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Nationals Are “Open-Minded” In Search For Pitching

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Edwin Jackson is a free agent and John Lannan may be non-tendered, so the Nationals will be in the market for a starting pitcher this offseason. GM Mike Rizzo told Amanda Comak of The Washington Times that he isn't seeking one specific kind of starter and will instead be open minded.

"We want to get as qualified and impactful a starting pitcher as we can," said the GM. "We want to get as good of a starting pitcher as we possibly can. He may pitch fifth in our rotation but we don't necessarily want a No. 5-quality starter … I'm much more open-minded with it this year. It doesn't necessarily have to be a veteran, it doesn't have to necessarily need to be a fifth starter type of guy."

As our Free Agent Tracker shows, this winter's crop of free agent pitchers includes everything from an ace (Zack Greinke) to workhorses (Jeremy Guthrie, Ryan Dempster) to reclamation projects (Francisco Liriano, Scott Baker). The Nationals will have both Christian Garcia and Ryan Perry work as starters in camp, giving the team some internal options behind Stephen Strasburg, Gio Gonzalez, Jordan Zimmermann, and Ross Detwiler.

Minor Moves: Mock, Burke, Maier, Slowey, Ford

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Here are Wednesday’s minor moves…

  • The Diamondbacks have signed Garrett Mock to a minor league deal with an invite to Spring Training, reports Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (on Twitter). The 29-year-old right-hander posted a 3.79 ERA in 61 2/3 relief innings in Triple-A this season.
  • The Mets have signed right-hander Greg Burke to a minor league contract with an invite to Spring Training, the team announced (on Twitter). Burke, 30, pitched to a 1.53 ERA in 64 2/3 relief innings in Triple-A this year.
  • Indians right-hander Kevin Slowey has elected free agency, according to Matt Eddy of Baseball America.  The 28-year-old spent 2012 with Cleveland’s Triple-A affiliate.
  • The Red Sox have signed Mitch Maier to a minor league deal, reports Baseball America’s Matt Eddy (on Twitter). The 30-year-old outfielder hit .172/.260/.313 in 74 plate appearances for the Royals this year.
  • The Pirates have signed Darren Ford to a minor league pact, reports Rob Biertempfel of The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. The 27-year-old outfielder hit .273/.326/.385 with 26 steals in 329 Triple-A plate appearances this year.
  • The Pirates have signed infielder Jared Goedert to a minor league deal, reports Rosenthal (on Twitter). The 27-year-old hit .311/.373/.502 with 19 homers in 504 plate appearances split between Double-A and Triple-A this season.
  • The Royals have agreed to re-sign catcher Manny Pina to a minor league contract, reports Bob Dutton of The Kansas City Star (on Twitter). Pina, 25, hit .278/.415/.417 in 183 minor league plate appearances this summer. Dutton notes that he will be exposed in next month’s Rule 5 Draft.

Nationals Notes: Johnson, Pitching, Jackson, LaRoche

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Earlier today, Tim Dierkes profiled the Nationals in the latest installment of the Arbitration Eligibles series.  Here’s more on the Nats..

  • The Nationals have yet to reach agreement on a new deal with manager Davey Johnson for 2013 and beyond, but General Manager Mike Rizzo says he is confident about getting a deal done, tweets Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post.
  • Johnson told MLB.com’s Bill Ladson that he is also confident that an agreement will be reached and that a deal could be struck as early as Thursday.  “There isn’t really any rush for me,” Johnson said. “I’m not worried about it. I assume everything is going to worked out. I don’t feel like it’s an emergency. I feel like I’m still the manager.“
  • Rizzo said the Nats aren’t far down the road on anything when it comes to the starting pitching market, Amanda Comak of the Washington Times tweets.  Right-hander Edwin Jackson has said that he would like to return to Washington but will also listen to offers from other clubs.
  • Meanwhile, Rizzo was honest when asked about the club’s decision not to extend Jackson a qualifying offer, explaining that he liked some free agent options better and didn’t want to get locked in, Kilgore tweets.
  • The Nationals have been in contact with Adam LaRoche’s agents and continue to talk, tweets Comak.
  • Ladson also notes that the Nationals re-signed catcher Carlos Maldonado to a minor league contract and signed outfielder Ray Kruml to a minor league deal.  Maldonado elected free agency last month.

