In the wake of losing an everyday outfielder when they released Elijah Dukes, the Nationals have had discussions with several teams about a trade for a right fielder according to MASNSports.com's Ben Goessling. Among the targets: Corey Hart, Kosuke Fukudome, and B.J. Upton.
Goessling says that none of those trade talks have been particularly substantive, but it's clear the Nats aren't necessarily looking for a cheap solution. The two sides weren't able to find a common ground for Hart, and the Nats came away with the impression that the Rays won't move the elder Upton brother unless they fall out of the AL East race this summer. Fukudome still has two years and $26.5MM left on his deal, so he's unlikely to be moved unless the Cubs eat a large portion of that commitment.
Washington feels right field is a thin position around the league, so for now they'll try to get by with a combination of Willie Harris and Willy Taveras. They'll have to hope their defensive skills make up for their collective lack of offense.
who was the orioles pitcher that was release a couple of days or weaks ago????
No Orioles pitcher. There was Andino and Moeller who were released but I’m pretty sure they didn’t release a pitcher.
Looks like Jai Miller will get a chance at his former team
PLEASE TAKE FUKUDOME!!!!
as long as they take on his conract idc what we get even if its a prospect that has no chance of making the majors get rid of that contract to free up colvin nady fuld jackson etc so we can play the hot hand and try some prospects while nady is recovering
I heard the Nats were trying to get Freddy Lewis.
Craig Stammen for Corey Hart?
isn’t Lewis on the DL?
Why don’t they just sign Jermaine Dye? He’s still on the market.
The Nats aren’t about un-athletics players anymore.
Adam Dunn is a different story.
Why is Adam Dunn a different story? Dye can give you an OPS of 800 – 850. Dunn is typically good for an OPS around 875 to 925. Both are awful fielders. Dunn is at $12m while Dye could presumably be had for $3m. Seems like if you are big on Dunn you should also like Dye.
Because Dunn plays first, means a lot to the Nationals fans, and in my opinion is better than Dye.
Dunn’ll walk more, and judging by Dye’s performance in the second half, paired with his age, Dunn’ll even hit for a better average… and he’s pretty much guaranteed AT LEAST 10 more homeruns (10 to 20 more homeruns)
That doesn’t mean you have room for two of them.
dye *MIGHT* give you a good OPS. but he’s getting old quickly. Dunn is younger and not on a downward trend. Dye dropped off the face of the planet offensively in the second half last season.
sorry, these aren’t comparable guys. there’s a reason dye is still on the FA market.
To be fair, Dunn is significantly better offensively than Dye. In the past three years, Dunn has been +101.8 RAA with the bat, compared to Dye’s +38.3 RAA for the same time period. That’s over six wins of value, right there.
Also, Dunn is younger, and looked fantastic last season (with the bat, obviously) while Dye showed major signs of decline throughout the season. At this point, Dye might be a poor man’s Dunn, but Dunn is still markedly better.
Personally, it still blows my mind that Dunn has played in the NL for so long. Craziness.
I’m having trouble thinking of who the brewers would trade hart to the nationals for? Anyone have any ideas?
Craig Stammen
At this point, the Brewers should consider a bag of baseballs for Hart!
Jermaine Dye
Call the Reds, they’ll be designating Wladimir Balentien for assignment tomorrow.
The nationals are not trading Stammen so lets get that out of the way…….. I would love for them to pick up Upton. I can see a combination of upton and morgan batting 1 and 2 in the order. 2 speed guys at the top would be awsome. and they both could cover alot of a ground on D.
First of all, no way are they dealing Upton.
Second of all, you’d be surprised…The Nationals may in fact deal Stammen if they can get a valuable player in return. With Lannan, Marquis, Strasburg, Zimmerman, and Wang as their soon-to-be rotation, expect them to at least consider trading Craig Stammen.
why would you think of stammen as an untouchable? he’s ok, but you’re acting like he’s strasburg. i’m quite comfortable with the thought that they’d trade stammen in a heartbeat if they got good value.
yeah right the rays even think about moving upton he is only making 3 mill and will more than likely get extended if he can bounce back there is no way the rays get rid of him with crawford and pena most likely on the move this season or next winter..keep dreaming nats upton is in tampa to stay
Thank you. There is no chance that the Rays deal upton. Not a chance.
Not necessarily. The start of the year is very important in determining which way the Rays decide to go. If they struggle out of the get go, they could just decide to restock for another run at the World Series in 2-3 years.
The only reason I say this is because they probably realize that their window of opportunity is closing with the potential losses of Pena and Crawford at the end of the year. If the Yankees and Red Sox get a big lead on the Rays by mid-May, they may decide to look to the future.
