AUG. 28: Bill Ladson of MLB.com reports (on Twitter) that Span is set to undergo season-ending hip surgery next Tuesday. The issue is in his hip labrum, manager Matt Williams tells reporters including Mark Zuckerman of Comcast SportsNet (Twitter link).
AUG. 27: Nationals center fielder Denard Span is headed back to the disabled list with inflammation in his left hip, and as Mark Zuckerman of CSN Washington writes, this most recent injury may very well bring his season to a close.
This will be Span’s third and seemingly final trip to the disabled list in 2015 — an unfortunate series of events for any player, but particularly for Span, who is eligible for free agency for the first time at season’s end. If his season is indeed done, injuries will have limited the 31-year-old to just 61 games. Of course, his production in those 61 games has been excellent; Span has totaled a .301/.365/.431 batting line with five homers and 11 stolen bases.
Defensive metrics were down on Span in 2015, though injuries may have played a part in his deteriorated rankings, as Span does come with a reputation as a plus defender in center field. After beginning the season on the disabled list due to offseason core muscle surgery, Span again landed on the disabled list in early July due to back spasms. He returned from the DL just three days ago, but his stay on the active roster will be a brief one. As Zuckerman writes, the string of injuries were very likely related to one another.
Manager Matt Williams told Zuckerman and other reporters that while it’s not clear if Span will return in 2015, he would “imagine it’s going to be very tough for him to get back.” The loss of Span, of course, further dampens the playoff hopes of what has been a disappointing Nationals club in 2015. Though Washington emerged victorious tonight, so too did the division-leading Mets. Picked by most (myself included) to win the division, the Nationals instead trail the Mets by 6.5 games and are an even more distant nine games back in the NL Wild Card race.
Compounding matters for the Nationals is the fact that rookie outfielder Michael Taylor — Span’s likely replacement — left tonight’s game with a knee injury suffered when crashing into the outfield wall. It’s not known how long Taylor will be sidelined, but Zuckerman notes that center fielder Matt den Dekker, who would’ve been a September call-up anyhow, will presumably be called up as a corresponding move to replace Span.
Huge disappointment from a nats fan. He was one of their most underrated players and a great guy. Maybe they can bring him back on a QO. I’m sure he wants to reestablish his value on a 1 year contract and I don’t think Taylor is ready to take over CF yet.
Too expensive for Span I’d assume.
He was going to make north of 12M per via FA, a one year deal at ~15.5M is not a big gamble for the Nats.
I’d make the QO to Span — the upside outweighs the downside (Span at 1/16 isn’t really a terrible situation) for the Nationals. And for Span, even with injuries in 2015, he can top that figure as a free agent pretty handily. Worst case scenario would be taking a one-year deal worth close to the QO amount anyway, so the risk is a few million dollars for him. The reward, meanwhile, is in the tens of millions.
I still see Bryce talking about how they were the team to beat when werth came back…
Haha, yes, the washed up Jayson Werth was going to make such a difference.
He’s such a good clubhouse though
Harper is at his best when silent. Great baseball player but when opens his mouth its all downhill from there.
The National homers are our tonight (you were -2) I guess.
So his comp is Jacoby Ellsbury? An oft injuried center fielder, so a 7/180 deal shall be in order.
Not a perfect comparison. Ellsbury was 2 years younger and coming off a 5.8 fWAR season when he hit FA. Span has never topped 4.1 fWAR and coming off a season in which he went to the DL on three separate occasions. Span has also never been as big a stolen base threat as Ellsbury.
I obviously dislike the Mets, but I’m happy to see them winning instead of Washington. I don’t think there’s a team I dislike more. Most of it is simply because of the players in Washington too.
I only clicked this thinking I read “Mark Zuckerberg” instead of Mark Zuckerman of CSN Washington. I am now interested in how Zuckerberg would be connected to baseball.
Test old post
Not the walk year expected huh