Nationals Rumors

Odds And Ends: Peavy, Acta, Harper

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | June 15, 2009 at 10:24am CDT

Some links for Monday morning…

Scott Miller of CBS Sports says the Padres made a mistake last offseason when they rejected the package the Braves offered for the now-injured Jake Peavy.
Chico Harlan of the Wahington Post goes through the pros and cons of firing Manny Acta. More than half of his readers don't think it's time for a firing yet.
ESPN.com's Jason A. Churchill says Bryce Harper will be the "clear No. 1 talent" if he's eligible for next year's draft, as planned.
Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports that the A's haven't started contract talks with their first round draft pick, Grant Green.
Tony Massarotti of the Boston Globe asks his readers what the Red Sox should do with their excess pitching. We broke down several of their options last week, which Massarotti considers. He adds one of his own: Tim Wakefield could pitch out of the 'pen.

Odd & Ends: Penny, Reds, Nationals, Buchholz

By Mike Axisa | June 13, 2009 at 8:53pm CDT

The College World Series kicked off today, with Arkansas knocking off Cal State Fullerton in Game One of the double elimination event. Virginia is taking on LSU tonight. You can see the game on ESPN.

Anyway, here's some Saturday night linkage:

The Angels have signed nine draft picks, including 48th overall pick Tyler Kehrer according to Mike DiGiovanna.
Jon Heyman tweets that teams have called the Red Sox about Brad Penny, and even though the Dodgers are looking "they wouldn't take him back."
John Fay of The Cincinnati Enquirer spoke to Reds GM Walt Jocketty, who said he's looked outside the organization for help, but "there’s not a lot going on right now." Jocketty also said that the team is not looking for a third baseman, despite reports.
Chico Harlan of The Washington Post says that the Nationals signed righthander Trevor Holder, their third round pick, to a below slot bonus.
Rockies reliever Taylor Buchholz suffered a setback in his return from a right elbow injury according to Patrick Saunders, and could be out for the year. Could Buchholz's injury impact the Rockies' decision to move closer Huston Street if they maintain their current hot streak?
The New York Times' Joe Brescia wrote about the Yankees and how they've used Mexico as a source of talent recently.
Personal fave Chris Britton caught on with the independent York Revolution according to Jim Seip. The Padres released Britton last month after allowed 47 baserunners and had a 10.45 ERA in 20.2 IP between Double-A and Triple-A. (h/t Chad Jennings)

Nationals To Fire Manny Acta

By | June 13, 2009 at 7:33pm CDT

7:31pm: SI.com's Jon Heyman has confirmed that Rosenthal's report is indeed true. Acta will be let go, perhaps as soon as Monday.

5:17pm: Ben Goessling of The Washington Times spoke to team president Stan Kasten about Rosenthal's report. Kasten addressed the report but did not refute it, giving Acta the dreaded vote of confidence:

"We always support everyone here, and we always will. We're all in this together, trying to win everyday, trying to turn it around, and we're going to continue to try it. We know the future is bright, but we're not going to wait for the future to get here. We're going to do everything we can to speed it up. We've done that with kind of a frenetic movement of personnel pieces in the early part of the season. We're going to keep searching for the solution until we find it."

3:23pm: As a couple of commenters have pointed out, Acta is not actually the "youngest active manager in the majors." The Diamondbacks' A.J. Hinch is 35. Our readers are the best.

3:07pm: According to Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com, the Nationals are expected to fire manager Manny Acta as soon as Monday. Bench coach Jim Riggleman will replace him. As Rosenthal reports,

Acta, who at 40 is the youngest active manager in the majors, was hired by the Nats in November of 2006. He's gone 147-231 in two and a half seasons. The Nats have the league's worst record this season at 15-42.

Riggleman has managed for the Padres, Cubs and Mariners, and carries a 522-652 career managerial record. He worked as the interim skipper for the M's last season after John McLaren was dumped.

Heyman On Penny, Ackley, Milledge

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | June 12, 2009 at 1:20pm CDT

SI.com's Jon Heyman places Marco Scutaro and David Ortiz atop his lists of over and underperforming players. In the same article, he provides some trade rumors:

The Phillies, Mets and Cardinals are among the teams "in" on the Brad Penny discussions.
Philadelphia would still like to acquire a premium pitcher; they're "aiming higher" than Penny.
Dustin Ackley is apparently seeking "Mark Teixeira money." No, he's not looking for $180MM, but he'd like a deal worth $9.5MM, like the one Teixiera received out of college.
And there's word of trade talks involving Lastings Milledge.

Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Strasburg, Pedro, McLouth

By Cork Gaines | June 12, 2009 at 12:37pm CDT

On this date 70 years ago, Lou Gehrig played his last game with the Yankees. Gehrig would retire with a career batting average of .340, 493 home runs and a 179 OPS+. For comparison, Albert Pujols has a career batting average of .334, 337 home runs and a 171 OPS+. More than a third of the way through the '09 season, let's take a look at what is being written in the Blogosphere…

Josh Q. Public takes a look at what Stephen Strasburg would have to accomplish statistically to justify a 6-year, $50MM contract.
Federal Baseball spoke with Lee Jenkins about Strasburg and Jenkins' research of dominant amateur pitchers.
Nationals Park wonders if the Nats can sign Strasburg.
Ladies… say that Strasburg is destined to break down.
Bareknucks makes the case that Strasburg will be the next Mark Prior and baseball's version of Tony Mandarich.
Fanhouse has a pool going on how much Strasburg will ultimately sign for.
MLB Notebook argues that Pedro Martinez makes sense for the Rays.
Operation Shutdown makes a case that the Pirates did well in the Nate McLouth trade.