If this happens, the Rays could decide that Upton is not part of their future plans. Although he displays get raw talent, he makes silly mistakes and has a very laid-back attitude towards the game. The Rays have already gotten pretty ticked off with him in the past.
I’m not saying that the Rays WILL trade him, it’s just that if they struggle in the beginning of the season and decide to go in a different direction, they MIGHT just trade BJ Upton.
I see your points, okay. But if/when they can’t compete they will most likely trade Soriano, Pena, and Crawford. In my opinion, that’s all.
The reason is, I think B.J. Upton is destined to have a huge 2010 season. So they don’t need to unload the whole team when they clearly can still compete even without Crawford and Pena.
So if Upton plays poorly or shows his “laid back” attitude (which let me just tell you has been corrected), I still think they have faith in him. Their young pitching is some of the best in Baseball and I don’t think they are just going to rebuild because Crawford and Pena and Soriano are impending free agents.
They have Desmond Jennings waiting in the wing and have a great farm system otherwise, Fantastic management, and as I said, a young core of talent.
So think about it…What if they were to, just for example, trade Crawford and Soriano for Yonder Alonso and Mark Serrano if the Reds look to make such a move. Then that puts Yonder Alonso in to the group of young talented Rays with Upton, Longoria, Jennings, and so on. They could trade Carlos Pena for (once again, just as an example) for Craig Kimbrel. That builds up the bullpen for the near future.
You see what I’m saying?
Why would they trade Crawford and Soriano for Alonso? Alonso’s got no defensive value, a serious platoon split, and hasn’t been off the charts in production elsewhere.
Well we’ve got a brand new season almost underway and I expect the Reds to be in it all the way.
That doesn’t answer why the Rays would give them players for less than a fair return.
Trade for Fukidome. I want to see Sam Fuld get a chance to play outfield for the Cubs.
I think the Cubs would move Fukudome to free up some PT for Colvin and Nady before Fuld.
I find it hard to believe they would move Fukudome because of the Japanese PR and the fact that they are far too right handed as it is.
Cubs traded Sam Fuld to the Yankees. Sorry buddy
no they didnt
Since when?
You’re funny.
Apparently you didn’t realize that “rumor” was posted on April 1st as an April Fools Joke.
Just Throwing a name out there, But is there any chance at all the Nats land Gary Matthews Jr. from the mets for a very mediocre prospect?
If only….
Another possibility, How about Cody Ross?
who would be stupid enough to give anything away for matthews? O right the mets…..and im a big met fan
can you throw that name a little farther so it goes all the way out of sight? why would anyone do that? the nats have a bunch of mediocre guys who would be better RFs than matthews already.
If the nats want B.J. Upton, they will end up giving up a decent amount of prospects. They should go after Hart, because they can offer the brewers some of their pitching.
I would LOVE for them to get Fukudome. If the Cubs could trade him for any semi-useful prospect, that would be awesome. I would rather see Colvin or Fuld in center and Byrd in right.
What about Fukudome for Christian Guzman, then they have a decent bat that can back up SS.
I could maybe see that, but the cubs have Castro coming up, Fontenot and baker on the bench, and theriot.
Sam Fuld was traded to the Yankees
Last time I checked he was optioned to triple A Iowa
that was an april fools day joke… you should consider reading whole articles, not just headlines…
that was an april fools day joke… you should consider reading whole articles, not just headlines
Jesus Christ, Fuld was NOT traded to the Yankees. Gullible lil’ fella’ you are.
you can say that again
I’d love for a Cubs/Nats trade for Fuku. Opens up playing time for Colvin, frees up salary, and the Cubs could bring Hoffpauir back up. Make it happen!
You want more playing time for Colvin? I mean, I’m trying to be as optimistic as possible with him, too. But Fukudome has proven to be a pretty solid all-around player, and Colvin still projects as more of a fourth outfielder than an everyday piece.
This article from R.J. on FanGraphs might clear things up a little: fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/tyler-colvins-big-ch…
This is dumb. They had a good option for RF in Dukes. It was asinine to release him without giving him a chance to redeem himself.
He had a long time to redeem himself which he never did.
He hasn’t really had a long time to do anything. Plus he was making some real headway to get these off the field problems out of the way. The Nationals should have given him a shot to see if he had really straightened himself out rather than depriving themselves of a their starting RFer and a potentially good one at that.
Apparently not. The Nats wouldn’t have cut him if he was making some real headway.
