Great write-up on the Winter Leagues

Posted on December 29, 2016 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

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The Hot Stove has gone cold………..

Posted on December 28, 2016 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

We are less than four days from the calendar turning from 2016 to 2017, and there are dozens of free agents who have not found homes. There does not appear to be any urgency. Although Scott Boras does not have any of his own free agents in the Top 15, none of his top free agents including Matt Wieters, Greg Holland and Stephen Drew have been signed.

Top lefty reliever Boone Logan is still unsigned as well as pitchers Travis Wood and Neftali Feliz. There are several lefty bench bats like Brandon Moss, Luis Valbuena, and Drew still available.

Then you have big bats like Joey Bats aka Jose Bautista, Mike Napoli and Mark Trumbo who all remain unsigned.

Jason Hammel is the top starting pitcher who remains unsigned, but there are so many others on the next tier who are available and news broke yesterday that Ross Ohlendorf decided to sign in Japan.

Here is the MLBTR link to peruse the ranking, dollars, and write-ups on each of the Top 50 free agents. 

On top of the free agents, there are still trade rumors involving Brian Dozier, Andrew McCuthchen, Jose Quintana, and David Robertson.

Some feel prices and demands will drop, but that is not necessarily the case. Edwin Encarnacion signed last week for $20 million a year for 3 years while MLBTR had estimated $23 million a year for 4 years. That is a sizable difference overall as Encarnacion was the #2 rated free agent on the market.

Players like Jimmy Rollins and Mike Morse signed Minor League deals as they could not score 40-man roster spots. Rollins former teammates Ryan Howard and Chase Utley could end up with the same fate as they remain unsigned. Jimmy Rollins and Ryan Howard are both former MVPs.

At some point, the Hot Stove will heat up again, but right now it has gone cold.

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A succession plan for the #Nats from Bryce Harper to Trea Turner

Posted on December 27, 2016 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

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Succession plans are never a pleasant conversation when discussing a sports franchise. The Nationals have a history of not tying up their young stars early in their Nats’ careers, and not all of that is the Nationals’ fault as Mike Rizzo has said many times that “it takes two to tango”. But do the Nationals wait too long to begin the extension process? Most contractual talks seem to warm up around the final two years of a player’s team control, and not during the first two years of team control when players are making league minimum and more likely to jump for the big money. Continue reading →

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A talk about Dusty Baker and the Nationals

Posted on December 26, 2016 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears
Photo by Laura Peebles for Talk Nats

Photo by Laura Peebles for Talk Nats

We decided to do another chat, and this time we have freelance writer Alex Yalen who is often seen on TalkNats under the name Sim Alex. We thought we would discuss Dusty Baker. Continue reading →

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What I think the Nationals should find in their Christmas stockings

Posted on December 24, 2016 by ArVaFan aka Laura Peebles
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Photo by Joe Marks

What I think the Nationals should find in their Christmas stockings:

Max Scherzer: run support so he can get his 20 wins a week or so earlier and rest up (just a little) for the post-season. And a hanger. Because if you hang up your jerseys, your wife is less likely to throw them away.

Bryce Harper: a MyPillow. Must avoid stiff neck this year.
An empty 2017 trophy shelf. (But it has little “reserved for” signs on it.) Continue reading →

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Let’s name names! #Nats

Posted on December 23, 2016 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

Mike Rizzo blue shirt mlbf_533563283_th_45

It is that time to talk about some of the top names that could be wearing a Nats jersey in Spring Training, and the hottest rumor that won’t go away is Matt Wieters.  You will read below the analysis on Wieters which throws some cold water on that idea. We know for sure that the dreams of Edwin Encarnacion playing for the Nationals will not happen as he is headed to Cleveland. Continue reading →

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It was all Aces with Daniel Murphy and the #Nats one year ago

Posted on December 22, 2016 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

daniel murphy double against noah syndergaard 7 8 16

It was a year ago that Daniel Murphy’s market was going nowhere in free agency, and he instructed his agents at the Aces Agency to get a deal done before Christmas.

The only inkling that there was even interest in Murphy was a piece by Bill Ladson a week earlier ( link here) which mentioned interest in both Brandon Phillips and Daniel Murphy. Continue reading →

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A conversation with Chisox writer Casey Boguslaw

Posted on December 21, 2016 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

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If the season started today for the #Nats, who’s the closer?

Posted on December 20, 2016 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

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Mike Rizzo is back and has 3 remaining spots on the 40-man roster

Posted on December 18, 2016 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

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