OVCChairman

Here's no. 2.... due April 08

i know, so did the national media lol Believe me, i'm not going to act like they're more than they are. A bit driven morning show that happens to be on a sports station. I don't listen to them for their sport prowess, they're usually about a day late on most stuff.

They didnt break that story, they ran with other people speculation based on what MLB The Show said, as well as a betting site in Vegas. Chris Russell says he has info that Harper has a meeting with an unnamed team... It may be true, but i'm surprised nothing about this came out by the agent in order to drive up the price when it was (incorrectly) reported he was signing with Philly.

I don't think anyone said he would get 200+ I know I said MLB GMs would fall all over themselves to get him.

And as of right now, he'd be worth every penny of it.

I can't believe he signed a 1 year deal... i figured it was gonna take 2 at a minimum to get him here. I'm good with it if they're concerned that Kieboom isn't there yet.

They would likely be HIS opt out, not necessarily ours.

I'm aware of that, I never said it was, my stance all along was to retain all 3 and go all in for a WS for the next 3-5 seasons (obviously depending on pitching)... which is what started this conversation when i said I wanted to be sure Rizzo was part of the conversation because I don't want the Lerner's being the ones controlling this negotiation without Rizzo's input. My point was that I don't want them to strike a deal, then in a year Rizzo approach them with Rendon's contract and they tell him "too bad, that money is gone." Yes the can AFFORD him... it's going to come down to whether or not they WANT to pay that much. His jersey sales and ticket sales alone would account for the amount of Luxury Tax they would have to pay toward his contract because the tax only applies to the amount they go OVER, not the amount of the whole payroll expense. They're one of the richest ownership groups in sports, if they want him here bad enough, he'll be here.

He absolutely is. But I don't want to sacrifice 1 cornerstone who COULD play at a high level for 2 who COULD... that's just bad math. I'd prefer we keep all 3, but if I had to chose Harper OR Rendon AND Turner, I take Rendon AND Turner.

MLB GMs will trip over themselves to add Rendon if he hits free agency He finished last year 11th in MVP voting... in 2017 he was 6th. Above .300, 20+ hr with 92 and 100 RBIS. Manny Machado 2017 24 BAL AL 156 690 630 81 163 33 1 33 95 9 4 50 115 .259 .310 .471 .782 108 297 17 1 0 9 3 *5 2018 25 TOT MLB 162 709 632 84 188 35 3 37 107 14 2 70 104 .297 .367 .538 .905 146 340 26 2 0 5 18 *65 A Anthony Rendon 2017 27 WSN NL 147 605 508 81 153 41 1 25 100 7 2 84 82 .301 .403 .533 .937 139 271 7 7 0 6 6 *5 MVP-6 2018 28 WSN NL 136 597 529 88 163 44 2 24 92 2 1 55 82 .308 .374 .535 .909 137 283 5 5 0 8 5 *5

this is my worst fear...

Ya know you're not wrong. me PERSONALLY... I'd rather see Kieboom at 2nd in spring training and if he appears he just can't handle it, you have Kendricks and Difo in pocket while Kieboom goes back down and gets more reps. I would THINK that Dozier gets the 'nod' as far as being better simply because he's somewhat of a known commodity. His 162 game avg puts him at .246 / 28 hr / 83 RBIs. That's OK.. to GOOD for a 2b (we were spoiled with our Wade Boggs 2.0 style Daniel Murphy) when you look at the rest of the roster. I don't know that Kieboorm will give us that, at least not the power numbers.... THIS YEAR. He may get his legs come July / Aug and trend toward these, but I would wonder if he could do 15 hr and 40 RBIs before the all star break. If were confident he can do that, than I don't know why we don't just ride Kieboom / Difo / Hendricks with Hendricks being a utility guy. I agree with you about our rotation, but I also have to tell myself that pitchers are effective later in their careers because they do what Sanchez does and learn to pitch to soft contact. Max and Stras are power pitchers, and Max appears to be a robot so who knows. I want to also see Stras pitch 80% of a season on a regular basis before i'm 'comfortable.' With the contracts of our big 3 starters, that window is now, and buying pitching gets more difficult if these guys dont fulfill 60% of their contracts that remain. This further pushes my concern about signing Harper if it means sacrificing Rendon / Turner, because those two are cornerstone type infielders who could play at a high level for the next 8-10 years.

Same here, but our window is closing. Dozier walks in an is better than Kieboom right now. With the age of our SP rotation, it would appear that the team is looking at 2019 as a WS type season. Dozier likely doesn't sign a 1 year deal, so I think 2 would be the min needed to sign him with the hopes that in that 2 year window, we're celebrating a championship at Nats Park. I also think that's why we went back after Adams and are now pushing harder for Bryce.

Turner would be at SS... Unless something happened that I wasn't aware of. Rumor is were talking to Dozier, that would truly signal to me that ownership is all in if we could land that guy to a couple year deal while Kieboom keeps grooming.

I hope you're right. I'm all for going all in, i wasn't saying I don't agree with signing Harper, just that I sure hope Rizzo is part of it..

I agree, which is why I hope Rizzo is part of this. What I would hate to have happen is the Lerners strike this deal now, then in 6 months Rizzo goes to the Lerners and says "here's the contract for Rendon" and they look at him and say "too bad, we gave that money to Bryce." Then have the same thing happen in another year or so with Turner. I'm not saying it's an either / or, but I could see how if Rizzo is not included now... then it could change the dynamic later. It doesn't HAVE to be, but my personal money is on Rizzo being the smartest person in that front office. If he's involved, it's very likely that him and the Lerners have discussed Rendon and Turner, and that's all I can hope for. If they haven't, then my concern is that when those bridges come, we wont cross them and I think that's a huge mistake. I actually would have a problem sacrificing one of them IF necessary because its a short sided thought process. If you want to go 'ALL IN' to win, then you do it, but to spend that kind of money on 1 player to further bolster an outfield at the complete expense of potentially one whole side of your infield would be a mistake. I'm not dense enough to not understand that Rendon / Turner have a say on whether they stay or not and that's yet to be determined either. I understand that Harper's negotiating NOW so we need to look at the NOW, but I really hope the Lerners don't come out of this telling Rizzo... "too bad" that money is gone now. If we're willing to go over the Lux tax for Harper, we should be willing to do it for the other 8 positions on the field as well.

at the forfeit of a Rendon / Turner-less infield?

I do wonder about Rizzo's involvement here. I hope he's a part of it, and it's not JUST the Lerner's controlling this. i'm worried that he's getting over run with this and left and right aren't working together.

Ya wonder if that wasn't their plan all along, and getting Harper would be a bonus. They could have waited til Harper signed to make the room (or some of it). To do it prior to a contract being signed, then be stuck standing there wondering what happened would be a terrible move.

twitter buzz is that it's fake and it's Boras trying to drive up the price

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2813919-bryce-harper-rumors-nationals-offered-much-more-than-300-million HMM.... apparently I can't read....

but if we bring Harper back, we better not do it at the expense of Rendon / Turner

yeah i've felt the same way through this whole thing.

If we sign Harper to a deal for close to the line in the sand that Lerner drew, we need to be signing Rizzo to an extension before the ink on Harpers contract is dry. He's the anti-Bruce Allen. He gets it. He knows how to get things done, and he knows how to work with the ownership group.

Ribs, wings, and mac n cheese for a football Sunday.