Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Beltway Baseball Live - 7/27/11



It's turning into an eventful week for the Nationals, who yesterday made a trade for Jonny Gomes, continue to field calls about Jason Marquis and others, will make a roster move today to clear space for Chien-Ming Wang to make his much-awaited Nats debut on Friday and last night got trounced by the Marlins to fall into last place in the NL East.

Chase Hughes and I discussed those topics (and answered your questions) at 1 p.m. in this week's live edition of Beltway Baseball. If you missed the broadcast, here's the full show posted in two segments (Part 2) is below...

50 comments:

FSogol said...

Of course, the question of the the day is, "who goes down when Gomes arrives?"

JaneB said...

And why is Gomes a good trade for us, given the current composition of the team. Does this presage a trade of Nix or the release (or retirement) of Stairs?

Also: do YOU believe the BJ Upton rumors? And if you do, how could that possibly, in any universe, be a good trade for us (not that I have an opinion about this)?

Looking forward to hearing the replay! We love when you are on.

Anonymous said...

Mark:

There has to be some head-scratching over this Gomes move. It makes sense for them in terms of adding some RH thump for the remainder of this lost season, but for really no other reason as the guy is a dead-bolt lock to be non-tendered for 2012. And too little too late. Is Rizzo just trying to keep Johnson happy by giving him a little more of a chance to win some games down the stretch? Why was Rizzo not adding a bat 3 weeks ago (via trade or call-up) when it mattered? He claims to be in it to win, but it looks like he is only in it enough to finish 4th, if they are lucky.

dfh21

Anonymous said...

What the Gomes trade, if they wanted a chance at a RH power bat off the bench, why not simply call-up Rhienhart. That way you see what you have in him, amd you get to keep Manno.

Also who do you think will be a September call-up.

Ive got Lombardozzi, Marrero, Wilkie, Severino, Zinicola, Mandel, and Milone with shots at one

joemktg said...

All of the names bandied about in trade gossip, I haven't seen Michael Morse come up in discussion. If GM Rizzo believes in selling high (see Matt Capps), should we expect Michael to stick around?

Soul Possession, PFB Sofa said...

No mystery. They got a short-term RH bat for two minor leaguers they obviously aren't high on.
Unless ... they expect to lose a rh outfielder soon.

Anonymous said...

A sale of Morse is interesting, as his value right now would be very high, I would think. Power and average, position flexibility, control going forward. But, I would be very surprised to see Morse moved, as he is a bargain contract guy. They like bargains, they don't like to move them for other pieces. But for the Werth contract idiocy (in my opinion), the Nats are risk-adverse to the point of being paralyzed when it comes to making big moves.

dfh21

Get Some Players said...

Looks like Cincy likes trading with the Nats. Bill Bray dealing---a 1.89 ERA.

HHover said...

Mark

With the Gomes trade and Wang scheduled to pitch Friday, the Nats now need to remove not one but two players from the 25 man roster this week.

Matt Stairs seems obvious, but who's the second? And would you predict it to be by demotion/release, or by trade?

A trade for prospects could solve the problem, but the deadline isn't til Sunday midnight.

Will said...

I fully expect Jason Marquis not to pitch another game with the Nats, and it solves the too-many-starters problem when Wang is promoted.

I'm sure Rizzo has some standing offers (they probably aren't very appealing), and he'll take the best one available when other deals start cropping up.

Section 222 said...

Mark, I'd love to hear your take on Davey's bullpen management. Seems to me that the Nats are suffering for keeping a long reliever/spot starter (Detwiler) who unlike Miss Iowa can only pitch once every four or five days. Wouldn't we have been better off keeping Balester or another mid reliever arm out there? I guess with the Wang/Gorzo situation that won't be an option, but I don't think the 6 man bullpen plus Detwiler has worked for us.

josh f said...

This team needs a shake-up: in the lineup, in the rotation, and the bullpen. If the Gomes move means we don't have to see Stairs again, it's a plus. I'm sure more moves are coming...

Question: Will the Nats consider shutting Jordan Zimmermann down early, given how rough his last two starts have been? How close are Milone and Peacock to a call-up?

Soul Possession, PFB Sofa said...

Riggleman was in town with the Giants recently. Do you know if he stopped by the park to say hello to anybody?

A DC Wonk said...

Re: Gomes -- in the last thread I pointed out that Nix is batting .083 against righties, and Gomes is batting .333 against righties.

