FRIDAY, 7:04pm: Kilgore reports that Bruney has refused his minor league assignment. The Nats now have a week to deal the reliever, and will probably release him if they can't find a trade partner. Until Bruney signs with another club, Washington still owes Bruney his $1.5MM salary for 2010.
FRIDAY, 1:35pm: Bruney cleared waivers and now has 24 hours to accept or refuse a minor league assignment, according to Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post (via Twitter). Bruney told MLB.com's Bill Ladson that he isn't sure if he'll accept the assignment.
SUNDAY: The Nationals have designated reliever Brian Bruney for assignment, according to MLB.com's William Ladson (via Twitter). The move was made to create room for right-hander Drew Storen.
Bruney, 28, has a 7.64 ERA with 16 Ks and 20 walks in 17.2 innings for the Nats this season. Washington manager Jim Riggleman indicated yesterday that the club might make a roster move involving Bruney. While the limited sample size should not be overlooked, it is worth noting that the velocity on Bruney's fastball has dipped from 94.6 mph last season to 92.8 mph in 2010.
Meanwhile, Storen has been outstanding this year in both Double-A Harrisburg and Triple-A Syracuse. Between the two stops, Storen has a 1.12 ERA with 15 Ks and just three walks in 16 innings of work. Baseball America's Prospect Handbook predicts that the 22-year-old – ranked third in the Nats' farm system – could be closing games in Washington by the end of the season.
144 innings of 3.25 ERA over the last 4 years for the Yanks, but not good enough for the Nats pen? Is he hurt or something or are 17 innings enough for the Nats to drop the axe on him?
The man walks people. He seems to walk people in every outing. Somebody has to go because Storen is ready. Tyler Walker has shown improvement. Burnett is a lefty who they aren’t going to give up on. Batista is the designated mop up guy who was the only other credible candidate to get moved. If you want to call up Storen and make a decision based on performance, Bruney had to be the guy to go. He reminds me so much of Jesus Colome, a guy who could throw the ball threw a wall but had no idea where it was going.
“Baseball America’s Prospect Handbook predicts that the 22-year-old – ranked third in the Nats’ farm system – could be closing games in Washington by the end of the season.”
It seems like the only way that would happen is if Capps really falters, since he has been great so far, or if the Nats fall so far out of contention that they decide to trade Capps. Otherwise, he would leapfrog Capps and take the role over from him, would he?
Agree on this. They are not going to want to give Storen a closer’s job right off the bat. Right now, we’re just looking for someone who we can bring on out of the pen who we can trust not to walk people and has strikeout stuff. Doug Slaten has been helpful since he was called up from Syracuse over the past week or so. But Bruney’s flame out in Game 2 of the Rockies season was all that Rizzo could tolerate. It will be interesting to see if Bruney clears waivers. I guess the ideal situation would be for someone to claim him and for the Nats to try to work out a trade for a bag of balls. He was a godawful and I thought they were going to wait 2 weeks to cut bait. Glad to see that the Front Office is willing to send a clear message that we’re trying to win this year and not just be glad to beat expectations by finishing 3rd or 4th in the division.
Well, here’s a trade that worked out well for both teams.
Except the Nats have to pay Bruney 2m+
I find it hilarous that they thought he was worthy of giving up a first round pick.
“I find it hilarous that they thought he was worthy of giving up a first round pick in the rule 5 draft”
“fixed” and ya some would argue the rule 5 is a crapshoot but u never know…. what we do know is bruney has been a crapshoot
i just found out Bruney was in the movie Kindergarten Cop when he was a kid, thats classic. THERE IS NO BATHROOM!!
For all the pitcher talk, a lot of you are forgetting that we also have Wang…heh heh. But seriously, he is coming back from injury as well so he is a definite possibility.
Marquis sounds like he’ll need surgery. Even if he comes back, he’s just a glorified 4th starter. Livan Hernandez is going to came back to earth, too.
I’m not sold on Strasburg dominating from day 1. Even Lincecum was only average when he debuted.
It seems as though the Nats now have three quality arms in the pen, with Clippard, Capps and Storen. Not sure Marquis can come back this year, but with Strasbug and Lannan at the top, Livan may be a great fit at 3/4 for the rest of the season. THey still need a quality RF’er and 2b, and a younger catcher (not sure Pudge can keep this up for long). But, they may actually be better than the Mets right now – at least, they seem to be moving in the right direction.
I’m sure he’ll be a very good pitcher, but don’t expect him to dominate until a season or two after his debut.
Marquis got surgery last Friday, I believe. He’s out at least 6 weeks probably more like 8 to 10. It’s going to be a real battle royale for starting rotation spots come July with Detweiler, Wang, Marquis and others trying to crack the starting rotation again.
I don’t see the Nats moving on a 2B at any time. Guzman has been a little bit better than expected and Kennedy gives us professional at bats. Don’t forget that there’s an outside chance Jesus Flores could come back and contribute at some point this season. We would love to make Wil Nieves expendable. His at bat music and community work are great, but he doesn’t give us too many quality MLB bats and I think he’s pressing now that Pudge gets the lion share of the time.
Livo hasn’t given us a bad start all year. He benefits greatly from the improved defense that the Nats are putting out there this year. I hope that pitching him on 3 days rest against the Cards this week doesn’t hurt us too much. I know that Livo will regress to mean but we’re only asking him to gives us a 4.50-4.80 ERA the rest of the way and eat innings once Strasburg comes up. He’ll be a 3/4 starter behind Strasburg, Olsen, and hopefully Lannan. Livo’s been a godsend for us this year and a real positive force in the clubhouse as well.