9:44pm: "Don't look for [the Nationals] to offer Hudson a two-year deal," a source tells Ladson. The source also says that the Nats only want to give Hudson a deal akin to Juan Uribe's one-year, $3.25MM contract with San Francisco, feeling that Uribe's deal "set the market for infielders like Hudson." Ladson's piece also goes into greater detail about Washington's interest in Adam Kennedy.
11:48am: The Nationals would be willing to offer a two-year deal to free agent second baseman Orlando Hudson at the right price, according to Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports. Morosi mentioned on Twitter that the "per annum wouldn't be too high." MLB.com's Bill Ladson tweets that Hudson "wants $9MM for 2010," which is out of the Nats' price range. It seems likely that the handful of other teams considering second base help would also not be interested at that price.
Hudson, 32, did not sign last year until February 20th. His contract with the Dodgers guaranteed only $3.38MM, but he ultimately earned about $8MM after incentives. He hit .283/.357/.417, but lost playing time down the stretch. If you are a believer in the defensive stat UZR, Hudson has been average at best the last few years. The Nationals, who Morosi says are "prioritizing defense," must be evaluating Hudson in some other manner.
uggggggghhh another person the mets need. If it keeps it up like this, the mets are going to be behind the nationals =(
Why? We already have an aging, defensively over-rated 2B.
Yeah, not happening, even if they sign Hudson…
whats with this Hudson worship/Castillo hate. Castillo is one if the best second basemen in the national league.
$9m is a fantasy pipe dream. No way he gets that kind of money.
Maybe that was his price to play on the Nationals. I’m sure if a good team approached him, he’d lessen his asking price (ala 2009 with the Dodgers).
Hudson, like Adam LaRoche and Johnny Damon, has priced himself out of a job. There is no way any team pays 10 million a year for this guy.
$9M for two years, MAYBE?
unfortunately for us nats fans, being average defensively is a huge upgrade over what we have at any position save 3b and CF
sorry yes my bad meant Dukes in RF
Nationals should seriously consider if O-Dog would sign for 2 years at around $11-13 million. I think that would be a modest compromise , considering his annual guaranteed salary would be around double what the Dodgers gave him last year.
If the Nationals could pull off signing him, he would be a great defensive addition and a good clubhouse role model for some of the younger guys. Especially those (a la Elijah Dukes) who could use a good role model; both on and off-field.
And by double what the Dodgers gave him I mean in terms of a guaranteed contract. His incentives put him over the $6 million mark.
I think one year 5.5 million with another million in initiatives. And a mutual option worth 7 million.
I think UZR can be useful in most cases, but somehow I think Hudson can play better defense than UZR shows, I saw him play in many games last season and he seemed pretty clutch, correct me if im wrong.
Absolutely right. And he can catch a lot of the bloopers most 2B can’t normally get to. His defensive abilities defies sabermetrics.
Nothing defies sabermetrics. You’ll embrace UZR/150 or else.
In Soviet Russia, UZR/150 embraces YOU.
I know something that will defy Sabermetrics and thats a sabersaw….oh sorryshouldn’t have went there
Twins need to get this guy
I like the Yanks and Nats and I’m a Brett Gardner fan, I’ve followed that kid thru the minors and it takes him 2 seasons at each level to start to excel, I think if I was the Nats I’d go real hard to try to pry him off the Yanks. He could be ready to break out and I think the Yanks know it but could you imagine Morgan & Gardner at the top of the line up and the plus defense in the outfield. What good are hr’s from outfielders if your playing 81 games in a cavernous park. Get speed balls and let Zim and Dunn drive them in. Bad defensive catcher may have a real problem with the nats then?
I don’t know who the Nats could send over to the Yanks, Willingham? Gardner & a pitcher AA for Willingham? I don’t know?
Gardner? We have Nyjer Morgan, we don’t need another outfielder. Rizzo would only trade Willingham for young pitching in my opinion.
“Gardner? We have Nyjer Morgan, we don’t need another outfielder.”
