Nationals Rumors

Nationals Not Considering Tim Chambers

By Mike Axisa | May 5, 2010 at 4:18pm CDT

WEDNESDAY, 4:18pm: Nationals GM Mike Rizzo said the team is not considering Chambers for a scouting job, tweets MLB.com's Bill Ladson.

TUESDAY, 6:02pm: The Nationals are working to hire College of Southern Nevada coach Tim Chambers as a scout, reports SI.com's Jon Heyman. Chambers, of course, currently coaches Bryce Harper, who Washington is expected to take with the first overall pick in next month's draft.

Despite the connection to Harper, assistant GM Roy Clark insists that the hiring is unrelated, pointed out that he employed Chambers for a decade while he was with the Braves. Heyman mentions that many college coaches are employed by MLB teams as associate scouts, and that it's possible the Nats were impressed with Chambers during their many visits to see Harper.

Yesterday we heard that Harper and Scott Boras were expected to demand a contract in excess of Stephen Strasburg's $15.1MM deal, the all-time draft record. Nats' GM Mike Rizzo recently scouted Harper in person for the first time.

Capps, Kelly Johnson Under Team Control For 2011

By Tim Dierkes | May 5, 2010 at 10:09am CDT

Matt Capps and Kelly Johnson signed one-year deals during the offseason, yet they're both under team control for 2011 as well. How did that happen? It's the beauty of signing a non-tendered player who has fewer than five years of service time. Both players will be arbitration-eligible after the 2010 season.

Capps, closing for the Nationals, was named MLB's Delivery Man of the Month for April after saving ten games with a 0.68 ERA. The Pirates non-tendered Capps after the '09 season, signing Octavio Dotel for the same $3.5MM. The Bucs have a $4.5MM club option on Dotel, so they've got two years of control for their new closer. The difference is that Dotel's option becomes mutual if he's traded. Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette feels that the Pirates could've signed both pitchers, and a comparison of the two misses the point.

Johnson is off to a blazing .301/.389/.677 start in 108 plate appearances, his nine home runs already exceeding last year's total. Much like Capps, the Braves couldn't find a trade suitor and cut Johnson loose for nothing. They're happy with Johnson's replacement Martin Prado, who's off to a .337/.397/.452 start. In hindsight, could the Braves have moved Johnson back to left field and thrown him into the mix? Melky Cabrera and Matt Diaz looked like solid options heading into the season.

Injured pitchers Chien-Ming Wang and Jose Arredondo were also non-tenders. The Nationals can control Wang for 2011, while the Reds can keep Arredondo through 2014.

Odds & Ends: Crawford, Raynor, Lackey, Strasburg

By Tim Dierkes | May 4, 2010 at 8:48pm CDT

Links for Tuesday, as Tim Lincecum reclaims the MLB strikeout lead…

Marc Topkin of The St. Petersburg Times spoke to Crawford, who said he was misquoted in the upcoming Sports Illustrated piece mentioned below. "Nothing's changed, no decisions," he said. "I don't know what Carlos [Pena] is doing.''
Pirates' GM Neil Huntington told Chuck Finder of The Pittsburgh Post Gazette that he tried to made a deal with the Marlins that would allow Rule 5 pick John Raynor to remain with the Pirates, but to no avail. Raynor was returned to Florida today.
John Lackey said he wasn't surprised when the Angels let him depart as a free agent given their trade record with letting home grown players leave, according to Mark Saxon of ESPN Los Angeles. "It's different," said Lackey. "The way they preach the team game and giving it up for the team. That's a little suspect. You're supposed to give it up for the team. When the time comes, they might not want to give it up for you. But I totally knew that was a possibility. I was prepared for that. That's the nature of the game today."
Stephen Strasburg has been promoted and will make his Triple A debut Friday against Freddie Freeman and the Gwinnett Braves, reports MLB.com's Bill Ladson. ESPN's Rob Neyer notes that Strasburg seems to be on the Mark Prior path to the bigs, perhaps delayed a few weeks for cost savings.
MASN's Ben Goessling says Nats 2006 first-round pick Colton Willems has decided to retire. The team has the pitcher on the restricted list in case he changes his mind.
An upcoming Sports lllustrated piece on Carlos Pena features this quote from Carl Crawford: "This core group is going to still be together, me and Carlos are the only two guys that are going to be leaving."
The Royals granted reliever Roman Colon his release so he can sign with the Kia Tigers of Korea, according to the team. Just three months ago, Colon and Juan Cruz were in the mix to be Joakim Soria's primary setup man. The Royals' bullpen sports an AL-worst 5.56 ERA in 81 innings.
White Sox GM Kenny Williams wouldn't rule out a fire sale at a later date, but said the team's aggressive nature will probably prevent it (Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times reporting).
ESPN's Buster Olney explains that his Saturday story about Cliff Lee being likely to reach free agency was prompted by a call Olney made to Lee's agent.
Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports tweets that the Blue Jays attempted to sign Kelly Johnson to play left field during the offseason, offering more than the $2.35MM Johnson received from Arizona. Johnson told Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic in March that he strongly considered offers from the Blue Jays, Pirates, and Indians.
Joel Sherman of the New York Post points out that the upon acquiring Javier Vazquez, the Yankees considered two 2011 draft picks part of the deal. Already, Vazquez's Type A status and arbitration offer are in question. We'll be able to give you Vazquez's exact Elias standing later this month, when Eddie Bajek makes his first pass at 2009-10 rankings.
Dejan Kovacevic's latest article for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette suggests the Pirates were overly optimistic about Akinori Iwamura, currently their highest-paid player.
Click here to listen to my radio appearance on KFNS St. Louis from earlier today.

