5:49pm: Ken Davidoff of Newsday tweets that the Nationals will guarantee Wang $2MM, with a chance to more than double that through incentives.
12:37pm: Heyman now tweets that the Dodgers have "pulled out of the Wang derby."
10:32am: SI's Jon Heyman tweets that Dodgers execs Ned Colletti and Logan White are watching Wang throw today. Heyman presumes the Dodgers are the second finalist for the righty. Still, one Chico Harlan Nationals source seems to believe they're the favorite.
8:59am: MASN's Ben Goessling reports that Wang is still seven to ten days from a decision, and nothing has changed since yesterday. MLB.com's Bill Ladson tweets that nothing is close between the Nationals and Wang, though they remain a finalist. Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports that the Nationals and one other team have made offers.
7:52am: Righty Chien-Ming Wang has chosen the Nationals and is close to a deal, tweets Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe.
Wang, 30 in March, had surgery to repair a torn ligament in his right shoulder capsule on July 29th of last year. On January 28th, Wang's agent Alan Nero told ESPN's Jayson Stark that his client is expected to "make a major-league start sometime in the first two weeks of May." Wang will join Jason Marquis and John Lannan in Washington's rotation, with the remaining spots to be determined during Spring Training.
The Dodgers, Phillies, Cardinals, and Mets were also linked to Wang this winter.
Woo-Hoo!!!!!!! Folks, you can’t blame the Nats for failing to try. Hopefully, Wang can regain even 3/4 of his form.
Wang should sign with the Hiroshima Carp of the NPB.
One of the few moves I like from the Nats this offseason…
Can’t evaluate this without the numbers but the risk isn’t too bad for a team that isn’t contending anyway. If he comes back, you have a good pitcher; if he doesn’t, then you still would’ve had a bad team regardless.
He can even be traded before the deadline if he shows that he can pitch again.
The only thing I would worry about is that when Wang is on, he’s a great ground ball pitcher. However, the Nats INF defense minus Zimmerman is a little disheartening for a guy who depends on the fielders behind him.
“Can’t evaluate this without the numbers but the risk isn’t too bad for a team that isn’t contending anyway. If he comes back, you have a good pitcher; if he doesn’t, then you still would’ve had a bad team regardless.”
LOL, I think that sums it up. As a a Yankee fan I wish Wang the best of luck, nice and quiet guy. Never had that killer instinct you want out of your number 1 though, saw that difference clearly when watching Sabathia in the big games as compared to Chien-Ming Wang.
You know Sabathia is an unquestioned beast that can take on any other #1 pitcher in the game and win, never got that confident vibe in Wang’s big matchups in the playoffs, you were always hedging your bets.
Best of luck to him though, will be interesting to watch and see what he has left after two shoulder surgeries in his career.
“Never had that killer instinct you want out of your number 1 though”
Because he doesnt yell or fist pump? Judging a player based on what you think his ‘killer instinct’ is, is pretty ridiculous.
And it’s not fair to compare CC and Wang as pitchers, CC is a top 5-10 pitcher in the AL, Wang is not and was never that, regardless of how many Ws he had.
True, I was just looking at it as the #1 ace matchups, when we would match Wang up with Beckett, Halladay, Santana, etc.
Truth be told some fans always said Wang was a #2 at best, its just that by putting together those two 19 wins seasons, expectations were he was a top flight ace type pitcher.
Right, just because Wang was #1 in the rotation doesnt mean he is an ace-like pitcher. He’s not on the level of Felix, CC, Lee, Verlander, Doc, etc; and if fans thought he was just because he won 19 twice then that shows that fans need to re-evaluate how they look at their players.
But he would have been a very good #2 sitting behind CC and the team would have somehow been even better than it was, unfortunately he wasnt healthy.
Oops where’s the dislike button at? Christ..
Good move for the Nats.
I was hoping he was in the Cards (pun intended) for St. Louis. Imagine what he’d do if Duncan got a hold of him.
