The Nationals are in a strong position to make a move for White Sox ace Chris Sale, opines ESPN’s Buster Olney (Insider subscription required), and GM Mike Rizzo’s track record only strengthens the case. Olney spoke to a peer of Rizzo who plainly stated that Rizzo “doesn’t make bad trades,” and Olney runs down a list of Rizzo’s best moves to demonstrate that he does come out ahead far more often than he comes up short. Rizzo’s acquisitions of Trea Turner, Joe Ross, Gio Gonzalez, Denard Span, Wilson Ramos, Doug Fister and Yunel Escobar all look anywhere from fair to lopsided in the Nationals’ favor and outweigh the occasional misstep (e.g. picking up Jonathan Papelbon), Olney argues. He also notes that with prospects like Lucas Giolito, Victor Robles, Reynaldo Lopez and Erick Fedde, among others, the Nats have the minor league pieces to make a compelling offer for Sale.
Here’s a bit more from the NL East…
- Speaking of Ramos, the free-agent catcher is now six weeks removed from his reconstructive knee surgery and, as MASNsports.com’s Mark Zuckerman points out, recently tweeted a series of video clips to show where he’s at in his rehab program. The Nationals still remain reluctant to make any kind of long-term offer to Ramos in the wake of his torn ACL and meniscus, Zuckerman notes, but Ramos still has time to be patient and further his rehab before seeking to land the lucrative multi-year deal he covets.
- MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro tweets that the Marlins, like many teams, are electing not to make any significant moves until they see how the ongoing collective bargaining negotiations play out. While Miami and its modest payroll needn’t worry about luxury tax considerations, topics such as draft-pick compensation could certainly impact the team’s decision-making process and the offers that the Marlins would feel comfortable extending. Similarly, the possibility of roster expansion could play a role in determining how the organization wishes to structure its pitching staff moving forward. In a full column, Frisaro lists Doug Fister, Ivan Nova, Travis Wood and Edinson Volquez as speculative fits as well as rebound candidates like Justin Masterson, C.J. Wilson and Jon Niese.
- While Yoenis Cespedes is well-known to be the Mets’ top priority, MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo writes that they’ll also be looking for at least one veteran reliever at next week’s Winter Meetings. The Mets may also kick the tires on some potential Jay Bruce trade partners, as he doesn’t fit on the same roster as Cespedes all that well. Similarly, Kristie Ackert of the New York Daily News wrote last week that the Mets don’t want both Cespedes and Bruce on the same roster but exercised Bruce’s option as a safety net and could look to trade him if they can manage to retain Cespedes.
Steve, kind of a random question, but why is the Pacific Coast League so hitter friendly? I’ve heard it quite a bit, including in you last post, and I have never quite understood why.
The parks are in the relatively dry south west as well as being small. The dry air acts like altitude, flattening curveball and making it easier to drive the ball. The small parks also make it much easier to hit out of the park. Hope this helps
Yes. Thank you very much!
Why is any ballpark hitter friendly or Pitcher friendly? Dimensions and layout of the ball parks and climate.
That’s true for a park here and there, but a whole league is another story. More to do with the conditions in that area.
Exactly
Good question. Always thought about that myself a bit. It’s been expressed so often that I’ve just learned to accept it as a fact without ever hearing the exact reasoning.
The fields get hard and dry as well, balls rocket through holes and to the walls, also makes it harder to field hard hit balls, obviously. Which puts more runners on base.
Along with the dry air, the heat and lack of humidity in New Mexico, Arizona and California help the ball to fly farther.. Doubles elsewhere are home runs there.
Add in the altitude, too. If I remember correctly, 9/16 PCL ballparks are at or above 1000 feet. 5 are over 3740 feet.
Sounds about right. Then you have places like Albuquerque, Colorado Springs, Reno, etc. that are close to a mile or more.
I played out there and all your points are right on the money! That;s why sabermaticians have park adjusted stats.
In the new CBA, draft pick compensation would still apply to this year’s FA’s, I would suppose, but this article appears to say that the Marlins are waiting to see what the new CBA says in that regard. Am I missing something?
the rules don’t have to still apply for this offseason, it’s just been assumed they will. the new CBA can take effect as soon as they sign it if that’s how they want it set up. no reason to jump the gun abs lose a draft pick if there is a chance you won’t have to. the FA will wait
to see if their market increases.
damn phone cut off my comment.
Also another issue for some teams is the luxury tax line. Probably doesn’t apply to the Marlins, but teams looking to stay under the tax line want to see where it’s going to be before making moves.
I am sure Sandy and the Cheapons are well aware of this but John Mayberry Jr and D’azo are still available if Cespedes goes elsewhere.
You really only play one note, huh?
Gotta love these fickle Mets fans. How quickly they forget a NL PENNANT in 2015.
I gave you a life didnt i?
So let’s say the Mets give Cespedes a big fat contract, I assume you’ll also be fine with his bound-to-happen drop off in production where his production won’t match his price? Or are you just going to complain in three to four years about how Sandy gives out bad contracts and the Cespedes contract is holding the team back?
Hey – why would someone be a Mets fan if not to complain? People who like to win all the time used to become Yankee fans…I wonder what they’re gonna do now? 🙂
Cespedes in a bad year will give you more than the junk the genius Sandy seems to find every year in the Garbage. What’s your next point?