Odds & Ends: Harper, Escobar, Vazquez, Gordon

By Tim Dierkes | May 3, 2010 at 9:19pm CDT

Links for Monday, as Joe Blanton makes his 2010 debut…

Washington GM Mike Rizzo scouted Bryce Harper in person for the first time, and he and scouting director Kris Kline came away confident in Harper's makeup, according to Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post.
Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com takes an in-depth look at the Pirates' arms throughout the organization.
The Chicago Tribune's Mark Gonzales writes that GM Ken Williams is exercising patience when it comes to trading, despite the White Sox' slow start.
Kelvim Escobar will undergo season-ending surgery to repair a torn capsule in the front of his right shoulder, tweets MLB.com's Anthony DiComo. Escobar signed a one-year deal with the Mets this winter for $1.25MM.
Joe Pawlikowski of River Ave. Blues looks at the pitchers the Yankees were considering over Javier Vazquez, noting that they've all had concerns as well. The Yankees will delay Vazquez's sixth start until a week from today against the Tigers. John Harper of the New York Daily News wonders if the Yanks should ship Vazquez to the Mets.
Joe Posnanski questions the Royals' decision to demote Alex Gordon. Gordon will play left field and first base in the minors, tweets Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star.
Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports points out the Tigers' collection of young talent.
Steve Dilbeck of the L.A. Times wonders what's happened to George Sherrill. The 33-year-old lefty has allowed 12 hits and 11 walks in nine innings so far. Given his $4.5MM salary this year, Sherrill is a prime candidate to be non-tendered after the season.
RotoAuthority notes that while Vazquez and Ben Sheets have been brutal so far, they could still have fantasy value this year.

Heyman On Harper, Werth, Rollins

By Tim Dierkes | May 3, 2010 at 2:05pm CDT

SI's Jon Heyman has word on Bryce Harper's expected demand after the 17-year-old catcher is drafted next month. Heyman says the Scott Boras advisee "will seek to break last year's record $15.67 million bonus set by Stephen Strasburg." It should be noted that in most places Strasburg's big league deal is reported as $15.1MM. That deal included a $7.5MM bonus. Back on April 20th, Baseball America's Jim Callis predicted Harper would sign for eight figures but less than Strasburg. For more on the largest contracts in draft history, check out Mike Axisa's recent post. On to Heyman's other rumors…

Heyman writes of pessimism that the Phillies can re-sign Jayson Werth.
Heyman adds that "People around baseball do expect the Phillies to make a huge effort to extend Jimmy Rollins beyond 2011, though there's no evidence there's any progress on that front." Perhaps as a sign of goodwill, the Phillies exercised Rollins' $8.5MM club option for 2011 in December of '09. Will the Phils give Rollins the Ryan Howard treatment, and extend him well before they need to?

