Nats lose. Turner down for foreseeable future. Glover revealed to likely be out for year.
Gotta be quick here but
On the loss...
Look this bullpen needs to be a "who looks good today" situation. A guy doesn't blow up? He stays in at least two if possible. Blanton got an out on one pitch so he gets first crack at getting next one. Going to new pitcher will only find guy terrible today. And Treinen cannot close anymore. Maybe he doesn't have a thing but it doesn't matter anymore. He's had chances. He's failed. You move on. He's not the best closer prospect of all-time. He's just a guy
On Glover....
Basically the Post story said his shoulder was garbage. Shoulder injuries are BAD. If Nats are lucky they can shut him down for the year and maybe he's ok for next. If they are not lucky his career is done. They should take all precautions here. And given that you can't expect him back before Sept 1. And worked in slowly. At that point he can't be a reliable arm out of the pen for the playoffs for big innings. This keeps the pen as the #1 priorities.
On Turner...
This hurts. Turner wasn't having a repeat of his ROY worthy year but he had a fine June, getting on base enough and stealing every base. Now the Nats will have to go with Stephen Drew. (God please not Difo) how is Drew? Completely unknown. He's had very good years. He's had very bad ones. There doesn't seem to be rhyme nor reason. All we can do is hope. The positive is that he's a solid fielder so the Nats can at least have that while Drew gets his chance.
Matz on ESPN today had the gall to write, "In 66 games with him in the starting lineup, they’re averaging 5.8 runs per game. In 13 games without him, they’re averaging 5.1 per contest."
ReplyDeleteSeriously are you kidding me. When Trea got hurt in April the top of the order went from Turner_0.5-Eaton to Eaton-Difo/Werth. That's a small step down. Turner-Goodwin is already bad in expectation, but has been pretty good, but Goodwin-Drew or Difo-Goodwin or whatever awful thing Dusty will do is not a top of the order that belongs in the major leagues.
I agree with the overall feeling that this is bad but won't ruin the season, but please use good facts rather than dumb factoids to defend your claim.
I will begin stumping today for Bryce "Sir Walksalot" Harper to lead off, although I recognize it's a pipe dream.
I would love for Rendon to lead off. He see's the most pitches per AB and he's the hottest hitter on the team right now. Throw Drew in at Rendon's normal 5 or 6 slot.
ReplyDeleteI came here to say the same, Chris. Rendon is clearly the obvious choice for leadoff. Sees a ton of pitches, intelligent (though not speedy) baserunner, and has nearly as many walks as Harper (probably even more than him when you remove intentional walks).
ReplyDeleteI'm not worried about the top of the order, though I am worried about the bottom. Goodwin/Raburn will stay at #2, but Drew/Difo, MAT, and P do not work out for a strong 7-8-9...
At this point I'm going to bring up the unpopular opinion again, but the Nats need to trade for a rental CF. MAT is inevitably going to drop off, and Turner is likely out until mid-September. We can't have 3-4 holes in the lineup (depends on your opinion of Weiters) if we expect to win in October
MAT, Goodwin, Stevenson, Soto, Fedde, Cole, etc should all be on the trading block, because the Nats need to make trades for 3-4 players. It just has to happen. Otherwise you're throwing in the towel and hoping next year works out.
All that being said, Marlins are looking to sell. What would Ramos/Ozuna cost...? Given the years of controllability for Ozuna, maybe you throw Eaton on the block as well somehow to sweeten the deal, but knees are always question marks...
@Fries. I don't think Nats would give up prospects for a rental CF. Even without Eaton, Nats offense has been terrific. It didn't slow down without Werth, either. Turner's absence will hurt, but he is a SS -- and presumably he will be back for the playoffs. Clearly, the Nats need a closer and probably another bullpen arm. That is their weakness, and it's a big weakness that will be magnified in the playoffs. As for CF, MAT will be sufficient.
