Breaking: Sources say Tanner Roark is being shopped for trades!

Posted on December 11, 2018 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

Photo by Lynn Grody; Tanner Roark had a lot to say about not pitching in the NLDS

From the beginning of the off-season and through creative financing scenarios of “how do you keep Bryce Harper“, the common denominator was to trade Tanner Roark and his contract that is projected to be near $10 million. That is $10 million for a pitcher who has put up mid-4’s in ERA the last two seasons and has struggled with mechanics and command. While Roark is a popular player on the team, he just has not been effective putting the Nationals in the win column. The worst case scenario for the Nationals is that they would have to cut Roark and eat approximately $1.63 million of his salary. The best case is they retain him and he returns to “star” form with his new catching tandem of Kurt Suzuki and Yan Gomes. Continue reading →

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The Winter Meetings are the last event before Spring Training

Posted on December 10, 2018 by Andrew Lang

The Winter Meetings are the last semblance of any baseball for Nationals fans except for some reruns on MASN and maybe a glimpse of a Caribbean winter baseball game…until we reach Spring Training which is about 60 days away from when the Winter Meetings wrap-up on Thursday with the Rule-5 draft. Continue reading →

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The baseball Winter Meetings begin today in Las Vegas! Rizzo has his shopping list!

Posted on December 9, 2018 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

This is it! The 2018 Winter Meetings begin today in Las Vegas at the Mandalay Resort.  This is a televised event and should be the most dramatic Winter Meetings ever because Las Vegas resident and top free agent, Bryce Harper, will be making multiple appearances at the event as he meets with general managers who are interested in acquiring his services. Some have said that there are no less than a dozen teams in the running, but that just does not seem plausible if you believe recent reports which would take the St. Louis Cardinals, Chicago Cubs, New York Mets, Atlanta Braves, and the Washington Nationals out of the bidding. The Cardinals just snagged Paul Goldschmidt in a trade and the Mets traded for Robinson Cano and Edwin Diaz, and the Braves signed Josh Donaldson. On top of that, Las Vegas resident Kris Bryant was rumored a month ago to have been made available via trade by his Chicago Cubs team. Continue reading →

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The #Nats aren’t done shopping yet!

Posted on December 8, 2018 by SaoMagnifico

The Washington Nationals had a great time on Friday. Perhaps you heard?

Yes, two-time All-Star and Nats top pitching target Patrick Corbin is now officially a member of the team. He was introduced to media at a press conference also attended by rotation-mates Max Scherzer and Stephen Strasburg and both the longest-tenured National, Ryan Zimmerman, and the hereto shortest-tenured National, Yan Gomes (who made his first public appearance at Nationals Park since being acquired from the Cleveland Indians in a trade one week ago).

General manager Mike Rizzo has been involved in a flurry of activity since the Nationals’ season ended at a disappointing 82-80 record back in September. He didn’t even wait for the playoffs to end to make his first move, snapping up Kyle Barraclough for international bonus money in a swap with the division-rival Miami Marlins. Within just a few weeks, he had signed Kurt Suzuki, the Nationals’ once and future backup catcher, and Trevor Rosenthal, a former closer for the St. Louis Cardinals who missed the 2018 season due to injury. Over the past week, he added Gomes and Corbin to the Nationals roster. Continue reading →

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The Nationals could still sign Bryce Harper and stay under the CBT cap!

Posted on December 7, 2018 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

Over a month ago, we did a simulation of how the Nationals could accomplish all of their off-season goals and re-sign Bryce Harper. Even after inking Patrick Corbin to a lucrative deal, it is still possible to bring Harper back and stay under the CBT cap of $206 million for 2019.  Currently, the Nationals are at approximately $184 million using the CBT calculation. That number does not include incentives which means the Nats need at least a $7 million cushion which would give the team only $15 million to spend on Harper — and that is where the creativity would come into play because you have to figure Harper’s AAV would be at least $27 million a year.  Continue reading →

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The analytics of starting pitching has been trending to fewer innings

Posted on December 6, 2018 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

Photo By Andrew Lang for TalkNats

It was a generation ago when Kerry Wood and Mark Prior burned-out their golden arms due to extreme overuse. Baseball set a line of demarcation where going over 120 pitches was taboo. Few pitchers reach that mark these days. In 2000, there were 24 pitchers who pitched over 210 innings. This past season, only 5 pitchers went over the 210 inning mark. What we have learned since then is pitch counts and innings are like a car’s odometer. If you throw too many, your arm breaks down like a piston in an engine. Continue reading →

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Nationals go quick strike again and snag Patrick Corbin

Posted on December 4, 2018 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

Smile Mike Rizzo, you have earned it. The Washington Nationals snagged the number one pitcher in the free agent pool signing Patrick Corbin to a six-year $140 million deal which will also cost the Nats a million dollars of international draft money plus forfeiting a 2nd round pick and a lower level pick (5th overall) as compensation penalty since Corbin was protected by the Qualifying Offer. As we reported on November 21st, the Nationals were “in” on Corbin and entered an aggressive market against the Yankees who were the early odds-on favorite and the Phillies who vowed to outbid everyone.  In the end, it was not just about the money but rather a confluence of factors that included family, stability, and a strong fit with the Nationals.

Continue reading →

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Winter Meetings begin on Sunday in Las Vegas

Posted on December 3, 2018 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

The Winter Meetings begin Sunday, December 9 in Las Vegas, and before team personnel arrive in Las Vegas, it is the teams of the NL East who have been involved in most of the action going on with regards to acquisitions. The Nationals, Braves, Phillies, and Mets all improved this week through acquisitions. The Nats acquired Yan Gomes, the Braves acquired Josh Donaldson and Brian McCann, the Phillies acquired Jean Segura, and the Mets got Robinson Cano and closer Edwin Diaz. There will be more moves to come.  Continue reading →

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Day two of Nats Winterfest!

Posted on December 2, 2018 by ArVaFan aka Laura Peebles

Nationals Winterfest 2018—Day 2 Report

Well, if I had to grade Winterfest just on today, I’d give it a B-. There were more players (hello, Kiebooms!) and the weather was less bad (albeit still cold and damp) so the kids’ activities outside were available. I would say the fan attendance was actually less than yesterday, just based on the number of fans in the State of the Nats session. Of course, since it wasn’t raining, people could spread out more: eating at the tables they set up on the plaza vs. hiding under the concourse and worshiping the heatlamps, and the centerfield plaza infield was in use for the kids/players interaction. Continue reading →

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Nationals Winterfest first day (Saturday)

Posted on December 1, 2018 by ArVaFan aka Laura Peebles

Nationals Winterfest Report (card) Day One

Overall, I give them a C+.  Yes, it was nice to be able to tour the clubhouse, bullpen and batting cages. But that was more than offset by the cold, rain, and logistics of having to go in, out, around, up and down to get between venues and get food in the rain. Little chance to run into someone you knew because (1) a lot of folks didn’t show up even if they bought tickets due to the rain/Metro and (2) of necessity the events were in different places so everyone was dashing from point to point in the cold and rain (unlike the Convention Center where you could actually spot people sauntering from place to place.) They did put out radiant heaters by some tables—people were so cold they were standing under the heaters holding up their hands as if they were worshiping the light. Continue reading →

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