Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Davey Johnson: N.L. Manager of the Year

Photo by AP
The awards just keep rolling in for the Nationals. A day after Bryce Harper was named N.L. Rookie of the Year, Davey Johnson has been honored as the league’s best manager.

Johnson managed the Nationals to 98 wins and a N.L. East division title in his first full season with the team in 2012. They improved their record by 18 victories from the season before and jumped from third in the N.L. East to first.

This is Johnson’s second time winning a league manager of the year award, he took the honor in the American League with the Orioles in 1997. He is just the fifth manager in MLB history to win the award in both leagues and the first in Nationals history to win one at all.



After winning the award in 1997, Johnson left the Orioles because of a rift with the owner. On Tuesday after learning he had won the award once again, he joked about avoiding the same fate.



“If we didn’t win the division I thought I was going to get fired, and if I won this award I thought I was going to get fired,” he said. “Hopefully I can live through getting this award and manage the Nationals in 2013.”

Johnson originally joined the organization in June of 2006 as a consultant. He took over the Nats on June 17, 2011 after two managers resigned midseason, moving to the dugout from an advisor role. The Nationals finished 40-43 under Johnson in 2011 with an 80-81 record overall.

After watching the team closely for several years, and managing them for half a season, Johnson knew he had a talented roster heading into 2012.

“I was at spring training the one year before and I really had two spring trainings to get to know the whole organization. That was really critical for me,” he said.

“I really had a lot of confidence after my second spring training with the front office, with the ownership, with everybody. And my evaluation of talent after 2011, I think it was pretty correct.”

Johnson and the Nationals collectively reached another level this season, reaching the playoffs for the first time since the club moved to Washington. It was the first playoff appearance for the franchise since 1981 and just the second in the organization’s history.



“Guys really didn’t overachieve, they just played up to their potential. There’s still a higher ceiling there for a lot of the players. It was a fun year for me and with another year of experience it is going to set us up to be even stronger and better.”

A World Series winner as both a player and a manager, the Nationals are the fifth team Johnson has coached. He began with the New York Mets in 1984 before stints with the Reds, Orioles, and Dodgers. In 16 seasons as an MLB manager Johnson holds a 595-417 record overall (.588 winning percentage).

In 2012 Johnson had to manage through injuries to many key players. He lost Michael Morse, Jayson Werth, Ryan Zimmerman, Drew Storen, Ian Desmond, Wilson Ramos, and Drew Storen all for significant amounts of time. Throw in a potential distraction involving Stephen Strasburg, a national story about him being shut down that lasted for months, and 2012 was not without adversity.



Johnson pointed to his veterans and organizational depth as two important factors in the team surviving as well as they did.

“The improved bench and the young guys stepping up, those were the keys,” he said.

“That’s a tribute to the organization that they could do that. The pitching held us in there so that we had a chance to beat anybody. Those guys had to contribute, they had to do things. And my bench was outstanding, my bench won a lot of ballgames.”

Johnson beat out Dusty Baker of the Reds and Bruce Bochy of the Giants for the award. Johnson received 23 first place votes and a total of 131 points in the Baseball Writers' Association of America's voting system.

Johnson becomes the third manager in franchise history to win manager of the year after Felipe Alou in 1994 and Buck Rodgers in 1987.

Before the 2012 season Johnson had all but guaranteed the Nationals would be a good team, telling CSNwashington that he should be fired if the team didn’t make the playoffs. When asked for a similar proclamation, the Nats skipper cited his plan to retire after 2013 as having nothing to lose.

“World Series or bust, it’s going to be my last year anyways,” he said.

189 comments:

Sunshine_Bobby_Carpenter_Is_Too_Pessimistic_For_Me said...

Totally deserving. And Davey wins the whole enchilada in 2013.

Win one for Davey!

MicheleS said...

Hi Davey! So If I need to pay up on the bribes, just let Mark know.

Congrats on the Manager of the year! Well deserved! Can't wait for 2013!

Joe Seamhead said...

Too cool! I'm thrilled!

Another_Sam said...

Congratulations. Well deserved.

MicheleS said...

JoeS.. I hope you are wearing your #5 jersey tonight.

Candide said...

How did Ozzie Guillen do in the voting?

