- The Nationals played a reduced role on the international market for quite some time, but as Jorge Castillo of the Washington Post writes, the club was able to find value in older Dominican players. As ever, age is relative; the Nats were targeting players who had fallen through the cracks of the traditional July 2 market and remained unsigned at 17 or 18 years of age. Outfielder Rafael Bautista was late to the game, but showed enough to command a $35K bonus and has shown enough to earn a 40-man spot, as has first baseman Jose Marmolejos. Catcher Pedro Severino and infielder Wilmer Difo were some of the others who signed for little but have already reached the bigs as the Nats targeted “pitchers and middle-of-the-field players with tools,” as Castillo writes. It’s an interesting look at the organization’s strategy, which has certainly evolved over recent years.
Nationals Rumors
Nats Notes: Scherzer, Lee
- Another Nationals hurler, lefty Nick Lee, is looking at a much lengthier absence. As Kerzel tweets, the 26-year-old has been diagnosed with a non-displaced fracture in his left arm. Lee was hoping to spend the spring working to find the control that long has eluded him. Last year, he worked to a 4.32 ERA over fifty Double-A frames, striking out 9.9 and walking 7.6 batters per nine. The Nats obviously like his arm, as he had been added to the 40-man before losing his spot last summer.
- Nationals ace Max Scherzer felt good in a live BP session today, as Pete Kerzel of MASNsports.com reports. The veteran righty is still using a three-fingered fastball grip to protect his injured finger, but that doesn’t seem to be slowing him down. Scherzer worked up to 44 pitches in the session, so it seems as if he could be ready soon for a Grapefruit League appearance.
- Another Nationals hurler, lefty Nick Lee, is looking at a much lengthier absence. As Kerzel tweets, the 26-year-old has been diagnosed with a non-displaced fracture in his left arm. Lee was hoping to spend the spring working to find the control that long has eluded him. Last year, he worked to a 4.32 ERA over fifty Double-A frames, striking out 9.9 and walking 7.6 batters per nine. The Nats obviously like his arm, as he had been added to the 40-man before losing his spot last summer.
Minor MLB Transactions: 3/7/17
We’ll keep tabs on the day’s minor moves right here:
- In a surprise move, lefty John Lannan is heading back to the Nationals on a minors pact., Baseball America’s Matt Eddy reports in his latest compilation of moves from around the league. Now 32, Lannan provided the Nats with 783 2/3 innings of 4.01 ERA ball from 2007 through 2012, but didn’t exactly leave the organization on the best of terms. He appeared briefly in each of the next two seasons, and has toiled in the upper minors since. With few apparent opportunities for Lannan to regain his prior standing, it seems there’ll be some interesting changes afoot. Upon his return to the Nats organization, he’ll be working to re-make himself into a submariner relief pitcher, according to Jorge Castillo of the Washington Post (via Twitter)
- Righty Matt Buschmann will join the Blue Jays on a minor-league deal, as Eddy further reports. The 33-year-old debuted in the majors last year with the D-Backs, though he received only three outings. He spent the bulk of the year at Triple-A, throwing 142 innings of 5.26 ERA ball with 5.8 K/9 and 3.4 BB/9.
- The White Sox have added a pair of players on minors deals, Eddy adds, with righty Jake Dunning and utilityman Tyler Ladendorf joining the mix. The 28-year-old Dunning had spent his entire career with the Giants organization. He hasn’t been up to the majors since 2014, and pitched to a 4.85 ERA with 6.5 K/9 and 4.4 BB/9 at Triple-A last year. Ladendorf, who tuns 29 today, received brief time in the majors in each of the last two seasons. The former second-round pick offers plenty of defensive versatility, but hasn’t shown much bat in the upper minors. He owns a lifetime .261/.327/.349 slash at Triple-A.
- The Nationals announced that catcher Spencer Kieboom has been assigned to Triple-A after clearing waivers. He had recently been designated for assignment to clear 40-man roster space. Kieboom will remain in camp as a non-roster player, though it’s all but certain he’ll head to the minors to open the year. The 25-year-old actually hasn’t yet played at Triple-A despite a very brief appearance in the majors last year. Kieboom hit .230/.324/.314 in his 359 plate appearances at the Double-A level in 2016.
