The Nationals have some holes to fill in their lineup, and Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post reports that the club has interest in the recently non-tendered Kyle Schwarber. However, in contrast to earlier reports, the Nats aren’t pursuing an even bigger name in infielder DJ LeMahieu, according to Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe.
Given the uncertainty over how much the Nats are willing to commit towards payroll in 2021, this news could be further indication that D.C.’s spending may be somewhat limited this offseason. LeMahieu will command a hefty multi-year deal, while Schwarber could potentially be available on just a one-year contract. Teams such as the Twins, Angels, Yankees, and Blue Jays have also been linked to Schwarber, but it remains to be seen how this fairly substantial amount of interest will translate into new deal for the former fourth overall pick.
Schwarber hit only .188/.308/.393 over 224 plate appearances in 2020, a far cry from his .245/.347/.503 slash line over 1120 PA in 2018-19. Though he was still making plenty of hard contact, he had some bad luck on that contact in the form of a .219 BABIP, and he was also making less contact in general with a 29.5% strikeout rate (his highest in three seasons.
Between that dropoff at the plate and a below-average (-2.5 UZR/150, -3 Defensive Runs Saved) performance in left field, Schwarber was only worth 0.4 fWAR in 2020. Schwarber earned $7MM last season and was projected to earn a healthy raise in arbitration, leading the Cubs to just part ways with Schwarber entirely at the non-tender deadline as Chicago looked to cut back on payroll.
Assuming a return to his pre-2020 form, Schwarber would add some much needed left-handed hitting pop to the Nats’ lineup. He could be slotted into left field (with Juan Soto moving to right) if the National League doesn’t have a DH spot available in 2021, though Dougherty notes that such a move wouldn’t help the Washington improve its defensive issues in the outfield. This is just my speculation, but it’s at least possible the Nationals could explore using Schwarber as a first baseman, as Washington also has a need at that position and Schwarber has worked out as a first baseman before, though he played first base only once in the majors and in two minor league games.
Naturally, LeMahieu would have been a bigger upgrade from both a hitting perspective and a defensive perspective, as he has posted MVP-caliber numbers over the last two years with the Yankees and could be utilized at first, second, or third base. The Yankees and Blue Jays have been the teams most closely linked to LeMahieu’s market thus far, though the Astros and Mets also rumored to have at least some interest.
Schwarber 1/4m or Nats say no.
Your take on baseball economics leaves something to be desired.
Maybe a little light, keysox, but probably not too far off. I got a feeling that come March there are going to be dozens of players that have made close to or over $10M signing one year deals in the $3-5M range, if that.
Until teams have some idea of potential of fans in the stands with some certainty I don’t think there is going to be much movement at all for these players that fall in any tier outside the elite.
Soto isn’t that great of a defensive left fielder to start with, let alone moving him to right. If the Nats were to sign Schwarber, moving him (Schwarber) to first base would probably be the best option. Currently, they don’t even have a 1B on their depth chart.
in theory that wouldnt be a bad idea, but how do they know Schwarber is even passable at 1B? he’s never played there in the Majors.
It’s not that hard, tell him Wash….
It’s incredibly hard
1B is the easiest position.
Didn’t get it, Chisox.
Funny ref to a great movie, better book. Nonetheless dark side has a value point. A move from anywhere (including catcher) in the infield to first isn’t possible. But some outfielders are out there because they struggle fielding hard grounders vs catching a pop up. You can’t assume an outfielder can figure it out at 1st. Not all of them are Betts
Not saying he’s going to be great, but it comes down to whether you think a bad defensive 1B is better or worse than a bad defensive RF.
Please, tell us how terrible two errors per year is. He’s certainly no slouch for a LFer, definitely not a liability. Not saying he’d be great in RF, but he’s not a bad defender at all.
Fielder’s don’t get errors for balls they aren’t good enough to get to.
What Cam said
He has a career -15 DRS, -6.5 range runs above average, -4 UZR/150, -4.1 outfield arm runs above average and -2 outs above average. Good fielders make more errors than bad fielders because they are able to catch up to more difficult plays.
Errors are an outdated metric to rate defense.
Hmm. I’m guessing you’re the one who knows all the “metrics” and has them arranged in order of their usefulness in rating defense. What are they, and where do errors fit along the list?
