Matt Adams signed with the Nationals fairly early in the offseason knowing full well that regular at-bats were going to be difficult to come by, writes Jorge Castillo of the Washington Post. Adams prioritized playing for a contending club with a good clubhouse culture — he consulted his friend Chris Heisey about the organization before signing — over holding out for an opportunity for an everyday or near-everyday role. Castillo speaks to Adams himself, manager Dave Martinez and hitting coach Kevin Long about the slugger’s role with the club and the value he can bring off the bench. The Nationals, it should be noted, are giving Adams some looks in the outfield once again this spring and could play him in left field from time to time in 2017 — as the Cardinals and Braves both did in 2017.
More from the game’s Eastern divisions…
- Red Sox designated hitter/outfielder J.D. Martinez chats with Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald about his perceived defensive shortcomings in the outfield, explaining that his reputation as a defensive liability is frustrating. Martinez acknowledges that his glovework wasn’t at its best in 2016, when he admits to having become a bit timid around the outfield wall after breaking his elbow when crashing into the wall partway through the year. “…I got scared of running into walls because I didn’t want to get hurt again,” Martinez candidly admits. “… So balls off the wall, I just let it go and I got penalized for it.” The slugger adds that his foot injury significantly hampered his range in 2017, but he rejoined the Tigers as soon as possible as a means of getting his bat back into the lineup. Martinez, to his credit, had average to above-average ratings from both DRS and UZR from 2014-15, and he’s anxious to prove that he can still play an adequate outfield corner with better health.
- The Marlins aren’t yet certain if veteran infielder Martin Prado will be healthy enough to take the field come Opening Day, writes Andre C. Fernandez of the Miami Herald. The team’s hope is that Prado will be able to play in some Grapefruit League games by the middle of this month, but there’s still no set timeline for when he’ll get into the lineup. If Prado isn’t ready for the opneer, it could pave the way for prospect Brian Anderson, who made his MLB debut late in the 2017 season, to get a look at the hot corner and prove that he’s capable of sticking at the big league level. The Marlins won’t push Anderson into that role if they don’t feel he’s ready, though skipper Don Mattingly had plenty of praise for Anderson’s work at third, his swing and his overall work ethic.
- Nathan Eovaldi’s contract with the Rays contains $3.5MM worth of incentives based on starting and $2.375MM worth of relief-based incentives, reports Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. The organization maintains that it is “definitely” committed to using Eovaldi as a starter, per Topkin, and that’s the right-hander’s preference as well. “I definitely want to be a starter and hold it out throughout the entire year,” Eovaldi tells Topkin. That said, it stands to reason that if Eovaldi struggles in the rotation, a move to the ’pen is a possibility — especially given Tampa Bay’s deep stock of upper-level arms in the minors. As Topkin notes, many have long wondered what the hard-throwing Eovaldi could do in a relief role, especially when looking at his career struggles facing a lineup for the third time (.673 opponent OPS first time through the order, .692 second time, .890 third time).
- The Orioles remain open to adding a third free-agent starter after signing Andrew Cashner and bringing Chris Tillman back, writes MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko. They’re still checking in on everyone from Alex Cobb and Lance Lynn to former Oriole Jake Arrieta, he notes. That said, Kubatko adds that the O’s are heartened by the way their internal options have looked thus far, with Mike Wright, David Hess, Yefry Ramirez, and Rule 5 picks Nestor Cortes and Pedro Araujo all of interest to Baltimore decision-makers.
Pedro Araujo, not Elvis Araujo.
pedro is with O’s as a rule 5 and is a RHP..looking good so far but has only pitched 3 innings
For the Orioles- it is actually Rule 5 selection from the Cubs “Pedro Araujo* that has been impressive in camp, not Elvis Araujo who was not invited to ML camp at all.
I’m guessing Prado’s knee injury and subsequent surgery must have been pretty serious if he still isn’t ready to go 8 months later. Any time he spends on the field this year will be a bonus.