Nationals Talked To Royals About Lorenzo Cain
- Despite Cain’s rough 2016 season, some sources close to the center fielder “express surprise he’s even still” with the Royals. Previous reports over the winter linked Cain to such clubs as the Rangers, Mets, Dodgers and Cardinals in trade rumors, and Heyman adds that the Rockies and Nationals also spoke to Kansas City about Cain’s services. Washington, of course, went on to acquire a younger and more controllable outfield addition in Adam Eaton at a very significant prospect cost. Colorado’s interest in Cain is rather unusual given that the Rockies were already overloaded with outfielders (Carlos Gonzalez, Charlie Blackmon, David Dahl and Gerardo Parra) even before signing Ian Desmond and converting him to first base. Depending on when the talks between Colorado and K.C. took place, the Rockies could’ve considered acquiring Cain and then perhaps converting Gonzalez to first base, rather than signing Desmond. Blackmon and Gonzalez were also the subject of several trade rumors this winter, so the Rockies could’ve been looking at Cain as a replacement if they’d moved one of their internal pieces.
Nationals Notes: Deferrals, Gagne
There’s a belief across baseball that the Nationals’ affinity for deferring money in contracts has somewhat hindered their pursuit of talent in free agency and could negatively affect them down the line as they attempt to avoid the luxury tax, according to Barry Svrluga of the Washington Post. “They’re unique. They’re the only team that operates like this,” an agent told Svrluga, who adds that team ownership won’t comment on its methods. The Nats are set to pay their newest addition, reliever Joe Blanton, $4MM on a one-year deal, but he’ll collect that money through 2019. Among far more expensive examples, starters Max Scherzer (signed through 2021) and Stephen Strasburg (2023) will be on the franchise’s books and through 2028 and 2030, respectively.
- The Nationals are doing their due diligence on Eric Gagne as the former star closer looks to emerge from his yearslong retirement and return to the majors. Nats special assistant De Jon Watson was on hand at Dodgers camp Saturday to watch Gagne throw, relays Shaikin, who tweets that the right-hander topped out at 91 mph. Now 41, Gagne averaged just over 92 mph on his fastball in 2008, his latest major league action.
Stephen Strasburg Working On Changes For 2017
Stephen Strasburg threw well in his spring debut for the Nationals yesterday, representing a promising step for the key righty, as Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com reports. Notably, Strasburg also showed some tweaks to his approach that he evidently intends to carry into the 2017 season. Most interestingly, the veteran hurler worked exclusively from the stretch, explaining that he has toyed with that idea after finding it increasingly difficult to maintain his mechanics from a full windup. Likewise, he’s planning to pare back the usage of his slider, an offering that he relied on far more in 2016 than ever before. The hope is that by utilizing that pitch less, and backing off on his work between starts, Strasburg can better maintain his health throughout a full season.
Nationals Agree To Terms With Trea Turner
- Finally, the Nationals have agreed to a $554,900 salary with emergent star Trea Turner, according to Heyman (via Twitter). That’s rather a healthy rate of pay for a player who’ll enter the year with just 135 days of service, though Turner’s outstanding half-season of work in 2016 — .342/.370/.567 with 13 home runs and 33 steals over 324 plate appearances — more than justifies such an increase. With Turner’s deal in the books, the Nats were able to line up with all 22 of their arb-eligible players. Looking ahead for the youngster, who’ll be moving back to his accustomed shortstop position this year, the biggest impact on his earnings (beyond his play) won’t be the team’s decision on how much to pay him before he reaches arbitration. Instead, it’ll be whether he can qualify for Super Two status. Without a 2015 cameo in the books, he wouldn’t have much of a shot; as things stand, he’ll be touch-and-go to reach arb eligibility a year ahead of the pack.