Don said...

The guy is really one of the best. He did not luck into some uber special club and ride it, he's been excpetional with all 4 organizations.

MicheleS said...

From the Thieves in Miami:

Miami Marlins‏@Marlins
Beinfest: "This should be a positive change. After a disappointing 2012 this gives us clarity as we begin our offseason roster improvement."

And another funny tweet:
Brian Oliver‏@NFA_Brian
So I assume Zach Duke and one of Screech's bowel movements should be enough for Stanton

Gonat said...

MicheleS, just heard Miami threw in Bonifacio. What a shame if true.

Gonat said...

Very happy that Bob Melvin won. Great choice. Miracle worker.

MicheleS said...

Gonat, agree, but lord they are doing a total dump


So True:
JIM BOWDEN‏@JimBowdenESPNxm
Marlins chances of ever signing another significant FA just went from slim to ZERO.....now all 3 from last year Reyes, Buehrle & Bell TRADED



Gonat said...

Now Jordan Zimmermann can win the pitcher Gold Glove with Buehrle gone.

Gonat said...

Jim Bowden with a good tweet! You almost have to think the Marlins did the 2011 buying to sell suites, seats and advertising and saw what the Red Sox did and knew they could do the same.

MicheleS said...

Gonat.. Good Catch! JZ for GG next year.

Gonat said...

This move by the Marlins favors the Nats more than the other NL East teams. Everyone beat the Marlins but the Nats. I think the Nats AAA team could beat the Marlins. All you have to do is intentionally walk Stanton each AB.

PATHETIC

MicheleS said...

WOW!!!!

Can we get him! Please!!!

Giancarlo Stanton‏@Giancarlo818
Alright, I'm pissed off!!! Plain & Simple

NatsLady said...

The Marlins just gave half their team to the JAYS!!!!!

Gonat said...


6:39pm: Outfielder Jake Marisnick will be heading from Toronto to the Marlins, tweets Buster Olney of ESPN.com.

5:31pm: One source tells Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports (Twitter link) that Johnson, Buehrle, Reyes, John Buck, and Emilio Bonifacio are all going to Toronto. Right-hander Henderson Alvarez and left-hander Justin Nicolino will be among those going to Miami, Rosenthal tweets.

What does Marisnick do in the AFL? Does he change jerseys?

MicheleS said...

Everyone that is on Twitter. Go telll Stanton to come to DC!

Gonat said...

MicheleS said...
WOW!!!!

Can we get him! Please!!!

Giancarlo Stanton‏@Giancarlo818
Alright, I'm pissed off!!! Plain & Simple


November 13, 2012 6:59 PM
_____________________________________

The time is right! PLEASEEEEEEEEEEEE

MicheleS said...

Sounds like the National Reporters are starting to call out Loria as well.

NatsLady said...

How can Selig approve a trade like that?

MicheleS said...

And those that are happy:

Jose Bautista ‏@JoeyBats19
Its a good day to be a bluejay!

Don said...

Wow, if that trade is legit, then the Blue Jays are the club to beat in the AL East. Reyes and Bonafacio in front of Bautista and Encarnacion? (With Davis, they could have 3 guys swipe 50 bags and maybe have 2 guys hit 40+ HRs.) Yikes. Josh Johnson, Brandon Morrow and Buehrle makes the rotation legit. And the Blue Jays might not be done as they have a bunch of guys hat are out of options.

SonnyG10 said...

Congrats, Davey! Way to go.

Does my heart good to the the Miami dump players.

natsfan1a said...

Atta way, Davey.

On another note, pretty crazy goings on with the Marlins, eh? But what's new with that?

natsfan1a said...

Good for Melvin, too. Love it when those low-payroll teams get into the postseason.

natsfan1a said...

btw, Davey did look great.

Exposremains said...

If anybody had any doubts that Loria destroy the Expos and at the same time the Nats well....If anybody had any doubts that Selig(Loria's buddy) is terrible for baseball fans well....

MicheleS said...

I Heart Davey:

Amanda Comak‏@acomak

Davey on the Manager of the Year conference call says he wishes the #Marlins would send the HR sculpture to Toronto, too.

sm13 said...

Congrats to Davey. We are fortunate to have him for one more year.