Red Sox, Rangers Pursuing Adam LaRoche

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The Red Sox and Rangers are pursuing free agent Adam LaRoche, major league sources tell Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports.  The first baseman has garnered enough interest that he is expected to reject the Nationals' one-year, $13.3MM qualifying offer by Friday's deadline.

Morosi writes that the Rangers' interest in the 33-year-old is yet another sign that Texas is preparing for life without Josh Hamilton in 2013 and beyond.  The Red Sox, meanwhile, have been linked to LaRoche for a good while as they look to fill their void at first base.

Arbitration Eligibles: Washington Nationals

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The Nationals are next in our 2013 Arbitration Eligibles series.  Matt Swartz's salary projections are below.

Lannan projects as the team's most expensive arbitration eligible player even without a raise.  It was a rough year for the 28-year-old, who lost his arbitration case in February, lost the team's fifth starter competition to Detwiler in April, requested a trade, and then remained in the organization to post pedestrian Triple-A numbers for most of his season.  A non-tender should cap off his year, which will at least lead to free agency and a fresh start.

Zimmermann is a mainstay atop the Nats' rotation, as the 26-year-old posted his best season with 195 2/3 innings of 2.94 ball in the regular season.  Comparables remain light among those with three to four years of big league service, especially since Zimmermann was a Super Two.  Perhaps a new extension comp will emerge among Max Scherzer, Matt Harrison, and Homer Bailey.  If not, I could picture $45MM over five years (two of them free agent seasons) for Zimmermann.  Detwiler, the team's first overall pick in the 2007 draft, did solid work at the back end of the Nationals' rotation prior to his first arbitration year.

The Nationals have four arbitration eligible relievers in Clippard, Storen, Gorzelanny, and Stammen.  When an elbow injury sidelined Storen in Spring Training, Clippard was initially denied a shot at closing in favor of Henry Rodriguez and Brad Lidge.  A larger committee took hold by late May, after which Clippard took hold of the job.  Storen was activated on July 19th, but Clippard still picked up 17 saves after that point and finished with 32.  The situation helped Clippard financially, as nothing earns bigger bucks for a reliever than saves.  As reliever salaries continue to rise, Clippard is still a good value at under $5MM.  Meanwhile, the abbreviated campaign and small saves total cost Storen some bucks in advance of his first arbitration year.  Gorzelanny and Stammen both had solid years and should also be retained.

Flores seemed like a trade candidate a year ago, but he received decent playing time in 2012 after starting catcher Wilson Ramos went down.  Flores didn't do much with his audition, and now Kurt Suzuki is projected to split time with Ramos in 2013.  A trade or non-tender is in Flores' future; like Lannan, he'll welcome the change of scenery.  Bernadina had a very strong season as a much-needed utility outfielder, and he'll be retained.

The Nationals' patience with Desmond paid off, as the shortstop had a breakthrough age 26 season.  Desmond played well in a sabermetric sense, but also had the surface numbers that pay well in arbitration (batting average, home runs, RBI, steals).  Since 2013 is his first arbitration year, he'll remain affordable at around $3.2MM.  The Nationals had preliminary extension talks with Desmond during the season, which will likely be rekindled soon.  Alexei Ramirez's $32.5MM extension with the White Sox could be a point of reference.

Assuming everyone except Lannan and Flores are retained, the Nationals are looking at an estimated $21.4MM for eight arbitration eligible players.

Matt Swartz's arbitration projections are available exclusively at MLB Trade Rumors.  To read more about his projection model, check out this series of posts.  To see projected arbitration salaries for all players, click here.

