Nationals Baseball: More moves - but not much in the NL East

Thursday, March 17, 2022

More moves - but not much in the NL East

The big NL East move... well I guess the big one is Olson signing long-term, which cemented the Braves as a "win-now but long-term" team I pegged them as yesterday. Acuna, Albies, and Olson are now all in ATL forever. None of the young pitchers are up for FA until after 2024. This isn't a death knell for the rest of the NL East. The Braves weren't THAT good last year, rather they were good enough and got hot at the right time (these things happen), so without improvement they are beatable the next couple years.  BUT I'll add they are young enough in a lot of places that that may happen. They also should have money to supplement what they do have. It COULD be a death knell. 

Of course the Mets are trying to force the issue for the next couple of years and the Phillies did something! They signed Kyle Schwarber to a 4 yr 79 million deal. That's a lot! Schwarber might be worth it - the tear he went on last year was crazy but everyone has loved him for years as a pure hitter. While he has tried to improve on D, he feels more like a natural DH and it might just keep him hitting at that highest level.  He also might NOT be worth it but given his history he'd still be giving the Phillies something at the plate. It probably helps last year's Nats hitting coach, Kevin Long, is now on the Phillies. Still they need rotation help and bullpen help and probably another OF... They are a clear third here. 

Rizzo re-signed with the Yankees, Chapman was traded to the Blue Jays, Bryant signed with the Rockies, Freeman ended up with the Dodgers, Giants signed Boyd and Pederson, Greinke went back to the Royals, Cutch is on the Brewers now... it's a lot. But a lot that doesn't directly affect the Nats unless you care about draft picks.

Who's left? Correa, Story, Castellanos, Conforto, Villar, Jansen, Tepara, Danny Duffy.

As far as the NL East goes it's dead quiet when it comes to any of these players. It would be wise of the Phillies to grab BOTH those reliever. Seems far more likely they'll try to get the injured middling pitcher who managed a surprising good stretch Duffy on the cheap. A Matt Moore move. 

Could the Nats be in on any of these?  Probably not. Any reliever would work but they aren't giving out the multi-year deals these guys are looking for. Correa would make sense - the Nats don't have a SS close to ready. Brady House is there but he is far down there so who knows if when and at what position he ends up. Correa could be the guy for Soto to look at and believe the Nats are serious about competing and stay.  But it'd still be a surprise bc if Correa isn't getting the money (which is like at least 300 mill) you figure he'd go back home. No, unless one of these guys wants to sign a 1 yr challenge deal (Story?) I can't see it happening.

2 comments:

billyhacker said...

Correa or bust? Story doesn't move the right needles as much, despite being v good. He's older so his peak won't match Nats, though Fangraphs does project him for 3.4 WAR in 2024, more than I expected. Signing Correa plus Soto plus having Stras seems rich when it's not time yet for all in.

Cautiously Pessimistic said...

Whatever big move the Nats make won't be for a FA, it'll be a trade that eats money for a team looking to cut payroll and includes a few prospects. They have 100M to work with, and they're gonna dump salary again at the deadline, so use that cap space to get some prospects