According to SI.com’s Jon Heyman, the Nationals avoided arbitration with outfielder Josh Willingham by signing him at $2.95MM for ’09. That’s just a bit under the midpoint of the two filings. This is Willingham’s first arbitration year, so he’s under team control through 2011.
Nationals Rumors
Nats Talking Long-Term Deal With Zimmerman
According to the Washington Post, the Nationals are working on a long-term contract with third baseman Ryan Zimmerman.
The two sides will continue to talk up until a scheduled arbitration hearing on Friday, February 20. If a deal isn’t reached by then, the hearing will be necessary to determine Zimmerman’s ’09 salary. He’ll either get the $3.9MM he requested or $2.75MM, the club’s offer.
Zimmerman, 24, missed 56 games last season because of a shoulder tear, but still managed to hit .283/.333/.442 with 14 home runs and 51 RBI. He’s a .282/.341/.462 career hitter over four MLB seasons.
Odds and Ends: Penny, Koskie, Lowell
Links for Tuesday…
- Chat today, 2pm CST.
- RotoAuthority looks at the pitchers involved in the WBC.
- ESPN’s Keith Law weighs in on the Andy Oliver case.
- Brad Penny talked to Yahoo’s Tim Brown about his last season in L.A. UPDATE: Bowa’s amusing reaction to Penny’s comments.
- Corey Koskie is healthy and hopes to sign somewhere, says La Velle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.
- Josh Willingham’s arbitration hearing is scheduled for Wednesday, Ryan Zimmerman’s for Saturday.
- WEEI’s Alex Speier talked to Mike Lowell about Boston’s pursuit of Mark Teixeira.
- The Sports Business talked to former Dodgers GM Fred Claire.
Nationals Sign 23 To 2009 Contracts
Bill Ladson of MLB.com has a bit of Nationals news for this afternoon.
The team has agreed to terms with 23 of its players, including names like Elijah Dukes and John Lannan.
As for a review of the Nationals’ arbitration-eligible players, Ladson has the list: Jason Bergmann, Mike O’Connor, Alberto Gonzalez, Lastings Milledge, Josh Willingham and Ryan Zimmerman.
Odds and Ends: Dunn, Schumaker, Abreu
Links for Friday…
- The Blue Jays signed pitcher Dirk Hayhurst to a minor league deal; they’d released him to make room for Matt Bush.
- Alex Speier of WEEI has quotes from John Smoltz about his departure from Atlanta. Smoltz leaving the Braves was the biggest surprise of the offseason for me.
- ESPN’s Jayson Stark surveyed 15 baseball sages for all kinds of opinions on the best and worst of the offseason (which is not officially over yet).
- Dave Sheinin of the Washington Post has more from the Adam Dunn press conference.
- Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch sees Skip Schumaker as the Cardinals outfielder most vulnerable to a trade.
- ESPN’s Keith Law weighs in on the Bobby Abreu signing.
- Kevin Goldstein’s Top 100 Prospects list is up over at Baseball Prospectus.
- Scott Moore cleared waivers; he’ll remain in the Orioles organization.
- My definition of a fantasy baseball sleeper, over at RotoAuthority.
- Shoutout: MLBTR had over 9,800 pageviews from Puerto Rico this month.
Nats Will Not Pursue Orlando Hudson
According to MLB.com’s Bill Ladson, the Nationals have dropped out of the running for free agent second baseman Orlando Hudson.
General manager Jim Bowden declined to give a reason why Hudson will not be a member of the team, writes Ladson.
The Nationals must feel comfortable with what they have in Ronnie Belliard, Anderson Hernandez, Alberto Gonzalez and Willie Harris. Belliard and Hernandez would seem to be the front-runners for the starting second base job. Belli hit .287/.372/.473 with 11 homers and 46 RBI in 96 games last season, and Hernandez batted .333 with 17 RBI in 28 games after coming over from the Mets in late August.
Nationals Sign Adam Dunn
THURSDAY: Dunn’s two-year, $20MM deal is official according to MLB.com’s Bill Ladson. Dave Sheinin of the Washington Post has quotes from Dunn from the press conference.
WEDNESDAY: According to Chico Harlan of the Washington Post, the Nationals agreed to a preliminary two-year deal with Adam Dunn. MLB.com’s Bill Ladson confirms it, adding that a news conference is expected Thursday. According to SI.com’s Tom Verducci, it’s a two-year, $20MM deal.
