Nationals Rumors

NL East Notes: Amaro, Asche, Altherr, Span, Braves

By Steve Adams | March 10, 2016 at 11:16am CDT

Former Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr., now the Red Sox’ first base coach, discussed the perception that his regime in Philadelphia was well behind the curve in terms of analytics in an interview with David Laurila of Fangraphs. Amaro makes the claim that while his club may not have been as progressive as some of the most aggressive adopters of statistical analysis, the Phillies may also have been more up to speed than they let on. “You can’t ever deny the numbers,” said Amaro.“That’s true for every GM and every baseball person, regardless of whether you’re ‘old school’ or ‘new school.’ … I’ve always believed in analytics. I just didn’t make it all public (in Philadelphia). I thought it was more of a competitive advantage for me to keep our thought-process about analytics closer to the vest. … I didn’t think it was anybody’s business but our own as to how we evaluated.” That is, of course, a fairly bold claim to make, especially in the face of years of stories to the contrary, which highlighted the Phillies’ adherence to more traditional means of evaluation. Amaro goes on to discuss the balance between data and scouting as well as new data from Statcast and evaluating players at different age levels. Regardless of whether one believes his initial claims (and I’d expect that most will not), the issue the comments raise is interesting, as there certainly could be some value to keeping operational methodology close to the vest for a big league organization. The interview is well worth taking a few minutes to read.

Here’s more from the NL East…

Cody Asche is in danger of opening the season on the Phillies’ disabled list, writes Ryan Lawrence of PhillyVoice.com. The former third base prospect, who converted to the outfield last year to accommodate Maikel Franco, was originally shut down two weeks ago due to an oblique issue, and an MRI conducted on Wednesday showed little progress. Asche is battling a Grade 1 strain in his right oblique, and manager Pete Mackanin says that the 25-year-old is still not cleared to hit. Aaron Altherr’s unfortunate injury — he’ll miss up to six months following wrist surgery — seemed to have created a window for Asche to get some more playing time, but his own health problems could now stand in the way of that. As a result, Lawrence notes, Rule 5 pick Tyler Goeddel’s chances of sticking with the club become even stronger.
Phillies GM Matt Klentak implied to MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki that it’s unlikely he’ll look outside the organization to replace Altherr. “We owe it to the guys in camp to give them that chance to fill that spot,” said Klentak. “We’ll survey the market. If there’s something out there, we’ll explore it, but we feel pretty good about the guys we have here.” As Zolecki notes, the Phillies do have top priority on the waiver wire, so they could add an outfielder late in camp if one becomes available in that manner. In addition to Goeddel, the Phillies have Odubel Herrera, Peter Bourjos Darnell Sweeney and Darin Ruf as 40-man options, with veteran David Lough in camp as a non-roster invitee.
Denard Span, who signed a three-year, $31MM contract with the Giants this offseason, spoke fondly of his time with the Nationals to James Wagner of the Washington Post in a recent interview. Within, the 31-year-old Span reveals that he and former agent Joe Urbon of CAA Sports approached the Nationals about a potential extension back in 2014, but the team wasn’t interested at the time. Despite the fact that his interest was spurned, Span had nothing but glowing things to say about the organization. It’s not necessarily a surprise that the Nats weren’t keen on a long-term deal, as Bryce Harper is a fixture in the outfield, Jayson Werth is locked up through 2017, and the team undoubtedly hoped at the time (and still hopes) that Michael A. Taylor can shift into the center field slot as a more cost-effective long-term option.
Braves general manager John Coppolella tells MLB.com’s Mark Bowman that he’s not ruling out Major League debuts for top outfield prospect Mallex Smith or shortstops Dansby Swanson and Ozhaino Albies in 2016. “They have all been very impressive, and I don’t think they could have shown any better than they have,” said Coppolella of the trio’s first week of Grapefruit League action. Coppolella went on to say that service time implications (i.e. delaying a player’s free agency) won’t be a factor for him if a player deems that he is ready for MLB action in 2016. “You can always sign young guys to long-term deals,” said the GM. “Sometimes, when you bring up prospects early, they’re more willing to sign long-term because they know you didn’t hold them hostage or try to manipulate them in any way.”