Probably the same boring sinker-ball, pitch to contact junk
I could see him having a carbon-copy of Mulder’s STL career from the right-side………………… One “OK” year, and then going into a total free-fall as he gets pounded into oblivion.
Or….he could be like Joel Piniero, Jeff Suppan, Ryan Franklin, or Jeff Weaver.
Or Jason Marquis, Garrett Stephenson, Simontacchi, Wellemeyer, etc………..
I see alot of similarity between Wang and Mulder, tbh, as far as their ‘stuff’ and career paths go.
Great job, Rizzo. Take the money saved by signing Kennedy instead of Hudson, and buy some upside starting pitching. By mid season, could we be seeing:
Lannan
Marquis
Strasburg
Zimmermann
Wang?
I think it’d be a mistake to give Strasburg anything more than late season spot start this year.
That said, if Wang regains most of what he was then the Nats could be a darkhorse in 2011.
Zimmermann isn’t coming back this year.
True, it’d be awhile before he pitched in a game, but I can’t believe the Mets just sat on this. Actually, let me rephrase that…after this horrible offseason, it’s no surprise the Mets just sat on this.
Wang was definitely one of my favorite pitchers in NY. Hope he does well with Nats.
This is a good move, and if Wang shows that he still has it he is a solid 2,3,4 starter. Might be a nice fit along with Marquis and if some of the potential top of the rotation guys start to fulfill their potential the Nats should start moving up.
Wang is close to signing….wait…..he’s 7 to 10 days from signing…it’s gonna snow…wait…rain..wait….sleet…These sports tweets are about as accurate as the weathermen around here.
Could be a great signing. Although I wouldnt be too confident about any team with a 1 2 3 of Marquis/Lannen/Wang I do really like that kid Stammen. Good, low risk move for the Nats if this ends up really happening.
Wang is close to signing….wait…..he’s 7 to 10 days from signing…it’s gonna snow…wait…rain..wait….sleet…These sports tweets are about as accurate as the weathermen around here.
Great Move for the Nats. Depends on the contract but this guy is really good when hes healthy. If he can pitch in the AL East, pretty sure he can pitch in the NL East. i could see a rotation: Marquis-Lannan-Wang-Olsen-Stammen/Straburg…. The 4 and 5 spots would be the only uncertain spots that are up for grabs but those would be the 3 i think have the best chance to grab them but its anyones game.
No donuts for Pete.
Peter Abraham…Have you ever thought about retiring from being a writer/reporter?That would be a good choice to make.I laughed when I saw ‘he’s 7 to 10 days from signing. You can’t predict when he’s gonna sign .He could just change his mind and sign with some other damn team that Wang hasn’t even been mentioned to sign with..Horrible Sports Tweets I swear.
man i hope this isnt true…i wanted the phils to gamble on him as the 5th starter…oh well…it isnt final yet, but i doubt the phils even made him an offer
they did, they also made one to ben sheets to but so much for that
Nice to see Pete Abraham is still a blowhard, He probably still spends his days obsessed and tweeting about Arod breathing.
Pete never met an Arod pot shot he didn’t take. You would have thought Arod stiffed him of a couple of happy meals or something.
Now he is claiming a guy is close to signing with a team definitively then we hear otherwise later. Sheesh.
nice move for whoever gets him, assuming the contract isnt too high in guaranteed money. a good low risk, high reward signing if someone buys low. I just hope he’s not Daniel Cabrera round 2.
I really hope the Dodgers sign him. If he comes back healthy, we will have a nice pitching staff.
I had hoped the O’s Would have picked him up. All-Well.
It would be great if the Dodgers signed a player with some upside rather than the dozen or so journeyman utility players and pitchers who are washed up…
I was so excited, and now the Dodgers are utterly in the picture. This has all the makings of an “in it ’til the end” situations for the Nats, and heartbreak for Nats fans. Make it happen, Mike Rizzo. Pay the man, and sign the player.