Dukes is like Bradley. His reputation dictates that he no longer gets the benefit of the doubt. You screw up you get moved. In Dukes case I’ll bet you anything that there were some real red flags that drove this decision.
That’s a definite possibility, and you may be right but I still think this was done a bit prematurely.
i don’t think it was done prematurely, but i think it *WAS* done w/o a decent backup plan. if they saw this as a possibility coming into spring training, it’s ridiculous that they had no real backup plan.
as far as whether dukes is making real headway, note the complete lack of interest from other teams to sign him. the reality was his actual baseball skills weren’t making progress.
Your right about that Gwells, they probably should have had someone in mind to take over RF when they released Dukes, still I think that since they decided to go into Spring without an alternative plan they should have waited on Dukes a bit longer.
I guess the Nats did have their reasons though
They have Dunn, Willingham, and Desmond playing the field already so it’s pretty clear defense isn’t an overy huge concern for the Nats so why not bring Dye in?
But if it were me I would go after Fred Lewis. He just makes the most sense.
Fukudome, Fontenot and Micah Hoffpauir for Christian Guzman and low A baller. Jeff Baker and another scrub for Cla Meredith. Starlin Castro will be up in a matter of weeks. See what Hendry is doing is getting rid of our ”future stars” yeah right. Ronny Cedeno, Felix Pie, Jake Fox, Sam Fuld, Sergio Mitre, ect. and getting the new in. Andrew Cashner, Jay Jackson, Brett Jackson, Starlin Castro, Josh Vitters and Tyler Colvin will all be seeing playing time at one point this year.
And for the third time, Sam Fuld was not gotten rid of, so take him off your list.
LOL
Brett Jackson and Vitter are not anywhere near ready yet. I would love to see them get rid od Fududome and about 60% of is contract.
I would be pretty shocked if either jackson or vitters see time in the majors this season…probably not cashner either… some might be brought up when rosters expand, but that harldy counts as “playing time”
Anyone ever think that Carlos Marmol maybe can be traded to the twins and either Samardzija or Cashner can take over the closers role. I doubt the Cubs will do anything this year.
btw mets fans read this omar messege to the fans after the 06 playoffs
Talking with WFAN a few moments ago, Mets GM Omar Minaya had the following to say to his team’s fans…
“We are getting ready, as of today, we’re getting ready and focused to put the best product out there on the field going in to ‘07…
“We are committed from ownership to front office to anybody who works in our organization to give the fans a product that they can be proud of…
“Our standards is to have a first-class organization that our city and our fans can be proud of…
“I can tell you that this morning, when I woke up, after going to sleep last night, if you wanna call that sleep, the first thing going through my mind was: how do we get better. I already got scouts lined up, I talked to some general managers and we are in work mode as of this moment for ‘07…
“Our fans can rest assured that we well be there exploring all opportunities on how to get better – and not just to get to the playoffs, because getting to the playoffs is not the goal, it’s winning the World Series, that’s the goal.”…
Hart and Fukudome are probably both easily to trade for. Hart isn’t even likely to be the opening day starter for the Brewers and Fukudome is making a ton of money that the Cubs would love to get rid of. I doubt the Nationals really want anything to due with Fukudome contract he makes 26.5M over the next two years even if they made Guzman part of the deal they would still have to take on 18.5M. I am guessing if the Nationals trade for a outfielder it will be Corey Hart but they could go a different route and claim Jack Cust. They never seem to have a problem with all offense no defense type players in the past so no reason to think they would now.
why do people presume that the team receiving the player with the big contract would have to take all that salary in the trade? teams regularly pay portions of big contracts to move players. the nats wouldn’t *have* to take on all 18.5m. the cubs could eat some of it if they want to move the rest of the contract.
and just cuz jim bowden signed all-offense/no-defense guys doesn’t mean mike rizzo will. this is a different GM and much different front office. so yes, there *is* reason to think they might not now.
Send Hart and Gamel to Washington and bring Zimmerman back home to Wisconsin plus some fringe prospects, then sign Dye and platoon him with Edmonds (Gomez can cover half of RF as it is)
Milwaukee’s going to trade Gamel and Hart for an injured pitcher?
Touche. You beat me to the sarcastic punch…
Nats would never trade Zimmermann at this stage in his career. Even if he is injured right now, he’s been throwing and is ahead of schedule. The Nats see him as there #2 Starter next year behind Strasburg. Pick a pitcher thats not in their Projected starting 5 next year, which is: Strasburg, Zimmermann, Wang, Lannan, and Marquis. You’d have a shot trading for players like: Mock, Detwiler, Martin, Stammen.
Lou Montanez
Brandon Moss.
