2016 National League East Division Champion: Washington Nationals Thread

[Riggo#44]

Baseball America: Nats expected to exceed international pool: http://www.baseballamerica.com/international/three-teams-will-break-international-bonus-pools-2016/

 

 

Washington Nationals

Four of the Nationals’ Top 10 prospects are from the Dominican Republic, including fast-rising center fielder Victor Robles, an impressive feat given that Nationals vice president of international operations Johnny DiPuglia and his staff have done it without much financial backing from ownership until the last year or two. That’s going to change this year, with the Nationals planning to exceed their 2016-17 bonus pool. They are the favorites for Dominican shortstop Yasel Antuna, who many expect will be the top-paid player in the country this year. They’re also going to be among the more active teams in Venezuela, where it looks like their top target is shortstop Jose Sanchez.

[CRobi21]

Finally some latino infusion! Arrrrrrriba!

[Riggo#44]

Finally some latino infusion! Arrrrrrriba!

 

Already there with additions like Robles, Difo, Severino, and Lopez.

[TheGoodBits]

We landed Bronson Arroyo per Ken Rosenthal on Twitter.

Report yesterday was our offer was a minor league deal with a lot of incentives. Tough to know what you can expect of him, being 39 and coming off Tommy John surgery in '14.

[CRobi21]

Ken Rosenthal ‏@Ken_Rosenthal  13m13 minutes ago

Source: Bronson Arroyo heading to #Nationals.

[Riggo#44]

 

Ken Rosenthal ‏@Ken_Rosenthal  13m13 minutes ago

Source: Bronson Arroyo heading to #Nationals.

 

 

Where's my ring? 

[CRobi21]

Hope his elbow has recovered well enough. Would be a nice change of pace from the power arms in the rest of the starting staff.

 

Could be like Fister a couple years ago. That's best case scenario of course..

[Riggo#44]

If we have to rely on Arroyo more than a handful of starts, we are up ****s Creek. It gives us some depth in the rotation, but at this point, Cole is a better option.

[TheGoodBits]

If we have to rely on Arroyo more than a handful of starts, we are up ****s Creek. It gives us some depth in the rotation, but at this point, Cole is a better option.

It's a minor league deal. We don't have to do anything other than have him show up to see whether or not he can still pitch.

One of those upside type deals with no real negatives if it doesn't work out.

[Taylor703]

Sigh. This signing is so sad.

[Riggo#44]

It's a minor league deal. We don't have to do anything other than have him show up to see whether or not he can still pitch.

One of those upside type deals with no real negatives if it doesn't work out.

 

Normally...yes....

 

[TheGoodBits]

The braves comeback win was worth it.

That's one of my favorite memories from the 2015 Nats.

[Riggo#44]

The braves comeback win was worth it.

That's one of my favorite memories from the 2015 Nats.

 

One of the few, and it was literally, the ONLY thing he did all year.

[ixcuincle]

Clippard is a free agent. 

 

Why the **** haven't the Nats signed him yet. 

[Taylor703]

Every article under the Nats right now on ESPN is about Harper signing with the Yankees lol

[Riggo#44]

Every article under the Nats right now on ESPN is about Harper signing with the Yankees lol

Lull in actual news causes a desperation for content, leads to this, and anything that dip**** writer for NBC puts out.

[Taylor703]

Lull in actual news causes a desperation for content, leads to this, and anything that dip**** writer for NBC puts out.

It's ****ing ridiculous. All I wanted to do was read about Giolita and I'm inundated with Harper to Yankees articles. Using him being an fan of the Yankees growing up as an reason why. Newsflash! All of these guys were fans of certain teams growing up.

[Riggo#44]

It's ****ing ridiculous. All I wanted to do was read about Giolita and I'm inundated with Harper to Yankees articles. Using him being an fan of the Yankees growing up as an reason why. Newsflash! All of these guys were fans of certain teams growing up.

You really want to see ridiculous, look at the Nats twitter feed...

[ixcuincle]

We should definitely sign clippard as our bullpen is thin enough as is have him set up pap

Makes perfect sense

[StillUnknown]

Clippard is a free agent. 

 

Why the **** haven't the Nats signed him yet.

Ask yourself why no other team has signed him

[TheGoodBits]

We should definitely sign clippard as our bullpen is thin enough as is have him set up pap

Makes perfect sense

We've already got a set up guy.

Edit- and the bullpen really isn't all that thin anymore

[Riggo#44]

Mr. Fister to Houston on a 1-yr, $7-mil deal. 

 

CSN Nationals ‏@CSNNationals  3m3 minutes ago

BREAKING: Former #Nats pitcher Doug Fister signs with AL West club http://ow.ly/XDZhD  #NationalsTalk

[ixcuincle]

We've already got a set up guy.

Edit- and the bullpen really isn't all that thin anymore

Clippard had a 2.92 Era in 2015

It's a no Brainer sign him as relief

[BRAVEONAWARPATH]

Clippard had a 2.92 Era in 2015

It's a no Brainer sign him as relief

If it's such a no brainer, why is he still available this late?

 

Ponder that for a bit.

[Riggo#44]

BA write up on Nats' prospect Osvaldo Abreu:

 

 

Nationals’ Abreu Ups His Game

January 28, 2016 by Lacy Lusk

 

 

WASHINGTON—Shortstop Osvaldo Abreu has grown up right before low Class A Hagerstown manager Patrick Anderson’s eyes.

 

Some of that development came in 2013, when Abreu was part of an Anderson-managed team that went 49-9 and won the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League title.

Then, Abreu helped himself even more at Hagerstown last season, when he hit .274/.357/.412 in 123 games and stole 30 bases in 41 attempts.

 

“From where he was two years before, I could see a big difference in his awareness of situations,” Anderson said. “He’s a really good kid, a quiet young man. He’s so hard on himself, but he has started to get a lot more relaxed and let the game come to him.”

 

The 21-year-old Abreu signed out of the Dominican Republic in 2012. He spent his first summer in the Dominican Summer League, his second in the GCL and his third at short-season Auburn. He hit just .229 in 2014 at the last of those stops.

 

Anderson said Abreu made similar headway in nearly every part of the game in 2015, his first full season.

 

“I thought his plate discipline was a lot better, and the accuracy on his throws was a lot better,” Anderson said. “Like a lot of minor leaguers, he needs to slow the game down sometimes. He did that in every area.”

 

Abreu improved his fielding percentage only marginally in 2015, from .917 to .923, but Anderson said the 6-foot shortstop has the range and the arm to stay at the position.

 

“He really worked hard off the field,” Anderson said of Abreu, who won the organization’s strength and conditioning competition during instructional league. “I was really impressed with how he maintained his strength and how much time he spent working on getting stronger.”