Outside of de Aza (who was an overpriced panic move in case they didn’t sign Cespedes, so I’ll agree that was a bad pickup), who else has Sandy picked up the past couple of years that was garbage? Let’s see…Colon, Walker, Asdrubal Cabrera, Blevins, Kelly Johnson and Juan Uribe (who were effective mid-season trades). I’m sure I missed a couple of guys who were both good and bad, but if you expect a GM to hit on all of his acquisitions and to be acquiring star players in said acquisitions, you have unrealisitic expectations.
Marlins take it from an Angels fan, you do not want CJ Wilson. He will quit on his teammates
And Rangers fan
Getting healthy and quitting are two different things
Correct. Once healthy, he quits.
Colorado Springs . Albuquerque, Salt Lake and Reno are all 4200 ft elevation or above and El Paso is 3700 ft. Think of the Denver effect on hitters at Coors field and multiply it by five ballparks.
$ 89 per hour Seriously, I do not know why more people have not tried it, I work two shifts, 2 hours in the day and 2 in the evening … and I receive an unsatisfactory check for $ 12620 which is genial is Im Works from home if I get more time with my children.G$3.
This is what I do. >>>>>>>>> NetJob90.Tk
I can see the White Sox trading Sale this winter, and the Nats should be in on him. I think leaving Turner out of it the Nats would have come up with a package of Giolito. Feede, Robles and Taylor to get it done. Anything more than that and the Nats bail. The Yanks would counter with a package leaving Sanchez out, of Severino, Judge, Mateo, and Kaprelian. and the Red Sox leave Betts out and offer Bradley, Moncada, and Groome and Johnson.
I didn’t think Groome could be traded – when are draft picks from the previous season allowed to be traded?
after the world series
Technically, by the following June draft.
The Trea Turner deal on December 19th of 2014 circumvented that rule by designating him as a “player to be named later” which led to all sorts of problems including having the former June 2014 first round pick playing in his original drafting team’s minor league system for 58 games in 2015 until he was formally announced as the PTBN on June 14th, 2015.
Note: a snippet from a Ken Rosenthal article (http://www.foxsports.com/mlb/story/washington-nationals-trea-turner-draftee-san-diego-padres-ken-rosenthal-121914) following the three team trade on December 19th, 2014:
“Drafted players can be traded six months after they sign their original contracts, but again, the deals only can become official after a year. The obvious solution is to change the rule through collective bargaining — an adjustment that the players union would favor, sources say.
MLB officials acknowledge that the rule needs to be revisited, but the league is unlikely push for quick action, sources say. Turner is under a minor-league contract, so the union does not appear to have jurisdiction over him. Berry (Turner’s agent), though, seems inclined to fight.”
I thought they changed the rule after that happened?
It was changed
And then they changed the dumb rule. Now they can be traded after World Series like Dansby Swanson was last year
Missed the rule change but it makes sense in light of the Trea Turner fiasco.
Which begs the question, How did the rule change occur before the current CBA expires? Did the union sign off on it or was their approval nor necessary?
They agreed to it. There are frequently amendments and things worked out during the effective period of a CBA.
The rule was changed. It’s now 6 months after the draft.
that Red Sox offer is way better than the other two.
There is NO way Sales is picking up that kind of haul. Giolito. Feede, Robles and Taylor? Giolito is 21 years old and likely to give them what sales will into the future.
1) Giolito is 22, not 21.
2) No, Giolito is not “likely” to give them what Sale will into the future. There’s a slim chance he turns into what Chris Sale currently is. Is it possible? Absolutely. Is it likely? Not at all.
I think the Nats could, and should, take that deal. I think that’s about what it would take, and I think it would be worth it. From there, I think you take a rotation of Scherzer, Sale, Strasburg, Roark, and Ross. That is an amazing rotation. From there, trade Gio to free up some salary, and then go for either Cespedes or Jansen. Cespy would be your right handed bat to protect Harper, and the bullpen is complete with Jansen. Make a run for it while you have Harper. An OF of Cespy, Turner, and Harper is amazing if you can trade Werth. Otherwise, they could move Harper to CF for a year and move Turner to SS and get rid of Espinosa. They would be very tough to beat. I think they need to go all out while they can.
My braves cannot sit by and watch the nationals get another elite pitcher while we sit here and wait for ours to grow…we got the players to get it done without getting rid of albies swanson or maitan
I mean I guess the Braves do, but the White Sox probably want one of Albies or Maitan (assuming, and understandably, Swanson is untouchable).
The 2 Chicago teams should make a trade that would be good for both teams, Sale to the Cubs for Schwarber, Solar and either Baez or Russell, whichever of those 2 the Cubs want less.
No way. If I was the white sox I would take that in a millisecond. Even if they added robertson it would be unfair.
Well first the Cubs are not going to trade Russell. Next if the White Sox were trading Sale they would ask for who they want. They are not going to say Oh schucks we wanted Russell but the Cubs get to choose and give us a player we do not want.
Next I do not see the White Sox trading Sale to the Cubs
YOU must be a Cubs fan. Heaven forbid the White Sox have something to say about whether the player involved be Russell or Baez. They should just be happy the Cubs are willing to take Sale and his overpriced contract off their hands.
Yah, that is an atrocious contract.