The Nationals are actively seeking a veteran relief pitcher and are dangling starter John Lannan as possible trade bait, according to Buster Olney of ESPN.com (via Twitter). The left-hander is set to earn $5MM in 2012.
Lannan, 27, hasn't looked sharp in nine starts for Triple-A Syracuse, posting a 6.12 ERA with 4.5 K/9 and 3.4 BB/9. A rival executive recently pointed out to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports that any team that acquires Lannan might prefer to let him go rather than go to arbitration with him, further hurting his trade value.
Lannan is ambidextrous?
Nice.. Dangling Lannan should get them a really nice retread pitching awful at AAA.. As long as the Nationals agree to pay all but the minimum of the remaining amount of the 5m Lannan is due.
I could see the Rangers maybe being a fit if they don’t sign Oswalt. They can get rid of Koji Uehara like they’ve been wanting, and Lannan can slot into the rotation if (when) Scott Feldman blows up. Seems like a longshot that Feliz will be a starter when he returns from the DL, so they’ll need more depth in the rotation.
Koji has been doing really good for the rangers..
Maybe the Royals move Mijares for him. At the beginning of the year I would have said Broxton, but with closers dropping like flies, his value is inflated.
Besides, Mijares has been really good this year.
Matt Albers? Red Sox need to make room for Melancon and starter depth.
Albers has been successful so far and Matsuzaka back in another couple of weeks (if not sooner) if they want depth, not to mention Ohlendorf, also at AAA has done a better job than Lannan and has an opt out date of 6/1.
it sure would be nice if everyone would cease especially Lannan to Boston, much less for anything worthwhile.
I could actually see the Sox being a decent fit for Lannan if all they’re looking for is a reliever. The Red Sox have more relievers than they know what to do with, and they can stick Lannan in AAA as backup for their backups.
They don’t have room as it is for Tazawa, Mortenson and Melencon. Wilson has done better in relief at AA. Tazawa and Mortenson already deserve to be at the MLB level with how they performed there already.
There is no place at Pawtucket I see for another overpaid retread to join Duckworth, Pena, Mathis etc…
That’s exactly what I’m saying about the relievers; they have several of them in AAA who should be in the majors, but they simply don’t have room for them, so if they can get something even semi useful for a reliever it would be better than simply DFAing them.
As far as room in AAA: Matsuzaka is going to be added to the major league roster soon, and Ohlendorf can opt out on the 1st if he’s not added to the 40 man (he has options so he doesn’t have to be in the majors) and I’m not sure that he is worth making room on the roster for. So there’s a possibility of two open rotation spots in AAA in the next couple of weeks. Lannan has also had more success, more recently than Ohlendorf.
Think we have chatted regarding the reliever stock pile before. The market just hasn’t heated up enough in order for Boston to move 2-3 of them yet, it’s evident with people like Lannan all being offered for veteran relievers as “bait”.
When pretenders start falling by the wayside and rotations get overworked, or teams with relievers start sustaining enough injuries at that time the market should open up somewhat and Boston, even if a couple of the ones they have regress some have enough to move for pieces better than a SP making 5m who is getting roughed up at AAA and certain to get DFA’d/not offered a contract at the end of the year.
Hold off another month and the market should begin to settle down some.. the Fish for example already need some pieces as they are playing better and need help there. Washington also.
A guy like Lannan is about the most you’ll get for a non-elite reliever. If you can get Lannan (+ cash) for a guy like Albers you’re doing pretty good.
Yes, Albers is good now, but Sox have overloaded bullpen – Aceves, Padilla, Morales, Hill, Atchison, Miller, Albers in MLB and Melancon, Mortensen and Tazawa waiting in Pawtucket. Nobody in MLB pen has options (except Aceves, but they surely wouldn’t send him down), so Albers is expendable because of his track record. When he’ll start giving up homers like last year in August and September, nobody will want him even for Lannan.
Dice-K needs minimum 2-3 weeks to get full recovery, Cook only started throwing. Ohlendorf isn’t on 40-man roster and has ERA near 5 in AAA.
So I think Lannan + 2-3 millions in cash for Albers will work for Sox. Lannan was good in the past, so I don’t think all give up on him. Buchholz is awful now, but nobody wants to dump him because he was good earlier.