East Links: Blue Jays, Jackson, Nationals, Pedroia

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Here's the latest from baseball's two East divisions….

  • Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos acknowledged to Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca that his priorities this winter are pitching, second base, and left field. "There’s no question the priority is definitely in the rotation, with the dollars we have available, we have to be creative," he said. "Our payroll is going to be up from what it was last year but it doesn’t mean it’s a bottomless pit, there is a limit and there is an area we can go to."
  • Ken Davidoff and George A. King III of The New York Post write that Yankees GM Brian Cashman is likely to meet with every agent who attends this week's GM Meetings, including Larry Reynolds. He represents both Torii Hunter and B.J. Upton.
  • Edwin Jackson hasn't ruled out returning to the Nationals next season, writes Dan Kolko of MASNSports.com. The right-hander did make it clear that he will listen to offers from any team, however.
  • During a recent radio appearance, Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia said that he is not leaving the ACES agency according to WEEI.com's DJ Bean. ACES is currently being investigated by MLB for its role in Melky Cabrera's PED-related suspension.

Nationals Notes: Johnson, LaRoche, Second Base

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Some links pertaining to the reigning National League East champions…

  • The Nats and manager Davey Johnson continue to work toward a new contract for 2013, writes Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post. Johnson is under contract through 2014 as a special advisor to the team, and his contract language and salary need to be reworked if he is to manage once again.
  • Johnson tells Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports that he wants to manage again in 2013, and GM Mike Rizzo says he wants Johnson back in the position as well.
  • The team is not close to a new contract with Adam LaRoche, writes MLB.com's Bill Ladson. There is still mutual interest from both parties. The Nats made a qualifying offer to LaRoche, and he has until Friday to decline it. That outcome, of course, is all but a foregone conclusion. If the team fails to sign LaRoche, Michael Morse will likely man the position next season.
  • In that same piece, Ladson also notes that the team views Ian Desmond, Danny Espinosa and Steve Lombardozzi all as starting middle infielders. That evidence is supported by the fact that Ladson's source tells him the team is still in pursuit of a backup middle infielder despite the trio's presence. It seems implied that one of the three could be on the trading block this offseason, though that's just my speculation.
  • Lastly in his piece, Ladson notes that the Nats re-signed minor league outfielders Chris Rahl and Jimmy Van Ostrand to minor league contracts. Rahl, 28, hit .291/.339/.467 in 92 games for Double-A Harrisburg. Van Ostrand, 27, batted .310/.370/.465 in 80 games for Harrisburg after being picked up from the independent league Sugar Land Skeeters.

Olney On Hunter, Pagan, Padres

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MLB executives expressed surprise that Torii Hunter, Edwin Jackson, Angel Pagan and Mike Napoli didn’t get qualifying offers by Friday’s deadline, ESPN.com’s Buster Olney reports. Here are more notes and rumors from Olney…

  • One high-ranking executive suggested Hunter will get some two or three-year offers as a free agent. The outfielder ranked 20th on MLBTR's list of top 50 free agents.
  • Evaluators were puzzled by the Nationals’ decision not to make Jackson a qualifying offer. An offer would have set them up for draft pick compensation or another affordable one-year deal.
  • GMs and agents expect Pagan to get multiple offers for three years. A four or five-year deal doesn’t seem out of reach for the center fielder.
  • Some rival officials expected the Rangers to make Napoli a one-year qualifying offer and set themselves up for draft pick compensation.
  • Brad Ausmus, one of the top managerial prospects in MLB, told Olney that it’s important for managers to remember how difficult it is to play at the highest level. “The managers who understood the patience involved are the managers who have related to the players best on teams I have been a part of, and garnered their respect,” Ausmus said.
  • The Padres have had some extension talks with Chase Headley, Olney reports. While both sides are interested in a deal, it’s hard to value Headley following his impressive second half performance.
  • The Padres will focus on adding starting pitching this offseason, Olney reports. Rival executives like San Diego’s pitching depth, but GM Josh Byrnes will still pursue additions.