NL East Notes: Harvey, Fernandez, Hernandez, Braves, Rivero

By Jeff Todd | March 9, 2016 at 9:05am CDT

While the Mets have made clear they don’t have any ongoing extension talks with their starters, and there isn’t a ton of pressure given their extended existing control, Joel Sherman of the New York Post suggests that it may be worth at least exploring some chatter with Matt Harvey. Both the prized righty and his agent, Scott Boras, have suggested they’d be willing to engage in dialogue. Harvey, 26, is earning $4.33MM in his first of three seasons of arbitration eligibility. Sherman suggests that buying the remaining two arb years at about $29MM and adding three free agent seasons at $30MM a pop might be a fair valuation. While that seems to be a pretty fair suggestion for an outstanding 3+ starter, even in spite of his recent Tommy John surgery, from my perspective it’s somewhat difficult to imagine Harvey and Boras jumping at $119MM over five years. Such a deal would take Harvey though his age-32 season, meaning he’d hit the market at about the same stage as James Shields did last winter. It’s also far from clear that New York would be interested in such a scenario, of course, and Sherman makes very clear that any such concept is something of a longshot.

Here’s more from the NL East:

Marlins ace Jose Fernandez, who is currently on track to hit the market with Harvey and a host of other premium players, is working on decreasing his reliance on his big fastball, Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald reports. The hope is that Fernandez will not only be able to improve — a scary proposition for opponents — but will reduce the load on his recently-repaired elbow. “We want to see him continue to pitch and continue to develop his weapons, where he’s not having to have the mentality that I’ve got to strike everybody out,” explained new manager Don Mattingly. “There’s nothing wrong with having guy hit a ground ball early in the count. … We think pitching that way keeps him healthy for a long time. It’s good for him. It’s good for us. It’s good for everybody.”
Interestingly, the recent Tommy John research of MLBTR contributor Bradley Woodrum showed that the volume of what he classifies as “hard pitches” can have significant predictive power of future UCL replacements. Fernandez is the biggest name to land among the ten pitchers with the highest statistical TJ risk this year, per Woodrum’s research, which certainly suggests that thoughtful handling is warranted.
Presumed Phillies closer David Hernandez is dealing with some “issues” with his right elbow, manager Pete Mackanin told reporters including Matt Breen of the Philadelphia Inquirer. The skipper himself didn’t seem entirely sure of what difficulties Hernandez was having. Meanwhile, the righty says he isn’t injured and is simply trying not to overburden himself having missed a lot of camp time in recent springs, as MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki tweets.
In Braves camp, Cuban veteran Hector Olivera is still working to refine his hitting mechanics, as David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports, with the team seeing signs of improvement. The first impressions of youngster Ozzie Albies have been universally positive, O’Brien adds, who may be pushing up his big league timeline (although not all the way to Opening Day this year) with his performance. Meanwhile, Atlanta may seek to utilize Jace Peterson in more of a utility role this season, O’Brien adds.
James Wagner of the Washington Post has an interesting feature on Nationals lefty Felipe Rivero, who came over as one of two minor leaguers to accompany Jose Lobaton in the deal that sent Nate Karns to the Rays. The fireballing southpaw has focused on strengthening his arm, and hopes that touching 100 mph last year will become a more common occurrence. While he says he “was thinking too much before” in a starter’s role, Rivero now feels settled in as a pen man. “Last season,” he said, “I’d imagine that, even if I was facing Barry Bonds, I’d get him out. Or when I threw against the league’s best batters, I didn’t think about the Mets or whoever. It’s me versus you. If I strike you out, I strike you out. If you make contact, you make contact. That’s it.” Wagner notes that Rivero could factor into the team’s future closer considerations, and the 24-year-old says he’d welcome such an opportunity.