Bubba Crosby
If they want Fukudome….we have Aaron Rowand 🙂 You can HAVE him
The Tigers have a glut of major league ready prospects that are blocked by veterans–so many that, Wilkin Ramirez was bumped from AAA to AA because of such a log jam. Couldn’t be worse than what they already have.
Dye might be a good option if the Nats can convince him to stop trotting in the outfield.
resign elijah dukes…-_-…yea, foolish, but almost as foolish and unexpected as releasing him in the first place…god, i will not bear to see harris/taveras screw around in RF this season, that’s the last straw..what’s wrong w/ sticking a morse/bernadinha/maxwell there this season, is that too much to ask?
J.D. DREW? (quickly,there are still about 11 hours before he could hit the DL!)
It looks like the RedSox could have decided to go with Josh Reddick in RF. I would have mentioned Reddick himself but don’t have a good grasp of what plans the organization has in regards to him. He pretty much tore it up in spring training this year. If the sox don’t plan to use him I think there are probably a few smaller market teams that really could.
reddick is going to have a hard time patrolling RF from pawtucket.
Right because they can’t ever call him up or trade him if he is in AAA for the first game of the season.
well if they ‘decided to go with him,’ they wouldn’t have sent him down.
sure, *IF* they traded drew, he’d be the guy they’d call up. and i’m sure *WHEN* he goes on the DL, they’ll call him up. but that hasn’t happened yet. and the chances of someone trading for drew right now (even the nats) doesn’t seem any more imminent than any other time (unless you can point to some legit rumors i haven’t seen).
You realize that it was a joke about Drew right? did you not get that part?
I’d say Cory Hart would be the best guy for the Nats, and Milwaukee would certainly trade him.
Fukudome has a full no-trade clause…..Hard to believe he would go to the Nats at this point, with the playing time he is expected to get with the Cubs to start the season. If he gets off to a bad start and loses significant playing time, then I could see where he might want to move to be assured a starting spot. But at this point, why would he agree to any move?
If the Cubs trade Fukudome, I’d like to at least get a player that helps this year. Yes, Fukudome has his flaws and he’s well overpaid, but he does 2 things better than any of our outfielders: play defense and get on base. While Colvin shows he can be a pretty good rightfielder, he’s not as good as Fukudome. At the plate, we’re talking about a 65 point drop in OBP if you believe the CHONE projections– AND without any difference in slugging percentage. While using Nady would give the Cubs a bit more power, it would also make them too right-handed again, and also give us a big drop in defense and OBP.
That defense will be missed when you have an average CF and a virtual statue in LF. That OBP can be a valuable asset at the top of the order with Theriot. Getting on base before Lee, Ramirez and Byrd could potentially result in a lot of runs. While helping us in out in the payroll, I think trading Fukudome would make the Cubs weaker on the field for 2010.
Soriano’s last good season was in Washington.
I know it’s a long shot, but how about sending him and $60 million over the next 5 years to Washington.
That money is wasted no matter what. Having him stumble around in left field and strike out 58 foot sliders for the next 5 years just makes a dreadful situation worse.
If Soriano is going to continue to play anywhere near as badly as he did last year, I’d much rather trade him than Fukudome. We’re probably stuck with Soriano, though, so I’m hoping he can at least bounce back and be something closer to his 2008 season…not that it was particularly great season, but at least it’d be useful. That’s probably the best we could hope for, there’s no reason to believe he’ll ever play like he did in 2007 again.
If you paid 60 mil of his remaining deal…if I were Washington I’d do it. Even if he does strike out a ton, that’s still a potent bat at a decent cost (after you throw in that 60 mil).
Fukudome makes 26.5 million in these next two seasons. Got my info from here mlbcontracts.blogspot.com/2005/01/chicago-cubs_112…. Fukudome makes 26.5 million in these next two seasons. Cristian Guzman makes 8 mil this year in his contract year. If the Cubs trade the difference is 18.6 million the Cubs would have to eat about 60-70% of that contract which is about 13-15 mil. If I was Jim Hendry I would do it cause you need to clear as much space as needed to start over in the 2011 off season. Lee, Ramirez(if he opts out), Lilly, Fukudome, Silva I would say good bye to at least 3 of those 5 most likely Lilly, Fukudome and Silva. Gorzelanny, Colvin and Gaub will take their spots on the team.
Baltimore has Lou Montanez. I would like to see the guy get a chance with Washington and imagine Baltimore wouldn’t be looking for too much.
The Rays have Pat Burrell (Pat the Glove) for about $3 millions and Gabe Kapler for $1 million. We’ll take an extra pound of hot dogs in trade.