I feel kinda sorry for all three Marlins fans out there in Florida.

MicheleS said...

Wait.. she took it back:

Amanda Comak‏@acomak

Wait, maybe Davey said he was hoping Miami'd send RIGHT fielder (Giancarlo Stanton) to TOR, too. His phone broke up. Might've misunderstood.

SonnyG10 said...

Exposremains said...
If anybody had any doubts that Loria destroy the Expos and at the same time the Nats well....If anybody had any doubts that Selig(Loria's buddy) is terrible for baseball fans well....
November 13, 2012 7:17 PM


Man, you've got that right! Loria should be out of baseball...OTOH, he might be one of the better assets we have now. :)

Candide said...

MicheleS said...Everyone that is on Twitter. Go telll Stanton to come to DC!

Done!

MicheleS said...

THIS!!!!

Bryce Harper‏@Bharper3407

@Giancarlo818 you can always come play for the Nats! We will take you anytime! Get some red, white, and blue in your life!

Water23 said...

Great new for Davey. And wow, what a difference a year makes for the Marlins. Me thinks there will be a forced sales soon. Loria has now screwed up two franchises. Maybe it is time for Bud to show him the door.

UnkyD said...

Bryce Harper. ROY, and VP in charge of Outreach...

Gonat said...

MicheleS said...
THIS!!!!

Bryce Harper‏@Bharper3407

@Giancarlo818 you can always come play for the Nats! We will take you anytime! Get some red, white, and blue in your life!


November 13, 2012 7:39 PM
______________________________________

Is that for real? I am going to say a prayer!

Gonat said...

Goodwin 0-5 with 4 K's today.........

Good news, Rendon stays hot 2-4 with a walk!

Don said...

Stanton is not going to be a FA until 2017.

I am guessing that the only way MLB lets this play-out -- this big of a salary dump -- is if the Fish basically promise to spend some money on FAs this winter or taking on salary via another trade. They can't have the lowest payroll in the game in a brand new publicly financed park, no other team will get public support for years if that happens. We'll see.

MicheleS said...

Don, there is not an FA out there that will go to Miami. Only thing that they could do is take on ARod and that would be just a thing of beauty!

Joe Seamhead said...

I gotta apologize, but I am going to blow my horn, On Feb 21, I said on Mark's blog:


Joe Seamhead said...

Ladies and Gentlemen! Introducing the 2012 National League Manager of the Year!
I am so looking forward to this season! I just see a much more overall professional MLB ensemble then we've had since this team came to town.
February 21, 2012 8:45 AM

Old Wino said...

Loved Davey then, love Davey now.

Congrats from a Wino

Joe Seamhead said...

MicheleS said...

JoeS.. I hope you are wearing your #5 jersey tonight.
November 13, 2012 6:45 PM
--------------------------
Michelle, I might have to retire it.

MicheleS said...

Even more Ex nats news:
Jon Morosi‏@jonmorosi

File this away: Manny Acta was a #Mets coach during Jose Reyes' time there.

Jon Morosi‏@jonmorosi
I am not suggesting Acta will get the job. But his name has been linked to the opening, and the connection is there

Anonymous said...

Latest news says MLB won't permit Marlins-Jays trade.

peric said...

Stanton: left-handed power bat. Perfect.

Water23 said...

Funny that Loria finalized the deal on the day he know Davey and the Nats will win an award.

Start the conspiracy chatter!!!

MicheleS said...

OldGuy? Where are you seeing that? So far Olney/Rosenthal and others saying it will go through

peric said...

Good news, Rendon stays hot 2-4 with a walk!

He has the perfect professional hitter approach to learning the league he is playing in and producing. Davey isn't going to let him go to AAA. Mark my words.

If they could add Stanton from the firesale they could let LaRoche go. Move Zim to first base play Rendon at third.

Then there's the matter of the left-handed starter perhaps from the other side of FLA.

MicheleS said...

Um.. I think for Giancarlo Stanton I would give up my HUGE Crush on Adam. Sigh, I feel like I have cheated on Adam.

Faraz Shaikh said...

WOW did I miss anything?

It would be interesting to see if we can acquire JJ from Blue Jays (I doubt but will be easier than getting him from Marlins I suppose).