Outdated? Nope. One of many metrics? Yup.
Errors as useless as a determination of OF defense. All that tells you is he either missed a cut, drop a routine ball, or kicked a routine ball twice. It doesn’t tell you how many times he couldn’t get to a catchable ball due to bad jumps/routes, how he overran a ball, took a bad angle on a ball that extended a single to a double/double to a triple/etc… or how range wise just can’t get to certain balls. As long as on OF doesn’t touch a baseball no error can be assessed. Can get turned around spun out on a ball that’s 99% catchable, and still not assessed an error, because there was no contact with the baseball. So no telling someone he has two errors is meaningless to defensive judgement.
Fact of the matter is his defensive home, once he showed he struggled to catch velocity, should have been 1B. With Rizzo there, he wasn’t going to see the field if they did.
Errors are essentially whatever a scorer thinks an error is. There is no defined ‘error’. Every year, a handful of good defenders are among the leaders in errors. Trevor Story, Javier Baez and Nick Ahmed were all in the top 15. Baez, Josh Donaldson, Brandon Crawford and Willy Adames were in the top 20 in 2019. Matt Chapman made 20 errors in 2018 and Crawford, Addison Russell (yes I know, awful human, but still good defender), Nolan Areando, Mike Moustakas, Manny Machado, Yolmer Sanchez and Paul DeJong all made at least a dozen. Heck, Brooks Robinson and Ozzie Smith made a dozen errors more than a dozen times in their career. Smith even worse because he made 20+ errors in five different seasons. If errors tell me that Areando and Chapman were two of the worst defenders at third base in 2018 and Story was the 2nd worst defender in baseball in 2020 then they’re outdated.
Soto is not playing 1B in 2021, and never should have played 1B. Not with Zimmerman, Kendricks, or even Thames at 1B. And what does Mike Rizzo have to do with which position Soto plays?
Nobody said Soto should be at 1B. Rizzo as in Anthony Rizzo. They weren’t going to move him off of 1B for Schwarb.
The reply was to someone else’s post, not yours.
I know, it was to blue_painted, since he was the one talking about Anthony Rizzo. Nobody has brought up Mike Rizzo here.
I was discussing Anthony Rizzo being the incumbent Cubs 1B as to the reason why Kyle was transitioned to the OF.
Soto played rf in minors all the time thats why they would make move
Correct me if I’m wrong, but wasn’t Soto a Gold Glove finalist in 2019?
Yes indeed.
That’s correct.
Nats really have to make a decent splash if they want to contend this year either a SP, JT, or DJ
The Nats biggest organizational issue is not on the MLB roaster. It IS the lack of infield and pitching depth at the AA-AAA level. While there are prospects who are progressing toward MLB careers their is a quality gap. so what is availabel now is the fill “replacement player” [WAR hoo! What is it good for? Absolutely NOTHIN” say it Again!]
I think the MLB flexibility on the roster is OK and can get the healthy version of the Nats through. with small upticks from an emerging Garcia and Kieboom. The back end of the rotation will be filled somehow but i believe your point is those will still be fill ins- one year contract with a roll of the dice…
But one thing to point out is that Rizz is good at rolling dice… Not perfect but good.
Has anyone heard anything about Starlin Castro’s market? Seems to fly under the radar every off season yet still puts up roughly league average numbers every year.
he’s still under contract
That’s right, I forgot he had a 2 year deal. When I looked at their depth chart, he wasn’t on it.
Good org here not afraid of making the hard choices –
It will be their MO ofc and the biggest pickup will be a big name starting pitcher – Doesn’t have to be Bauer although it wouldn’t surprise me for a second if he did land there….
I could see them cashing in Kieboom + for a Sonny Gray or maybe going after a Snell/Cookie pitcher-
Teams Desire Sp so bad these days but theres just not enough to go around.
Wouldnt shock me to see Gray Snell Cookie Price Gray Cueto all be in different uniforms the second half-
Theres great buying power today if you can execute patience and have a good negotiation front – They’ll be plenty of action via trades from the opener to the deadline this year folks, don’t worry, might just have to wait till the FO gets the first qrterly financials tho!
how does Tai sound? I think I picked him to WSH in the contest.
