The Nationals did not speak to the Cubs about acquiring center fielder Marlon Byrd in exchange for left-hander John Lannan, a highly placed Nats source tells Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune. The Nats are apparently content to wait out prized prospect Bryce Harper's arrival to the Majors rather than make a trade.
Meanwhile, the Nats are not actively shopping the recently demoted Lannan, reports Sullivan, nor are the Cubs interested in acquiring him and his $5MM salary.
Byrd, for his part, says he would welcome the opportunity to rejoin the Nats — whether that be via in-season trade or offseason signing — according to Bill Ladson of MLB.com. Byrd, 34, played for the Nats in 2005-06. He's slated to hit free agency this offseason after signing a three-year pact with the Cubs prior to the 2010 campaign.
Lannan, 27, was optioned to Triple-A Syracuse toward the end of Spring Training and was not pleased about it, informing reporters via email that he'd requested to be traded.
Harper, the No. 1 overall draft pick in 2010, was under consideration to make the big league club out of Spring Training but was sent down to refine his hitting and work on his defense in center field. It'll be interesting to see whether the Nats, who are expected to be in the Wild Card(s) chase, are pleased enough with his progress to call him up, or if they eventually opt for outside help.
There would be no point to trade Lannon for Byrd..it would basically be a 1-2 month rental til Harpers up.
Bryce Harper, the only kid who can come into Spring Training an compete for a roster spot after putting up a sub .400 Slugging Percentage in AA.
I think Harper will be a good mlb player. I just don’t get why they are fixated on bringing him up so quickly, especially when he isnt exactly performing all that well. Granted he’s still young, even for AA, but let him develop, whats the rush
I honestly have no idea. 2 years of ticket sale boosts at the expense of Harper’s development isn’t worth the rush.
It would also start his service time when he probably isn’t ready to compete.
he posted a combined line around .300/.400/.500 in his first pro season playing as high as AA as an 18 year old. i don’t think he should be called up, but the nationals are right not to focus much on the final 25% of his PA
Maybe.
Harper is obviously a special case. But competition gets a lot tougher in AA than A+. I don’t believe great numbers from normal prospects until they can put them up in AA and above. I wouldn’t be quick to discount Harper’s struggles in Harrisburg.
I’m pretty much wondering what you all are wondering. What’s the rush? He’s 19.
you shouldn’t discount them; you should put them in context. the context here is one of the best prospects the game has seen was in his first pro season and had just obliterated A and A+ pitching before slowing down to a merely average 150 PA at AA – a level for which he was three years young
he had a phenomenal season and in terms of his development it wouldn’t have been crazy to bring him up if he hit well all spring. in terms of baseball operations it would have been extremely short-sighted not to get that extra year of control by holding him down at first. but in terms of his talent, elite prospects debuting at 19 isn’t unprecedented. if he hits well to start this season, they’d be justified in calling him up
I agree with what you’re saying. The defining aspect (for me) in your view is Bryce being so much younger than the AA comp. In that light, maybe his AA numbers are not as mediocre as they seem.
It will be interesting to see how he’ll do in AAA to start the year.
If anything I see Byrd going to the Mets ( seems to be popular sports radio talk around here) – most interesting fan proposal I heard was Byrd and Wells for Pelfrey and Parnell. Money is equal – mets get 3+yrs of cheap wells for parnell while Byrd and pelfrey would both be let go at end of year.
Wells is a two time 3 WAR player in 3 starting season and pitched great in Spring Training. You can keep Pelfrey.
Everyone knows what’s going to happen. The day after the Nats trade Lannan, they will learn that Wang won’t be back until June and at least one starter will have problems getting past the fifth inning.
In the meantime, Lannan should just stop talking to the media and pitch the best he possibly can. Someone will rescue him.
I’m thinking a good match for the Twins. High groundball rates, mid range Ks, low walks…he’s the stereotypical Twin pitcher(other than attitude), but you won’t get a Wilson Ramos type prospect this time.
I dont see why the Twins don’t make the trade. Attitude aside, he’s the stereotypical Twins pitcher. Low walks, mid Ks, high groundball rates….just dont expect Wilson Ramos again.