Nationals Rumors

Odds & Ends: Nationals, Mets, Big Z

By | June 29, 2009 at 7:05pm CDT

A roundup of links for a slow Monday evening in the baseball world…

According to Chico Harlan of the Washington Post, the Nationals have agreed to terms with second-rounder Jeffrey Kobernus, a second baseman from the University of California. He was handed a $705K signing bonus.
Brewers prospect Jeremy Jeffress was suspended 100 games Monday for a second violation of the minor league drug program, according to the Associated Press (via ESPN.com). Milwaukee assistant GM Gord Ash said the club is "concerned" about Jeffress, who is one positive test away from a lifetime ban.
Presented without comment: In a poll taken this afternoon, 57.2 percent of Chicago Tribune readers agreed with Phil Rogers, who opined Monday morning that the Cubs should waive Carlos Zambrano.
Jay Schreiber of the New York Times wants to hear from Mets fans and want-to-be GMs alike. "Does anyone have any suggestions for the woebegone Mets?," he asks.
According to MLB.com's Wayne Staats, the Cubs have signed 10 of their top 15 draft picks and 21 of 50 overall. Top pick Brett Jackson, an outfielder out of the University of California, was inked early last week.
Don't forget about MLBTR's weekly live chats. Ben Nicholson-Smith will be your host Tuesday at 2pm CST.

Odds And Ends: Snell, DeRosa, Kearns

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | June 29, 2009 at 10:45am CDT

Some links to start the week off…

East Windup Chronicle reports that the Pirates signed a Taiwanese high schooler to a minor league deal. Chi Ping-hong is small and speedy with good range.
Ian Snell faced 24 batters in his first Triple A start this year and struck out 17 of them, according to Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Neal Huntington says the Pirates are trying to "salvage some value" from Snell, who has $5.75MM remaining on his contract.
Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch gathered some of the Cardinals' responses to the Mark DeRosa deal and they all agree the move shows the Cards are built to win now.
Bud Shaw of the Cleveland Plain Dealer says the Indians' "summer garage sale" shows the best and worst sides of the club.
Ben Goessling of the Washington Times wonders whether the Nats will trade Austin Kearns, release him, or simply buy him out for $1MM after the season.

Odds & Ends: Indians, Pirates, Zambrano

By Eddie Schmid | June 28, 2009 at 8:46pm CDT

Some links to wrap up a relatively busy weekend, with more on the way:

ESPN's Jorge Arangure says the Yankees, Red Sox, Reds and Padres in on 16-year-old Dominican RHP Cristopher Cabrera.
John Perrotto at Pirates Report says if he were Neal Huntington, he'd go ahead with the rumored swap of Nyjer Morgan for Lastings Milledge with the Nationals.
Phil Rogers at the Chicago Tribune is fed up with Carlos Zambrano and thinks the Cubs should waive him and take anything another club is willing to give. Not a great week for Cubs fans, eh?
Bud Shaw at the Cleveland Plain-Dealer notes that the Indians have had more success making deals than with their draft picks.
Paul Hoynes at the Plain-Dealer gets some more player reactions to the Mark DeRosa deal.
Andrew Baggarly at the San Jose Mercury News wonders if Jermaine Dye and Mark Teahen could be on Giants GM Brian Sabean's radar screen.

Nats Swap Langerhans For Mike Morse

By Steve Adams | June 28, 2009 at 2:40pm CDT

Pete McElroy informs us that the Nationals have sent Ryan Langerhans to the Mariners in exchange for Mike Morse.

Morse, 27, was a third-round pick by the White Sox in the 2000 draft. He was off to a fine .312/.370/.481 start in the Pacific Coast League this season, and has managed a .300 batting average in 107 career major league games.

Langerhans, 29, has been posting a nice season at the Triple-A level as well, hitting .278/.371/.488 with 9 home runs on the year.

Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times confirms the deal and says that Langerhans will likely be a part of the big league club starting this Tuesday.

Interestingly, during a chat that Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik held with fans a few days ago, one reader suggested making a move to acquire Langerhans. Zduriencik's reply: "Good suggestion."

Nationals Scouting Outfield Options?

By Eddie Schmid | June 27, 2009 at 7:44pm CDT

Talks have swirled this weekend about the Nationals' pursuit of Pirates CF Nyjer Morgan, but it looks like he's not the only outfielder on the team's radar. Bill Ladson at MLB.com has updated his previous post on the discussions, and this time he throws Braves CF prospect Jordan Schafer's name into the mix as a potential target for the Nats.

Ladson says the Nationals are seeking an improvement in their outfield defense, as they have apparently concluded that Adam Dunn and Josh Willingham profile more as designated hitters and Elijah Dukes still makes too many mental errors. Schafer was sent down earlier this season to make room for Nate McLouth, but it isn't clear if the Braves would be willing to move him.

It seems like the Nats are looking for a young, cost-controlled and speedy outfielder as well as a defensively adept one. Who else comes to mind that might be attainable for the Nationals?

Pirates, Nationals Discussing Swap

By Nat Boyle | June 27, 2009 at 3:51pm CDT

SATURDAY, 3:51pm: MLB.com's Bill Ladson has confirmed through a source that the Nationals are in hot pursuit of Morgan. Milledge was offered, but the Pirates are seeking a starting pitcher or middle infielder.