Also I hope Gose was not part of the deal.

Oh and congrats to Davey on some well deserved recognition.

MicheleS said...

Even Logan Morrison is stumped:
Logan Morrison‏@LoMoMarlins

Ur not getting a rt for no reason RT @BaseballMonster I've bet you've said "What the fuck?" more than once this evening. #marlins

peric said...

Um.. I think for Giancarlo Stanton I would give up my HUGE Crush on Adam. Sigh, I feel like I have cheated on Adam.

Why? He fits. He is a better hitting left-handed Justin Upton. Perfect. LaRoche at 33 really doesn't because of Rendon and Zim's injury issues for starters. He probably won't repeat the year he had which was a career year given his age.

Just what a team wanting to win the NL East division a few years in a row while sticking it to loud mouth Rollins. In any case Loria owes this franchise. I think he should execute the deal without delay.


Faraz Shaikh said...

I also misread something and thought that MLB will likely not approve this trade but after reading the original tweet from Ken, it seems that MLB won't interfere.

peric said...

It would be interesting to see if we can acquire JJ from Blue Jays (I doubt but will be easier than getting him from Marlins I suppose).

The Nats may be to busy working the other coast where they do have a couple of excellent left-handed starters and a problem with their payroll as well.

Sunshine_Bobby_Carpenter_Is_Too_Pessimistic_For_Me said...

If these trade reports are true and the Marlins go 15-4 against us next year, I will officially kill myself.

MicheleS said...

And THIS!

Jessica Quiroli‏@heelsonthefield

Mike Trout said he sent a text of congrats to Bryce Harper yesterday. "This is what we told each other we wanted to accomplish in AFL."

MicheleS said...

Sunshine...

Nope, no killing, just more bourbon!

peric said...

If these trade reports are true and the Marlins go 15-4 against us next year, I will officially kill myself.

I don't see that happening ... more likely you'll see LoMo trying to wrangle a way out of there. Getting Stanton and one more top left-handed starter would put the Nats in a different tier above the Braves and Phillies.

Anonymous said...

6:31pm: The trade has is not yet official as MLB doesn't have all the details, but one official involved in the deal says that he has no concern that the commissioner's office will nix the deal, Rosenthal tweets.
Read more at http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/#ecKgiK1ILx6wmSwB.99

Faraz Shaikh said...

which left-handed starters are available on west coast? kershaw? I doubt it.

Sunshine, agreed.

Faraz Shaikh said...

oldguy, that got me confused the first time I read it too. but the official has NO concern that MLB will nix the trade.

UnkyD said...

Peric, Stanton bats R, Throws R... Great player, though. He's prolly screwed, though...still a year from arb, little incentive to move him now. No wonder he's pissed...

MicheleS said...

OH MY.. LoMo and Stanton will be the only ones left

Ken Rosenthal‏@Ken_Rosenthal

Source: Nolasco could be next #Marlins player traded

And Marlins fans are having an EPIC meltdown on twitter.

Anonymous said...

As sad as this is for baseball, and Marlins fans (all 10 of them), this is actually a smart move for the Marlins. They dumped a ton of payroll and didn't really lose anybody they should lose sleep over. Last off-season is when they screwed the pooch, not this one.

Ghost Of Steve M. said...

No team in the NL benefits more than the Nats by the demise of their toughest team to beat in the Marlins.

Could be +6 wins for the Nats.

Gonat said...

Ghost Of Steve M. said...
No team in the NL benefits more than the Nats by the demise of their toughest team to beat in the Marlins.

Could be +6 wins for the Nats.

November 13, 2012 8:50 PM
_________________________________

The Phillies and Braves already were whipping up on the Marlins so not a big net gain for them.

Huge gain for the Nats.

Gonat said...

MicheleS said...
OH MY.. LoMo and Stanton will be the only ones left

Ken Rosenthal‏@Ken_Rosenthal

Source: Nolasco could be next #Marlins player traded

And Marlins fans are having an EPIC meltdown on twitter.

November 13, 2012 8:45 PM
______________________________________

Why not. Fire sale isn't totally complete.

MicheleS said...

On a Beach Somewhere, Mark and Mrs Z are having a beverage with an umbrella in it totally oblivous to what is going on back here.