ReplyDeleteWhy would Ozuna even be available. He's an all-star getting $3.5 million, with two more years of arbitration before becoming a UFA in 2020. Miami will keep him, and if not, they will get a huge haul for him -- much more than the Nationals can or should pay.
Don't expect Dusty to move anyone. Especially someone hitting well
ReplyDeleteHow about trade for Cozart and move TT to CF upon his return?
ReplyDeleteIf I had to rank the Nats in order of importance* to the season before the season, it would have gone something like this (five broad categories): Scherzer/Harper, Strasburg/Rendon, Turner/Murphy, Eaton/Wieters/Roark (Wieters because the alternatives are so poor), Zim/Werth/Gio.
ReplyDeleteSo the Nats now have significant-to-serious injuries in categories 3, 4, and 5 but are safe (knock on wood) in categories 1-2. This is bad but not terrible. It's nice that the Braves are in 2nd place and not the Mets.
The best lineup (in my mind) is Rendon, Harper, Zim, Murphy, Werth/Goodwin/Raburn, Drew, Wieters, Taylor. Dusty's going to do: Taylor, Werth/Goodwin/Raburn, Harper, Zim, Murphy, Wieters/Drew, which is dreadfully stupid, but it is what it is.
*"Importance" incorporates the quality of the player and his likely replacement
On a positive note...If the season ended today type thing...
ReplyDelete...The two wildcard teams would be Ariz and the Rockies, the winner of which would play the Dodgers. And the Nats would play the Brewers.
Question is, does today's team beat the brew crew and move on to play the winner of the mess in the NL west?
So there is that hypothetical distraction to keep me from thinking about Trea, and The Nightmare on Half St pen.
This is actually not the worst idea actually.
ReplyDeleteThe turner to CF upon return idea and cozart to SS.
Delete@BxJ Thanks! Another option is Nunez. Thoughts?
ReplyDeleteIt'll cost a fortune but I've been on board the Herrera/Cain package from the Royals ever since Eaton went down in late April. Herrera hasn't been good this good, but he's been good the last 3 to 4 years, is under contract through next year, and is a World Series winner. Cain is strictly a rental, but with Eaton (hopefully) healthy next year, they won't really need Cain after November.
ReplyDeleteCozart is a good choice now too, but not sure what his contract status is, and since they need at least 1 reliever and probably 2 or 3 others as well don't think Cincinnati has many relievers on the block
I am in favor of the Nats doing any and everything---as long as the bullpen is the focus. So for example I think they actually need 2 relievers. Maybe Brad hand and Robertson or something. If they also have the prospects to pick up a Cozart or Cain, I'm all for it. But it think t would be super unwise to spend a bunch on a CF or SS and only get like one mediocre relief pitcher.
ReplyDeleteThat's why I said the Cain/Herrera package, or Cozart. I think if Rizzo gave up Fedde & Robles he could get Herrera for sure and then probably Escobar (but he stinks, so I'd pass on him) and then add on MAT/Goodwin/someone else for Cain. Then, and this is a big HOPE hopefully the Lerner's take on salary, because if they can eat Robertson's contract, send the White Sox some high A lottery ticket type to get Robertson off of their hands, and then sign the recently DFA'd Jason Grilli (along with K-Rod) and see what happens. K-Rod has been on the decline for a while, Herrera has so far been not good this year, and Grilli was a disaster for the Jays before he was DFA'd, but Grilli was great last year, and Herrera is a World Series winner, and really can they be worse than this collection of crap sitting in the bullpen? Of course looking at the SS market, a Hand/Aybar package from San Diego might be slightly less to acquire than the Herrera/Cain package. Turner goes to CF in late August/early September when he returns. Sure, MAT and Goodwin have been great this year, but I don't trust them starting every day in the playoffs, and yes I know they won't both be starting, but one of the 2 would be the CF starter if they leave the lineup as constructed.
ReplyDeleteA foot outside for strike 3 to end the game. It is time for robot umpires.
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