Nationals Baseball: Short and sweet

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Short and sweet

Back from vacation day so no time for my usual nighttime routine of drafting up a post. So another 5 minute blast of thoughts.

Moving Desmond up in the lineup probably wasn't warranted by a "swinging the bat well the past couple of weeks" (really he swung it well last week and is not so hot this one AND Bernadina basically followed the same pattern) but Bernadina is terrible (.190 / .227 /.238) vs lefties this year so even a bad Desmond is going to be better than that.


I have zero faith Wang will pitch well in the majors. Well... I guess it depends on what you mean by "well". I think at best the Nats will get a 4.25-4.50 ERA guy out of it. That has some value but Wang rides the same "no-strikeout, have to do everything else right" train as John Lannan. That's ok for a lefty at 26 with some minor injury history. It's not ok for a 31-year old righty just coming back from major surgery. I think he's far more likely to get tweaked and that's all that's needed to make him worthless again.

Honestly I don't see what the endgame here is for the Nats. No one will trade for a guy with basically 1-2 starts under his belt in the past 3 years and who is a FA at year's end as part of a run for the playoffs. Pitching Wang is eating up innings better used by a prospect, like Milone or Peacock. It seems to me more of an effort to get some value from the sunk cost of paying for Wang's rehab for 2 seasons.


Take a good long look at Todd Coffey because if he's in a Nats uniform in August I'll be shocked. But don't expect anything great in return. Teams are showing interest in him in part because he's good but also because he should be cheap. A Shairon Martis (Mike Stanton trade #2) would be a high-end return.

14 comments:

Donald said...

I think you might be right about Wang, but he does have some upside. If he's really recovered, he's better than Marquis and Gorzelanny and would probably be relatively cheap to sign next year if we still want him. It's been a while, and it was with the Yankees, but he did win 19 games in 2006 and 2007 when he was their ace.

calindc said...

While I personally believe Wang will not be on the 2012 roster, it would be a rather inexpensive gamble for a number 3 or 4 starter. Last year, he signed a one-million dollar contract (with 4 million in incentives) and one would imagine his next contract will be the same.

Hoo said...

Wang's could be a semi-decent asset. He needs to be on the ML roster or get taken. So use what you can before you bring up Milone/Peacock.

So there's a bit of a sunk cost but it's also a use it or lose it thing. So might as well see if how lucky you got.

Harper said...

Donald - If he's fully recovered? Sure.

Donald / calid dc - actually I imagine if he does pitch decent from here to the EOY that he'll be looking for a decent multi-year deal somewhere. Nothing crazy but maybe 2 years 8 mill. It's a WEAK FA season.

Wang - so something like... "Look at how good a healthy Wang can pitch for 2 months! That was worth the 300 game wait! Woo Hoo!". That seems like scratching off a $20 lottery ticket with a grand prize of $10.

calindc said...

@Harper

That ticket is still much better than the Worth ticket, where we won a hole in the line up for the next 6 years.

JDBrew said...

Wang can be good. I like the idea of pitching him soon. Somebody has got to start ballgames. If some starters get moved (Marquis, hernandez, gorzellany) and JZ hits his innings limit, then you're looking at potentially 3 slots to fill in the rotation. Seeing as SS won't be back until the middle of september, and you wouldn't realy wanna bring up peacock or millone until september, thus not starting their rookie year till next year, then someone has got to fill those holes. Lannan and detwiler can't start every game. And besides the fact that the season is not gonna end in the playoffs, they still wanna chase a .500 record to try and attract talent. You won't attract talent by bringing up Martis or Stammen to lose games. Wang has a track record to warrant at least giving him a chance to win a few games, and hold down the fort until, September or seasons end if peacock, or millone aren't ready, or if SS isn't ready this year. It's not about the future with this guy, it's about trying to win a few games right now when you're about to lose some of your best pitchers to trade or innings limits. And since they've already paid him, might as well make him work for his money. So I say again, somebody has got to start the ballgame.

Harper said...

cal - He got a hit last night! He's coming back!

JDB - "Somebody has got to start ballgames. If some starters get moved (Marquis, hernandez, gorzellany) and JZ hits his innings limit"

Ok now THAT makes sense, but only if they make a couple deals. (They should only have a a one start gap between ZNN shutting down and September call-ups) Maya will definitely see more time but they'd need another arm.

calindc said...

@Harper

Two walks, two strikeouts, and a single....plus he didn't fall down on his face while getting picked off from third to home. All-in-all, an improvement.

Harper said...

in some sad alternative universe there's a Jayson Werth that keeps getting worse and in the last game of the season he defecates himself as a scorching line drive bounces off his cup into the stands for a game-ending grand slam.

Part of me wants to be in that universe

Harper said...

Homer Werth - hot 2nd half - It begins here!

calindc said...

He swung on the first pitch. The seventh seal has been broken. All hail our new demonic overlords.

Anonymous said...

Do not underestimate Wang. Before his injury he was top 5 pitchers in baseball. If he truly is healthy, don't be surprised if we see him posting a sub 3.50 ERA for the (defensively improved) Nats. Just saying...

Harper said...

Top 5 is a little high. That ranking would have a lot of weight on wins and it's the Yankees. Let's say Top 20, which is still great, but that is gonna be over 3 years ago. It's hard for guys actively pitching to keep up their status for that long, let alone someone coming back from injury.

Anonymous said...

Maybe you don't remember actually watching him pitch? He was close to unhittable at times. Same thing I always say: too much stats, not enough watching the game.