Tcostant said...

Interesting how it was noted that the Marlins don't give out no trade clauses. Now we know why!!!

Faraz Shaikh said...

Stanton should be traded to Nats or Nippon Ham Fighters.

baseballswami said...

I have been in endless meetings and rehearsals for hours - I HAVE MISSED ALL THE GOOD STUFF!! So - this isn't a joke about the Marlins, right? I mean, I know everyone is supposed to be talking about Davey, but, sheesh! When I looked at my phone it was just about blown up with notifications and messages. This is the off season, right? So, back to Davey -- was he just hilarious on tv? I am sure there will be repeats. Quite the colorful character. Those old guys are a much better interview than the youngsters.

Faraz Shaikh said...

where can I find davey's interview?

MicheleS said...

Swami/Faraz, take a look at the MLB Network site, it may not be there yet, but I am sure it will be, plus the Nat's have to put it up.

I think Amanda and Adam are putting up articles on the conference call.

Joe Seamhead said...

peric said...

Stanton: left-handed power bat. Perfect.
November 13, 2012 8:10 PM
------------------------------------
He probably hits lefty in winter co-ed softball leagues, but not so in MLB.

MicheleS said...

JoeS.. you are cracking me up!

Faraz Shaikh said...

thanks Michele. Saw one interview on mlb site. Very short!

MicheleS said...

CLASSiC:

Logan Morrison‏@LoMoMarlins

I bet Canadians are feeling a little better about NAFTA tonight...

MicheleS said...

Faraz, he wasn't on that long so it might be the entire thing

natsfan1a said...

No apologies necessary, Joe, as you so rarely indulge in horn-blowing. :-)

Joe Seamhead said...

I gotta apologize, but I am going to blow my horn, On Feb 21, I said on Mark's blog:


Joe Seamhead said...

Ladies and Gentlemen! Introducing the 2012 National League Manager of the Year!
I am so looking forward to this season! I just see a much more overall professional MLB ensemble then we've had since this team came to town.
February 21, 2012 8:45 AM
November 13, 2012 7:57 PM

Faraz Shaikh said...

oh ok. reading swami's post, I was expecting a longer interview. I guess we might read more from our writers.

Faraz Shaikh said...

what are the chances that we get one more good news tomorrow evening?

Gonat said...

Faraz Shaikh said...
what are the chances that we get one more good news tomorrow evening?

November 13, 2012 9:30 PM
________________________________

Unless you consider "good news" as Kershaw or Dickey, no, won't happen but 3rd place for Cy is darn good.

If you mean good news in LaRoche signing or a trade for Stanton, don't hold your breath.

SCNatsFan said...

Just think how empty the Marlins stadium will be next year. Embarrassed for MLB with how Loria runs a team.

Unknown said...

which team will have a lower attendance next year, the astros or the marlins?

MicheleS said...

Darn it.. I cheated on Adam for nothing. (and Stanton isn't a left handed bat)

JIM BOWDEN‏@JimBowdenESPNxm

One GM who inquired on Giancarlo Stanton was told that they were NOT going to trade him PERIOD

MicheleS said...

I bet Rizzo was the GM that called about Stanton.

baseballswami said...

Giancarlo and Lomo are stuck in that park that looks like Las Vegas threw up. I predict Stanton will be walked a record number of times next season.

Theophilus T. S. said...

Marlins -- Astros have a whole new league to sell.

Unknown said...

so when does giancarlo get free agent eligibility, no matter the price it would be worth it if its within the next 4 years.

Gonat said...

baseballswami said...
I predict Stanton will be walked a record number of times next season.

November 13, 2012 9:57 PM
____________________________________

4 fingers up. No reason to pitch to him anymore. Might as well bat him leadoff.

whatsanattau said...

Wow, so Loria gets his stadium, hires a psychotic manager, pretends to play in the Pujols sweepstakes, sets the market on multiple other players, then purges all in less than a year. Rebuilding? Please. Wonder how the other baseball owners feel about him?

Gonat said...

whatsanattau said...
Wow, so Loria gets his stadium, hires a psychotic manager, pretends to play in the Pujols sweepstakes, sets the market on multiple other players, then purges all in less than a year. Rebuilding? Please. Wonder how the other baseball owners feel about him?

