Nationals Sign Daniel Cabrera

for those who thought daniel couldn't pitch (which he can't) wait until you see him hit.. enjoy nats and best of luck to you daniel

How expensive was Tim Redding projecting to be? They must be paying at least a few mill for Cabrera, both a pretty bad but eat a decent amount of innings. Seems like either one would give you the same results.

Now Cabrera has another backstop to throw WP's to and another league's hitters to hit with his infamous inability to throw anything near the strike zone.

This makes the Nats getting Tex even a higher option, since Cabrera on the mound as a starter means the Nats must be truly desperate for pitching period and they are going to need all the offensive support that they can get.

The wild thing is a lot of you guys who are sh!tting on this move, there was a good chance your team was taking a hard look @ D-Cab (mets, jays, pirates are just a few teams mentioned to have interest)

Scott Olsen
Dan Cabrera
Shawn Hill
John Lannan
Jason Bergman/Matt Chico

Is this the projected rotation for the 2009 Nationals or are they going to make another low risk high reward move?

The Nats are moving in the right direction.

if the nationals were in the american league, this wouldnt be a horrible signing. dcab is an innings eater despite his control (or lack thereof).

however, this is a bad move because he is 0-11 with 11 K's at the plate and everytime he swings, it looks like he pulls/strains/dislocates something...

Soxfan017-

No i think the Sox were pretty big joke before they finally won a World Series this decade. And their bandwagon fanbase is sad.

Not many pitchers are known for being great hitters. Cabrera did not even start playing baseball until late in his teens. Hitting ML pitching is not exactly easy. So what if he is 0-14 with 14 Ks. Who here wouldn't be.

I'll be legitimately frightened when Cabrera faces the Mets. He might accidentally hit one of our players with a fastball!

That said, not a terrible signing for the Nationals. Nice to see the Mets were at least in on him. Now Omar, go get Tim Redding.

Cabrera is better for the Nats than Redding. He is younger and has more raw talent than Redding could ever dream for.

Acta completely overworked Redding in the first half last year (not that he had many other options) and Redding faded after the All-Star break.

1st Half: (7-3) 3.85 ERA 114.2 IP
2nd Half: (3-8) 6.82 ERA 67.1 IP

The last time Redding pitched as much as 150 innings was 2003 with the Astros and he followed that with 5 years of crap until 2008.

Good luck to whoever gets Redding and his dead arm next year.

Low risk, very high reward type deal...

Im sure that the Nationals are trying to trade Kearns. There just isnt alot of value with him coming off of a injury plagued year.

There is also so many good DH/OF options out there for free agency.

They should go after Brad Penny, he's a good pitcher when he's healthy and right, and could be a good upside buy.

Rolling, it's probably more like this...

S. Olsen l
J. Lannan l
D. Cabrera
C. Balester
J. Zimmermann

with Sharion Martis in the wings. I wouldn't be suprised if Cabrera goes to the pen, either.

Cabrera SUCKS. He averages 100 BB's a season. Just because he can K a few guys doesn't mean he's good.

AnonymousSources:
By J. Zimmerman do you mean Jason Bergman? Because i havent heard of a J. Zimmerman.

And though Daniel Cabrera has a pretty abysmal career line (let's be honest, its pretty ugly), he SHOULD, he might or might not because he is completely unpredictable, improve in the much more hitter friendly Nationals home-park, and the much more pitcher friendly NL (especially coming from the Beast of the East; the AL East).

I would predict, at best, a stat line just below his career average road stats, which are:

24-27, 4.86ERA, 1.54WHIP, .253 Opposing BA...but, more importantly, he has given up only 35 homers away, as apposed to 53 at home - which could help him.

I predict this line for him (a little generous):

11-12, 4.65 ERA, 1.45WHIP, about 10-15 fewer walks (AL east has some VERY patient teams - Yankees and Boston are always tops in BB's and OBP), and about 15-20 more K's than his career averages.

SEASON TEAM G GS CG SHO IP H R ER HR BB SO W L SV HLD BLSV ERA
2004 Bal 28 27 1 1 147.2 145 85 82 14 89 76 12 8 1 0 0 5.00
2005 Bal 29 29 0 0 161.1 144 92 81 14 87 157 10 13 0 0 -- 4.52
2006 Bal 26 26 2 1 148.0 130 82 78 11 104 157 9 10 0 0 -- 4.74
2007 Bal 34 34 1 0 204.1 207 133 126 25 108 166 9 18 0 0 -- 5.55
2008 Bal 30 30 2 0 180.0 199 109 105 24 90 95 8 10 0 0 -- 5.25
Total -- 147 146 6 2 841.1 825 501 472 88 478 651 48 59 1 0 0 5.05

Nighthawk, most teams think that their #4 and #5 starters should at LEAST, have a sub 4.50 ERA, and eat innings. Cabrera has been over that his entire career. He's never had an ERA below 4.52, which is not acceptable by any means. Maybe for a #5 starter it is, but certainly not for a #3.

