Sunday, March 18, 2012

Nats sign Nady to minor-league deal

US Presswire file photo
Xavier Nady hit .248 with four homers in 82 games for the Diamondbacks last year.
The Nationals have signed Xavier Nady to a minor-league contract, though the veteran outfielder/first baseman will not get an invitation to big-league camp yet, the club announced this morning.

Nady, 33, is a career .275 hitter with 97 homers and 393 RBI over parts of 10 seasons with the Padres, Mets, Pirates, Yankees, Cubs and Diamondbacks. Beset by injuries in recent years, he appeared in only 82 games for Arizona last season, hitting .248 with four homers and 35 RBI.

The Nationals scouted Nady in California last week and came away impressed enough to offer him a minor-league contract, general manager Mike Rizzo told reporters in Viera. He'll report to minor-league camp for now and likely open the season at Class AAA Syracuse.

Given his experience at both corner outfield positions and first base, Nady could be insurance in case lingering injuries to left fielder Michael Morse and first baseman Adam LaRoche force either player to the disabled list at some point. Morse (lat strain) has yet to play in the field this spring, while LaRoche (ankle, shoulder) has seen limited action so far.

19 comments:

JayB said...

This is what you get when you wait.....wait....wait....to address you needs.....Typical Nats.....get what nobody wants on the cheap.....anyone else noticed they have a hugh hole at lead off...CF and Bench? They can not hit....period.....at some point soon Rick E who is a great guy, hard worker and good coach is going to have be the Randy S.C. sacrificial lamb for Rizzo's poor roster management the past couple of years. NO BATS!

Anonymous said...

I only came on here to see if JayB rushed in to say something negative. I was right.

Gonat said...

JayB, wait, wait, wait? When it looked like the Nats were going to be fine some of us thought going after Coco Crisp aggressively was good even if it was overkill. Now you can see they needed him. Many others laughed about it. Now you have Nady who had an OBP last year of .287. PATHETIC

From Ladson: Michael Morse and Adam LaRoche are not expected to perform baseball activities for at least a week

Anonymous said...

JayB. You nailed it--no offense again this year. Batting Desmond first and Espinosa is a joke. Somebody needs to explain to Rizzo that a team needs to score runs to win games.

Anonymous said...

Wthout Morris, we have no hitting in the outfield and now a big void at first base. Well, maybe we are still better than the Mets, but not by much.

DWS said...

I think Mark was updating for people of the pessimistic persuasion to vent their vitriol. Well done Sir!

SonnyG10 said...

Come on Peeps, cheer up. We're going to be fine!

Anonymous said...

Don't mean to be negative, but i am beginning to get really worried about Morse.

JayB said...

Yea we will be great scoring 3 or less a game with top of order with obs under. 290

ehay2k said...

Morris? I'm not familiar. (Mark Z., tell Kilgore to get an account if he is going to post here. :-p )

I got worried about Morse when they gave him a cortisone shot for a muscle strain. Cortisone kills tissue,and is usually given for joint/cartilage issues, not muscular ones. The "knot" DJ spoke of is also a possible indicator of a cartilage problems. Those can take a while to heal.

No matter what the issue, I just hope Morse's swing isn't affected.

sm13 said...

If Morse is out for an extended period, we might want to think about Johnny Damon as an option. He's lost some of his outfield skills, but he'd give a nice boost to the top of the lineup.

Also, does anyone know why Drew hasn't pitched for 11 days? It makes me wonder AND worry.

NatsBrat said...

Yeah, I was wonderin' too sm13; knew it'd been a while!

Tinkerbell needs to be out there tinkerin'.

Positively Half St. said...

The injuries to Morse and LaRoche do get more disturbing with time. I am more concerned for Morse than LaRoche, MRI notwithstanding.

The Xavier Nady signing is a backup for those two, not an attempt to fix the CF or leadoff spot. They did not wait to find a minor league signing like Nady- they signed him once they had a chance to see he was looking better.

You are not talking about current events; you are simply beating a dead horse. You aren't wrong about CF or lead-off, but it simply has nothing to do with this morning's news.

+1/2St.

DL in VA said...

"You are not talking about current events; you are simply beating a dead horse."

Absolutely true. I think one JayB circles this site waiting for roster moves so he can be the first person to spew his negativity about centerfield. I wonder, if this team gives his that much heartburn that he has to do that ad infinitem, why should he continue to be a fan at all?

Soul Possession, PFB Sofa said...

Get an expensive free agent to beat the horse!

Soul Possession, PFB Sofa said...

I wonder, if this team gives his that much heartburn that he has to do that ad infinitem, why should he continue to be a fan at all?

People get their jollies in lots of different ways. Some people aren't happy unless they're mad about something.

sm13 said...

If we all clap our hands, or yell Druiuuuuu, maybe Bad Company will start playing and Tinkerbell will emerge from the bullpen!

Soul Possession, PFB Sofa said...

The idea that JayB is beating a dead horse has become a dead horse itself. Yes, he's wasting pixels and annoying several of the regulars here. Scroll on, I say.

natsfan1a said...

sm13, I drrruuu, um, do believe.

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