Nationals Struggling To Find Taker For Norris' Salary
- The Nationals are trying to move Derek Norris but finding it difficult to drum up interest in the catcher at his current $4.2MM salary, writes Jorge Castillo of the Washington Post. Castillo reports that the Angels, White Sox and Brewers are all wary of paying that type of money to a catcher that slashed just .186/.255/.328 last season. As FanRag’s Jon Heyman suggested yesterday, the Nats could ultimately just release Norris, as they’d only be on the hook for one-sixth of his salary (about $688K) due to the fact that arbitration salaries aren’t fully guaranteed prior to Opening Day. As for Norris himself, he acknowledged to Castillo that his D.C. days might be numbered but said he’s simply preparing to play the 2017 season somewhere. “It doesn’t change much for me other than the fact that it may or may not be the teammates I’ll be playing with,” said Norris. “So on my end it’s control what I can control. Go out there and play my games and get ready for a season.”
Stephen Strasburg Set For First Spring Outing
- Star Nationals hurler Stephen Strasburg will make his own spring debut tomorrow, as Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com reports on Twitter. He says he’s feeling healthy after missing the end of the 2016 season with a forearm strain. As ever, Strasburg’s health will be a key factor for the Nats in 2017.
Heyman’s Latest: Nationals, Alvarez, Cubs, CarGo, Yankees, Colome
The latest notes column from Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports kicks off with an extremely early look at the potential market for Bryce Harper in two years, with Heyman listing the Yankees, Nationals and Phillies as teams that many within the industry think will vie for the 2015 NL MVP in free agency. The in-depth look at Harper focuses on the 24-year-old’s improved clubhouse demeanor and maturity in recent years and also adds more fuel to the rumors that Harper played part of the 2016 season through a shoulder injury that he’s reluctant to discuss. Heyman also touches base on Derek Norris later in the column, noting that there may be a better chance that Norris is simply released than traded. Washington agreed to a $4.25MM salary with Norris to avoid arbitration, but because arb contracts aren’t fully guaranteed, they could cut Norris before March 15 and only pay him 30 days termination pay — about $688K, by my math.
Some highlights from a lengthy look at all 30 teams around the league…
- Pedro Alvarez still has fans in the Orioles’ front office, per Heyman, but there’s been “no evidence” of renewed contact between the two sides. The Twins talked to Alvarez’s camp at one point but haven’t been in touch recently, and while Rangers manager Jeff Banister is fond of Alvarez dating back to the pair’s days in Pittsburgh, there’s nothing to suggest the two sides could strike a deal.
- The Cubs met with Scott Boras recently and discussed Jake Arrieta, but there was “no traction” in talks between the two sides. Heyman paints a similar picture to the one that has surrounded extension rumors with Arrieta for the past several months; the Cubs would be amenable to a three- or four-year deal, but Arrieta and Boras are targeting something more along the lines of Max Scherzer’s seven-year, $210MM contract. Heyman also notes that the Cubs made a play for right-hander Brad Ziegler this winter before he inked a two-year deal with the Marlins.
- Extension talks between the Rockies and Carlos Gonzalez are “on hold” for the time being. The team tried to explore talks with Gonzalez (another Boras client) recently, but with free agency just a few months away, hammering out a new deal has long seemed unlikely (and, I’d argue, unnecessary from the Rockies’ vantage point, given the plethora of outfield options in Denver).
- After spending a combined $99MM on Matt Holliday and Aroldis Chapman at the Winter Meetings in early December, Yankees GM Brian Cashman was told he only had $4MM to work with over the remainder of the winter, Heyman reports. That level of cash prevented the Yanks from luring targets like Travis Wood and Jerry Blevins to the Bronx but did prove to be enough to buy Chris Carter (and perhaps Jon Niese, who inked a minor league deal). Cashman also tells Heyman that he did receive trade offers for Brett Gardner, but the offers simply weren’t enticing.
- Rays closer Alex Colome was oft-rumored to have drawn trade interest last summer and earlier this offseason, though Heyman writes that the Nationals wouldn’t part with top outfield prospect Victor Robles in order to acquire him. Colome was outstanding in his first season in the ninth inning last year, logging 56 2/3 innings with a 1.91 ERA, 11.3 K/9, 2.4 BB/9 and a 47.1 percent ground-ball rate. The 28-year-old hasn’t even reached arbitration yet and is controllable through the 2020 season, so if he does eventually emerge as a potential trade chip, the asking price from the Tampa Bay front office would likely be deemed exorbitant by many clubs.
