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

[Warhead36]

Big ups to Roachy for his first Gold Glove. Means we might have to pony up a few more pennies to keep him though.

I wonder how many Finalists we'll have for Silver Slugger. I'd guess Laroche, Desmond, Zimmerman, and Strasburg will get nominated, but not sure who'd win. No way Zimm wins it over David Wright, but the others probably have a decent enough shot.

Gio won't win the Cy Young but he'll get some first place votes, probably finish second behind Dickey.

[stevemcqueen1]

Gold Gloves are an absolute joke. Andrew McCutcheon got one this year . He's one of the worst defensive CFs in baseball. Michael Bourn should have won the award easily.

Not to mention Mike Trout got snubbed in the AL.

[StillUnknown]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/...r-of-the-week/

Nationals prospect Brian Goodwin was named the Arizona Fall League player of the week, continuing a strong showing that could bolster the Nationals’ top outfield prospect’s chances of competing for a spot on the Nationals’ 2013 opening day roster.

Goodwin, who turns 22 on Friday, is hitting .313/.400/.667 with three home runs in 12 games for the Salt River Rafters. It may be a small sample, but Goodwin, a speedy center fielder, has impressed the Nationals with his advanced hitting approach and surprising power since they drafted him with the 34th overall pick in the 2011 draft.

“We saw this from the time we got him,” said Nationals director of player development Doug Harris, who spent last week watching the Nationals’ prospects in Arizona. “He’s a dangerous hitter. He’s got strength in his hands. He’s got leverage in his swing. He can backspin a baseball. … He’s not hunting power. It’s reaction power. His mind-set is really geared alley-to-alley. His hands are so quick, when he gets a pitch in his zone he can really do some damage.”

[HogNose]

Bryce Harper’s Halloween clown costume

And thus did Halloween 2012 become a pastiche of the previous six months of Bryce Harper’s young life.

The shirt represents his bond with Under Armour, one of the few major sponsors of a career thus far focused more on performance than perception. And yet with the loud clown homage — first in words, then in accessories — Harper also references his knack for the catchphrase, his nose for the news, his domination of headlines and highlights.

The socks — RGIII-model Adidas specials — represent his link to the burgeoning spirit of freshness and hope in D.C. sports, a break from the past, a show of youthful bravado and cross-sport unity.

The exaggerated bowtie represents the outsize expectations forever hanging off his shoulders, expectations that he here comically shrugs off with rainbow splashes of innocence.

The full-body Spandex is a clear nod to the fans of D.C, including those several who have adopted the nationwide Spandex craze, because Harper is of them and for them, his flesh melting into theirs.

The hair is for the bloggers, those circling sharks of heartless SEO, pouncing on every faux hawk and faux mullet, every faux rat tail and faux stache, turning his very follicles into a commodity of pixels, a pixodity, strands of code wrapped around strands of hair, wrapping, wrapping in the 21st century breeze.

The nose and glasses are to look funny.

Man, I gotta go to sleep.

And no, there is no independent verification that this is actually Harper, but the Twitter accounts of he and his brother strongly suggested it.

(First blogged by everyone else, who apparently weren’t playing soccer against 5-year old kids dressed like Spider-Man all night.)

[Sticksboi05]

Lol, McCutchen winning a Gold Glove, what? And no Trout? WTF? Joke award.

[DCranon21]

Trout should have won it. No disrespect to Adam Jones, but Trout had a better year in the field.

[DC9]

Amanda Comak ‏@acomak
Source confirms that Adam LaRoche & Sean Burnett declined their side of their mutual options and became free agents

[HogNose]

Some more buzz on Bourn (updated)

The Nationals have been linked to Michael Bourn for some time now, dating back a couple years to his days with the Astros.

The reasons are fairly obvious: The Nats have been searching for their long-term answer in center field, they could use speed and a stable presence at the top of the order (even though Jayson Werth is an option there) and Bourn's agent happens to be Scott Boras, with whom Nats GM Mike Rizzo has a good working relationship.

Now, with Bourn poised to hit the open market on Saturday, the talk linking the center fielder to the Nats has resurfaced.

Last night, CBSsports.com's Jon Heyman cited baseball officials who see the Nationals as the "favorites" to land Bourn, who is considered the top center fielder on the free agent market.

That's far from the only report of that nature. Other national reporters have mentioned the Nationals as the most likely team to end up signing Bourn dating back to earlier this summer.

Personally, I expect the Nationals to kick the tires on Bourn and be a part of the bidding to win his services. Depending on how the market plays out, the Nats could even end up being one of the hottest teams in pursuit.

But there are a few reasons why I'm hesitant to believe that the Nats will be willing to spend the $80-100 million it will likely cost to eventually sign Bourn.

First of all, while Bourn has put up pretty big numbers over his last four seasons, he's now 30 years old. It would likely take a five- or six-year deal to lock him up, and generally speaking, speedy outfielders haven't been known to age too gracefully.

Bourn could always be the exception, of course. But it'd clearly be easier to justify giving $90 million to, say, a 30-year-old power-hitting corner outfielder than it would be to a 30-year-old who would be expected to track down balls in center and bat leadoff for the length of his contract.

Financially, while the Nationals certainly aren't strapped entering this offseason, they'd need to be certain this is the guy they want to invest monster money in.

Unlike when the Nats signed Werth to that seven-year, $126 million contract two winters ago, the team now has a number of players who could be up for long-term extensions in the next couple years or already have hefty contracts on the books.