Odds & Ends: Red Sox, Adrian, Strasburg, Mets, Zito

By Mike Axisa | May 1, 2010 at 10:32pm CDT

Links for Saturday…

The time Scott Schoeneweis spent with the Brewers in Spring Training likely gave him a leg up on Alan Embree this season, writes Ian Browne of MLB.com. Embree was DFA'd yesterday by the BoSox in order to make room for Daisuke Matsuzaka.
Dodgers prospect Andrew Lambo was suspended 50 games for his second violation of baseball's drug policy, tweets Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times. Prior to the 2009 season, the outfielder ranked 49th on Baseball America's top 100 prospects list.
Jim Bowden of XM Radio (via Twitter) spoke to Adrian Gonzalez, who says that he's not looking at Ryan Howard's new contract.
With a good outing for Double-A Harrisburg tomorrow, the Nats will promote Stephen Strasburg to Triple-A Syracuse, writes MLB.com's Bill Ladson.
The Mets' Triple-A affiliate cut lefty Travis Blackley loose, tweets Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com. The move will make room for the returning Elmer Dessens.
ESPN's Buster Olney notes that Barry Zito has reinvented himself this season, and is starting to deliver a little of what the Giants were expecting when they signed him for $126MM.
Mark Bradley of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution doesn't believe the Braves can compete with the lineup as constructed.
Within this piece, Richard Justice of The Houston Chronicle mentions that prior to trading Brad Lidge to the Phillies, the Indians were willing to part with Cliff Lee to obtain the All-Star closer. That was the offseason prior to Lee's breakout Cy Young season.
In an article for ESPN Boston, Mike Andrews of SoxProspects.com looks at the Red Sox depth and what the backup plans are should any of the regulars get injured.

Helping The Mariners Find Some Offense

By Mike Axisa | May 1, 2010 at 12:06pm CDT

It's no secret that the Mariners came into the season with a plan for extreme run prevention through pitching and top shelf defense, but through 23 games they've scored the third fewest runs in the American League (82) thanks to a paltry .312 team OBP. The problem was as obvious as can be last night, when the Mariners twice had the bases loaded with less than two outs in extra innings, but scored a total of zero runs.

Jason Churchill of Prospect Insider took a look at the team's offensive plight, noting that the farm system offers a little help and that the arrival of Jack Hannahan and possibly Ramon Vazquez will provide just a marginal improvement for the bench. Seattle's designated hitters are hitting just .186/.263/.198, so Churchill offers up some trade suggests to help that situation. Note that the trade talk is based on his speculation only.

The names are not strangers to this space, including Josh Willingham, Adam Dunn, Luke Scott, and Jorge Cantu. All four would represent a demonstrative offensive upgrade, and by slotting them in at DH the team would maintain their run prevention strategy. Seattle has good but not great trade chips, but they might have the ability to absorb some salary, the best trade chip of all.

The Mariners are just half a game back in the league's most winnable division after the season's first month, so it's hardly time to panic. Though the sooner they can improve the DH position, the better.

Odds & Ends: Rangers, Chapman, Capps, Choo

By Tim Dierkes | April 29, 2010 at 8:18pm CDT

Links for Thursday, as Kelly Johnson and Paul Konerko jockey for the MLB home run lead…

Richard Durrett of ESPN Dallas takes a look at what the Rangers could do with their roster once Ian Kinsler returns from the disabled list tomorrow.
Reds' GM Walt Jocketty said that the team doesn't have a timetable for Aroldis Chapman's arrival in the Majors, says John Fay of The Cincinnati Enquirer.
Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette wonders why the Pirates didn't retain Matt Capps in hopes that he'd rebuild value. Capps is generating attention as MLB's saves (and save opportunity) leader. The righty told Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times it was a pretty close competition between the Cubs and Nationals for his services, once he was non-tendered.
Yahoo's Tim Brown profiles Shin-Soo Choo, who his agent Scott Boras feels "has a chance to be the best Pacific Rim player ever over the course of his career."
SI's Ann Killion writes about Barry Zito's apparent redemption. Zito is rocking a 1.32 ERA, an improved groundball rate, and an unsustainable .203 batting average on balls in play through four starts. If Zito can continue to keep the walks down, he could have his best year as a Giant. Of course, he flashed a similar walk rate in July and August of last year.
Matt Kemp's agent Dave Stewart discussed Ned Colletti's recent comments on ESPN's Mason & Ireland show, saying the public criticism "should never have happened."
Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times notes that the Mariners made the right call in not signing Jarrod Washburn.
Baseball Prospectus' Kevin Goldstein does a mock draft of the first ten picks this year.
Mark Zuckerman talked to a high-ranking Nationals official who finds Goldstein's criticism of Bryce Harper's makeup "way overblown." Meanwhile, Byron Kerr of MASNSports.com spoke to Harper's college coach about those same makeup concerns.

