Some notes from the Nationals' Hot Stove Luncheon courtesy of MASNsports.com's Ben Goessling:
- In addition to discussing his own contract situation, Adam Dunn told the audience that he believes Washington is Orlando Hudson's preferred destination. However, it appears that the two parties are not close to agreeing on compensation.
- Team president Stan Kasten received some questions regarding the club's payroll. Kasten believes that the size of Washington's market could allow them to have a payroll "right below the New Yorks or the LAs." The Nationals spent a franchise record $60.328MM on their Opening Day roster in 2009.
I don’t know if the market is quite that large but it should be big enough to eventually get up to the 100-120 million territory. Certainly enough to field a perennial contender in that division.
If the Rays and Marlins can compete..
I agree. but the Rays and Marlins are two of th best run franchises in Baseball. I think the situation is different which is why I think the Nats shouldn’t be reluctant to give Orlando Hudson what he wants. I think 9MM is too much but If he lowers to 7 or 8 I’d jump on that as soon as possible. I really think the Nats should spend big next winter and If they can get some better pitching for the 2011 season. They could be a championship calibur team. But I said 2011.
They have done a great job this off-season. Hopefully they are not done and hopefully this is the begining of the really good Nationals.
I don’t know if the Marlins are one of the best run franchises in baseball, nor do I think the Rays have been competing long enough to say they’re up there either. I’d consider the Twins, Cardinals, and Braves to all be better franchises than the Marlins and Rays. Based on the ability to field winning teams year after year on a medium market payroll. Well the Braves have a larger market, but that’s due to Ted Turner’s T.V. connections, and the Cards had a MASSIVE market before radio went out of style… Anyway, back to the point. The Marlins compete for a year or two and then fall back to the cellar. The Rays might be the same, although they have put together a nice string of seasons currently.
As far as DC’s market, it’s not out of the question to think it could be close to NYC’s or LA’s, but there’s a lot of developing that needs to go on here. I live 5 blocks from the Nats stadium and attend games for $5. There’s hardly ever anyone at the stadium. I think if the team manages to build some momentum with their Hopeful (notice the key word) young players — and they’ve got some good ones — they could start to raise payroll. Politicians and big business love supporting winners, and DC’s got enough of them…
Honestly, think about it…The Marlins and Rays have two of the top 5 gm’s in Baseball. A great front office.
“Based on the ability to field winning teams year after year on a medium market payroll”
Thats different than having a great market. These teams have no market and still seem to get it done. The Marlins and Rays have no money to spend and not much of a fanbase but still as I said before. They manage to get it done. It’s really thanks to their front office for the most part.
” I’d consider the Twins”
Thats a good point. How can I forget about them?
I don’t think that the Cardinals are one of the best run franchises in Baseball though.
” I live 5 blocks from the Nats stadium and attend games for $5″
Lucky! If I were able to attend Yankees and Mets games for $5 I would buy season tickets for every seat!
A good franchise has a major part in good drafting. The Rays, Twins, and Marlins probably have the best scouting and player development in Baseball. The Rays for example have pretty much most of their team consisting of draft picks from themselves. The Twins just do everything right. Now moving in to a new ballpark…It must be nice to be a Twins fan. Well thankfully I am!
I’d say Miami is a decent sized market with a lot of baseball potential. Tampa Bay is a different story. If the Rays continue their strong seasons for a few more years I’ll definitely consider them up there with the Twins.
I think you might have a bias towards drafting and player development. The Cards (with Dave Duncan at the fore) excel in getting players that were ‘washed up’ and getting good years from them. A different organizational strength you might say, than a strong player development/scouting program. All teams should play to their organizational strengths, obviously. The NYC and LA teams have money, the Cards have strong coaching, the Twins and Rays have scouting, the Marlins and Indians have firesales, the Cubs are the Cubs, etc…
How does that make me Bias if you are Redbirds16 and you are boasting the Cardinals. Joe Mauer, Denard Span, Torii Hunter, Brad Radke, Kirby Puckett, Matt Garza, Michael Cuddyer were all drafted by the Twins. Johan Santana was a rule 5 pick. The Cardinals have the worst farm system in Baseball. Does that make their front office happy? no. Should the Marlins be happy to have the #2 GM in Baseball? Yes. Should the Marlins be happy to have the #2 best player in Baseball in whom they acquired in one of the better trades of the decade? Yes. That is some pretty good management. Do you think the Sox would have traded him if they knew what his potential was? No. And if they did they wouldn’t have had a shortstop shuffle since then. The Marlins have an attendance of about 10 people per game and won 171 games over the past two seasons. The Twins and Rays steal bases, bunt runners up a base, go from 1st to 3rd, focus hard on developing their players…I don’t think that thats easy to do at all nor do I think that most teams in Baseball have better management than the Twins, Rays, and Marlins. Every year these teams have up and coming players rise through their system. Thats a sign of a great organization.
