What he might do: allow Felipe Rivero to pitch in set-up (closer?) role
What he doesn't do : tell us anything about Papelbon/Storen or budget. Contract is about market and no Janssen, No Stammen frees up money for this. 2016 budget is unchanged. Perez should not be a 8th/9th guy
8 comments:
Me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me.......
And then there were none...Grienke a D-back for 6/206M.
Signing Perez is playing with house money, a Stammen salary wash...meh. On the other hand, let's hope the O'Day rumors are true.
I keep hearing that O'Day is likely to go to Nats on the tweeter (as Davey used to call it). Zobrist seems much more nebulous where he will end up. I'd love to have Zobrist but a 35 yo 2nd baseman on a 4 year contract?
I would love to see Rizzo save some money and upgrade the bullpen midseason. Bullpen is so volatile that this would allow Rizzo to see how homegrown arms develop and how the trade candidates are pitching.
Harper, what are your thoughts on this strategy?
O'Day and Madson gone. Smells like another year of Blake "gas can" Treinen. Boo Rizzo and boo Lerner family. I still think the Lerners are cheap. Sure they sign off on the occasional big ticket item with Scott Boras but getting rid of Clippard last year and not adding to the bullpen other than Oliver Perez is a no go for next year. There is still plenty of offseason left but I grow increasingly pessimistic.
I'm not a fan of upgrading mid season bc you needlessly lose prospects.
I was hoping for Madson and O'Day. Oh well
I am endlessly entertained by the "Lerners are cheap" crowd. I was with you a few years ago, but events proved otherwise. But you do cling to a trope with an amazing grip.
FWIW, the reports of O'Day signing with the O's seem to have been premature. I still think that he ends up with the O's, though - any other team, and the truly cheap Angelos would let him go. With his MASN "partners?" He'll pay any price, bear any burden to keep THAT from happening. Not that it will be smart - four years to a 34yo reliever? If the Nats DO end up signing him, the next sound you hear will be the chorus hollering how that was a stupid move.
Jay said...
... I grow increasingly pessimistic.
That's hilarious. How could you possibly get any more pessimistic?
They can still get Shawn Kelley.
I'll admit I was pretty frustrated when I wrote that yesterday. I agree that a 4 year deal for a 34 year old deal is less than ideal. My concern is what other options are there. Madison would have been nice but he's gone. Soria would have been nice but he's gone. Chapman would be great (depending on the price) but the word on the street is that he's not coming to DC. It looks increasingly like the Redskins when Shannahan left. It was all his fault and Gruden is all we need. How did that work out? If they don't rebuild their pen and just go with the "it was all MW's fault" then good luck. You're relying on Storen who wants out of town badly and Papelbon who not only choked Harper but wants to be paid while he took his early vacation for doing it. Any other thoughts for how they rebuild their bullpen? Another year of Gas can Treinen and adding Oliver Perez won't be nearly enough.
Also, I'll stick with my Lerners are cheap thought. Do you remember the days of bringing 20 starting pitchers to spring training? That was because the Lerners refused to spend to sign anyone legitimate. "The plan" as it was championed by Stan Kasten was to build from within. The only problem is that the only homegrown player we have kept is now our first baseman and can't stay healthy. Let's see Clippard - traded bc we didn't want to pay $8 million dollars to a set up guy. Desmond - gone. Zmann - gone. Strasburg - likely going. Storen - likely going. Ramos - likely gone. Jerry Blevins (not homegrown) - traded for a 5th outfielder of a few hundred thousand dollars. What good is "the plan" and building the farm system and not keeping anyone? Again, I'll admit this is more frustration than anything. I hope I am wrong, but I still worry that this is the case. Other than a few Boras clients the Lerners haven't spent big money on free agents. More importantly, they seem to pinch pennies around the edges as well - see the bullpen last year. Kasten quit supposedly bc the Lerners didn't want to spend money and frustrating to work with. Rizzo had to threaten to quit to trade for Doug Fister. Does any of this sound like a good thing? Max was a fun signing, but it feels more like a Boras outlier at times. Hopefully I'm wrong and the Lerners will spend big and I'll gladly admit that my worries were unfounded.
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