The Nats Thread (old thread link inside, too many load issues)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/...gree-to-terms/

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Haren still needs to pass a physical for the deal to become official. The physical, Haren said in an e-mail, will take place Thursday. But Haren said he has already taken a physical for another interested team, and he checked out fine.

“The team was much less concerned about me physically after looking at me,” Haren said in an e-mail to the Post.

Haren expressed complete confidence in his health and clarified the issues he faced Haren tweaked his back in spring training last year, which, after he pitched through it for the first half of the season, led to him landing on the disabled list for the first time in his career. Other teams who pursued him worried about the condition of his hip, but Haren said he has pitched with the issue since he was a young pitcher in Oakland.

“As for my health I feel great,” Haren said. “I actually felt great towards the end of last year, and I was battling my mechanics a lot but was still getting good results. I guess teams were concerned of a hip issue that I’ve dealt with since my time in Oakland. It never has and never will cause me to miss time.”

Haren, a three-time all-star, would give the Nationals a veteran workhorse to place into a rotation that includes four 20-something flamethrowers in Stephen Strasburg, Gio Gonzalez, Jordan Zimmermann and Ross Detwiler.

“This will probably be the best rotation I’ve ever been a part of,” Haren said. “I’m confident I’ll hold up my end and I think that the sky is the limit for this team. It’s gonna be fun to get going and I can’t wait to get to Florida.”

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What a filthy rotation.

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Originally Posted by Fight4RGIII

O's have a lot of bullpen arms. Nats could use some, maybe for Morse.

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I'd rather not trade Morse for relievers. 30 HR .300 bat.

---------- Post added December-4th-2012 at 02:50 PM ----------

Hey what's up with Sean Burnett? Shouldn't we re-sign him? Wondering why this hasn't been more of a priority.

You don't give up a .300 /30 HR/ 90-100 RBI hitter for a reliever. That is rare and Morse doesn't simply rely on ripping balls to left field.

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Originally Posted by stevemcqueen1

I'd rather not trade Morse for relievers. 30 HR .300 bat.

---------- Post added December-4th-2012 at 02:50 PM ----------

Hey what's up with Sean Burnett? Shouldn't we re-sign him? Wondering why this hasn't been more of a priority.

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Agree on Morse.

Burnett is going to get a big payday. At least three years too. We aren't going to do that. Someone's going to make a mistake with him, and hopefully its not us.

Don't really love the Dan Haren deal. I don't hate it, but I think it's a lot of money to give him. If he pitches like he did in 2011, then he'd earn it all. But I don't think that's likely.

Still, he's a big upgrade over Edwin Jackson.

I think our need for a Vet innings eater becomes lesser every year. Gio and Zim should be able to go well past 200 innings this year and Stras should be able to get to 200 ideally.

We need some insurance though, but not the kind you find in free agency ideally. I'd like to see us bring some more SP talent into the farm system. Because of Haren, we don't need to go out and get a guy who is close. We can afford to wait a year or two if need be.

I've read Trevor Bauer might be up for trade. If true, I'd try and deal for him. He's close to the majors and the timeline isn't perfect but he's enough of a talent to make a deal for him anyway.

The other hole in the organization is a lack of high level middle infielders in the farm system. We've been lucky Desmond turned it around and Danny and Lombo turned out OK. We don't really have anyone that's a natural fit behind them. I do not think Rendon is a smart bet at 2B.

If Espi keeps struggling though, we're probably going to have to let him walk.

Regardless, our farm system is weak now. Rapid promotions and trades turned a pretty good system into a weak one. I'd love to see us build it back up even stronger so that we can remain a contender throughout the Harper era.

According to most sources, Rendon is our only top 50 prospect and Brian Goodwin is the only other guy who might make an appearance there. And really, after you get past those two, there isn't a lot of talent that's close and/or upper echelon. I think we need to be looking beyond the draft to find prospects.

---------- Post added December-4th-2012 at 03:40 PM ----------

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Originally Posted by Tulane Skins Fan

Agree on Morse.

Burnett is going to get a big payday. At least three years too. We aren't going to do that. Someone's going to make a mistake with him, and hopefully its not us.

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Damn, I didn't realize he was due for that much. I wouldn't do it either. I remember how he pitched in 2011. But then who is our lefty reliever going to be?

Call me optimistic, but I just don't see the downside of the Haren deal.

1) He has to pass a physical

2) It is a 1 year deal.

3) We are not asking him to be our ace. He just needs to fill in the role as the #5 guy in the rotation. He just needs to be slightly better than he was last year.

Don't get me wrong, I am not expecting him to be amazing. His declining velocity and injury history is troubling. But hard to see the downside about a 1 year deal like this.

Also, Rizzo has earned my trust 100% when it comes to these things. Until the record proves me otherwise, I trust his talent evaluation.

It's no different than Edwin Jackson last year. What was the downside on that? Not much outside of him not being consistent.

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Originally Posted by Duckus

Call me optimistic, but I just don't see the downside of the Haren deal.

1) He has to pass a physical

2) It is a 1 year deal.

3) We are not asking him to be our ace. He just needs to fill in the role as the #5 guy in the rotation. He just needs to be slightly better than he was last year.

Don't get me wrong, I am not expecting him to be amazing. His declining velocity and injury history is troubling. But hard to see the downside about a 1 year deal like this.

Also, Rizzo has earned my trust 100% when it comes to these things. Until the record proves me otherwise, I trust his talent evaluation.

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Just that our rotation is pretty thin if he goes down again. But otherwise, I agree.

Not a bad deal with Haren. If he stays healthy, he could be a very good #3 or #4 guy.

Seven million dollars buys you about one WAR nowadays. Plenty reason to believe Haren can be a 2 WAR pitcher next year. Plus the worst case scenario isn't too bad because its a short deal. Not sure there's a single team in baseball this wouldn't have been a good deal for.

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Originally Posted by G.A.C.O.L.B.

It's no different than Edwin Jackson last year. What was the downside on that? Not much outside of him not being consistent.

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Might have been able to do better than him. Also I don't want us to have him be our only option and get burned if he goes down with injury.

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Originally Posted by stevemcqueen1

Might have been able to do better than him. Also I don't want us to have him be our only option and get burned if he goes down with injury.

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That's Chien Ming Wang is for, duh

But for real, who would you have preferred as a #5? Cause Haren, if healthy, is probably the best 5 in baseball.

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Originally Posted by G.A.C.O.L.B.

That's Chien Ming Wang is for, duh

But for real, who would you have preferred as a #5? Cause Haren, if healthy, is probably the best 5 in baseball.

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Yeah you're probably right. The guy I would have liked the most is Trevor Bauer but that probably wasn't realistic. Who knows what his price tag would be? Plus who knows if he'd be ready for the bigs in April?

Greinke was probably a pipe dream too. But how about having him as your #4?

I hope management doesn't try and use money as an excuse not to bring back LaRoche though.

And I don't want to get stuck with our ****s in our hands if Haren can't go. I don't want to have to rush Matt Purke up, and I don't know who our other option is right now.

Burnett to the Angels on a 2-year deal. No $$ amount in the article

http://espn.go.com/los-angeles/mlb/s...ar-deal-source