StillUnknown Posted January 27, 2013 Share Posted January 27, 2013 Man I would kill to be able to grow my beard like that. So jealous. Agreed, I would just look bum-ish if I attempted something like that Few other things:- Was just looking at Bryce's twitter. it is so freaking cool to see all the young DC athletes--across all the sports--friended and following one another. Bryce has everyone from Bradley Beal to Alfred Morris and many others. Then Morris on there asking people to tweet #mlb13harper so that he can get on the cover of MLB the Show. He learned pretty fast about support for the home teams - Surprised nobody has mentioned anything about the new edition to the Presidents fam: William Howard Taft, Full time member. Taft started the whole throwing out the first pitch thing and supposedly started the 7th inning stretch too. He was also our biggest president ever: 300+ pounds I was disappointed the mascot isn't rotund. Now some stuff I'm,curious to get an opinion on:- How would you handle the catcher position? If Ramos shows he's fully recovered during spring training, I start him. We know what we'll get from Suzuki, we need to see if Ramos can live up to some of his potential. If he shows out, then we have a catcher for the future, if things go south, we can insert Suzuki and start looking for a more permanent solution. - Which of our moves this offseason will have the biggest impact this year? I'll say Span only because its been the acknowledged "missing piece" on offense. Span/Harper or Span/Werth at the top of the lineup can turn a our 3-4-5 hitters into serious run producers. ---------- Post added January-27th-2013 at 12:59 PM ---------- http://www.federalbaseball.com/2013/1/26/3919816/washington-nationals-danny-espinosa-talks-about-torn-rotator-cuff-decision-to-avoid-surgery Espinosa had an MRI in mid-September which revealed a bone bruise and swelling, and he had a cortisone shot at the time which lessened the pain, but as he told reporters this afternoon, another examination by Dr. Lewis Yocum, this one done with contrast dye after the season ended and the issue persisted, revealed a full tear of the rotator cuff in his left shoulder which the second-year second baseman said definitely affected his production down the stretch. Espinosa finished his second full season in the majors with a .247/.315/.402 line, 37 doubles, 17 HRs and 20 stolen bases in 160 games and 658 plate appearances over which he was worth +3.8 fWAR.The Nationals' 08 3rd Round pick said today he decided against surgery because it would likely have caused him to miss several months at the start of the 2013 campaign, opting instead to build strength in his shoulder with the help of his trainers in the hope that it would be strong enough to allow him to play in the upcoming season. Espinosa played through the pain last year and is apparently going to try to play with the injury this season. Davey Johnson talked openly last summer about the difficulty he had getting either of his middle infielders to sit out, telling reporters, "I've got to fight the two guys up the middle, whenever I say, 'Let me give you a day off,'" the response he gets is, "'Are you kidding me? Are we trying to win or what?'" I'm not sure I agree with him trying to play through this injury with rehab alone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkinsHokieFan Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/nationals-journal/wp/2013/01/28/jayson-werth-i-think-we-got-the-best-team-in-baseball/ Jayson Werth: ‘I think we got the best team in baseballJayson Werth has perhaps the most unique point of view on the Nationals’ roster. He signed the largest contract in team history before the 2011 season, receiving some ridicule for proclaiming he wanted to be “part of the group that changes perception of baseball in Washington, D.C.” He received plenty of validation when his vision became reality last season. After a winter of moves (adding Rafael Soriano, re-signing Adam LaRoche, trading for Denard Span and exchanging Michael Morse for prospects), the sharp baseball observer reflected on the Nationals’ newest fortune: They’re among the favorites to contend for the World Series. “I think we got the best team in baseball,” he said Saturday at the team’s Nats Fest. “If that’s your mind-set going in, no one else matters, you just have to take care of yourself.” Link for rest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave25 Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 Excited for the season to start, I really really think this is a 100+ win world series team. Just gotta watch out for the Braves they are looking really good as well. As for Espinosa's shoulder injury I hope Rendon is on the fast track down in the minors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan T. Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 Few other things:- If you have twitter, please add Christian Garcia. When they interviewed him at the fanfest today, he only had 11 followers. People were giving him **** for it @CJGarcia56 I'm predicting Christian Garcia as the Nats' darkhorse surprise of 2013, filling Tom Gorzelanny's role as long reliever and maybe even spot starter. Davey Johnson spoke highly of him late last year, and even mentioned having him come into spring training battling for a starting role (though that was before they acquired Dan Heren). - Surprised nobody has mentioned anything about the new edition to the Presidents fam: William Howard Taft, Full time member. Taft started the whole throwing out the first pitch thing and supposedly started the 7th inning stretch too. He was also our biggest president ever: 300+ pounds Also, Taft was a former ally and then a bitter political rival of Teddy. So that could make for some interesting in-race shenanigans. Plus, five horses makes for a crowded field... none of the incumbents are retiring, right? Now some stuff I'm,curious to get an opinion on: - How would you handle the catcher position? Let Ramos and Motorcycle battle it out for starter. Nice having both available. With Ramos a starter, Suzuki might go every fourth day as Gio's pet catcher. - Which of our moves this offseason will have the biggest impact this year? Denard at center and top of the lineup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warhead36 Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 With all