The Nationals agreed to terms with righty Livan Hernandez on a minor league deal, reports MLB.com's Bill Ladson. SI's Jon Heyman tweets that the deal is worth "$900K plus many incentives." Hernandez signed with the Nats in August of last year after being released by the Mets; he previously pitched in the organization from 2003-06.
Hernandez, 35, posted a 5.44 ERA, 5.0 K/9, and 3.3 BB/9 in 183.6 innings last year. Fellow non-roster invitee Miguel Batista will also compete for a rotation spot.
Meh.
Hopefully he won’t take starts away from Detwiler, Stammen, Balester, Mock, Martin and Martis.
Detwiler has had hip flexor surgery and is out at least until May. If it were not for that (and not being able to sign someone like Looper), I doubt that Livan would have gotten even a minor-league contract.
I missed that. Man, between him and Zimmermann, the Nats have had some pretty crap luck with their young pitchers of late.
Either way, giving starts to Livan instead of Lannan, Marquis, Olsen, and the other guys are mentioned doesn’t really make much sense. Every single one of the guys is either markedly better than Livan, or they’re young enough that the combination of upside and the fact that Washington isn’t a contender makes them clearly superior options.
If Washington wants to slot a mediocre veteran into their rotation, they already signed Miguel Batista this winter.
Barring injuries or pitching themselves out of the rotation (which in Washington is exceedingly difficult), why would Livan take starts away from Lannan, Marquis or Olsen?
Actually I’d much rather have Livan than any of those guys excluding Stammen. Livan is capable of pitching 200 innings.
I’ll agree on Balester, Martin and Martis that they’re far from dependable, which at least Livan can guarantee.
But Garrett Mock is significantly better than Livan. The rotation should be Lannan, Marquis, Olsen, Stammen and Mock, going into 2010.
It’s funny how Tim puts “35” for the age.
Does anyone know his real age?
There was a rumor that back when the Twins had him, they sliced into him and counted no less than 39 rings. And this was a few years back…
Despite being pretty crappy the past few seasons, it’s not a terrible move for them. The Nat’s need someone who will eat up innings. They are also dealing with Wang and Olsen coming off of major injuries and they are questionable if they will be able to return to form. Detwiler having his recent hip injury is a big concern as well so the Nat’s needed a relatively durable body to plug into the rotation behind Marquis and Lannan for a little bit.
Anyone know how much this is worth?
(deleted)
Anyone who read the posting does.
Not sure how I missed that one, I thought I had reread this multiple times and it wasn’t listed. Thank Jesus you were there to show me the light Bones.
Right on.
Ugh, “eat up innings.” That’s this phrase that people throw around without realizing what it means. Yes, he will physically pitch innings–but will they be quality innings? The answer is no.
An “innings eater” is like calling a fat girl, “nice.”
You wouldn’t necessarily want an innings eater on a contending team, but you need one on a bottom of the barrel team dealing w/ pitchers coming off injuries and/or young & inexperienced ones.
Since we signed him, all the Nats are going to do is deal with Wang.
Sorry, these will never get old. I hope he does well and we extend his contract. I want an excuse to get a Wang jersey.
i kinda did not want them to sign him, but since its a minor league deal, eh i dont care. just another rubber arm in the books if he pitches well, but like the previous guy said, i dont want him to take away starts from our younger guys either.
the only redeeming part of this news is ‘minor league deal.’ i’m w/moebarguy. how many 5.5+ ERA innings do you really want?
Instead of signing an old man with close to nothing left, why don’t the Nats put some money down on Smoltz? Best case scenario, he plays out as a 4th starter, worst case (besides DL) he ends up in the back of the bullpen where he’s been pretty successful in recent years. Can’t see how they’d miss on him.
“Instead of signing an old man with close to nothing left”
You wouldn’t consider John Smoltz an old man with nothing left?
Plus, Hernandez has a ton left. He could pitch 200 innings where as Smoltz may not even hit 80 innings.
I think Smoltz has more left than Hernandez. Unlike Hernandez, where you know exactly what you’re getting, with Smoltz, there is so much more upside. 100 innings from Smoltz is better than 150-200 from Hernandez.
Alot of people can pitch 200 innings. In fact, I’d argue anybody in the entire world could.
Just not many can do it *well*. Hernandez, unfortunately, is not in the rare group who can, either.
Right. You know what I meant. No pitcher is pitching 200 miserable innings. That’s what a manager is there for.
I think he has two tons left..
Smoltz was pretty good when he returned to the NL last season.
Livan just keeps getting invited back to the big leagues even though he hasn’t really been effective since his Flordia days. I think Miguel Bautista would be a solid arm in the Nats pen or a decent 5th starter. I really think the switch to the NL will help help him out. For the first time ever I think the Nats have made some moves to take themselves out of the cellar this year. .500 is still a few years away but they have a great young core and Nats fans should be feeling better about their team.
well now *THAT’S* just completely untrue (the “not since the Florida day” part).
17-11 / 3.75 era / 240ip
15-10 / 3.20 era / 233ip
11-15 / 3.60 era / 255ip
15-10 / 3.98 era / 246ip
these were all “post florida” days. i think it’s hard to argue those were “ineffective” years. i mean, if you’re going to bash the guy, at least have a vague clue of who he is (or was, in this case).
i don’t think he’s worth signing beyond a deep depth in the minors deal at this point (and i’m a nats fan), but let’s not discount everything he’s done since 1999 (yes, it’s been 11 years since he played in FL).
The great thing about this signing is, the Nationals don’t need to rotate Mock, Martin, Detwiler, and Bergmann in and out of your rotation.
Mock has a 4.14 FIP, 4.31 xFIP and 4.09 tERA in his time in the majors.
And you can’t attribute it to his time in the bullpen, he posted a 4.25 xFIP in his 15 starts with Washington next season. He deserves a rotation spot, no doubt. If Livan takes that away from Mock, then the Nats are making a mistake here.
detwiler is out for 6 weeks or so after hip surgery anyway. bergmann isn’t going to start, he’s been bullpen for a couple of years (mid-season 08) and isn’t going back in the rotation. and stammen/chico are in the mix as well.
better livan then kris benson
LOL well since you put it that way…….. GREAT SIGNING!!!!
finaly this should have been done a month ago
Yes, when he was younger (34 years, 11 months).
Rotation of Lannan/Marquis/Wang/Olsen/Strasburg is the ideal for the Nats. Hernandez is insurance if Stras is not ready. I also think Craig Stammen is a dark horse canidate for a decent season if he makes the rotation. I saw him pitch live in Coors and Miller this past year and I was impressed by his performances.