The Nats Thread (old thread link inside, too many load issues)

[StillUnknown]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/nationals-journal/wp/2012/12/04/nationals-dan-haren-agree-to-terms/

Haren still needs to pass a physical for the deal to become official. The physical, Haren said in an e-mail, will take place Thursday. But Haren said he has already taken a physical for another interested team, and he checked out fine.

“The team was much less concerned about me physically after looking at me,” Haren said in an e-mail to the Post.

Haren expressed complete confidence in his health and clarified the issues he faced Haren tweaked his back in spring training last year, which, after he pitched through it for the first half of the season, led to him landing on the disabled list for the first time in his career. Other teams who pursued him worried about the condition of his hip, but Haren said he has pitched with the issue since he was a young pitcher in Oakland.

“As for my health I feel great,” Haren said. “I actually felt great towards the end of last year, and I was battling my mechanics a lot but was still getting good results. I guess teams were concerned of a hip issue that I’ve dealt with since my time in Oakland. It never has and never will cause me to miss time.”

Haren, a three-time all-star, would give the Nationals a veteran workhorse to place into a rotation that includes four 20-something flamethrowers in Stephen Strasburg, Gio Gonzalez, Jordan Zimmermann and Ross Detwiler.

“This will probably be the best rotation I’ve ever been a part of,” Haren said. “I’m confident I’ll hold up my end and I think that the sky is the limit for this team. It’s gonna be fun to get going and I can’t wait to get to Florida.”

[Dave25]

What a filthy rotation.

[Going Commando]

O's have a lot of bullpen arms. Nats could use some, maybe for Morse.

I'd rather not trade Morse for relievers. 30 HR .300 bat.

---------- Post added December-4th-2012 at 02:50 PM ----------

Hey what's up with Sean Burnett? Shouldn't we re-sign him? Wondering why this hasn't been more of a priority.

[Sticksboi05]

You don't give up a .300 /30 HR/ 90-100 RBI hitter for a reliever. That is rare and Morse doesn't simply rely on ripping balls to left field.

[Tulane Skins Fan]

I'd rather not trade Morse for relievers. 30 HR .300 bat.

---------- Post added December-4th-2012 at 02:50 PM ----------

Hey what's up with Sean Burnett? Shouldn't we re-sign him? Wondering why this hasn't been more of a priority.

Agree on Morse.

Burnett is going to get a big payday. At least three years too. We aren't going to do that. Someone's going to make a mistake with him, and hopefully its not us.

[Going Commando]

Don't really love the Dan Haren deal. I don't hate it, but I think it's a lot of money to give him. If he pitches like he did in 2011, then he'd earn it all. But I don't think that's likely.

Still, he's a big upgrade over Edwin Jackson.

I think our need for a Vet innings eater becomes lesser every year. Gio and Zim should be able to go well past 200 innings this year and Stras should be able to get to 200 ideally.

We need some insurance though, but not the kind you find in free agency ideally. I'd like to see us bring some more SP talent into the farm system. Because of Haren, we don't need to go out and get a guy who is close. We can afford to wait a year or two if need be.

I've read Trevor Bauer might be up for trade. If true, I'd try and deal for him. He's close to the majors and the timeline isn't perfect but he's enough of a talent to make a deal for him anyway.

The other hole in the organization is a lack of high level middle infielders in the farm system. We've been lucky Desmond turned it around and Danny and Lombo turned out OK. We don't really have anyone that's a natural fit behind them. I do not think Rendon is a smart bet at 2B.

If Espi keeps struggling though, we're probably going to have to let him walk.

Regardless, our farm system is weak now. Rapid promotions and trades turned a pretty good system into a weak one. I'd love to see us build it back up even stronger so that we can remain a contender throughout the Harper era.

According to most sources, Rendon is our only top 50 prospect and Brian Goodwin is the only other guy who might make an appearance there. And really, after you get past those two, there isn't a lot of talent that's close and/or upper echelon. I think we need to be looking beyond the draft to find prospects.

---------- Post added December-4th-2012 at 03:40 PM ----------

Agree on Morse.

Burnett is going to get a big payday. At least three years too. We aren't going to do that. Someone's going to make a mistake with him, and hopefully its not us.

Damn, I didn't realize he was due for that much. I wouldn't do it either. I remember how he pitched in 2011. But then who is our lefty reliever going to be?

[Duckus]

Call me optimistic, but I just don't see the downside of the Haren deal.

1) He has to pass a physical

2) It is a 1 year deal.

3) We are not asking him to be our ace. He just needs to fill in the role as the #5 guy in the rotation. He just needs to be slightly better than he was last year.

Don't get me wrong, I am not expecting him to be amazing. His declining velocity and injury history is troubling. But hard to see the downside about a 1 year deal like this.

