The latest on the Nats:
- Among the issues the Reds needed to resolve with Brandon Phillips was the question of money deferred in the six-year, $72.5MM contract extension he signed in 2012, Chelsea Janes of The Washington Post writes. Â The Nats appeared to be on the cusp of trading for the second baseman earlier this week until Phillips declined to waive his no-trade clause.
- Now that the Phillips deal appears to be dead – or at least on hold – the Nationals could consider Jurickson Profar of the Rangers as a trade possibility, according to Jim Bowden of ESPN.com.  However, Profar’s health situation probably means that a deal wouldn’t take place until March.  GM Jon Daniels told reporters back in November that he was getting trade interest on the oft-injured Profar, though he added that teams were looking to buy low on him.  Profar, who missed the entire 2014 season after twice tearing a muscle in his shoulder, underwent right shoulder surgery in February.  Profar ranked as the consensus No. 1 prospect in baseball heading into the 2013 season, receiving that distinction from Baseball America, Baseball Prospectus, MLB.com and ESPN’s Keith Law. He made his debut as a 20-year-old that season and homered in his first big league plate appearance, though he went on to struggle, relatively speaking, to a .234/.308/.366 batting line in 324 plate appearances that season.
- On Saturday night, ex-GM Dan O’Dowd (writing for MLB.com) ran down five players who he feels won’t be signing anytime soon.  At the top of the list is Nationals free agent shortstop Ian Desmond.  O’Dowd feels that Desmond will be driven to get an offer as good as the seven-year, $107MM extension he reportedly turned down from the Nats last offseason and that could lead to a prolonged stint in free agency.   Perhaps the game’s best shortstop from 2012-14, Desmond only produced a .233/.290/.384 batting line in 2015.  At the outset of the offseason, MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes predicted that Desmond would net a five-year, $80MM deal on the open market.  Of course, he comes with a qualifying offer attached.
Scooter Gennett would be great for the Nats.
They’d be better off sticking to their own system instead of trading for a 0.6WAR Scooter who has declined in production every year since his debut.
Aside from that, the fact that people keep mentioning Profar is utterly ridiculous. Texas isn’t going to trade him for mere scraps and surely aren’t going to deal him until they see a healthy Profar. The best option is to waste and see with him because the current market return won’t be significant.
Matt Carpenter for Tanner Roark, Brian Goodwin, and Wilmer Difo. Make it happen…
I think it would take much more than that to trade for MC.
Carpenters numbers declined last year, and people seem to forget he’ll be 32 next year. Roark would fit great in the cardinals rotation, replacing Lynn/Lackey, and Goodwin and Difo are both fringe top-10 prospects. Maybe not that exact deal, but the value seems pretty equal to me. MC seems like a great fit regardless. He solves both the Nats infield and lead off problems.
Carpenter turned 30 last month. Not sure where you came up with 32 next year lol.
Dude, Carpenter is part of the Cards’ core – he’s untouchable. For a team starved for power, you think we’d trade our top run producer for Roark of all players? I doubt they’d include him in a deal for Jose Fernandez much less Roark. Don’t get me wrong, I like Roark, but not for MC.
Not to nitpick, but MC won’t even be 31 until November ’16.
Carpenter became a run produced last year? Also beat his 2014 OPS by .120 pts.
I don’t know about “much more”, but I think people underestimate MC. He’s sneaky good/great and I think people forget he has the speed to bat leadoff.
Not even close.
No way you get Carpenter for Roark (5th starter at best)….Goodwin (erratic offensive production, 25 yr old minor leaguer, stock slipping, OF)……and Difo (Cards set at 2B,SS with Wong, Garcia, Gyorko, Diaz). Now if you went with A. J. Cole,, Erick Fedde, and add 1 of the catchers in the minors (Jakson Reetz, Rudy Read, or Spencer Kieboom…….)….that might get the conversation started…..but Carpenter is such an integral piece of the core, they probably don’t move him. Nats could easily get Greg Garcia (solid bat and a 2B) for a guy like Roark alone….imho.
Nooooonoooo
If you want to have Roark as a headliner, you need to chase someone with considerably less talent than Matt Carpenter.
A team would be nuts to give Desmond 7/$107.
Nats dodged a bullet when he turned that down.
I’m in the camp that thinks whatever team that winds up with Desmond is most likely getting a bargain at this point. For whatever team that is though, I really think he is a 3B not SS. I get the concern, I’m just not buying that this guy fell off of a cliff.
I agree his first half 2015 was horrible, but his second half was practically identical to what you expect out of Desmond. .262/12hr/8sb in the second half last year.