November 13, 2012 10:14 PM
____________________________________

Angelos loves him. That makes Angelos the 2nd most hated owner instead of the 1st.

Sunshine_Bobby_Carpenter_Is_Too_Pessimistic_For_Me said...

Question for the peanut gallery:

If Jeffrey Loria owned the team, and Jim Bowden was the GM and Manny Acta the manager, how many games would they win?

peric said...

Peric, Stanton bats R, Throws R... Great player, though. He's prolly screwed, though...still a year from arb, little incentive to move him now. No wonder he's pissed...

yeah I get him confused with Heyward and LoMo.

No way he comes to the Nats in the same division. Even the Marlin's Loria isn't that stupid.

I'm still thinking they go Tampa Bay way ... but they might be getting the same answers as before: NO WAY ,,, :)

peric said...

If the Marlins get the right mix of MLB ready top prospects with the right major league manager and player development types below ... they might be better than expected next season.

It all boils down to pitching.

Gonat said...

Peric, Marlins and Nats did the Willingham, Olsen, Bonifacio trade. Marlins are now in a rebuild. They don't care.

peric said...

Peric, Marlins and Nats did the Willingham, Olsen, Bonifacio trade. Marlins are now in a rebuild. They don't care.

That was back under carnival barker Stan and black leather pants Segway Joy riding JimBo. The Marlins considered the Nats doormats, perennial losers, a poorly managed organization.

I don't think they have that same view today.

peric said...

If Jeffrey Loria owned the team, and Jim Bowden was the GM and Manny Acta the manager, how many games would they win?

Given Bowden's crony's and his poor judge of talent? They'd get the first pick every year in the draft and then they'd go out and draft a lumbering huge first baseman who can hit homers and strike out a lot and barely field ... if that.

Gonat said...

peric said...
Peric, Marlins and Nats did the Willingham, Olsen, Bonifacio trade. Marlins are now in a rebuild. They don't care.

That was back under carnival barker Stan and black leather pants Segway Joy riding JimBo. The Marlins considered the Nats doormats, perennial losers, a poorly managed organization.

I don't think they have that same view today.


November 13, 2012 10:30 PM
____________________________________

Right, now its a reversal of fortune.

baseballswami said...

The Marlins have won a World Series. At what point exactly did they become a farce?

Sunshine_Bobby_Carpenter_Is_Too_Pessimistic_For_Me said...

baseballswami said...
The Marlins have won a World Series. At what point exactly did they become a farce?

Erecting that Tilt-a-Whirl thingamagig in center field didn't exactly spell Major League.

Doc said...

Hey get the Nats together.

Let's start playing the Fish next week!!!!!

Laddie Blah Blah said...

Terrific job by Davey. Melvin, too. Everyone in DC will be pulling for the Nats to "win it for Davey" next year.

Annibel Sanchez gone, Johnson gone, Buerhe gone - who have the Marlins got left who can beat the Nats? 100+ wins possible for next year. Good for the Nats: Bad, bad, bad for baseball. Miami should be a fun place to play the game. Instead, going to the park will be like going to a season-long wake.

Dave said...

Congrats to our guy Davey, and also to Bob Melvin. Never a doubt in the NL; a close call in the AL, but probably the right one.

I am inclined to gloat about the Miami fire sale (that the GM says isn't a fire sale), but we should all remember losing our team here in '71. Of course, if Loria hadn't destroyed the Expos, we probably wouldn't have the Nats now. But that is cold comfort to baseball fans in Montreal.

I saw some pretty anguished tweets by Marlins fans last night. It can't be fun to be a baseball fan in South Florida today.

Yep, the Nats will beat these new Marlins, but this is indeed very bad for baseball. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised at all if MLB came in and vetoed the trade. They can do that, right? I mean, if Bud's awake and paying attention.

Joe Seamhead said...

This is so unfair to the Miami fans and to the city that paid for that circus tent of a stadium. It also really sucks for the AL East, as it seems that the Blue Jays just got a lot better. I wonder how Jose Reyes feels about going from sunny south Florida to Canada?

Gonat said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Gonat said...

I spent some time analyzing the BIG Trade.