I still think his numbers WILL certainly improve, but because he has such horrendous control, not very high strike out totals, and not necessarily over-powering stuff, his numbers will improve not by much. I said, generously, he will have a 4.65ERA (which is just below his career road ERA), and a WHIP of 1.45ish, assuming he'll give up less hits in the NL, and less walks considering that AL East teams are notorious for being patient at the dish.

MrBlake,
If Mulder could somehow regain the form he had when he was with the A's, then it'd be a good signing. Randy St. Claire works wonders with things like that.

I do hope they sign Penny, however.

If Mulder regains his form? I highly doubt that he will. Three consecutive years of shoulder problems, and no real improvement in sight, I'd say Mulder has most likely seen his prime pass.

Yes, there is a chance he could recover and come back to form, but that chance is so small it isn't even worth it. Unless Mulder can prove he can stay healthy, he is a financial liability to any team that tries to sign him.

And what pitchers has St. Claire worked "wonders" with? I'm sorry but if St. Claire was as amazing as you say he is, then why were the Nationals 24th out of 30 teams in team ERA? You can say a pitching coach works wonders, but if there is no real evidence of that, then there is no point in saying it.

I'm not bashing on the Nationals, nor you or the Nationals coaching staff, but you can't make a statement like "Randy St. Claire works wonders like that...[helping pitchers return to their prime form]", and expect to be taken seriously.

I.E.
Odalis Perez. His "prime form" was in 2002 and 2004 when he had 3.00 and 3.25 respective ERA's. His career ERA is 4.46, and his ERA last year with the Nats was 4.34 - a tick below his career ERA. Hardly a "wonder".

Just trying to make the point that signing Mulder, at this time, as a VERY, VERY, bad idea.

The Nationals officially have the worst clubhouse in Major League Baseball.

Can you imagine the locker room antics and outside life of Scott Olsen, Daniel Cabrera, and Elijah Dukes.

Geez, they may be worse then the Cowboys.

Hmmm. Zimmermann looks very impressive so far for you guys.

In 35 minor league starts:
15-5, 2.74ERA, 1.14WHIP, 187IP, 205K's, 65BB's.

Not too shabby. What is his "stuff" consist of?

Posted by: MrBlake14 | December 21, 2008 at 12:50 AM

mid-90s fastball...curve, low-80s changeup, and slider

I keep seeing comments from random posters about Cabrera being a clubhouse problem, but otherwise I've not seen any evidence of it.

most criticisms from credible sources are merely that he can't throw strikes.

Posted by: MrMadison | December 21, 2008 at 01:43 AM

Cabrera is more of the on-field problem with beanings and all. Or to sum it all up, seems to be a hothead.

Still Dukes is a ticking time bomb, and I'm sure Olsen has had problems with alcohol and his attitude in the past. Plus, Lastings seems to rub people the wrong way.

Its a solid signing. Leaving the AL East makes anyone better. His ERA on the Road the last 2 seasons were 4.47 in '08 and 4.26 in '07. Also pitching away from Camden Yards can't hurt him (6.28 & 6.42 last 2 seasons). Also he was a solid 4.33 ERA last year before the AS Break and his 'mysterious injury' ruined his 2nd half.

"Cabrera is more of the on-field problem with beanings and all. Or to sum it all up, seems to be a hothead.

Still Dukes is a ticking time bomb, and I'm sure Olsen has had problems with alcohol and his attitude in the past. Plus, Lastings seems to rub people the wrong way."

Not intentional beanings though. Cabrera has major control issues, which is why he leads MLB in hit batters. That's also the reason why he was non-tendered.

I wouldn't.

"

Scott Olsen
Dan Cabrera
Shawn Hill
John Lannan
Jason Bergman/Matt Chico

Is this the projected rotation for the 2009 Nationals or are they going to make another low risk high reward move?

Posted by: Rolling{Night}Hawk{09}"

If they lans Tex, they have to trade Johnson, several teams, including the A's, have Johnson's medical records. if Johnson is treaded look for the nats to just young pitching in return.

Tha Nats haven't mentioned Chico at all this off-season, so i'll be surprised if he's in the rotation. They;ve said Jordan Zimmerman, who pitched very well in hihg class AA, has a shot at making the rotation in 2009.

I see the rotation being:

John Lannan
Scott Olsen
Jason Bergman
Sean Hill
Jordan Zimmerman/ Colin Balester.

I think they'll use Martis and Chico out of the 'pen

the braves needed danial cabrail

The Nats just signed one of the best low-risk high reward guys in the market. Anyone arguing this is a bad baseball move should reference AJ Pierzynski for Joe Nathan, Boof Bonser and Fransisco Lirano.

hey daniel has the arsenal to be a good pitcher. i think he is due for a winning season with or without the nats. also this isnt a bad rotation im staring to see.