Whoa… having a bias isn’t a bad thing. People have their preferences, so don’t get bent out of shape. And yes, I am a Cards fan, but it’s a pretty well known fact the Cards do very well on their budget and compete year after year. Why not look at what I said, rather than the team I root for. I could address your points (style of play, rankings of farm systems and their real importance to organizational success, I don’t know where you got your #2 GM source from but I think it’s WAY off, #2 best player is very much debatable and what does that have to do with organizational success anyway. Off the top of my head, Pujols, Mauer, Arod, Halladay, Greinke, Lee, Lincecum could all be considered stronger. Hanley is a great player, no doubt, there’s just a lot of competition for such a title)
On successful franchises, viewed through the example of the Marlins: Should they be excited their team seriously competes one out of every six years and every other year trades their expendable parts in a firesale (see this year’s attempts to trade Cantu and Uggla)? Should they be happy that they struggle to get 20k fans to the stadium? By your standards, the Expos were probably one of the best run teams as well. Think of all the great players they produced over the years, but their club only really competed sporadically. I would view a successful franchise (like the Twins, Braves, Cardinals, even NY and LA teams) as one that competes EVERY year for the playoffs, not just based on their farm systems and the players they produce.
And, P.S. it’s okay to disagree, which at the end of the day I think we will…
Actually…I’m grateful to have talked to a Baseball fan (you) like myself on a day where not much is brewing. So with that said, I’m going to tip my cap to you (literally) and since it is the end of the day (on the east coast where you and I are), let’s just agree that a Major League Baseball team wouldn’t be a Major League Baseball team if it weren’t run well. Sorry for getting hyped up, but then again, we are all Baseball fans! We had a good conversation!
I read before that Hudson wants $9 million, which is absurd. Hopefully the Nats don’t get baited into overpaying. They have all the money they need to sign good free agents, but no one wants to play for the team.
Matt Capps chose to play with D.C. over a similar copy from the Cubs; Dunn says Hudson prefers D.C. over anyone else; Doug Davis almost begged for a spot on the team but the Nationals said no. I think having guys with great reputations as teammates, like Adam Dunn and Nyjer Morgan, really helps.
Well, playing for the Nationals is certainly more appealing than it looked last year, since they showed they could actually hit really well. However, Capps would have never signed with the Nats if he had a closer job elsewhere. Unlike many, I see the Marquis signing as a very good one, because having someone to mentor an extremely young pitching staff is invaluable. The team can certainly becoming a contender soon, if they keep making strides like the huge one they made last year.
Money should be an issue for the Nats in terms of extending Dunn (BAD idea) or signing Hudson; if Bryce Harper demands 10+MM, they should be ready and able to dish that out. No MLB vet should take up payroll if it could compromise Washington’s ability to nab Harper.
Extending Dunn isn’t a great idea, but if he gets to play 1b the an entire year, then he shouldn’t be that bad extending right?
I think one-year deals are something that the analysts are really behind the industry on.
For example, the Ben Sheets deal. Everyone is talking about how 10 million dollars is a huge overpay, but I don’t think there is such a thing on a one-year deal. The A’s determined that they had enough money to sign Sheets at 10M and anything else they saw they needed.
That 10M is only a one year thing, so it doesn’t hamstring your franchise at all in the future, and as many people have astutely pointed out, there’s a large chance he gets traded anyway.
However re: Hudson, I don’t think paying 7-9 million would be appropriate for him. The Nats aren’t going to contend this year, so they don’t need to commit that much for a veteran piece. Also, who else is out there on Hudson? The Rockies? The Rays? Both of those teams are cash strapped.
I think Hudson to the Nats at 4 million is very likely. The Rays and Rockies probably have 1 year/3 million offers out.
Also, following the link provided one sees that the “franchise record $60.328MM in 2009” isn’t a franchise record. They spent upwards of 63 million dollars in 2006. Just saying…
Unless there’s something I’m missing.