Yes -- he might walk after this year.

But!

What I've read is that he's pretty certain to be a Type B, and that means if he walks, the Nats get a "sandwich pick" -- who could well be worth more than Rhinehart. A sandwhich pick occurs between the 1st and 2nd rounds, right? So, that's better than getting a 2d round draft pick next year. (Do I understand that right?)

Anyways, if I do understand it right, I think that is a key factor for the trade. We get a "right handed Nix", cheap salary, and a better than 2d round draft pick -- in exchange for Rhinehart and a guy still in low A ball.

Now, I've been a Rhinehart fan for a while, but you have to give something to get something. And giving up a guy who's only in AA at age 26 for a better than 2d round pick doesn't seem unreasonable.

HHover said...

Sec 222

Agree re: Detwiler 100%. He could get cut Friday to make space for Wang; I don't see Detwiler getting traded himself, unless it's as an incidental piece of a trade being made for other reasons. But his role in the current BP makes no sense, and just over-taxes everyone else. One way or the other, it's got to change.

As for some of the other comments re: JZimm

Let's not be too quick to draw conclusions from 2 bad starts. Yes, this is the most he's ever pitched in a season, but he hasn't exactly been overworked of late--with the ASB, he's made 3 starts in 3 weeks.

I have to think they're monitoring him more closely than most because of his youth and TJ surgery. And obviously, if they have actual concerns about his health, that's one thing. Otherwise, I see no need to deviate from the plan of 150-160 innings.

Water23 said...

It has been a little while so, how is the Rizzo - Johnson relationship going? Are they on the same page as to what the Nats want to pick up? Rizzo tilts towards defense, pitching but Davey seem to want the big innings.

Jimmy said...

Mark,

The team has played so flat under Davey Johnson. Is there a chance he does not even get looked at as managerial candidate for the 2012 nationals?

Gonat said...

Bryce Harper having a big day! Playing some long ball and feeling hitterish!!!!

Steve M. said...

Gonat is at the game and emailed me the 1:30 update and asked me to post for him. I thought he was joking. The Senators website is 20 minutes behind real-time and finally showed the HR.

Harper's 1st HR in AA!!!!

Wally said...

The Twitter world is afire with trades, actual and rumored.

Seems like people think TBJ got Rasmus cheaply.

Beltran to SF Giants for Gary Brown (speedy cf prospect) plus 2, or Zack Wheeler. If it winds up being Wheeler, I believe that the internet will shut down due to overreactions.

And Gomes, people are .... Nah, no one talking about Jonny (please help me find my 'h') Gomes.

Pretty funny to see it unfold.

A DC Wonk said...

Jonny (please help me find my 'h') Gomes.

Didn't the Nats have a couple players with misplaced h's? Jhonathan Solano, etc.?

A DC Wonk said...

In other news:

Ervin Santana of the LA Angels has a no-hitter going against the Indians -- he just finished the 8th inning with his 9th K.

natsfhan1a said...

Elsewhere in the bigs, we've seen Jhonny Peralta and Jhonny Nunez.

Whally said...

Hah! Good one, Nasfhan1a!

Steve M. said...

The Cleveland Indians and the Pittsburgh Pirates haven't smelled 1st place in a long time. They have to make moves.

With Rasmus and Beltran off the board on other trades, the Tampa Bay Rays are in the driver's seat now or so it seems. They have BJ Upton who is being dangled in front of them and supposedly the Nats for the highest bid.

It couldn't have worked out better for Tampa and the Nats are still being mentioned as part of the bidding war. You need at least 2 bidders to drive up the price, right?

I am hoping it is all fluff and Rizzo has no intention of betting the farm on Upton at this point but it will be interesting to see how far the Indians go to get him.

Whally said...

And now we are rumored to be in the mix for Ubaldo ('guessed as a mystery team' technically). That would take Stras, Harper and Rizzo's dad, no?

Very little chance that work gets done today; just too much fun.

Steve M. said...

Harrisburg 6-3 winners. Harper 3-4 with a HR raising his average to .250

A DC Wonk said...

No hitter. Congrats to Ervin Santana

Whally said...

DC Whonk - always seems odd to have a run scored in a no hitter, doesn't it? Plus, Cleveland made 5 errors

Scoohter said...

Nice job, Ehrvin. And look out Eastern League.

Anonymous said...