Also, Rizzo has earned my trust 100% when it comes to these things. Until the record proves me otherwise, I trust his talent evaluation.

[G.A.C.O.L.B.]

It's no different than Edwin Jackson last year. What was the downside on that? Not much outside of him not being consistent.

[Tulane Skins Fan]

Call me optimistic, but I just don't see the downside of the Haren deal.

1) He has to pass a physical

2) It is a 1 year deal.

3) We are not asking him to be our ace. He just needs to fill in the role as the #5 guy in the rotation. He just needs to be slightly better than he was last year.

Don't get me wrong, I am not expecting him to be amazing. His declining velocity and injury history is troubling. But hard to see the downside about a 1 year deal like this.

Also, Rizzo has earned my trust 100% when it comes to these things. Until the record proves me otherwise, I trust his talent evaluation.

Just that our rotation is pretty thin if he goes down again. But otherwise, I agree.

[MattFancy]

Not a bad deal with Haren. If he stays healthy, he could be a very good #3 or #4 guy.

[ixcuincle]

Seven million dollars buys you about one WAR nowadays. Plenty reason to believe Haren can be a 2 WAR pitcher next year. Plus the worst case scenario isn't too bad because its a short deal. Not sure there's a single team in baseball this wouldn't have been a good deal for.

[Going Commando]

It's no different than Edwin Jackson last year. What was the downside on that? Not much outside of him not being consistent.

Might have been able to do better than him. Also I don't want us to have him be our only option and get burned if he goes down with injury.

[G.A.C.O.L.B.]

Might have been able to do better than him. Also I don't want us to have him be our only option and get burned if he goes down with injury.

That's Chien Ming Wang is for, duh

But for real, who would you have preferred as a #5? Cause Haren, if healthy, is probably the best 5 in baseball.

[Going Commando]

That's Chien Ming Wang is for, duh

But for real, who would you have preferred as a #5? Cause Haren, if healthy, is probably the best 5 in baseball.

Yeah you're probably right. The guy I would have liked the most is Trevor Bauer but that probably wasn't realistic. Who knows what his price tag would be? Plus who knows if he'd be ready for the bigs in April?

Greinke was probably a pipe dream too. But how about having him as your #4?

I hope management doesn't try and use money as an excuse not to bring back LaRoche though.

And I don't want to get stuck with our ****s in our hands if Haren can't go. I don't want to have to rush Matt Purke up, and I don't know who our other option is right now.

[GoSkins0721]

Burnett to the Angels on a 2-year deal. No $$ amount in the article

http://espn.go.com/los-angeles/mlb/story/_/id/8718113/sean-burnett-los-angeles-angels-agree-multiyear-deal-source

[Dan T.]

Burnett had a career season for us last year. He was going to get paid.

As for starters, a forgotten guy who really impressed me in his limited time with the club was Christian Garcia. Davey said he may give him a shot as a starter, and he's intriguing. He's big - 6'5" and 215, throws a 96 mph fastball, a knuckle curve, and a changeup. He's recovered fully from his 2010 Tommy John surgery - he had a 0.85 ERA in the minors last year, then looked good in a limited shot with the Nats - 15 Ks in 12.2 innings pitched, 2.13 era.

[Going Commando]

The more I think about the Haren deal, the better it looks.

I see it as us leveraging all of our huge bargain deals to go out and overpay for an overqualified #5. When you look at it like that, it makes sense to spend that money. It's pretty crazy that a 98 win team can have it's #5 be it's highest paid player. But that's what you get with Desmond, Harper, Morse, Espinosa, Ramos, Zimmermann, Strasburg, Ross, Span, Storen, Mattheus, and Clippard all on very, very favorable deals.

We're not going to have chances to spend this kind of money on a #5 down the road once we have to pay Desmond, Harper, Zim, and Strasburg salaries commensurate with their value.

Plus I just saw 160 million being batted around as the estimate for Greinke's contract. Good God.

So with all of our holes filled, I think we can turn our gaze to just acquiring prospects so we can keep a bunch of cheap talent around.

[Dave25]

I think LaRoche eventually comes back for a 2 year deal. J.P Howell signs to replace Burnett as the lefty specialist in the bullpen and Morse gets traded to the highest bidder (hopefully for pitching prospects). Then I think we are done and wait for spring training...and with the news that the NHL lockout is almost over and RG3 and the Skins playoff run it will be here before we know it.

[-9-]

[StillUnknown]

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/washington-nationals-top-15-prospects-2012-13/

updated top 15 Nationals prospect list

Kind of surprising that even with our lack of depth, Purke isn't mentioned. Injuries must be worst than we thought.

[Going Commando]

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/washington-nationals-top-15-prospects-2012-13/

updated top 15 Nationals prospect list

Kind of surprising that even with our lack of depth, Purke isn't mentioned. Injuries must be worst than we thought.