I know I said we have Morgan. He plays cf, one OF position not all 3 we have dukes and willingham at the other 2 spots. I agree Willingham would only go for pitching, lots of teams want him. I was thinking gardner more for the dukes’ spot, though. Morgan Willingham and Gardner would be a nice offensive and defensive OF. The jury is still out on Dukes, he hasn’t even proven he will cut it in the Majors and lets not even talk about his off field antics. Other than Willingham and Morgan what OFers are we talking about here. Keep in mind I follow the Nats pretty closely. In fact, I would always try to get a player from a world championship team, even if its a 4th outfielder.
I don’t even know if the Nats have a World series champion on the entire team.
I would love to see Gardner and Morgan, 2 of the fastest, if not the fastest players in both leagues. Can’t teach speed…Personally I hope the yanks keep Gardner though.
You can’t tell me Gardner would not be an upgrade over Dukes….thus my point.
“Get speed balls and let Zim and Dunn drive them in. ”
If Gardner is getting speed balls, he probably would see more jail time than time in the outfield.
VT lol…but maybe not because he runs like the cops are chasing him and he would probably not get caught…hehehe
Now look here, if you want your outfield to be able to run like the cops are chasing them you sure as heck don’t want to play Gardner instead of Dukes. The man’s still young and already a veteran (at least in dealing with the cops).
Why don’t the twins at least try to get this guy he fills their biggest home
Biggest home?
Probably just meant “biggest need,” though I’d argue you could make a case for Felipe Lopez too. Hudson’s declining pretty consistently. Not saying I wouldn’t like to see him in Minnesota over a combo of Punto and Harris at 2B and 3B, but Hudson’s reputation far exceeds his actual ability at this point.
hole stupid keyboard
“The Nationals, who Morosi says are “prioritizing defense,” must be evaluating Hudson in some other manner.”
Gee, I hope it isn’t the same system they used with Pudge…
Don’t worry. While it is the same system, it’s not prone to the same mistakes. The Nats have moved beyond analyzing probabilities to actually USING probabilities. Yes, that is correct. They are casting bones to figure out how players will do next year. “How many runs above average will Hudson save next year?” (throws 4 dice) “Well, seeing this result I don’t know how we could pass him up!”
But don’t worry Nats fans. They’re switching to a new system soon, one that will perform all these time consuming dice rolls via computer.
its sad how thet nats are making more moves then the mets… and they got less money to work with.. smh at the mets what a offseason
Nats might be making more moves, but they’ve got more work to do and they’re also signing guys like Jason Marquis as opposed to Jason Bay. Bit different.
Mets will make some more moves. No way they don’t add another starter at the very least before the offseason ends.
i hope they do… i wana see more moves by my mets……. i want bengie and a starter asap lol
I think Hudson is seriously confusing himself with a good player. I initially read this as saying that he was looking for 9 million over 2 years and was still thinking “Hmm… sounds a bit steep, but somebody might bite…” 9 million over 1 year? I know the market for 2B who can hit is not good lately, but I mean… yowsers. Hudson’s play lately reminds me of Grudzielanek’s typical numbers, but with worse defense. Considering Grudzi never got more than about 5 million per anum, Hudson must think this is 2007 or something.
Didn’t know Willingham had the range to play both LF and RF. *Wink*
guessing you meant dukes in RF.
1. Morgan cf
2. Guzman ss
3. Zimmerman 3b
4. Dunn 1b
5. Willingham lf
6. Dukes rf
7. Hudson 2b
8. Rodriguez c
or flip-flop guzman and hudson in that lineup?
I would flip Guzman and Dukes simply because of the .50 difference in their OBP last year. Having Hudson batting second would be great with Morgans OBP being .369 last year. Not only does your OBP go on top but it is that much less double plays that are potentially hit into.
It is just that many more chances that Zimmerman and Dunn can drive them in and you really don’t want to rely on Pudge and the pitcher to drive that high of an OBP guy in.
Guzman will be traded or released if the Nats pick up Hudson. Sure, he can hit, but his OBP and defense is terrible – and he whines unmercifully when dropped from the top third of the order. My best guess is:
1. Morgan cf
2. Hudson 2b
3. Zimmerman 3b
4. Dunn 1b
5. Willingham lf
6. Dukes rf
7. Rodriguez c
8. Desmond ss
That looks like a decent lineup, esp if Dukes ever lives up to his potential.