Nationals Baseball: Monday - it's quiet. the right amount of quiet

Monday, November 26, 2018

Monday - it's quiet. the right amount of quiet

The Nats have been extremely active for the pre-Winter Meetings off-season. Along with the Yankees they've been trying to get their ducks in a row early. Is it for Bryce? Patrick Corbin? Something else? Are they simply saying "Hey we owe it to Harper to do something"? I think it's the last one.

Meanwhile the rest of the league twiddles their thumbs waiting.What can I tell you I can't create news.

The Paxton trade, and potential Segura/Leake/Myers trade might suggest a Mariners fire sale and a question for the Nats. Wil Myers is pretty good. He's never become a star but he's good enough to start. Problem is he'll cost a bundle (22million +) for three years starting in 2020. The Mariners don't really want him. What they want is Segura and Leake off their payroll now, as they will cost more overall and specifically a lot more in 2019. The Nats can do better than Wil Myers. Why not a Carter Kieboom + package for Segura and Leake. You know what the Nats need? A second baseman. Segura is a second baseman. You know what the Nats need? A reliable lefty arm in the rotation. Mike Leake is a reliable lefty arm in the rotation.

Boom trade made. Nats done!

Well not done no, they probably would do well getting a better starter, so they could sign Corbin. But remember that cost I talked about? Yeah here's 25 million on the payroll with Segura and Leake. Another 20+ on a starter? Nope. Not according to the Nats at least. So this won't happen. It makes sense. It's right there, advertised at an affordable price. But it's not happening.

Is there anything else on the Mariners roster worth taking a look at? Edwin Diaz would be nice but as a top notch reliever making next to nothing he's going to come at a cost. Wade LeBlanc is an interesting possibility. At 33, he's not a long term fix but his contract is both reasonable (5 million a year, with 2 million in bonuses possible) and safe (he has to hit IP tagets and not get injured to guarantee that 5 million). He'd be a perfect slide in for a team looking to replace a non-impressive lefty without breaking the bank. Hey! I know a team like that!

There's fun to be had here if the Nats are willing to trade. I bet the Nats could get Cano for a song. Play with it. Nothing else to do right now.

Oh Iglesias signed with the Reds signifying a current attempt to rebuild. Doesn't mean he couldn't be dealt, just means he's not being dealt before this season starts. 


DezoPenguin said...

If the Nats are willing to take on money (BWA HA HA!) one thing they might do is look at Cleveland, towards a package of Kluber, Gomes, and Kipnis. I add Kipnis because our willingness to take that contract off their hands would be necessary to them being willing to trade us Kluber for the kind of return we could offer. Gomes could pair with Suzuki at C, and Kipnis could at least serve as a potential 2B (if Kendrick's injury return drags on or requires regular rest) and OF5 (OF4 if Taylor is part of what goes the other way).

dc rl said...

Mike Leake is a righty. It's just that he's a smaller guy with a meh fastball, so you think of him as a lefty. More of a Roark comp than a Gio comp, but I haven't heard a lot of Nats fans clamoring for another Roark to beef up the rotation.

Kubla said...

Kipnis uses my favorite walk-up music. The Nats need to get him. Also because of all that stuff that Dezo said.

G Cracka X said...

How about a trade for ex-Nat Robbie Ray?

Anonymous said...

Cano for a song? What $24 million song would that be?

sirc said...

I don't see the Nats getting in on the top 2 FA pitchers in this year's market. I think a second or even third tier signing is more likely - say Wade Miley for a year and an option. That seems more in line with Rizzo's team building history.

The trade market is far more likely, again based on Rizzo's history. I just don't think that the Nats will be willing or possibly able to go get one of Cleveland's guys. If they weren't willing to trade from their top shelf prospects for a glaring need last offseason then I find it unlikely that they'll do it for a starting pitcher when there are other options.

That Mariners package is interesting but just for Segura. Leake isn't a clear upgrade over Roark to my eyes. Roark also happens to only cost cash to have.

I'm rooting for more starting pitching. My hope is that Rizzo pulls another creative surprise trade for someone no one is expecting but who is a clear upgrade. I don't think that the Nats are so good that they can risk marginal upgrades this year.

Ole PBN said...

I don't see a big trade happening because of two things: 1) Robles should be untouchable, unless he is being traded for a stud CF ready to play in 2019 and has team control for a few years, and 2) Kieboom/Garcia isn't enough to bring in anyone significant. I see a Miley or Leake coming to DC, but they are #3/#4's at best. I am looking at a front end starter to make Strasburg's annual vacation to the DL not as big of a blow. I like Keuchel TBH, less sold on Corbin as I think he's less proven.

Max, Stras, Keuchel, Leake, Roark sounds good to me. I could care less who the #4 or #5 is, so long as he's better than or equal to Hellickson. Ross is our SP6. If we have to dip beyond an SP6 for significant chunks of the season, our hopes are dashed anyways.

I mentioned a while back on trading quantity rather than quality, as it seemed that is what brought Gio to town in 2011. I'm okay with trading Kieboom OR Garcia (not both) but also throwing in Fedde into that mix for a back-end starter. I think Fedde's about as worthless as AJ Cole, but would rather include him as part of a package because he still was a 1st round pick, and just hope that the rest of the league wasn't paying attention when he was getting shelled in each of his starts. Throw volume at some of these teams to acquire a back-end reliable starter like Miley or Leake and I'd be okay with that. As for getting the marquee SP, it has to be via free agency, so spend the money!

Gabe Roark said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
blovy8 said...

That's a complicated thing to make work, Dezo, wouldn't you have to still give them Carter Kieboom? Adds $$ going forward a bit too, but perhaps not in a terrible way since a lot of spots are checked. I bet they wouldn't mind Taylor playing center.

G Cracka, Ray does seem like a Rizzo target, but AZ wants to shed salary, right?. If the Nats weren't still harboring ambitions of Harper signing, they could take on quite a bit of salary and that would be their leverage if there were anyone in the Nats system they want. With Greinke, give me 30 mil and we can start to talk, 25 mil a year for Greinke for a not-close prospect, in late January (if top of the rotation pitcher can't otherwise be had) is a reasonable gamble after Harper goes someplace else.

TwoGloves said...

So much for quiet, the Braves reportedly are about to sign Josh Donaldson to a one year deal for 23 million. That's a lot, but it is only for one year, so they're not going to be stuck with him if he doesn't regain his old form.

DezoPenguin said...

@blovy8: Oh, yes, you'd absolutely have to give them Carter Kieboom and His Amazing Friends. My suggestion is that by taking on Kipnis's contract (and maybe Gomes's, depending on what Cleveland thinks about his production-to-cash ratio) we could get Cleveland to not insist on requiring Robles be included for Kluber (because "Top 10 league-wide ace with three years of control" is not happening in a vacuum with Kieboom as the headliner. Essentially, salary relief becomes the difference between Robles and Kieboom.

@TwoGloves: I'm definitely irked at the Donaldson signing. I have happy memories of his success with the Jays and am annoyed that I now need to root for him to fail. :)

Apparently the Braves have replaced Suzuki with Brian McCann, doubling down on their commitment to be No Fun in least for Nats fans. I already miss the years where our only competition was the Mets and their relentless ability to LOLMets out of our way.