Here's a look at items on the Nationals and Marlins..
- Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post looks at the insurance policies that teams take out on players in light of Stephen Strasburg's impending shutdown. Agent Scott Boras says that the insurance policy for Strasburg’s contract could be voided if he pitches against medical advice and injured himself and representatives from specialty insurance companies supported that claim.
- Marlins president Larry Beinfest told 790 The Ticket that he understands that he could lose his job this winter given the club's struggles, writes Clark Spencer of The Miami Herald. Some have speculated that Beinfest could lose his job or be reassigned to a new position by owner Jeffrey Loria. Beinfest is under contact through 2015.
- There has been a great deal of talk surrounding the Nationals' decision to shut Strasburg down for the year, but Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports (video link) doesn't expect the move to impede the club this season. However, Morosi adds that he still doesn't agree with the plan.
- Nationals skipper Davey Johnson says that this year's bench is among the best he had ever managed, writes James Wagner of the Washington Post. Included in that group is the recently-extended Chad Tracy and outfielder Roger Bernadina, who was the subject of trade rumors prior to the start of the season.
When you can make the playoffs and potentially win the world series, you do whatever you can to make that happen. Pitching is key to winning a world series and a 1-3 of Strasburg, Gonzalez and Zimmerman would arguably be one of the best rotations in the playoffs this year. Without Strasburg that rotation is no where near the same.
Boras is only worried about getting paid when Strasburg hits FA. If I were Rizzo, I would pitch Strasburg til his arm fell off sans a “fair” contract buying out at least one year past arbitration.
I would think that flagrant disregard for a pitchers health is a great way to make FA pitchers think twice about signing with your team. Why punish Strasburg because his agent wants to ensure his value remains as high as possible?
Keep in mind that Boras’ attempt to keep his value high = keeping healthy and on the field for the benefit of who????? the team he’s pitching for. People make Boras out to be a bad guy but in this case, not so much.
I wasn’t trying to defend Boras. I was just saying that it isn’t smart to punish Strasburg by “pitching him until his arm falls off”, just to spite Boras.
You meant the team he could be pitching for once he hits FA.
A flagrant disregard for health? We’re talking about a job where the only requirement is to repeat the same, unnatural jerking motion over and over again. It’s in the job description.
If that were the only qualification, every 13 year old boy in America could be an All-Star pitcher.
Moronosi doesn’t expect Operation Shutdown to impede the club? So replacing a Cy Young calibert starter with John Lannan doesn’t hurt? I guess the Nats will cruise to the playoffs despite the horrific way in which Strasburg was handled, but I still prefer Strasburg-Gonzalez-Zimmerman-Jackson in a seven-game playoff over Gonzalez-Zimmerman-Jackson-Detwiler.
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the insurance policy for Strasburg’s contract could be voided if he pitches AGAINST medical advice”.
If this is true and the medical experts advised AGAINST him continuing to pitch then “wuss all the fuss about”?
If they say it’s a high probability to cause injury then it is what it is. If the argument is that they should of factored in that they would be playing meaningful games in September and would need him then you’re probably not being honest. If they had shut him down mid-season once they found themselves as real contenders then they would eventually have to rev him back up either in the minors or stretch him out again mid-season which both can also result in injury.
Would it be better to have Stras vs Lannan..Yes. However, the team has 4 pitchers w/ an ERA/FIP under 3.76 and they SHOULD be able to hold on to a 7.5 game lead. In the playoffs…it is what it is. Stras would still have to be shut down and then stretched out again.
Thats not true, they could have given him extra days off between starts or possibly even have had Lannan make a few spot starts for Strasburg. There was also the option of delaying Strasburg’s season a month or two. I just think they didn’t really expect to compete this year and now they had to make a decision. If the probability of him becoming injured is really that high according to medical professionals then its the right decision but if they shut him down for any other reason than that then it was poor management.
Well, it is the only reason they are doing it. Health is the only factor. If he didnt have surgery, then we wouldnt be discussing this.
“I just think they didn’t really expect to compete this year and now they had to make a decision”.
that’s the whole point.
Just shut him down already. Tired of hearing about it and even more tired of hearing former players, pundits, and internet posters comment on it.
On Strasburg—he should be shut down from now until the end of the month, and then have him make one last start at the end of the season so that he can then start Game 1 or Game 2 of the NLDS on normal four days’ rest (Gio Gonzalez could start Game 1). The Nats should easily clinch the NL East in a runaway.
I dont think its the best without Strasburg. Id take the Giants, Rays, and possibly Cincy over the Nats rotation without Strasburg. I would fear the Angels if they manage to sneak in Weaver, Greinke, Wilson, Haren is pretty darn scary in a short series.
Nats bottom four of rotation xFIP: 3.33, 3.81, 3.72, 4.26
Rays full rotation : 3.21, 3.41, 4.32, 3.62, 4.68
Giants full rotation : 3.36, 3.74, 4.23, 3.71, 5.09
Reds full rotation : 3.61, 3.83, 3.66, 4.17, 4.24
Angels not even close
I think it just puts the Nats at par with the best. Instead of being far and away the best with him
xFIP is meant as a stat that predicts and in some cases is highly flawed. The Giants have Mat Cain in their rotation and he has out pitched xFIP and FIP pretty much his entire career. This is not by a small margin either. Im also not really sure how you can just ignore the homerun in the statistic. I recommend the article “An Open Letter to the Viceroy of Stats” by Grant Brisbee(you can find it on google). It talks further about Mat Cain and it will probably articulate things a lot better than I can.I would still take the Reds and Angels rotations over the Nats.