
... But Sori Doesn't
At least the disagreement is over money for once instead of what position he'll play. Apparently, Sori is asking for $12 million and the Nats are offering $10 million as the two sides prepare to go to arbitration. I was hoping that $10 million would be maximum the Nats would have to pay for the disgruntled 2B, but apparently that is the starting point for negotiations. Buckle up, chilluns', 'cause it's going to be a wild ride on the Alfonso Express between now and Spring Training.
Nats Out of the Running For CF Gathright
Buried at the bottom of the Ladson's Monday article, was this little bit 'o info:
Well, that's all the time I have today. Damn it feels good to get back to the 'ol blogging thing! Can't wait to post more tomorrow.
Hello again, fellow Nats fanatics!
First off, an apology from me is in order. As you can tell, I haven't been posting for the last two weeks. Inexcusable, I know. I usually update the blog on my lunch breaks, but work has literally been non-stop the last two weeks, so I've barely had enough time to keep up on Nats news, much less write about it. There's no letup in sight at the office, so posting may continue to be less-the-daily, but I'm going to do my best to keep up the regular posting schedule.
So, now that we have the formalities out of the way, let's delve in to the latest Nats news. I'll start with the most recent stuff and work my way back to where I was with the last post...
Nats Extend Offers to Ward, Rodriguez; Interested in Urbina
According to the ever-prescient Bill Ladson, the Nats have offered minor league deals to 1B Daryle Ward and RHP Felix Rodriguez and are "monitoring" the legal proceedings of Ugueth Urbina in Venezuela. I'm not terribly fond of Ward, considering his .246/.300/.402 average line over the past three seasons. He obviously has power potential, but having shown that he can't take a pitch, I suspect it would be wasted with the Nats. The Nats say they are interested in adding depth behind oft-injured Nick Johnson. However, the logical Ward/Fick 1B platoon doesn't really work since neither Fick nor Ward has shown any ability to hit LHPs in recent memory:
2003-05 Average LHP/RHP Splits (AVG/OBP/SLG)
Fick vs. RHP (758 AB): .259/.327/.389
Fick vs. LHP (107 AB): .187/.275/.299
Ward vs. RHP (645 AB): .248/.304/.420
Ward vs. LHP (164 AB): .238/.281/.329
Granted, the sample sizes vs. LHP are somewhat small for both players, but it is fairly evident that both guys are pretty much helpless vs. LHPs with Ward being slightly less so. In an ideal world, the Nats would pair Fick's averageness vs. RHPs with an equally average bat vs. LHPs. Getting Ward signed to a minor league deal might not be an awful move, but I don't see it being terribly helpful either.
I am much higher on Felix Rodriguez. Perhaps best known for tearing cartilage in his left knee getting out of the shower in May 2005, Rodriguez from 1999-2004 was one of the more feared setup men in the big leagues, putting up a 3.11 ERA/1.29 WHIP over that span. As so many other pitchers have before him he imploded in his short stint with the Yankees in 2005 both before and after his shower injury. I think that there is an excellent chance that Rodriguez could return to form with the Nats and I suspect that he would look forward to padding his stats at spacious RFK. If we could get his to sign a minor league deal, I would consider it a steal. Assuming he returns to pre-injury, pre-Yankees form, I could easily see us getting good value for him at the trade deadline.
If Urbina can get out of jail in time for the season, I would be interested in him, considering his career average 3.55 ERA and excellent 1.19 WHIP and 2.26 K/BB over the past three seasons. I suspect that we would be lucky to get him though since he is a "name" and there are teams with much more resources than the Nats out there in search of closers (Baltimore and Atlanta come to mind).
Overall, I'm glad that Bowden is still looking to add depth to the bullpen. We're going to need it since I fully expect the combination of an anemic offense and no-so-stellar pitching (at least in the 3-5 slots) will put a lot of pressure on the 'pen again this year.