Nationals GM Jim Bowden drafted Dunn when he helmed the Reds back in 1998. It seems likely that Dunn will play first base for the Nationals. The 29 year-old hit .236/.386/.513 with 40 home runs in 651 plate appearances for the Reds and Diamondbacks in ’08.
With Dunn and Abreu off the market, the Braves’ only option for an outfield addition is probably to make a trade. Also, if you’re curious, WEEI’s Alex Speier explains why the Red Sox were not in on Dunn and Abreu.
Odds and Ends: Dunn, Byrd, Epstein
Links for Thursday…
- RotoAuthority ranks the outfielders for fantasy baseball.
- All kinds of interesting comments from former Phillies GM Pat Gillick, including his thoughts on Pat Burrell and Milton Bradley.
- Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch weighs in on the Cardinals’ second base situation.
- ESPN’s Keith Law evaluates the Nationals’ Adam Dunn signing. He considers it "$20 million for a few meaningless wins over the next two years."
- Evan Brunell of Fire Brand of the American League interviewed free agent hurler Paul Byrd.
- Rob Bradford of WEEI has quotes from Theo Epstein about trading young players.
- Shoutout to our readers in the United Kingdom, who account for 11,000 of MLBTR’s pageviews this month.
Heyman On Manny, Pudge, Cabrera, Howard
The latest from SI.com’s Jon Heyman…
- Heyman says "most in the know seem to still believe [Dodgers owner Frank] McCourt will bend on Manny Ramirez and go to three years."
- The Nationals’ offer to Adam Dunn was on the table for weeks until he realized no team was going to beat or approach it. There were rumors months ago that Dunn sought a $100MM deal heading into free agency.
- The Astros and Marlins are looking at Ivan Rodriguez. There’s even an El Nuevo Dia report suggesting the Astros offered $2.5MM+ to Pudge, but that seems out of their price range to me. In today’s mailbag, MLB.com’s Alyson Footer opines that the Astros wouldn’t go to $3MM for a catcher.
- The A’s "want to spend no more than $5MM, and probably closer to $3MM" for Orlando Cabrera. He should take that if it’s offered.
- The Angels had been eyeing Joe Crede but may be done after signing Bobby Abreu. The Giants and Twins remain the likeliest suitors for Crede.
- The Phillies hoped to lock up Ryan Howard beyond his arbitration years, and Ruben Amaro Jr. disputed the notion that he is after Teixeira money.
Nationals Have Six Players For Four Spots
As Chico Harlan of the Washington Post explains, the Nationals now have six players for four spots following the Adam Dunn signing. Harlan says the Nats prefer Dunn in left field if Nick Johnson is healthy, leaving Josh Willingham’s role in question. Here’s a look at the six players:
- Adam Dunn: Agreed to play first base or left field. Two-year, $20MM deal to become official today.
- Nick Johnson: Has never played anywhere but first base. Wants to play every day, but spent most of 2007-08 on the DL for leg and wrist injuries. He’s fine with a trade. Set to earn $5.5MM in ’09 in last year before free agency. OBP machine.
- Josh Willingham: Acquired along with Scott Olsen in November. Missed 50 games in ’08 with back issues. 2009 is his first arb year; he submitted $3.6MM vs. $2.55MM from the Nats. Free agent-eligible after 2011 season. Has mainly played LF in big league career (68 innings at catcher, 3 at first base).
- Austin Kearns: Friend of Dunn from Cincinnati days. Owed $9MM for ’09 (includes $1MM buyout for ’10). Has experience as CF and RF. Dealt with elbow, foot injuries in ’08.
- Lastings Milledge: Experience at all three OF positions. Turns 24 in April. Under team control through 2012. Didn’t hit much outside of August. Manny Acta committed to him as the center fielder.
- Elijah Dukes: Experience at all three OF positions. Turns 25 in June. Under team control through 2013. .972 OPS after All-Star break in 29 games (dealt with calf/knee injuries). Paid back child support; will not face prison time.
Two more, not mentioned by Harlan as those considered potential everyday players:
- Willie Harris: Signed two-year, $3MM extension in December. Has played all three OF positions and 2B in his career, plus a small amount of SS and 3B. FanGraphs valued his ’08 defense so highly that they calculated him to be worth $14.6MM overall.
- Wily Mo Pena: Exercised $2MM player option in October after Nationals declined $5MM club option. Shoulder surgery in July. Recently turned 27; had .472 career SLG prior to ’08.
The Nats also have Corey Patterson in camp on a minor league deal. Seems like he chose the wrong team.