Jd is the Yankees killer I can see it. Yankees can take L with Stanton this year
Can’t kill anyone from the DL…
Except your own team.
Same could be said for Stanton, over the last 3 years Martinez has played more games than Stanton has.
Orioles checking in on Lynn, Cobb, and Arrieta? Any team can check in on them. I can call and ask if I wanted. But what will they ACTUALLY do? The Orioles go to Thanksgiving dinner, but they’re focused on the scraps that fell on the floor AFTER the dog has already been through.
That’s a pretty good analogy lol
Angelos and Duquette have talked themselves into believing they have a solid rotation despite the fact they have no idea who the 5th starter will be, and they have zero depth if any of these guys get injured. It’s as if they want to be out of contention by July setting up a fire sale that won’t happen because Angelos will veto any trade that isn’t a total hijack.
So….basically the Mets’ playbook for the past handful of years. Got it. As a former Baltimoron and frequent attendee of Camden Yards, it’s really frustrating to watch Angelos piss away the prime years of some great players. Add on top the tough luck with Britton, and they are really in a rough spot.
Maybe they’ll bring back Ubaldo. Can’t get more scrap-like than him.
Us fans may riot if that happens
“So balls off the wall, I just let it go and I got penalized for it.” So he’s saying that he just didn’t try for anything near the wall? Sweet. Just what you want in a player.
And in Fenway of all places.
another fake Elvis sighting
If I’m Matt Adams I’m spending 90% of my practice time becoming the best possible LF he can. The market for primarily 1b is so limited that even if he hits .300 and has league average on base skills with 15 HRs he still might not get a ML deal next year.
I agree about the ML deal but did you see him out there last year?Not gonna look his metrics up but he was legit cringe worthy from what I viewed.
Sure one can work on something & improve, even significantly, but still not belong out there in a million years.
Yeah, some guys just aren’t outfielders. Matt Adams isn’t an outfielder. He can PH and sub in at first but the harsh reality is that those kind of guys just don’t carry the same value anymore. There’s really nothing Matt Adams can do about that.
What about KS?
Arrieta to Baltimore is a compete waste of time. Not worth typing honestly. I have to imagine lynn, Cobb, and Arrieta are starting to feel some heat and would like to get into camp soon. Wouldn’t be shocked if we snagged Lynn or Cobb on a 3 year incentive laden deal/vesting option for 4th year. We can’t be alright with that garbage heap of starters for the 5th slot. Especially since Tillman is coming off such a bad season.
Gausman, Bundy, Lynn, Cashner, the ghost of Chris Tillman.
It wouldn’t be great, but would be interesting for certain.
As a huge Braves fan who would love nothing more than to watch the Nationals have a terrible season…they really shouldn’t put Adams in left. It’s not worth it, from an analytical standpoint and from a fan perspective. It’s not pretty in the slightest.
I enjoyed Adams’ visit with the Braves. However, I’m afraid of him becoming another Raul Ibanez Braves-killer this year.
I’m still confused as to why they couldn’t have worked out SOME kind of trade instead of non-tendering a useful player? Being a left-handed power hitter pinch hitting, giving your regular 1st baseman a day off, putting him in an outfield corner for an inning or two and praying that no balls are hit his direction, etc. would put him in position to get enough at bats to hit 12-15+ HRs which has value.
It seems they surely could have gotten at least organisational filler at worst or the possibility of a young kid that no one really gives much stock but could surprise.
I realise that his positional limitations and the rather abundant supply of available power hitters has increased recently; but, to address your point, at least if you trade him, you have some control as to which teams the player might help.
I mean, I understand that the Braves are not considered contenders this year, but imagine if they surprise and have a chance to play their way into W/C contention and then Adams ends up hitting a decisive HR to beat the Braves and they miss out by a game. At least trading him out of their division would have been desirable.
I just feel that they could have used their slight ability to control his destination and/or gotten SOMETHING (some cash?, some slightly used chewing gum?, SOMETHING???) for him.
Sorry for the long post; still confused on their handling of the situation!