by Andrew Lang
by Andrew Lang
While people all over the country were buying Mega Millions and Powerball tickets this week, Trea Turner by one calendar day of service time crossed the threshold of minimum salary player to Super Two status which gives him four years of salary arbitration instead of the typical three years and a windfall of millions. Continue reading
Photo by Marlene Koenig for TalkNats
You would be smiling too if you were Juan Soto who celebrates his 20th birthday today. He cashed his first lotto ticket when he signed a $1.5 million international free agent deal at the age of 16 with the Washington Nationals. That type of money puts you in the wealthiest 1% of Dominicans. In Soto’s case, that money will look like pocket change when his career earnings exceed a fraction of a billion dollars. He was only rated as the 22nd best international free agent back in 2015 when he signed with a low percentage chance of future success. Check back in a few more years to see how the 21 players ahead of him in those rankings do in their careers. Most of those players signed in international free agency will never sniff a major league field. Continue reading
For Clayton Kershaw, he could be a free agent in two weeks as he controls the key to his future with his current contract that allows for an opt-out after this 2018 season. He is one of the greatest pitchers of the post-PED era with three Cy Young awards and one MVP award — but unlike his favorite Dodger lefty, Sandy Koufax, who had a career 0.95 post-season ERA — Clayton Kershaw has been an inconsistent postseason pitcher with a large sample size of 145.0 innings and a 4.28 ERA overall. In fact Kershaw has been good in his NLDS appearances with a 3.72 ERA, then his NLCS ERA is a poor 4.61, and now he has an horrific 5.49 ERA in his limited innings in four World Series games. Continue reading
The key relievers formerly known as “The Firm”, photo by Marlene Koenig for TalkNats
For Washington Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo, he has preached the virtues of analytics and touted them as a reason to hire a visionary manager in analytics when he chose Dave Martinez to take over for Dusty Baker for the 2018 season. Fans and apparently even the players were hoping for an upgrade in analytics for the Nats, but they rarely saw effective shifts or line-ups constructed from even basic analytics. Continue reading
Mike Rizzo is never far from his phone; Photo by Andrew Lang for TalkNats
If there is one blueprint the Los Angeles Dodgers have used to reach the World Series in back-to-back years is a rested starting rotation for the post-season. Clayton Kershaw, their ace, only threw 161 1/3 innings this season. Hyun-Jin Ryu who is the Dodgers #2 pitcher only threw 82 1/3 innings this season. Rookie Waker Buehler threw a combined 153 1/3 innings between the Minors and Majors this season. The Dodgers number four pitcher, Rich Hill, threw 132 2/3 innings this season. The Dodgers had 7 pitchers this season with at least 15 starts. Contrast that with the Washington Nationals staff of 2016-2018, and you will see a much different approach in use and usage. Continue reading
There is always a mathematics lesson to the budget of a sports team. The dollars are finite, and there are restrictive rules in place for fairness and parity in MLB’s collective bargaining agreement. The Nationals have been spending above their means for years now. They are near the bottom of TV revenue in terms of regional TV annual rights fees for their cut for MASN broadcasting their games, and they are continually passed in deals by smaller market teams including more recently the Phillies, Cardinals, Padres, and even the Tampa Bay Rays have a new deal. While the Braves complain about their TV deal, they still make more than the Nats plus they have a lucrative stadium naming rights deal with SunTrust Bank and a booming baseball district where they are pocketing large revenues. Continue reading
Overall, the amount of “clutch” we have seen in this postseason has to go to the pitching and defense and maybe even to fan interference. Last night’s Astros’ game practically started with an historic umpire call that negated a two-run home run in the first inning on fan interference and the game ended on an Alex Bregman bases loaded line drive that was caught by Andrew Benintendi with only a 21% Statcast™ catch probability. So far this postseason has seen numerous Web Gems as well as some key pitching performances. The debate can rage on if there is a “clutch” gene and whether or not that is even fair to say in small sample sizes. Continue reading
Baseball is different from the days of Christy Matthewson and Walter Johnson
Professional baseball is a system. Within the confines of the game changes apply pressure to one or multiple components. The system reacts to the pressure with responses of its own. This can all happen in a short period of time. Typically, however, baseball is slow to respond to stimulus. It is only when looking over the decades that the magnitude of the changes is really appreciated. Today’s game is far different than it was fifty years ago. It is placing stresses in places that will require a systemic response. Continue reading
Today Bryce Harper turns 26-years-old. In just a few weeks, he will be an unemployed free agent. Don’t feel sorry for the birthday boy because he is already in the wealthiest 1% in the world. When he becomes employed under his next contract, Harper will sign a guaranteed deal that could set a new record in baseball. Where the 2015 MVP lands is still a mystery. Harper probably only knows where he will not go, but there are some teams like the Braves who have already said they will not be pursuing Harper. In the end, the interest in Harper must be mutual for both sides. As Mike Rizzo says, “It takes two to tango.” Continue reading
There should not be much doubt in what the top two priorities are for Washington Nationals’ general manager Mike Rizzo for this off-season. He has already said that improving the starting rotation with the departure of Gio Gonzalez and Jeremy Hellickson is a top priority along with finding a frontline catcher with Matt Wieters headed to free agency. Somewhere intertwined in all of that, Rizzo has stated that re-signing Bryce Harper is something they want to do, and Harper is in the plans — but we all know that just saying you want something is not always enough.
How many starting pitchers Rizzo acquires is unknown as the Nationals activated Joe Ross from the 60-day DL in September from his recovery from UCL (Tommy John) surgery, and Tanner Roark is due for his final year of arbitration. The Nationals control Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg, Tanner Roark and Joe Ross for 2019. Continue reading
"Opening Day should be a National holiday"
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