Good dart throw indeed- If they really like him they wont be hesitant with the ink thats more than ya can say for about 20 teams right now sadly
There will be an add or 2 on the starter front this year in Wash …membees Mad Max comes off next year as well
Welcome to the internet — players either are BAD or they’re GREAT…no middle ground. So phrasing Soto as a “bad” defensive LF’er is stretching it. He isn’t bad, and he isn’t great either Watch the games. He never played the position until his big league promotion. Yes, he was AWFUL in LF in his first season, but he’s been credited for upping his defense dramatically since. His natural position is RF, which is where Martinez says he may end up playing this season. Anyone who watched him play in RF last season knows Soto is comfortable out there and played outstanding defense. Dear God, we had to endure watching Harper “play” RF for years — so Soto will be fine if he moves into RF. And Martinez likes Castro go, so no market for him.
Soto has made a lot of strides in the field. Like you say, not great, but not a huge liability, either.
If this article is true, yet another suitor for JTR appears to be dropping out of the race. His market is drying up real fast! Given how good he is, you have to figure some team is going to step up to the plate and give him an acceptable offer but it doesn’t look like there will be a bidding war for JTR’s services. Until the Mets signed him, McCann generated much more interest than JTR this offseason to date. I do hope JTR gets his money from some team, but this is eerily familiar to the JD Martinez negotiations in 2018. Everyone expected some sort of bidding war for JDM but he basically got one reasonable offer from Boston and ended up having to take it despite the best efforts from his agent to drum up additional interest. A young team like Detroit is starting to make sense for JTR as most of the big market teams appear to be out on him.
That is an interesting take. Currently, Detroit’s crop of young catchers all look like capable backups. Good defensively, but don’t expect offense. If 4 years gets it done…. ahh, their not ready yet, and after a year lacking revenues, I see Chris Illitch not ready to open the purse.
Soto was a gold glove finalist in 2019, not saying he’s an amazing fielder, but he does fine
Nats should trade with the Cubs! W. Contreras would be a great catcher! Rizzo should put together a package and acquire him!!!
Should of let Stras walk and you wouldn’t be “hurting” so bad financially. Terrible contract. But your team is in contend mode so try to contend. I would have like Moreland or Santana at 1st. Would be in on Pederson. Get a defensive catcher. Few cheap arms. See how things go. Let’s face is, it all comes down to your 3 big ticket pitchers. But just in case they still have enough left to be studs, you gotta fill the holes with something.
If there’s one thing Washington needs to do this offseason, it’s get a bat who will protect Soto in the lineup. Teams pitched to him differently last season after Kendrick went down, and there’s no way they can get away with that over a 162 game season.
As fleeting as it is, this is the first reference I’ve seen in any article about Schwarber mentioning the possibility of him playing first.
It is the most obvious thing in the world that he will play first going forward, at least for a spell. He has been blocked by a franchise first baseman his whole career, now he isn’t.
He will sign with a team that gives him a chance to play first. The Nationals are one of the (if not the) most sensible fits.
Why people are still talking about him solely as an outfielder/DH now that he is a free agent is beyond me.
The Nats #1 need is a right-handed cleanup hitter to protect Soto. Ideally, that bat is at 3B or LF.
Their #2 need is 1B. Schwarber in a platoon with Zimmerman would be OK.
#3 need is a #4 SP. A veteran on a one-year deal would make sense. Maybe someone like Wainwright or Porcello.
Yan Gomes can handle a bulk of the catching duties. They need a backup. Couple of decent catching prospects in the system are a year or two away.
If Schwarber goes to the Yankees, it’s safe to say Cashman has a type.
If I was the Nats, I’ll go after bigger fishes. LeMahieu, Realmuto would be two guys they can use. They both can play multiple positions. 1B for example, is an area of need for them. They also need an OF as well. Pederson perhaps?
1.Turner SS
2.Soto LF
3.LeMahieu 2B-1B
4.Realmuto 1B-C
5.Pederson RF
6.Robles CF
7.Castro DH-3B
8.Gómez C
9.Kieboom 3B-2B
With the pitching they got, if they improve the line up with those 3 guys, they can make a case if everyone stays healthy!