The Latest On The Unsigned Position Players

By Luke Adams 2 | April 28, 2010 at 8:42pm CDT

After recapping the most recent news on some remaining free agent starting pitchers yesterday, let's focus on the bats today. Here are the latest updates on a few of the notable unsigned position players:

Jermaine Dye: Dye had the Mariners on his wish list, but Seattle didn't have much interest in the 36-year-old. Another team out west, the Giants, also had no interest in signing Dye. Washington was in the mix for the right-handed slugger at one point, though they've since backed off. Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe thinks Dye will sign somewhere soon, and an American League club where Dye could DH would make sense. Like Jarrod Washburn though, he'll likely need to reduce his asking price.
Gary Sheffield: Cafardo also believes Sheffield should sign soon, and tweeted that the veteran had "something on the table" a couple weeks ago. The Nationals also had discussions with Sheff, but the club seems happy with their current selection of outfielders for now. Even though he's 41, Sheffield could have value to a National League team as a pinch-hitter and part-time player, like he did for the Mets last year (.276/.372/.451 in 312 PAs).
Carlos Delgado: Delgado might end up being the offensive equivalent of Pedro Martinez: a hired gun that could contribute to a contending team in the second half of the season. The Mets were considered a possibility prior to their promotion of Ike Davis. Before Delgado catches on with any club, the 37-year-old will have to show that he's fully healthy following his second hip surgery in February.
Joe Crede: Considering Crede is a Scott Boras client, it's somewhat surprising that we've heard next to nothing regarding his status. Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports reported in early March that Crede was hitting and throwing while he waited for an offer, but there has been very little news since then. Crede has homered 32 times over the past two seasons and plays an above-average third base, so it may be health questions that are keeping him on the free agent market. As MLBTR's Ben Nicholson-Smith suggested earlier this month, a healthy Crede "could become an attractive mid-season option for risk-taking GMs."
Elijah Dukes: Shortly after Dukes' surprising release by the Nationals, FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal tweeted that a few teams were interested in the 25-year-old. Since then though, we haven't heard anything concrete. Perhaps clubs are still hesitant to invest in Dukes, given his off-field history.
Rocco Baldelli: There was some speculation earlier in April that Baldelli could be an option for the Rays if they gave up on Pat Burrell, since Baldelli has been working out at Tropicana Field and wants to play. Burrell has played better since that point, hitting .275/.318/.500 in his last 11 games, silencing those rumors somewhat. For the time being, Baldelli will continue to serve as a special assistant for the Rays.

Check out our full list of available hitters here.

Heyman On Howard, Pujols, Adrian, Werth

By Tim Dierkes | April 28, 2010 at 12:10pm CDT

The latest hot stove thoughts from SI's Jon Heyman…

The people Heyman talked to feel that with Ryan Howard averaging $25MM a year starting in 2012, a contract discussion for Albert Pujols has to start at $30MM a year.
Heyman says that "the belief among skeptics of the deal that [the Howard extension] was an obvious overpay isn't reflected one bit among baseball people." Of course, there are hundreds of baseball people, and the ones I've spoken to agree with the skeptics.
Adrian Gonzalez's agent John Boggs said, "We're just kind of innocent bystanders," noting that the Padres have not made contact about an extension.
Jayson Werth's agent Jeff Borris believes his client will be "the premier free agent outfielder" if he doesn't sign an extension. Looking at the list, only Carl Crawford would have an argument. Heyman says there's a "belief around baseball" that Werth will be seeking $100MM. Previously we've heard suggestions of the four-year, $66MM Jason Bay range.
Heyman says Stephen Strasburg has a contract clause that "permits 100 innings at the major-league level this year." I haven't heard of any clauses of that nature before, but Strasburg and Scott Boras is a powerful pairing.

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