Washington infielders Alberto Gonzalez and Danny Espinosa probably aren't going anywhere, and the Nats seem to like their young nucleus of starters (mainly Stammen, Jordan Zimmermann and John Lannan). Ladson suggests Anderson Hernandez could be part of the move, but he surely won't "wow" Pittsburgh's upper management.

FRIDAY, 9:58pm: Via Twitter, Ed Price of Fanhouse.com says the Pirates and Nationals have been discussing an outfield swap of Nyjer Morgan for Lastings Milledge but that talks stalled when Pittsburgh asked for right handed starter Craig Stammen as well.

Milledge is currently recovering from a broken finger sustained in Triple-A. Morgan is having a fine breakout season hitting .267 with 18 stolen bases; however, Pittsburgh has a glut of up-and-coming outfielders in Andrew McCutchen, Delwyn Young, and Steven Pearce.

What To Do With Hanrahan?

By Nat Boyle | June 26, 2009 at 9:31pm CDT

Pete McElroy of MASN Sports thinks the Nationals should consider moving Joel Hanrahan. Since Hanrahan is out of options, this would mean either designating him for assignment or outright releasing him.

McElroy sees Hanrahan without confidence on the mound. Despite a more than a strikeout per inning, the former Dodgers top pitching prospect has a 7.71 ERA and lost the closers gig twice in '09 and shown no improvement. Perhaps a change of scenery would be best?

Nationals Team President On Acta

By | June 25, 2009 at 6:16pm CDT

According to Chico Harlan and Mike Viera of the Washington Post, Nationals team president Stan Kasten "gave his firmest-yet support" of Manny Acta during a speaking engagement Wednesday afternoon, expressing hope that he can "serve as long-term manager" for the club.

"In Manny's case, I happen to be a big fan of his," Kasten said. "I think he has the demeanor to be a long-term solution as a manager. He has the demeanor of a Bobby Cox and others who have been successful. I had this great talk around the batting cage last night with Terry Francona, the young, possibly genius manager of the Boston Red Sox. And I said, 'Terry, I remember when you were a dummy as manager of the Phillies.' And he says, 'Stan, I promise you, I'm still a dummy, I just have better players.' It's so true. And I have always from the beginning supported Manny. I can't predict whether it will work here, but I think he will. I think he's going to serve as a long-term manager here. That's my hope."

As some of you may remember, FOXSports.com's Ken Rosenthal heard from a source two weeks ago that the Nats would cut ties with Acta on June 15. SI.com's Jon Heyman confirmed the report hours later, but that date passed without a whimper and Acta still remains the skipper in Washington. The Nats are 20-49 this season, 17 games back in the National League East.

Stark On Lee, DeRosa, Phillies, Rays, Beltre

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | June 25, 2009 at 2:22pm CDT

Jayson Stark of ESPN.com calls this one of the slowest-moving trade markets in a while, but provides lots of rumors anyways:

Teams are making introductory calls now to set the tone for the next five weeks.
One official looking to add a reliever says no one is available.
With so few teams willing to part with players, sellers are asking for a lot.
The Brewers, Dodgers, Phillies and Mets are among the teams to call about Cliff Lee. The Indians would still have to be overwhelmed to part with him.
The Cubs have considered trying to reacquire Mark DeRosa.
They've also done some preliminary searching for a bat, but they're not sure where they'd play a new hitter so that gives the versatile DeRosa extra appeal.
Stark's heard nothing to suggest Bobby Valentine will end up managing the Nationals.
The Phillies have given indications that they'd part with Michael Taylor and/or Jason Donald in a deal for a top starter.
However, they won't listen on these players: Dominic Brown, Lou Marson, Kyle Drabek, Jason Knapp, Carlos Carrasco and Antonio Bastardo.
Doug Davis and Ian Snell aren't Phillies targets.
The Rays are looking for long-term upgrades. They'd like to acquire "the next J.P. Howell."
They're asking about young corner outfielders, rather than Jermaine Dye types.
Pedro Martinez still wants a $5MM salary (prorated) plus incentives, so don't expect him to sign soon.
The Reds have the best minor leaguers in the division and some could become trade chips.
The Mets checked in on Garrett Atkins.
Tony Reagins believes 2009 free agent Vladimir Guerrero can still hit.
At least one scout can't imagine Adrian Beltre being traded. Makes sense, given his shoulder injury and contract.

Odds And Ends: Belliard, Atkins, Ayala

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | June 25, 2009 at 9:57am CDT

Some links to peruse as we await the baseball equivalent of the Shaq trade…

MLB.com's Bill Ladson reports that Ronnie Belliard isn't sure if he'll play another season.
Mark DeRosa tops the list of infielders most likely to be traded, if you ask Matthew Pouliot of NBC Sports.
Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post says the Rockies shouldn't deal anyone but Garrett Atkins.
Huston Street believes getting traded led to a "good opportunity," according to Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle.
ESPN.com's Rob Neyer says Luis Ayala is far from irreplaceable.
I'll be talking rumors on the TEAM 1380 in St. Louis at around 6:20 CST tonight, so tune in if you get the chance.

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