Sosa Watch: Day 15
In short, nothing new to report here. The latest news from the Post is that there have been talks and there is disagreement over the presence or absence (no, not abscess) of guaranteed money in any deal. I'll say it again: Sosa's going to have to swallow a lot of pride to come to the Nats as a NRI. If a deal does end up getting done, I think it will probably happen in the week before Spring Training begins. In the meantime, Sammy will be burning up Tom Reich and Adam Katz's cell minutes with demands that they find a deal that doesn't insult him. Phil Wood's column last week lays out the non-risk factors that a Sammy deal would entail. I've posted my thoughts on Sammy here and here. Suffice to say that I wouldn't be getting my torch and pitchfork out of the closet if he signs a minor league deal without guaranteed money. Anything more than that will likely send me spinning off into Rant-World though.
Schneider and Johnson Sign...
Just the facts m'am: Brian Schneider, 4 years/$16M; Nick Johnson, 1 year/$3.2M.
Nicely done on both counts, IMO. Re: Schneider, what's not to love about a team leader with great defensive skills and enough batting skillz that he doesn't detract? His AVG, OBP, and SLG have gotten better in each of the last 3 seasons as well, giving us a lot of promise for the future. The money is about what one would expect for a catcher of his talents. If anything, I think we may have gotten him at a slight hometown discount. My only question about B.S. is how he will handle the likely influx of young pitching that we will hopefully begin to produce from the farm system in 3-4 years (Everts comes to mind).
Johnson is a stickier situation. His injury history was obviously the major reason he only got one year. His .383 career OBP is outstanding and he is coming off a career year, despite missing some time (yet again) due to injury. His excellent defense at the position is an added bonus. The stickiness of the situation will come later in the year. If '06 is the year he finally stays healthy and put together a really great season (and '05 was already very good), everyone will be wondering why we didn't lock him up to a multi-year deal when we had the chance to sign him relatively cheaply. Of course, he could spend significant time on the DL again this season and make his $3.2M salary more palatable. If I'd had my druthers, I might have tried to get him to sign a 2 year deal since I still hold out hope that he can stay healthy for 162 games. As it stands, I could easily see Johnson getting dealt at the deadline to an OBP-obsessed team like the A's or another team run by Beane U. alumni (think Jays or Red Sox).
... But Sori Doesn't
At least the disagreement is over money for once instead of what position he'll play. Apparently, Sori is asking for $12 million and the Nats are offering $10 million as the two sides prepare to go to arbitration. I was hoping that $10 million would be maximum the Nats would have to pay for the disgruntled 2B, but apparently that is the starting point for negotiations. Buckle up, chilluns', 'cause it's going to be a wild ride on the Alfonso Express between now and Spring Training.
Nats Out of the Running For CF Gathright
Buried at the bottom of the Ladson's Monday article, was this little bit 'o info:
In other news, the Nationals are out of the running for Joey Gathright. Washington offered reliever Bill Bray, the team's first round pick in 2004, for the outfielder, but the Devil Rays said that wasn't good enough.Bray for Gathright would have been a good deal, IMO. While it's still too early to call the 2004 first round pick a bust, Bray's first two seasons have been unremarkable, with 12 innings of good numbers a Single-A Potomac coming with 26 innings of bad at Harrisburg and New Orleans. I'm not surprised the Rays turned down the offer of Bray for Gathright straight up, though. I like Gathright and maybe Bray and Brandon Watson would have gotten it done. Now we'll never know.
Well, that's all the time I have today. Damn it feels good to get back to the 'ol blogging thing! Can't wait to post more tomorrow.
# posted by JammingEcono @ 11:17 AM 
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Definitely understandable.
I used to be a lunch poster myself, but I'm almost exclusively a nighttimer now.
I used to be a lunch poster myself, but I'm almost exclusively a nighttimer now.
Great to have you back. I was afraid the black-ops division of MLB got to you finally. They hauled me away for six-weeks last summer. Why do you think I like all of Jim Bowden's moves???
Seriously, welcome back
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Seriously, welcome back
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