Cork Gaines writes for RaysIndex.com. If you have a suggestion for this feature, Cork can be reached here, and followed on Twitter here.

Draft Roundup: Late Picks, Strasburg, Purke

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | June 11, 2009 at 3:28pm CDT

Time to pass along some more links, including some noteworthy selections late in the draft…

The Philadelphia Daily News notes that the Phillies drafted Robert Amaro, the nephew of GM Ruben Amaro Jr.
Tom Groeschen of the Cincinnati Enquirer reports that the Cubs drafted high schooler Joey Jocketty, the son of Reds GM Walt Jocketty.
There's another Porcello in the Tigers organization. MLB.com's Jason Beck reports that the Tigers drafted Jake Porcello, Rick's brother.
MLB.com's Rhett Bollinger writes that the Angels drafted Asaad Ali, the son of Muhammad Ali, in the 40th round.
ESPN.com's Rob Neyer responds to MLBTR's discussion, and says the Nationals have to determine how much it would cost to sign Stephen Strasburg before they know how to proceed. He adds that it's impossible to know how much goodwill the Nats would lose with their fans if they don't sign him
Randy Galloway of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram argues the Rangers "absolutely have to sign" first round pick Matt Purke. The only question, is: who pays?

Stark: What If The Nats Could Deal Strasburg?

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | June 11, 2009 at 2:24pm CDT

ESPN.com's Jayson Stark determines how much Stephen Strasburg would be worth on the trade market if the Nats were allowed to deal him. Stark has an assortment of other rumors that will come soon in another post, but for now, some thoughts on Strasburg:

One NL exec wouldn't want to trade centerpiece players for Strasburg even if it was allowed, because pitchers aren't as reliable as position players.
Another executive said it would be hard to know how much to give for Strasburg when you don't know how much he's going to earn.
One official said he'd give up "three or four very good prospects" for Strasburg.
A fourth exec said there's no way he'd give up an "everyday, impact, big-league player" like Adam Jones.
He reasons that Jones would have been the first overall pick in the draft this year if he'd somehow been eligible.
Trading picks would enable the Nationals to avoid difficult negotiations with Scott Boras and allow them to get something immediately for giving up the rights to Strasburg.

Discussion: Do The Nats Have To Sign Strasburg?

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | June 11, 2009 at 9:58am CDT

Tracy Ringolsby of FOX Sports suggests the Nationals have "absolutely nothing to lose with this draft," and says they win whether they sign Stephen Strasburg or get the second pick in next year's draft for failing to do so. They've already agreed to sign Drew Storen, the 10th overall selection, and they're early favorites for next year's first overall pick, with an MLB-worst 15-42 record. They could have the first two picks in next year's draft if they don't sign Strasburg.

However, SI.com's Jon Heyman argued yesterday that the Nationals can't afford not to come to an agreement with their pick. Strasburg is a unique talent and Heyman doesn't think the Nats can keep putting things off, even if they could potentially pick first and second in the 2010 draft.

So do you agree with Ringolsby and the San Francisco Chronicle's John Shea that the Nats win whether they sign Strasburg or not? Or do you agree with Heyman that the Nationals should take advantage of an opporunity to acquire a special talent now instead of delaying for a year?

Odds & Ends: Rockies, Mariners, Astros

By Eddie Schmid | June 10, 2009 at 5:55pm CDT

Some linkage as we enter the post-draft hangover, with more to come:

Troy E. Renck at the Denver Post offers up his theories for the Rockies' reasoning behind choosing Tyler Matzek–a potentially tough sign.
According to Ryan Divish at the Tacoma Tribune News, RHP Denny Stark, who was designated for assignment on Sunday by the Mariners, has cleared waivers and accepted an assignment to Triple-A Tacoma.
So says Zachary Levine at the Houston Chronicle, the Astros have outrighted RHP Geoff Geary to Triple-A Round Rock. He can report there or opt to become a free agent.
La Velle E. Neal III at the Minneapolis Star-Tribune has a handy rundown of all the Twins' picks. Troy E. Renck has a nice one for the Rockies, too.
Chico Harlan at the Washington Post has a transcript of the press conference with Mike Rizzo and new pick Drew Storen.
Keith Law at ESPN has a video recap of the high school talent in this year's draft.

Nats Agree To Terms With Drew Storen

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | June 10, 2009 at 4:09pm CDT

4:09pm: Chico Harlan of the Washington Post says the deal includes a $1.6MM bonus. This is less than the recommended bonus for the slot. Typically players drafted 10th have received bonuses of $2MM or a bit more.

11:13am: MLB.com's Bill Ladson reports that the Nationals have agreed to terms with Drew Storen, who they selected 10th overall in yesterday's portion of the draft. Terms of the deal aren't known. Some believe Storen could make the big leagues quickly, as he was a reliever in college.

Pete McElroy of MASN reports that Storen's open to starting or relieving in the Nationals' system. He struck out 66 batters in just over 40 innings of college ball this year, but he would start if that's Washington's preference.

The Nationals ensured Storen has ample time to develop in the minor leagues by agreeing to terms with him quickly. Negotiations with Stephen Strasburg, their other first round pick, are expected to continue until the August 17th deadline.

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