Quick Hits: Cubs, Cahill, Davis, Judge

By | March 5, 2016 at 7:30pm CDT

Yesterday, we heard about several Cubs free agent signees who took less money to play in Chicago. Jon Heyman of MLB Network (via Twitter) illuminates a few of the teams that missed out. We know the Orioles were in on Dexter Fowler as well as the Nationals and Cardinals interest in Jason Heyward. Ben Zobrist turned down better offers from the Nationals and Mets while Trevor Cahill declined to join the Pirates on a stronger offer. Of course, the details of those hypothetical deals are unknown. For example, the Nationals probably made heavy use of deferred money in their offers, reducing the present day value of their proposals. Heyman also has some contract details for reserve clause signees (on Twitter).

Here’s more from around the league:

The Pirates offer to Cahill was to pitch as a starter, writes Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun Times. However, rumors of a two-year offer may have been exaggerated. Cahill himself claims to be unaware of any two-year proposals. In my opinion, Cahill was smart to remain in Chicago as a reliever. His skill set plays particularly well out of the bullpen and could set up a strong multi-year offer in free agency next winter.
New Athletics outfielder Khris Davis is happy with his new ball club, writes Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The former Brewer saw the writing on the wall when Milwaukee dealt away several veterans in the last calendar year. Davis, originally picked in the 2009 draft, was the second-to-last player from that draft class with the club. The Brewers still have Scooter Gennett penciled in to play second base.
When Yankees prospects Aaron Judge and Jorge Mateo homered earlier today, they offered a glimpse of the future, writes Wallace Matthews of ESPN. The pair rank first and second in the Yankees farm system. Judge, 23, has a shot to contribute to the club in 2016 while Mateo, 20, is a little way off. Judge is a power hitting outfielder who hit 20 home runs in 540 plate appearances last season. Mateo is a speedy shortstop with 82 stolen bases in 2015 (500 plate appearances).

NL East Notes: Cuddyer, Arroyo, Badenhop, Hernandez

By Steve Adams | March 1, 2016 at 8:34pm CDT

While some believed that Michael Cuddyer’s retirement saved the Mets the full $12.5MM he was owed for the 2016 season, that’s not the case, reports Mike Puma of the New York Post. Cuddyer was paid a buyout in the range of $2-3MM, according to Puma. GM Sandy Alderson told reporters today that he’d still have been able to pursue Yoenis Cespedes this offseason even if Cuddyer had remained with the club, though he did acknowledge that some of the Mets’ other moves might not have been realistic. The Mets made small to mid-range signings of Jerry Blevins ($4MM), Alejandro De Aza ($5.75MM), Bartolo Colon ($7.25MM), Antonio Bastardo ($12MM) and Asdrubal Cabrera ($18.5MM) on the free-agent market this offseason.

A few more items pertaining to the NL East…

Nationals right-hander Bronson Arroyo hopes to crack the rotation and return to the Majors this season, but he’ll receive some notice if that’s not likely to be the case, he told reporters yesterday (Twitter link via Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post). Arroyo’s deal stipulates that the Nationals inform him whether he’s made the team five days before Spring Training ends, presumably in order to allow him to latch on elsewhere if he doesn’t make the club in D.C. It’s been more than 18 months since Arroyo last pitched in a big league game after undergoing Tommy John surgery with the D-backs.
Right-hander Burke Badenhop spoke with Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post about the feeling of being a veteran player in camp hoping to win a roster spot. Badenhop explained that he landed with the Nationals in part because they showed a greater sense of urgency when pursuing him than other clubs, and also because playing for a contender with a number of experienced players held appeal to him. Interestingly, Badenhop tells Janes that he’s learned manager Dusty Baker is quite familiar with him; Baker revealed to Badenhop that the Reds tried to trade for him when Baker was managing the club. Assistant GM Doug Harris told Janes that Badenhop gives hitters a different look than the rest of their current ’pen candidates, which could be a point in his favor this spring.
David Hernandez looks to be the favorite to serve as the Phillies’ closer this season, writes MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki. Hernandez’s very presence in Phillies camp might’ve seemed improbable to him several months ago, as he kicked off the winter by telling his agent he hoped to sign with a West Coast club that played its spring games in Arizona. However, Hernandez inked a one-year deal with an East Coast club that plays Spring Training in Florida, in part because the Phillies told him he could end up with an opportunity to close. Hernandez signed shortly before the trade of Ken Giles to the Astros, and as Zolecki notes, the club likely knew full well that a trade of Giles could come together in the near future, helping to stock the farm with young talent and create an opportunity for a free-agent to inherit the ninth inning role.

