Monday Quickie - Is this the week?

Pitchers and Catchers will report beginning sometime next week, depending on your team. There are still a good number of FAs that remain unsigned. You can take a look over here. They rank by WAR but consider that a rough ranking.

We're mostly waiting to see what happens with Bryce (and Manny.. (and Kuechel)) as where they go can change the balance of a division. But given the availability of decent talent is there anywhere the Nats can go to finish up their roster? Or do you consider it complete right now?

Here's the depth chart.  This hasn't been entirely updated. (Matt Adams where are you?) but it's pretty close. And what you see is that the Nats are pretty well set, but they aren't without areas that could be improved. That's in theory doesn't mean you can improve them with what's left, though.

4th OF - MAT.  I like MAT as a 4th OF and advocated him sticking around. He's a top notch fielder to be a late-inning defensive replacement (Hey Soto!) and fast enough to be a pinch runner when needed (hey Zimm!). He's has enough offensive ability that he can give any of the guys out there a rest for a day and if you need him to start for a week or two, he has enough experience to do that as well.  However, he's not perfect as he's a big whiffer and probably peaked at the plate. Is there a better option out there? 

Guys with more reliable bats (Granderson, Span!, Deitrich) are questionable fielders and not as fast so I'm not sure they fit the bill for the Nats (more on that in a second) Craig Gentry I suppose has made himself into a reasonable 4th OF and maybe you prefer a higher average and more contact to MAT's approach but as he's a good deal older than MAT I wouldn't make a change here just to do it. Adam Jones looks tempting but has two years of data now saying he's not a plus OF anymore. So he fits in the Granderson/Span area - just a bit younger for those that are choosing between these guys.

So it's hard for me to pick someone over MAT.  That becomes more apparent when you work out the roster.

If Adams is on, and he should be, as the primary LHB PH / Zimm's rest guy, and Kendrick is on as the primary 2B/3B utility guy that leaves possibly no room for Difo.  It depends on how the Nats roll with the pen, but last year they did start with 8 men. If there is no Difo (or more accurately if they use Difo's one remaining option to stash him in AAA in case a SS is needed) then there is no late inning pinch runner on the team except for MAT. As for MATs offensive hang-ups, well it's likely that Kendrick would take over any long-term OF replacement position (If it's CF then Eaton would probably shift - not ideal but they'd make a go at it).

All in all I have a hard time pulling out MAT for any FA given his fit


UTIL - Difo.  Now we just talked about how Difo could very well be a Fresno Grizzly to start the year. But if the Nats choose to go with a 7 man pen then Difo, or a util player, is in.  Difo's strengths are similar to MATs - good defense, good speed - but he lacks any sort of bat to make him playable as more than a spot start and even that's probably not ideal.  Beyond Turner and Rendon the rest of the bunch (Dozier, Kendrick, Adams, Zimm) aren't top notch fielders so a D replacement is nice, but it's not as explicitly necessary as it might be in the OF.  Is there a speedy, good field option out there who isn't a hole at the plate?

Jose Iglesias is an interesting option. Oh he's definitely a hole at the plate, however while Difo is a good defender Iglesias is a superior one. He wouldn't be quite the pinch runner Difo would be but as a defensive replacement it's hard to get better. Adeiny Hechevarria is probably a little better version than Difo but it's hard to see the point on getting 20% better on a spot you don't plan to use very often. Andrew Romine? No. Sean Rodriguez? No.

All in all I see one option for the Nats here, and that's Iglesias if they are so inclined. I'd like him slightly better in the "last man - super D sub" role than Difo. But this is only if the Nats are inclined to fill that role and not, like I think they may, use the spot for an extra pen arm


Pen - Here is the current state of the Nats pen

Closer - Doolittle - He's really good. He's also a constant injury risk hitting even the low bar of 50IP once in the past 4 years.
Set-up - Rosenthal - Huge question mark given he didn't even pitch last year. He's been bouncing around between lights out and very good for his career outside of one off year but again, he didn't pitch last year.
Next guy up - Barraclough - We talked about him when the Nats made the trade. This role is probably one pitcher too close to the end for Kyle. Maybe someone else in the pen steps up. Then again maybe Doolittle or Rosenthal get hurt and Kyle is needed more.

Rest - Probably Glover, Miller, Grace, Suero and Solis? Glover was hurt and didn't look great. Miller was a revelation until he wasn't. Grace was... actually pretty good! I mean he's not dominant or anything but he filled that middle relief role admirably. Suero was fine. Solis was bad.

Other options - Cordero, Williams, Voth, McGowin. The Nats try to talk up guys like Cordero, who have stuff. They are never good. Voth has converted from starter to reliever and could be a long relief type, except he's not good. McGowin is just an arm.  That leaves Williams who they had high hopes for but didn't come through at all.  There may also be options in the minors, notably Austin Adams,  but consider them Cordero/Williams types. Old, might click, probably won't.

All in all there is definitely a spot here. Now if you ask me it's a top spot.  Getting a Kimbrel would set everything up in a way I see it for a championship team. But I doubt they are going to do that. So that means a checking of what else is still there. There's Tony Sipp who was quite good for the Astros last year. He was also quite lucky (no homers) and has a track record that bounces around a lot. Nick Vincent has been quality bullpen filler for a while now. Romo is intriguing as a guy who may be able to be stretched out a little. Diekman on the other hand is one of those pure talent guys who if he put it all together could be dominant but never has. Still he's enough together that unlike a Cordero or Williams he's useful. You know I love Clippard but he is just another arm, better than most, but that's a low bar. Xavier Cedeno, another former Nat, is an interesting arm. He found himself after leaving the Nats and then became an effective cutter thrower. His speed has dropped after injury but the effectiveness has remained. I feel like there is potential here.  Aaron Loup is also out there as another decent arm.

Any of these guys would improve the Nats pen allowing the Nats to stop "trying out" guys who need to show dominance in AAA first. A Tony Sipp trial or a bet on Xavier Cedeno (who could become a LOOGY type if the bet fails) would be the way I go. Whatever they choose though I see a move here being both possible and necessary.  Ideally it's Kimbrel after watching Bryce walk away, but if not, something else from here would be nice.


OH - they could definitely improve at SP. But I don't think they have any intention of even looking at that so it will be what it is. Three top guys, hope Sanchez works out at 4, see what happens at 5. There are definitely worse rotations than that - like 20+ of them.