Toronto had banked on 2 youngsters when they put them in as starters with Yunel Escobar at SS and Arencibia at Catcher and both have been real bad as a drain on their offense.

While Jose Reyes is a huge upgrade, John Buck's BA for the Marlins was worse than Arencibia as Buck hit a lousy .192 BA and .297 OBP in 2012.

Its hard to believe Mark Buehrle led the Marlins in ERA last year but his stats say he is a solid #3 for the Blue Jays and Josh Johnson now is an inconsistent starter who went 8-14 last year with a 3.81 ERA.

I'd be ticked as a Marlins fan giving up so much and especially Jose Reyes, but they got a ton of young talent and cleaned out the Blue Jays farm system.

Giving up Reyes and Bonifacio will hurt and in the short-term filling the holes from losing 2 veteran starters. The Marlins were already bad at the end of the season and they will be worse in the near-term but they have done this before. Again in the near-term its good news for the Nats as I see it.

Gonat said...

Joel Sherman on Twitter
‏@Joelsherman1: Every outside exec spoken to doesn't think #Marlins will trade Stanton. 2 said Mia said all availables at GM Meetings, Stanton not on list

MicheleS said...

Davey is going to be on 106.7 at 8:25 AM

MicheleS said...

Nice Loria takedown by Scott Miller of CBS

Loria

Faraz Shaikh said...

There are some nice, funny comments to read on MLBtr.

Seriously, either marlins should be owned by someone else or they have to be dismantled (along with one AL team) so we have 14 teams in each league and four divisions of 7 teams each.

Gonat said...

I bet the phone lines at the Marlins stadium will be buzzing with complaint calls.

Meanwhile other teams are wondering why their GMs couldn't make a deal like that. Only time will tell on a deal like this overall. Blue Jays absorbed a ton of future payroll just like the Dodgers did in the Red Sox deal.

I think there is more outrage with this deal than the Red Sox deal because Red Sox fans believe their ownership will load up again and everyone in Miami fears no big Free Agent will deal with Loria ever again.

Candide said...

" Clown franchise, bro." Love it.

Faraz Shaikh said...

this is what blue jays look like now:
reyes SS, lawrie 3B, Bautista OF, encarnacion DH/1B, bonifacio IF/OF, izturis 2b, rasmus OF, gose OF, buck/JAP C. that is not a bad lineup. they can sign hunter or someone to DH. EE at 1B will make defense suffer a bit but that offense looks pretty good.

rotation is probably JJ, mark, romero, morrow, happ. except jj, everyone else is under control for 3 years I believe.

The Real Feel Wood. Accept no substitutes. said...

I wonder how Jose Reyes feels about going from sunny south Florida to Canada?

Reyes got burned twice by signing with the Marlins. First, he didn't get a no-trade clause because it was "policy." Then he had to cut his hair because it was "policy." He should have held out for a no-deportation clause.

Hmmm. What other organizations make you cut your hair and then can freely ship you wherever they want? I can think of one...

The Real Feel Wood. Accept no substitutes. said...

baseballswami said...
The Marlins have won a World Series. At what point exactly did they become a farce?


Marlins have twice won the World Series and then blown up the team almost before the victory parade was done. Pick one.

Don said...

Reyes, like the other FAs took the money knowing he could be traded. They could have singed for other clubs that would have provided no-trade protection, but they elected not to do so. It's on them.

The Fish are not so glaringly foul. The A's, and even moreso the BoSox, did essentially the same thing last year -- trading away big-money front level players for young talent to hit re-start. And to some extent the Lerners did something similar in terms of screwing the fans when they got their big publicly financed park and kept payroll in the bottom tier of MLB in 2008, 2009 and 2010. And evaluate the moves for what they are. Hanley was a problem child. Bell was a bloated contract for an ineffective guy. Johnson was going to walk next year. Sanchez and Infante were expiring contracts for players they were not going to re-ink. Beuherle was a lot of money for an innings eater. Reyes's deal was paying a speed guy a lot of money for years when he's not likely to be very fast. Etc. And its mid November, I am guessing that the Marlins are not yet done and that they will spend coins to get quality MLB guys to fill holes. They now have tons -- literally -- of young talent and money to burn. I am not suggesting that they'll spend it wildy, but there is no way that MLB let's them run a $25M payroll after sticking Miami with a $2B bill for the new park. We'll see.