NL East Notes: Andruw, Tejada, Wheeler, Arroyo

By Steve Adams | February 29, 2016 at 12:31pm CDT

The Braves announced today that they’ve hired Andruw Jones as a special assistant to the baseball operations staff. The addition of the recently retired Jones will reunite him with the other most famous Jones in Braves history — former teammate Chipper Jones, who also signed on as a special assistant in the Atlanta front office this winter. “We are very excited to add Andruw to our staff as a special assistant,” said general manager John Coppolella in a press release. ““He is perhaps the most accomplished defensive outfielder in our organization’s history and one of the best in baseball history. He signed at the age of 16 and was developed in this organization. He can offer a lot of experience and knowledge to our young players and we look forward to his contributions.” Per the release, Jones will serve as a spring instructor, specialize in the development of the organization’s young outfielders during the regular season and also assist the front office with its international initiatives.

NL East Notes: Klentak, Marlins, Maddux, Moore, Drew

By Mark Polishuk | February 27, 2016 at 5:46pm CDT

Here’s the latest from around the NL East…

Phillies GM Matt Klentak has already been through rebuilding (while with the Orioles) and spending on big free agents (while with the Angels) in previous front office jobs, and he tells Bob Brookover of the Philadelphia Inquirer that he hopes both experiences will help him in the initial and latter stages of the Phils’ rebuild. Perhaps Klentak’s best example of a successful rebuild, however, is how his own team rebuilt in the early 2000’s to form the core of the squad that won five NL East titles and the 2008 World Series.
Edwin Jackson is battling some younger arms to win a spot in the Marlins rotation, and the veteran righty tells Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald that he has unfinished business as a starting pitcher. “I still look at myself as a starter. There’s still something I want to prove to myself, not to anyone else,” Jackson said. Pitching exclusively as a reliever in 2015, Jackson posted a 3.07 ERA, 1.9 K/BB rate and 6.5 K/9 over 55 2/3 innings, though advanced metrics indicate he was perhaps a bit fortunate to manage such a low ERA. Still, it was a big improvement over Jackson’s rough previous two seasons in the Cubs rotation and now he’s hoping to rebound in Miami.
In another item from Jackson, Marlins president of baseball operations Michael Hill expects big things from his lineup, saying he’d “put our position player talent against anybody in the National League.” Miami scored the second-fewest runs in baseball last season, yet Hill expects a big improvement thanks to Barry Bonds’ contributions as hitting coach, more development from young players and better health (most notably in the case of Giancarlo Stanton).
Pitching coach Mike Maddux may prove to be the Nationals’ best offseason acquisition, the Washington Post’s Thomas Boswell writes. Hiring the very well-regarded Maddux represents a new step for the franchise, as Boswell notes the Nationals have rarely invested much money in managers or coaching staffs.
Tyler Moore took some grounders at third base seemingly just as a routine drill, though as MASNsports.com’s Mark Zuckerman writes, versatility at a new position could help save Moore’s job. Moore is out of options and faces a roster crunch to make the Nationals’ Opening Day roster. Learning the hot corner is easier said than done, of course, especially since Moore has never played anywhere besides first, left or right in his eight-year professional career.
Stephen Drew knows how being a qualifying offer free agent can impact one’s market, so the new Nationals infielder tells MLB.com’s Bill Ladson that he sympathizes with what Ian Desmond is going through as the former Nat continues to look for a new team. After rejecting the QO in the 2013-14 offseason, Drew didn’t find a contract until May, re-signing with the Red Sox (notably, the only team that weren’t required to give up a draft pick to sign him). As you might expect, Drew is all for changes to the qualifying offer rule in the upcoming collective bargaining talks. “The union has to do a good job going over that rule and check out what we can come up with. As players, we probably want to get rid of it. We need to really take a look at the way the logistics are,” Drew said.

