Jimmy Rollins announced on Twitter that he has a mild grade 2 groin strain and will be on the disabled list until September. Here's the latest on the 81-44 Phillies and the rest of their division…
- Ryan Zimmerman repeated to MLB.com's Bill Ladson that he'd like to spend his entire career in Washington. The third baseman is set to hit free agency after the 2013 season.
- Scouts tell Bob Nightengale of USA Today that the Nationals will be powerful in a couple of years and would compete in the NL West right now (Twitter link).
- The Phillies and Cole Hamels want to work out a long-term deal this offseason, according to Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer. Gelb shows that Jered Weaver is about as statistically similar to Hamels as possible and suggests that the Phillies and Hamels could agree to a contract that mimics Weaver's recent five-year, $85MM extension. Hamels should earn more than Weaver, given his higher 2011 salary and proximity to free agency.
- Mets manager Terry Collins asked starter Mike Pelfrey if he'd be up for becoming the team's closer in 2012 and Pelfrey said he "absolutely" would, according to Andy Martino of the New York Daily News. However, it's unlikely that Pelfrey will become the Mets' closer, since GM Sandy Alderson is opposed to the idea, Martino writes. Check out CloserNews.com for more on each team’s bullpen.
- Braves GM Frank Wren told Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports that he has focused on adding speed in recent years, bringing in players such as Jose Constanza and Michael Bourn.
- Braves reliever Eric O'Flaherty switched agents and is now a client of Dan Lozano's Icon Sports Group, according to Yahoo's Tim Brown (on Twitter). Steve Canter formerly represented the left-hander, who will be arbitration eligible for the second time after the season. Keep track of each player's representation with MLBTR's Agency Database.
Braves would be smart in trying to trade O’Flaherty in the offseason off his career year. His arb bump is going to be significant. We have Vizcaino more than ready to assume the 7th inning role.
I agree that EOF is fixin’ to get way richer, but he is currently fairly affordable at $895K. And I am not 100% sure that the organization views Vizcaino as a bullpen guy for forever. If they do then I’m all for selling high on EOF.
Do the Braves have any lefties in the high minors that might replace EOF? Or at least be a LOOGY if not a one-inning guy?
No, but you can always get a LOOGY for under $1M. I personally say keep EOF and pay him what he gets in arbitration, I was just saying if Vizcaino is viewed as a reliever then I could see the logic of trading high on O’Flaherty since this almost certainly will be his career year. But even if he “regresses” to his 2010 numbers he would be worth his arbitration raise for one more year.
I think we’d have to re-sign Sherill and EOF. Nothing wrong with that. Venters is also a LHP if needed.
EOF at $2-3 mil next year is still a steal, even if his ERA regresses to 2.25 or 2.5.
Moylan’s the one who has to go, he’s still very good, but Gearrin’s a cheaper Moylan.
I don’t disagree that Moylan and his relatively high salary seem expendable, but the “EOF at $2-3 mil next year is still a steal, even if his ERA regresses to 2.25 or 2.5” part is sketchy to me. It assumes that is the worst that will happen, and the fact is that is still significantly better than his career numbers AND it doesn’t take into account the workload EOF will have seen by year end. If I could look into the old crystal ball and see that EOF would put up 2010-like numbers for 2011 and 2012 then I’d jump all over offering him a 2 year/$4M contract, but I am less than confident that he can do that (albeit very hopeful).
Don’t forget that the whole reason EOF got his shot with the Braves is because they were unwilling to give Will Ohman a 2-year deal worth about $4M and in retrospect that seems wise.
Why in the hell would Mike Pelfrey become the Met’s closer? His only good quality is providing semi-respectable innings. I don’t think he has the stuff to excel at closer, that would be pointless.
Well his splits do show he’s better going through the batting order the first time around… so there is an argument, albeit a weak one.
Though I’m not sure an ineffective $6M closer is better than an ineffective $6M starter.
I guess with Pelf as the closer, we can delay that 6th inning collapse until the 9th inning.
Agreed… I don’t think a lot of managers would look at a 1.406 WHIP, 5.0 SO/9, and a 1.77 SO/BB and think “THAT guy should be my closer”. As a Braves fan I’m all for it, though.
Vizcaino never going to crack the starting rotation?!?! Are you smoking crack?!? Lowe and Hudson gone in the next 2 years, and we are paying only Hanson or JJ, NOT BOTH. Vizcaino throws 98 and our #@HTF:disqus SP prospect. He will be in that rotation in less than 2 years. The ONLY reason he is in the pen right now is because we capped his innings this year and moved him to the pen less than 2 months ago because he was reaching his innings cap.
Scouts tell Bob Nightengale of USA Today that the Nationals will be powerful in a couple of years and would compete in the NL West right now (Twitter link).
Well yeah, it’s the N.L. West..
Exactly, the N.L. West is hands down the worst division in all of baseball, and it been that way for years now.If you put any team in the national league west into another division, say the N.L. East OR A.L. East they would most likely be at the bottom of the division year in year out.
Tim Brown is terrible. He actually wrote an entire piece about how Tigers color commentator, Rod Allen, is racist towards hispanics and that he should be fired because of it. Those statements were false. I refuse to read anything that he writes.
Nationals, Please lock up Zim! Give him a tulo type deal!!
The Nationals should listen to offers on Zim this offseason, coming from a Nats fan. If he was put on the market, he’d be twice as valuable as anyone presently on the trading block, with two years of team control over one of the best overall players in the game. If they can get a monster deal for him, they should swing it. It would be tough for any team to put together a package good enough to land him, though.
Are you kidding me? Why would Nationals trade one solid everyday player? They can not possibly justify this deal to their fans. Besides Werth and maybe Morse, everyone else including Danny, Desi, Ramos, and others are still adjusting to ML pitching. And you are suggesting that trade that one all-star player we have?
As far as I know, signing Zimm to a long term contract is one of the top priorities this off-season.
No way.
Does Zimmerman throwing to first base scare anyone else? I’ve never seen a third baseman look so awkward throwing to first base. If he makes a couple really bad throws, it could get in his head and be like Knoblach. I’m a huge Zim fan, but that would scare me a bit if I’m the Nats.
He made those adjustments after the injury and after this season he will go back to his regular motion.