They must be. Though they did put Rendon second. Hard to tell what to make of Purke right now.

Speaking of Rendon, if he stays healthy, I think it's getting more likely each year that Ryan is going to eventually move to first to accommodate Rendon.

It looks like our system thins out a whole lot after the top three. Now that we've got a good team in place for the immediate future, seems like it's time to start replenishing the farm.

[G.A.C.O.L.B.]

They must be. Though they did put Rendon second. Hard to tell what to make of Purke right now.

Speaking of Rendon, if he stays healthy, I think it's getting more likely each year that Ryan is going to eventually move to first to accommodate Rendon.

It looks like our system thins out a whole lot after the top three. Now that we've got a good team in place for the immediate future, seems like it's time to start replenishing the farm.

Hmm, I wonder how their belief in Rendon and the plan to move RZimn factors intl their plans for LaRoche and Morse.

[Going Commando]

Hmm, I wonder how their belief in Rendon and the plan to move RZimn factors intl their plans for LaRoche and Morse.

My guess is that they think it's far enough away that we're still flexible with LaRoche and Morse. Regardless, I don't think LaRoche is going to get more than two years from us. Figure it's unlikely they would move Rendon into an everyday role at third and Zim to first in that time frame. Then I believe we've only got a few years of team control left with Morse. I'd imagine he'll be traded by then, or they may let him walk. LaRoche and Morse are probably both short term options at 1B whether or not we plan on moving Zim. The only way I see that changing is if we keep Morse and he completely blows up Prince Fielder or Joey Votto style and makes himself too valuable to lose. I don't think that's likely though.

[Slateman]

Burnett had a career season for us last year. He was going to get paid.

As for starters, a forgotten guy who really impressed me in his limited time with the club was Christian Garcia. Davey said he may give him a shot as a starter, and he's intriguing. He's big - 6'5" and 215, throws a 96 mph fastball, a knuckle curve, and a changeup. He's recovered fully from his 2010 Tommy John surgery - he had a 0.85 ERA in the minors last year, then looked good in a limited shot with the Nats - 15 Ks in 12.2 innings pitched, 2.13 era.

The more I think about the Haren deal, the better it looks.

I see it as us leveraging all of our huge bargain deals to go out and overpay for an overqualified #5. When you look at it like that, it makes sense to spend that money. It's pretty crazy that a 98 win team can have it's #5 be it's highest paid player. But that's what you get with Desmond, Harper, Morse, Espinosa, Ramos, Zimmermann, Strasburg, Ross, Span, Storen, Mattheus, and Clippard all on very, very favorable deals.

We're not going to have chances to spend this kind of money on a #5 down the road once we have to pay Desmond, Harper, Zim, and Strasburg salaries commensurate with their value.

Plus I just saw 160 million being batted around as the estimate for Greinke's contract. Good God.

So with all of our holes filled, I think we can turn our gaze to just acquiring prospects so we can keep a bunch of cheap talent around.

I think LaRoche eventually comes back for a 2 year deal. J.P Howell signs to replace Burnett as the lefty specialist in the bullpen and Morse gets traded to the highest bidder (hopefully for pitching prospects). Then I think we are done and wait for spring training...and with the news that the NHL lockout is almost over and RG3 and the Skins playoff run it will be here before we know it.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/dc-sports-bog/files/2012/12/TwitterBackground.jpg

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/washington-nationals-top-15-prospects-2012-13/

updated top 15 Nationals prospect list

Kind of surprising that even with our lack of depth, Purke isn't mentioned. Injuries must be worst than we thought.

They must be. Though they did put Rendon second. Hard to tell what to make of Purke right now.

Speaking of Rendon, if he stays healthy, I think it's getting more likely each year that Ryan is going to eventually move to first to accommodate Rendon.

It looks like our system thins out a whole lot after the top three. Now that we've got a good team in place for the immediate future, seems like it's time to start replenishing the farm.

Hmm, I wonder how their belief in Rendon and the plan to move RZimn factors intl their plans for LaRoche and Morse.

My guess is that they think it's far enough away that we're still flexible with LaRoche and Morse. Regardless, I don't think LaRoche is going to get more than two years from us. Figure it's unlikely they would move Rendon into an everyday role at third and Zim to first in that time frame. Then I believe we've only got a few years of team control left with Morse. I'd imagine he'll be traded by then, or they may let him walk. LaRoche and Morse are probably both short term options at 1B whether or not we plan on moving Zim. The only way I see that changing is if we keep Morse and he completely blows up Prince Fielder or Joey Votto style and makes himself too valuable to lose. I don't think that's likely though.

Can ya'll see me now?

[G.A.C.O.L.B.]

Why do I still get alerts that Slateman has quoted me in here and theres never anything in here from him?