NL East Notes: Lazarito, Phillies, Lincecum, Wright, Colon

By | February 25, 2016 at 2:48pm CDT

The Phillies are not pursuing Lazaro Armenteros (aka Lazarito), writes Todd Zolecki of MLB.com. The club will begin the next international spending period with a little over $5.61MM of pool money – the largest bonus pool in the league. They can trade for an additional $2.8MM. Lazarito figures to sign for well over either maximum. Since the team is rebuilding and may have another large pool in the 2017-2018 period, Zolecki doesn’t believe the club is willing to incur spending prohibitions. However, the signing of Jhailyn Ortiz for $4MM last summer indicates the club will use it’s financial might on other highly talented names.

Here’s more from the NL East:

Phillies GM Matt Klentak is excited to see his prospects in live action, writes Jim Salisbury for Baseball America. Notable players who could reach the majors this season include J.P. Crawford, Nick Williams, Andrew Knapp, Jorge Alfaro, Jake Thompson, Mark Appel, and Zach Eflin. The Phillies have acquired enough major and minor league depth that these players can develop at their own pace. In other words, there’s no guarantee we’ll actually see any of them this year, or they could all reach the big show.
The Marlins are continuing to monitor the free agent and trade markets for pitchers, writes Joe Frisaro of MLB.com. The club is happy with their current staff, but there is room to add more depth. Frisaro mentions Tim Lincecum by name, but the former Cy Young winner has yet to schedule a day to throw in front of scouts. Such an outing has been rumored to be in the works since January.
Mets third baseman David Wright elaborated on the plan for managing his spinal stenosis, writes Anthony DiComo of MLB.com. Previously, GM Sandy Alderson suggested Wright would play about 130 games. Now, Wright is saying “you can’t have a plan” for managing the injury. He’ll ease into Spring Training and see how his body responds. The important thing is that player, manager, and GM are all on the same page – even if that’s frustrating for fans. One unmentioned aspect of Wright’s injury – the club may want to consider another backup third baseman beyond Wilmer Flores and Ruben Tejada.
The $7.25MM contract Bartolo Colon signed with the Mets wasn’t the best offer he received, writes DiComo. Per Colon, “there were higher-money offers, but that’s not something that even interested me because this is my family here.” Colon is the elder statesman of a young, exciting pitching staff. It appears he signed for the always-rare “hometown discount.”
The Nationals are not negotiating an extension with Bryce Harper, GM Mike Rizzo tells reporters including Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post. The club has engaged in some basic conversations with agent Scott Boras to start the ball rolling. Harper is under contract for another three seasons. A highly marketable player, the Nationals and Harper have every reason to take their time proceeding.