Rosenthal On B.J. Upton, Bourn, Morse, Ethier

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Here's the latest from FOXSports.com's Ken Rosenthal as he dissects the buzz and rumors currently circulating around the league…

  • The addition of two former members from the Rays organization has nothing to do with a potential pursuit of center fielder B.J. Upton, says Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr.
  • While some teams may prefer Upton over Michael Bourn thanks to his age (nearly two years younger) and the ability to hit for power, Rosenthal points out that Bourn's value comes from being a well-rounded player. 
  • Nationals first baseman Adam LaRoche's decision regarding his free agency may greatly impact Washington's course of action this offseason, especially with left fielder Michael Morse. 
  • The notion that the Dodgers may consider moving Andre Ethier just months after signing him to a five-year, $85MM contract simply wouldn't be the best move for Los Angeles heading into 2013, opines Rosenthal.
  • Look for the Yankees to re-sign Russell Martin, but the Bombers have had their eye on free agent David Ross, who has served as Brian McCann's backup with the Braves since 2009.
  • The Cardinals and second baseman Skip Schumaker may be parting ways this offseason as the veteran no longer has a defined role with the club thanks to the emergence of young talent. 

East Notes: Mets, Jays, Shields, Red Sox, Nationals

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As it stands now, the Mets don't have a great deal of money to spend in free agency after exercising the options on David Wright and R.A. Dickey for 2013. However, the club could free up cash by opting to trade one or both if they are unable to come to terms on contract extensions. The Mets have a serious need for outfield help and multiple baseball officials told Mike Puma of the New York Post that they see Cody Ross as a possible free agent target for the team. Here's more from the AL and NL East:

  • Diamondbacks GM Kevin Towers told MLB.com's Barry M. Bloom that "the Blue Jays have kicked the tires about possibly interviewing" Matt Williams for their managerial vacancy, but have yet to formally ask for permission. Williams is scheduled to meet with top Rockies officials at Coors Field and will be the final candidate to do so, according to Thomas Harding of MLB.com.
  • James Shields, who is set to become the highest-paid player in Rays' franchise history, is prepared to be a prime subject of the Hot Stove rumor mill this winter, writes the Tampa Bay Times' Marc Topkin. "Obviously my name's been thrown around a lot," the right-hander said. "I'm just going to go about my business and not really worry about it. Obviously I want to be a Ray. I've been here 12 years, this is my home. If it does happen, it'll be a sad day."
  • Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald suggests that the Red Sox should trade Jacoby Ellsbury as they are unlikely to come to terms with him on a contract extension. The Red Sox could find a partner in the Rangers as they may prefer to give Ellsbury a long-term commitment rather than Josh Hamilton and can afford to part with shortstop Elvis Andrus. 
  • The Red Sox are bolstering their scouting department in anticipation of having, for the first time since 1993 and just the second time since 1967, a top ten pick in the amateur draft, reports WEEI.com's Alex Speier. The team rehired John Booher, the person most directly involved in the scouting process of Ellsbury in 2005 and Nick Hagadone in 2007, and hired former MLB pitcher Brian Moehler as an area scout for Georgia.
  • Tom Kotchman, who resigned last week as a manager and scout in the Angels organization, interviewed with the Red Sox on Thursday, tweets Conor Glassey of Baseball America. Glassey points to former Angels scouting director Eddie Bane's position with Boston as the club's new Special Assistant to Player Personnel for the mutual interest. 
  • The Red Sox wanted to hold on to reliever Michael Olmstead, but their current 40-man roster crunch made it impossible, explains Alex Speier of WEEI.com. The 6'7", 245-pound right-hander signed with the Brewers as a minor league free agent last night.
  • For now, people familiar with the Nationals’ thinking expect them to either trade arbitration-eligible John Lannan or allow him to walk, writes Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post. The Nats could instead convert Christian Garcia from a reliever to a starter to fill out the rotation, but his history of arm trouble may make that too risky.

Edward Creech contributed to this post.

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