the power behind him, Span is going to be a terror at leadoff. I think he'll break out here, hitting over .300. He will see pitches because nobody is gonna want base runners with our mashers in the middle of the lineup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGoodBits Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 Very curious to see where Werth hits in the lineup and what his approach is like. He put up very good power numbers his last couple years in Philly that he hasn’t replicated here, especially recovering from his injury last year. But he was extremely effective getting on base last year after he changed his approach (because he didn’t have a lot of strength in his wrist). So you could argue for a Span-Werth-Harper-Zim-Laroche order if Werth is sticking with his get-on-base approach. Both posted OBP over .350 last year, which I believe would mean there’s a better than 50% chance of someone being on base when Harper comes up (slept through Stats class, let me know if that’s wrong). I believe you can make a strong argument for Harper hitting 3rd this year if you’re anticipating a breakout year. He’s shown he can hit well for percentage as well as power (average held back from a 2 month long slump last year). He also gets on base a lot. You could very conceivably have your top 3 hitters all with a .350+ OBP (with Span and Harper having a lot of speed too) before you get to your 4-5 guys with Zim and LaRoche. Alternately, you can certainly take advantage of a lot of those things by leaving Harper at 2 and bumping Werth back to 5-6. He’ll also be able to take an aggressive approach at the plate further back in the lineup, so we’ll see if he can still hit well for power. Either way, I really expect to have a high powered offense to go with our solid rotation and bullpen this year. Probably even better than last year as long as a few of these things happen: Harper continues to improve in his second year, Zim healthy all year, Werth healthy, and guys like Laroche and Desmond don’t regress too much off their 2012 numbers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan T. Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 Very curious to see where Werth hits in the lineup and what his approach is like. He put up very good power numbers his last couple years in Philly that he hasn’t replicated here, especially recovering from his injury last year. But he was extremely effective getting on base last year after he changed his approach (because he didn’t have a lot of strength in his wrist). The article SkinsHokieFan linked to http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/nationals-journal/wp/2013/01/28/jayson-werth-i-think-we-got-the-best-team-in-baseball/ quotes Werth as saying he still doesn't have full strength back in his wrist, so we might not see that power this spring either. He may be destined to bat second for the time being. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheDane Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 Three of our players can bat 2 or 3 hole: Harper, Werth, Desmond. All three also have potential power for later slots. That's a good place for a lineup to be. You can even make the argument that better plate patience would make Espinosa a 2-3 candidate also. This lineup is nuts (on paper). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGoodBits Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 The article SkinsHokieFan linked to http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/nationals-journal/wp/2013/01/28/jayson-werth-i-think-we-got-the-best-team-in-baseball/ quotes Werth as saying he still doesn't have full strength back in his wrist, so we might not see that power this spring either. He may be destined to bat second for the time being. Yeah I saw that earlier. I hope he does. Love the potential of Harper-Zim-Laroche at 3-4-5 with Span and Werth getting on base in front of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SemperFi Skins Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 Nationals | Jerad Head signed Sat, 26 Jan 2013 18:06:00 -0800 The Washington Nationals have signed free-agent OF Jerad Head (Tigers) to a minor-league deal. Terms of the contract were not disclosed. 0 Comments | Source: MLB.com - Bill Ladson | Share: Read more: http://kffl.com/hotw/MLB?page=2#ixzz2JJ0RTmwq Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Evil Genius Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 Nationals | Jerad Head signed Sat, 26 Jan 2013 18:06:00 -0800 The Washington Nationals have signed free-agent OF Jerad Head (Tigers) to a minor-league deal. Terms of the contract were not disclosed. 0 Comments | Source: MLB.com - Bill Ladson | Share: Read more: http://kffl.com/hotw/MLB?page=2#ixzz2JJ0RTmwq If he makes the team, you guys need Al Snow to throw out a pitch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hail2theskins3 Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 This isn't good.... Gio Gonzalez, the ace of the Washington Nationals pitching staff during their first playoff appearance in 2012, has been tied to a clinic that has allegedly provided performance-enhancing drugs, according to a report by Tim Elfrink at the Miami New Times. Gonzalez is one of several players named in the article, including Melky Cabrera and Barolo Colon, who were suspended last season for the use of PEDs. http://www.thenatsblog.com/2013-articles/january/report-nats-star-pitcher-gio-gonzalez-tied-to-ped-doctor.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SemperFi Skins Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 This isn't good....Gio Gonzalez, the ace of the Washington Nationals pitching staff during their first playoff appearance in 2012, has been tied to a clinic that has allegedly provided performance-enhancing drugs, according to a report by Tim Elfrink at the Miami New Times. Gonzalez is one of several players named in the article, including Melky Cabrera and Barolo Colon, who were suspended last season for the use of PEDs. http://www.thenatsblog.com/2013-articles/january/report-nats-star-pitcher-gio-gonzalez-tied-to-ped-doctor.html Nationals | Gio Gonzalez's father says his son is innocent Tue, 29 Jan 2013 06:03:36 -0800 Updating an immediate story, Washington Nationals SP Gio Gonzalez's father, Max, said Gio is innocent in the performance-enhancing drug implications. Max Gonzalez said the drugs were for him. "My son works very, very hard, and he's as clean as apple pie," Max Gonzalez said. "I went to (Anthony Bosch) because I needed to lose weight. A friend recommended him, and he did great work for me. But that's it. He never met my son. Never. And if I knew he was doing these things with steroids, do you think I'd be dumb enough to go there?" Read more: http://kffl.com/hotw/mlb#ixzz2JNOybBGM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Evil Genius Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 At least Gio didn't throw his Dad under the bus like Roger Clemens did to his wife. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tulane Skins Fan Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 This isn't good....Gio Gonzalez, the ace of the Washington Nationals pitching staff during their first playoff appearance in 2012, has been tied to a clinic that has allegedly provided performance-enhancing drugs, according to a report by Tim Elfrink at the Miami New Times. Gonzalez is one of several players named in the article, including Melky Cabrera and Barolo Colon, who were suspended last season for the use of PEDs. http://www.thenatsblog.com/2013-articles/january/report-nats-star-pitcher-gio-gonzalez-tied-to-ped-doctor.html Just a quick google search, but aminorip doesn't appear to be a banned substance. it says its protein. I guess it could be banned under some name i don't know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGoodBits Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 Just a quick google search, but aminorip doesn't appear to be a banned substance. it says its protein. I guess it could be banned under some name i don't know. It’s the association with this clinic that could get him in trouble as it looks like the doctor kept good records… We'll see if anything else comes out. Hopefully not. Looks like ARod is going down again by the way. Better article: http://deadspin.com/5979819/?utm_campaign=socialflow_deadspin_twitter&utm_source=deadspin_twitter&utm_medium=socialflow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tulane Skins Fan Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 It’s the association with this clinic that could get him in trouble as it looks like the doctor kept good records… We'll see if anything else comes out. Hopefully not. Looks like ARod is going down again by the way. Better article: http://deadspin.com/5979819/?utm_campaign=socialflow_deadspin_twitter&utm_source=deadspin_twitter&utm_medium=socialflow I don't think association is grounds for anything. There has to be some evidence he took a banned substance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGoodBits Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 I don't think association is grounds for anything. There has to be some evidence he took a banned substance. It's not, like I said the Doc kept good records and hopefully nothing else is found that would indicate Gio used PEDs. second thought- I see how my first sentence reads that way. Meant to say he’s in trouble if anything turns up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tulane Skins Fan Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 It's not, like I said the Doc kept good records and hopefully nothing else is found that would indicate Gio used PEDs.second thought- I see how my first sentence reads that way. Meant to say he’s in trouble if anything turns up. Gotcha... no worries. I think we're both hoping this turns out as benign as it appears so far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan T. Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 Gotcha... no worries.I think we're both hoping this turns out as benign as it appears so far. It doesn't look all that benign to me. The "doc's" records list includes several Major League players already suspended for using the very substances this guy was peddling. (By the way, Anthony Bosch, the proprietor of the clinic, is NOT licensed to practice medicine in Florida.) Despite the claims of Gio's father, both Gio and his dad are listed in the records. Is it rock solid proof? No, but it leads me to think Gio's got some 'splaining to do. Unless this Bosch character contemporaneously made up client lists out of whole cloth, this is a stain on Gio's reputation. Here's the source article: http://www.miaminewtimes.com/2013-01-31/news/a-rod-and-doping-a-miami-clinic-supplies-drugs-to-sports-biggest-names/full/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superozman Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 http://www.miaminewtimes.com/2013-01-31/news/a-rod-and-doping-a-miami-clinic-supplies-drugs-to-sports-biggest-names/ Yea, doesn't look good for Gio Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan T. Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 Another (former) Nats name comes up in the Miami New Times article when it mentions "Operation Which Doctor" - a 2007 investigation into HGH distribution in Palm Beach. Several ballplayers were implicated, including Rick Ankiel, then with the Cards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tulane Skins Fan Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 http://www.miaminewtimes.com/2013-01-31/news/a-rod-and-doping-a-miami-clinic-supplies-drugs-to-sports-biggest-names/Yea, doesn't look good for Gio Already posted.... I see you trolling, you hating, patrolling, trying to catch you ridin' dirty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WALEOVECHKIN Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 It's more of a stain on his reputation then anything because you can't get suspended unless you admit to taking it (e.g. Michael Morse). Baseball will look different with in season HGH testing this year IMO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Titaw Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 From what has been reported Gio is on record to receive Aminorip. According to multiple sources, if that is the case, then Gio may be fine. There are no indications that any ingredients in Aminorip are on MLB's ban list. Unless, reports come out that he was noted to receive HGH or any other PEDs he should be fine. http://www.dcprosportsreport.com/washington-nationals/gio-gonzalez-named-in-ped-report.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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