Nationals Links: Desmond, Perez, Zimmerman

By Mark Polishuk and Steve Adams | February 23, 2016 at 12:52pm CDT

Here’s the latest from the D.C. camp…

Ian Desmond’s former Nationals teammates are flabbergasted by the fact that the shortstop has yet to sign with a team, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports writes. “I don’t think there is a draft pick out there who is better than Ian Desmond,” Bryce Harper said. “I don’t there is a draft pick out there who is a better guy or person in the clubhouse than him.” Harper and Max Scherzer both feel that the qualifying offer is largely behind Desmond’s lingering presence on the market, with Harper opining that the QO system is “something baseball definitely needs to change.” Scherzer thinks the qualifying offer “literally has to be” the biggest and maybe only factor why Desmond is still available. “There’s no other reason why a team would not want to sign a shortstop like that. ….You could see the power. You could see the speed. You just don’t find that out of a shortstop,” Scherzer said.
Oliver Perez’s previous stint with the Nationals consisted of 16 Double-A games in 2011, but the southpaw tells MASNsports.com’s Mark Zuckerman that this stint helped revive his career. Minor league pitching coordinator Spin Williams encouraged Perez to become a full-time reliever in order to pave a quicker road back to the majors, and Perez has taken that advice to the bank. In four seasons since shifting to the bullpen, Perez has become a quality lefty specialist and is now back in Washington on a much more lucrative contract.
Ryan Zimmerman spoke to reporters (including Zuckerman) for the first time since his name was cited in the controversial Al Jazeera documentary that alleged Zimmerman, Ryan Howard, Peyton Manning and several other notable athletes were using PEDs. Zimmerman firmly denied any allegations made in the documentary and noted that he and Howard were so eager to clear their names that they filed a defamation lawsuit against Al Jazeera, despite the fact that such a suit could lead to more public scrutiny. “It’s one of those things where privacy is really not privacy anymore for me,” Zimmerman said. “It’s unfortunate that I have to do that, but that’s the steps I’m willing to take to show people that I have nothing to hide.”

Nats Have Explored Extension For Harper, But No Talks Now

By charliewilmoth | February 22, 2016 at 11:02pm CDT

GM Mike Rizzo says the Nationals have considered an extension for Bryce Harper, but there have been no formal talks, Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports. Harper’s agent, Scott Boras, says he and the Nationals (with whom he has a strong relationship) have had informal discussions about the possibility of a Harper extension.

“My attitude is that you certainly want to know what they have to say,” Boras says. “Then, you talk about what they want to do. Historically, these type of players, it’s very difficult because often there are not player comparables that drive this contract.”

It would, of course, be a monumental development if the Nationals were to extend Harper at this stage. He is only three years from becoming a free agent at the tender age of 26, and if he stays healthy and continues to play at anything close to the elite level at which he performed last year, his next contract will likely become the largest the sport has ever seen.

When a reporter recently mentioned to Harper the possibility he might eventually receive a $400MM contract, Harper said, “Don’t sell me short,” implying that he might be able to get even more. It was, perhaps, a brash response, but it likely was not an inaccurate one. Boras, for his part, seems to be thinking of Harper’s next deal in much broader terms than are typically discussed for individual contracts.

“Player comparables are certainly evidence of the past market. But the true evidence of the current market, economic value of franchises, and the revenues of this game are going to be different three years from now,” he says. “It’s not the amount, but whether it’s good business or not. … There may be incentives that excite [the Nationals]. You look at A-Rod when he signed with the Texas Rangers, and what it did for the club’s TV deal. When he was traded to the Yankees, you saw what it did for the YES Network.”

It’s well known that Boras likes his clients to test the waters of free agency, and given the likelihood that Harper could break records, it seems unlikely that the Nationals will make an offer significant enough to prevent him from hitting the market. There have been previous indications that the Nats aren’t even making a Harper extension a top priority, at least not right now. Both sides, however, appear to be leaving the door open a bit, and if formal discussions do eventually take place, they could go to some very interesting places, since it’s hard to know what a Harper deal ought to look like, either in terms of dollars or duration.

Nationals To Sign Juan Gutierrez

By Zachary Links | February 21, 2016 at 3:24pm CDT

The Nationals will sign right-hander Juan Gutierrez to a minor league deal, according to MLBTR’s Steve Adams (on Twitter). The deal does not include an invite to Washington’s big league camp.

Gutierrez appeared in 114 games for the Royals, Angels and Giants over the 2013-14 seasons, posting a 4.08 ERA, 6.7 K/9 and 2.47 K/BB rate over 119 relief innings. The 32-year-old was non-tendered by San Francisco following the 2014 season and re-signed with the team on a minor league deal, though he exercised a June 1 opt-out clause in his contract since he wasn’t on the Giants’ Major League roster. Gutierrez signed on with the Phillies and Nationals on minor league deals as well in 2015 but never cracked the bigs, ending up with a 3.98 ERA over 61 innings at the Triple-A level.

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