His career 162 game averages are .264/19hr/21sb
I think Fister was a bigger bullet that you guys dodged.
That true Desmond good but his range in pay is 5/75mil if he gets lucky
I’ve always considered Desmond one of the leagues WORST short stops. Interesting this league infers the opposite.
He had a sour 2015. Doesnt mean he will be terrible for the rest of his career. He wont be a Nat. But I agree that if his 2015 debilitates his earning power, he will be a bargain for the next team that signs him.
He may be a bargain by FA standards, but if he gets anywhere near what MLBTR predicted and plays to career norms he certainly won’t be a great deal. A good one at best and the odds that he’ll be solid for the whole contract is slim.
I agree with everything you say and I think he’s one of the worst SS out there.
But he always has a positive defensive war.
Like to hear a Nationals fan’s take on his defense cause man am I puzzled.
He has good range and a great arm. He makes some really tough plays, but he’s prone to inexplicable errors, esp. early in the season. He seems like a guy who gets caught up in his head. He tends to start the season cold, both offensively and with the leather. He presses harder and harder to prove himself. I think the contract year dynamic got in his head this year, and I’d expect that any team that signs him could be in for a rough first half of a season, as he tried to prove he was worth it. He needs a coaching team that’s strong on the psychological side. Matt Williams was not.
Offensively, his slumps spiral out of control as he doubles down on what causes them. He swings from his heels, always trying to hit out of the park. 25 HR is a nice thing from a SS, but I feel like the league caught onto him, and he hasn’t adjusted. When he’s slumping offensively, his glove is affected too. He seems distracted or frustrated.
I don’t know. He’s a good guy and positive contributor in stats, but that defense, ugh. I can’t prove it without doing some work, but it seems like his errors are more costly than a typical SS’s errors. Like a random guy who makes a bad throw could make his team still win 5-3 instead of 5-1. Desmond on the other hand inevitably can put up the same stat line with a 2 run error, but it’d be in the 9th inning and the team loses 5-6 instead of winning 5-4.
Desmond has talent, but teams won’t be willing to go that high. I’m guessing he’ll have no problem getting 5/75…..if he doesn’t regain his form, teams won’t get killed at that rate……If he does regain it, it will be a bargain for them. He needs to go to a team with a good hitting coach….his K rate has jumped the last 2 years. If they can “fix that”…he should “be back”, offensively. Braves could take a shot at him, with Chipper Jones back as their hitting instructor and a “short term rebuild” underway. They hope to contend in 2017 again.
swoop in there Preller and get Profar & prospect for Cashner
I guess you didn’t read the part about a twice torn shoulder.
Profar and prospect would be worth the risk for Cashner. Both Profar and Cash have the potential to rebound with upside or they could crap out. Cash is not going to resign with the Pads.. The major hurdle for the Pads would’ve another rotation spot to fill.
Nats should take a look at Jean Segura
Segura is the Dom Brown of shortstop.
Outside a good couple months, he has been terrible for the rest of his career. Hes no better than Turner is right now.
Agreed. Plus Segura isn’t good defensively. I don’t see Segura as better than Espinosa, and I’d rather play the better glove. If there isn’t a clear upgrade being made just play Espinosa until Trea is ready.
Desmond will end up on a 1 year deal trying FA again next year. All of the big name teams have a SS for next year which leaves a few low budget teams in the mix. He should have taken the extension but you know how agents are stroking the ego of the player they represent.
I still think the Padres should dangle a 1 year deal to Desmond, he fixes their need at shortstop for this year and if he returns to the shortstop he wS prior to last season ( and if the Padres are not in contention) they can flip him at the deadline for prospects, and if he doesn’t go back to his old self then it won’t be a big loss for SD since they would only have him for one year instead of 7/100$. Idk just makes some sense to me
Desmond looks poised to be one of the biggest losers in free agency this year.
At his peak, Ian Desmond was the best offensive SS in MLB in 2013 but he was not a superstar. Many INF with high defensive range generally can be excused for making a higher number of errors. However, this is not the case. He made too many errors for being a low range fielder. For the money he expects,, any team may be better off looking within for a SS. .
Should not trade him right now (unless someone is already buying high on him). all teams are going to try to buy low on him. i’d give him the chance to bring his stock back up before trading him.
I could see Desmond taking a one year deal to rebuild his value. His agent recently said that teams were looking at him to play other positions, like 2b, 3b, and of – which means he will be repackaging himself as a zobrist type player. If that is indeed what he is doing, he could be looking at a very lucrative contract – I doubt it will be in the range of 7/107, but could potentially have a much higher aav.