Anyone know about the ants getting ubaldo Jimenez?


ANOTHER MISSING "h" lol

A DC Whonk said...

DC Whonk - always seems odd to have a run scored in a no hitter, doesn't it?

Indeed! A weird runs/hits/errors line: 1 0 5 (!)

I see between the two teams only one run was earned (in the 3-1 game).

Sahntana had 10K's 1BB. Nice.

Steve M. said...

The Blue Jays announced they've acquired center fielder Colby Rasmus and pitchers Trever Miller, Brian Tallet, and P.J. Walters from the Cardinals for starter Edwin Jackson, relievers Marc Rzepczynski and Octavio Dotel, outfielder Corey Patterson, and three players to be named later or cash considerations.

The Blue Jays will flip Miller to the White Sox, according to ESPN's Buster Olney.

Anonymous said...

There goes Stairs. He wasn't doing the job for Davey so he gets supplanted by Gomes.

Whally said...

Also noticed CAA played Bourjos in CF and Trout in LF, with Wells at DH. I guess Bourjos really isn't available. That is a pretty good defensive OF (with Hunter in RF, too)

PAY TO PLAY said...

Cleveland Indians had 5 errors in that no-hit game today. OUCH

A DC Whonk said...

Scoohter said...

Nice job, Ehrvin. And look out Eastern League.


Bhy mhy calculations, Hharper's Hhitting .300 over his last tehn ghames

UnkyD said...

Gomes' Pops was a big Jonny Quest fan...

Anonymous said...

A sale of Morse is interesting, as his value right now would be very high, I would think. Power and average, position flexibility, control going forward.

There's no one else like him in the minors or on the current 25 man to replace him with? No one else is even close to hitting .300? Espinosa is now in a 3 for 25 or 25 slump and his average has dropped. Werth has been in a season long drought.

Morse is close to untouchable this year. It might be different in the offseason. If he decides to forego arbitration the Nats would get 2 draft picks when he is resigned. He is now listed a an "A". I suspect they resign him to a contract and he plays left field next year until they can work out a trade for LaRoche.

Whally said...

Nationals Designate Matt Stairs For Assignment

My guess is that the blog posts finally drop below 200 per game now?

Anon@2:47 - I don't think that Morse can forgo arbitration until after the 2013 season

Steve M. said...

Whally, so no Stares = 200 - X = Y ?

Whally said...

Yes.

BUT: Y+Z=200+ again, where Z = the next person to blame all our troubles on. My hunch is Davey.

NatsLady said...

Gomes ok with me. Nix needs rest or he will permanently damage that achilles and be worth nada. Yes, I love Nix's bat, but he's gotta heal.

A DC Whonk said...

Well, this veritable plethora of excess h's gives me an idea -- that I can call my wife "Whonkette" to distinguish her from the more famous blogger called Wonkette.

Whonkette's undergrad degree was psychology, and she was asking me why people were booing Jason Werth. Note: she _did_ already know that Werth is hitting terribly and had a huge contract, but she couldn't see how that related to the booing and thought the booing would make him perform worse.

She said: the people that boo either want to see him fail, or else they just want to feel good about themselves when he does fail.

(Hey, I know enough not to argue such things with her. But she did want me to post this!)

Harper_ROY_2012 said...

Interesting time of year with rumors flying around, are the Nats really in the mix for Ubaldo? If so, what couold we possibly give them, if they are asking for three of the Yankees top 4 prospects!!!!???

Upton for Detweiler!? I would give 5 Detweilers for Upton, get on that one Riz!

Peacock untouchable? nice move Riz!

Desmond being shopped..again kudos Riz bring back something good.

JaneB said...

Ah. Matt Stairs DFAed. I thought I was pining for these words. Turns out they make me a little sad. For him, not for us.
GYFNhG!

Whally said...

DC - I think the Whonkette has something there. Because of all his failures with men on base (or it seems that way), I think that he would be booed this year anyway, but somehow the contract seems to make people boo him more.

natsfhan1a said...

I also think Whonkette has something there. Also, I think that she might also find the comments here interesting from a research perspective (relative to her field) should she wish to read and post on her own. Just kidding. Sort of. But the more, the merrier, if she does want to post sometime.

JaneB, it makes me sad for him, too.

natsfhan1a said...

Gosh, did I use also enough times there? Hehe.

whaddu eye no said...

the h thing. i don't ghet it

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