Pirates can offer up someone like Juan Cruz or Grilli but I’d want nothing to do with Lannan. Put Lombardozzi (sp) on the table and we can talk. Not for Cruz of course but maybe in a deal for Grilli or Hammer.
I was thinking the same thing. Lannan is the last thing the Pirates need, but Hanrahan would interest the Nats for a bat or two. Neither Cruz nor Grilli would have as much trade value, and quite frankly for now I’m quite happy with them where they are. Pirates could replace Hammer with Cruz (short term) or Lincoln (long term). But unless it’s a quality bat, stand pat.
What about Vicente Padilla for Lannan?
NO JUST NO. Padilla is too valuable to trade.
It is really disappointing to see how Lannan has fallen. He has been a reliable average pitcher, producing 6.7 WAR over 5 seasons. The $5M contract was a blessing turned to a curse. He got the salary through arbitration, got married, and seemed to be on top of the world. Given the quality of the Nationals’ pitching staff, though, it would be hard to argue with the choice to send him to AAA.
+1/2St.
see thats what i was saying. Lannan has never been “elite” but he has been a solid starter through his career. Could his struggles through AAA maybe be caused by how upset he is witth the way the nats handled him? hes not old hes not garbage. just confusing
Brandon League?
Brandon Lyon of the Astros would seem to be a good fit.
Brandon Lyon and his under 2 era for John Lannan straight up
Detroit will gladly give you Dan Schlereth if they cover like 3M of that. We still need to pay off Inge and his salary…
the padres desperately need starting arms with half the team on the DL right now and his numbers would look great after petco. i wonder if they would have the right parts to trade for him and make it a pump-and-dump at the deadline.
The Nats need to build up Lannan’s performance and trade value. How about adding a special instructor to the AAA team to work with Lannan about 80% of the time….help him as a traditional pitching coach would….but also get inside his head….some tradtional therapy might help as well. I think there is a good chance either Lannan’s ego/confidence has been shattered and need to be rebuilt….or he is subconsciously acting out and screwing up to get back at the Nats for the demotion….a counselor could help him recognize what is going on and channel his energies in healthy not self-destructive ways….help him see what is in his interest and what he needs to do for his own advantage.
Also wouldn’t hurt with getting therapy for whoever in the Nationals FO thinks Lannan has any positive trade value…
woah now…i’ve always been a lannan basher, but he can still be a solid back end of the rotation piece
Do people really think Lannan has much value? I’ve seen comments say League, Schlereth, Cruz, Mijares, etc etc… Washington doesn’t want to pay a average starter(when he is at his best) 5 million this season to struggle at AAA, so if they could have had any of those names it would have been done already. Realistically they would have to eat the majority of what is owed to Lannan in order to get anything remotely close to being valuable and even then don’t expect a setup guy. Maybe a 4th or 5th arm out of the pen kinda guy.
Arthur Rhodes anyone?
Esmil Rodgers is available. Maybe it works out for both teams (Nats/Rox).
J
Would rather have Lannan at his $5 Mil for the remainder of the season via trade than Oswalt for 7 plus mil. Lefty arms are a little more valuable and Lannan does not have much injury worries that follow him. Some team will bite and offer a few mid tier prospects at bare minimum.
move lannan to the pen problem solved. dont see teams giving up anythinh for him plus the nats will have to pick up his salary
How about this trade. Mitchell Boggs for John Lannan. Cardinals fix back end of they’re bullpen by sending Lynn who has never logged over 164+ innings and is starting to ware down from his strong down. Also you don’t know how Chris Carpenter will return when he is back healthy. Nationals get the veteran reliever they’ve been looking for. He is a young power with a little potential still left.
that actually seems like a pretty fair and reasonable deal from both sides there
Brandon league
I’ll bet the Mets would trade Acosta for him, STRAIGHT up! Mets need SP and Acosta belongs in AAA too. The 5M shouldn’t be a problem for the Mets either. Now as long as the Nats don’t mind getting one of the WORST relievers in the game back…
Sounds like an AA type deal. Trade for the guy on the way down
Dangling Lannan?
What about Matt Thornton? Money about matches up and the White Sox would have starting rotation depth in case Peavy or anyone else goes down. Almost makes too much sense.