As for those who tell the Nats to know their place and spend their money in other ways because they stink, please just stop. The Nats could sign C-MW and still be below last year’s payroll. They got out from under some bad Jim Bowden contracts, and have the money to spend this year.
Fans of big-market teams complain that losing teams don’t spend enough in this era of revenue-sharing, but then condescendingly state that signing free agents is a bad idea because the team can’t compete. You know what? We deserve a better team than we’ve had, and the Nats aren’t the only team with a small chance at the playoffs this year. DC shouldn’t just sit by and let others fine tune their clubs and hope for “someday”.
Amen brother. My thoughts exactly.
yea ppl say that about lower class clubs, but now look at the M’s low class team two years ago, winning record last year, and went there gm went all brian cashman, and i think the nats will finish with a positive record
I really hate Omar Minaya.
I’m glad Logan White didn’t let Ned handle this situation all by himself. If White decides Wang isn’t worthwhile, congrats Nats. If he does like Wang, I’m happy. It’s a good day either way.
If the Dodgers sign this guy it will be a cheap contract. Since they knew Jason Schmidt had a torn roter cuff and still signed him anything is possible. Another pitcher with a major injury, marginal major league type to add to the collection. If you sign enough
S**t some of it will stick.
I agree. It’s hard to imagine that Wang would get anything more than a 1 year deal, if even a major league offer. Other injury hampered pitchers (Sheets/Bedard) signed for 1 year deals. I see Wang signing a deal similar to Bedard’s $1.5M base w. incentives deal, but hope that if the Dodgers do sign him, its to a non-guaranteed minor league contract.
http://news.chinatimes.com/2007Cti/2007Cti-News/2007Cti-News-Content/0,4521,11051203+112010021100098,00.html
According to ChinaTimes, Nationals signed Wang one-year deal. The contract, which has a $2 million base salary and up to $3 million in incentives.
I tried to look at an automatic translation, but it was pretty disjointed. At what time would that have come out? It would certainly have been early this morning, given the time difference.
2 hrs ago
Thanks, friend. Is there any chance that the China Times has an English edition? The translation I read was garbled, although I could see it discussed the 40-man roster and still mentioned something about 7 to 10 days. Are there any important points you could translate for us (beyond the most important one about the signing)?
Heyman: “Dodgers pull out of Wang derby”. So if they watched him throw, it’d seem they didn’t like what they saw….
That could be, but given their constraints, they may have heard his price and backed out.
You really want this, don’t you? Nice to see some enthusiasm from a Nats fan.
Make a late run for him Neal!
Dodgers have “pulled out of the Wang derby.” Premature? My double entendre for the day….
Beat me to it. Would have been better had he said, “Dodgers pull out their Wang…offer, that is.” Or something like that.
“Pulled out of the Wang derby”
LOL.
Not exactly sure how I feel about the Dodgers pulling out of the Wang Derby.
Gonna get angry if he signs for cheap with the Nats.
“the Dodgers have “pulled out of the Wang derby.””
…I see what you did there.
have fun losing in washington d.c. wang…
“Pulled out of the Wang derby”….man oh man that is a classic headline. Underappreciated, but classic none-the-less….
My guess is with the Dodgers now being out of the picture, they didn’t like what they saw with Wang’s development from shoulder surgery. I don’t know about the rest of you, but that just throws up a red flag for me.
Can’t wait to hear the Nationals’ broadcaster say this: “Wang and the Nats enter Busch for a 3-game series against the Redbirds”
Mulder & Wang are nothing alike. Mulder had better stuff pre-injury.
i dont get it washington wasnt willing to give 5 mill to hudson as a sure thing but their willing to take a big chance of wang and give him 2 mill wicth can go up to 4 mill with incentives WTF?
Hahahaha: ‘the Dodgers have “pulled out of the Wang derby.”‘
If you don’t pull out of the wang derby, you could be a parent before you know it.
If Wang has a bad outing, I can see the headline: “Riggleman Pulls Wang”