Ryan Zimmerman and Gio Gonzalez got their big-money extensions, but Jordan Zimmermann and Ian Desmond could be soon to follow. On top of that, the Nats need to look down the line and know their payroll will increase significantly as Stephen Strasburg and Bryce Harper (among others) go through the arbitration process.

Additionally, bringing in Bourn means the Nats would need to either trade Michael Morse or not re-sign Adam LaRoche. If Bourne becomes a National, he'd start in center, moving Harper to a corner outfield spot and making Morse either the starting first baseman in 2013 or a trade chip.

There's also the matter of the talented center field prospects the Nats currently have within the organization, most notably 2011 first-round pick Brian Goodwin. The 22-year-old is currently tearing up the Arizona Fall League (he was named AFL Player of the Week last week) and appears on track to break into the big leagues at some point this season.

Why go get a talented, quick-footed center fielder when you have one who's eight years younger and far less expensive already on board?

For years, the Nats have been talked about as a team that could use a guy like Bourn. Now that he's available, it's easy to consider the player and the team a perfect fit.

I'm not saying it won't happen, but there are plenty of reasons why you shouldn't start looking into personalized Michael Bourn Nationals jerseys just yet.

Update: There's one other factor to consider here, one which slipped my mind when writing this post. Assuming the Braves make Bourn a qualifying offer by today's deadline (a one-year deal which would be worth $13.3 million), and assuming Bourn declines it (which he would), then the team that signs Bourn will need to surrender its top 2013 draft pick, giving Atlanta a compensatory selection.

(If the team that signs Bourn holds a protected top-10 pick in the first round, that team would surrender its second-highest pick.)

In other words, if the Nats sign Bourn, they've be giving up not only tens of millions of dollars but also their top 2013 draft pick. It's not a reason to avoid signing Bourn if they're convinced he's their guy, but it's something else to consider.

[StillUnknown]

http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?co...382711683-1047

Goodwin shining at the AFL Rising Stars game

[StillUnknown]

Adam Kilgore
‏@AdamKilgoreWP
Nothing final yet between the Nats and Davey Johnson. I'm told it looks likely they'll get their deal done by the end of the day.

Adam Kilgore
‏@AdamKilgoreWP
Nats and Davey "real close" on contract to bring Davey back as manager. Still expected to be done today.

[Sticksboi05]

Congrats to Ian Desmond, Adam LaRoche and Stephen Strasburg on their silver sluggers.

[GoSkins0721]

Amanda Comak ‏@acomak
Source confirms that Adam LaRoche & Sean Burnett declined their side of their mutual options and became free agents

I'm a little unclear on how the option rejection works in MLB. But doesn't this mean if LaRoche or Burnett signs with another team the Nats get a draft pick as compensation from the team that signs them? If this is true, how does MLB determine what pick/round will be given in compensation?

Bigger question: does the LaRoche rejection mean the Nats want to move on to Morse or Moore at 1B? I wouldn't mind seeing Moore at 1B. If he can cut down on his SO's he could be a star. It does mean another RH batter in the lineup and losing vet leadership of LaRoche.

Should be an interesting off season...

[Warhead36]

I'm a little unclear on how the option rejection works in MLB. But doesn't this mean if LaRoche or Burnett signs with another team the Nats get a draft pick as compensation from the team that signs them? If this is true, how does MLB determine what pick/round will be given in compensation?

Bigger question: does the LaRoche rejection mean the Nats want to move on to Morse or Moore at 1B? I wouldn't mind seeing Moore at 1B. If he can cut down on his SO's he could be a star. It does mean another RH batter in the lineup and losing vet leadership of LaRoche.

Should be an interesting off season...

Yeah we get draft pick compensation if they leave. Not sure what exactly though.

I don't think we're letting Roach walk necessarily. We're still trying to resign him, but to a good deal. I think there's a pretty good chance he leaves though. Boston needs a power hitting 1B. If Roachy does leave it likely means Mikey Mo moves to 1B.


I'm also no longer on the Bourn bandwagon. His #s in the second half weren't very good and he's already 30. I'd rather save the big money to give extensions to Desmond and J-Zimm.

[GoSkins0721]

Yeah we get draft pick compensation if they leave. Not sure what exactly though.

I don't think we're letting Roach walk necessarily. We're still trying to resign him, but to a good deal. I think there's a pretty good chance he leaves though. Boston needs a power hitting 1B. If Roachy does leave it likely means Mikey Mo moves to 1B.


I'm also no longer on the Bourn bandwagon. His #s in the second half weren't very good and he's already 30. I'd rather save the big money to give extensions to Desmond and J-Zimm.

Thanks.

I did a bit more digging on MLB FA rules: "The old system was scrapped for one that forces teams to make “qualifying offers.” This year, a qualifying offer is a little more than $13 million. If a team offers a player a one-year, $13.3 million contract and the player declines and signs with another team, the team that lost the player gets a compensation pick between the first and second round of the draft. The team that signed the player would lose its first-round pick unless that pick was in the top 10, in which case the team would lose its second-round pick. The rule doesn't apply if a player was traded midseason—only if the player was with the team for the entire preceding season."

http://www.opposingviews.com/i/sport...t-rules-primer

I'm still not completely clear on the rule & compensation. Burnett was making $2.35m last year. Not sure why they would have to offer him $13.3m for 1 year. I know in the past they had Type A and B FA's. That has been scrapped. I'll have to do some more digging.

[StillUnknown]

William Ladson
‏@washingnats
Confirmed: Davey Johnson has agreed to terms with the #Nats. #MLB