DaveB said...

The weird thing is (as Gonat noted), from a pure "value" viewpoint, this isn't THAT bad of a trade for Miami. They got some really good prospects, and I think JJ and Buehrle had little value over their salaries (especially the way Buehrle's is back loaded). HOWEVER, it is a horrible trade for building fan interest and loyalty ... will be embarrassing to see that new stadium sitting empty.

Theophilus T. S. said...

The bunch of palookas and middle-schoolers Toronto gave up for Johnson and all of the others tells us something about Rizzo. No way could the Nats not have made a better offer of second-tier prospects for Johnson (without hurting the organization). Either he (A) made no effort at all to get Johnson (which would say something about how much he's willing to pay a one-year rental) or (B) all along Miami insisted on dealing Johnson and Reyes as a package and Rizzo refused to bite.

I don't think "dealing within the division" was a factor. The fleecing they took (although I'm not sure I can call getting rid of Reyes and Buck a "fleece") says the Marlins aren't thinking about winning the division, or anything else, for years (if ever).

Water23 said...

Don,
Two things,
1)Your analysis of the Marlins motivation is valid but Loria has consistently demonstrated his lack will to expend the money and resources to build anything.

2)Your last statement is very true. I believe a few teams have been warned by MLB and more importantly MLBPA that lack of total payroll will violate the CBA. So, I expect them to spend some coin but alas unless you are a second tier players why would you want to go and play in Miami. No fans, no loyalty, no no-trade clause and the money will be the same almost anywhere else.

Joe Seamhead said...

Well, I for one am basking in the glory of the Washington Nationals. 3 Silver Sluggers, a Gold Glove, Rookie of the Year, and now Manager of the Year, and all but the Gold Glove assured to return. Get that signing done! I"d also hate to lose Sean B. but his market worth may be too high to justify. I'm anxious to see what Mike Rizzo is going to pull between now and February. I wouldn't be surprised if there wasn't a tweaking of one or two of our position players.
I also expect that Strasburg will be a major force to be reckoned with in 2013. I mean that I think he will have a season that legends are made from. I also expect to see an angry, focused Gio Gonzalez. JZimm will be even better, as will Ross Detwiler. Who will be the guy to fill out this rotation to what should be the best in the National League, if not in all of baseball?
Davey will be managing for broke, in this, his last year. I really think that his players will dedicate their efforts to him, and to send him out on top. Honestly, I expect the Nationals to be looking in the rearview mirror at the Braves and Phillies all next year.
Many people complain that the baseball season is too long. I don't agree. The off season is too long. GYFNG!!!

Theophilus T. S. said...

I dissent from the idea that Miami will turn around and trade for/sign expensive (more expensive, anyway) players. First, they now have maybe three bona fide start-for-another team/ready for the big leagues players on their roster (thinking of Stanton, Nolasco, and the unpronounceable LH reliever). No way can they trade for or sign enough players in one off-season to make a winning team. Second, and of at least equal importance, no quality FA (or agent) in his right mind will sign with Miami. If I'm Buerhle this morning I'm looking for my agent and packing heat.

fast eddie said...

Don/Water:
I agree that the Marlins probably aren't done yet.
Otherwise, MLB would not have approved this trade.
They'll have to overpay and offer trade protection to attract quality FAs.

Exposremains said...

Loria and his little rat buddy Samson tried to get Quebec tax payers to pay for a new ballpark in Montreal. The government said no. Then Loria destroyed the Expos with Selig's approval. Selig awaarded the Marlins to Loria and after years of threatening to leave like he did in MOntreal if he doesn't get a new stadium he convinced South Florida tax payers to pay for his greed. Talk about a disgusting crook.

We are the Nationals said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Theophilus T. S. said...

Eddie --

Why would a leopard change his spots?

MicheleS said...

Marlins can get ARod now and pay for the entire contract.

Anonymous said...

Don gets it. The people projecting that a trade by a team the Nats face 18 times was worth +6 wins to the Nats, not so much.

The Phils and Braves benefit from this just as much as we do. Just because they handled the Marlins better in 2012 doesn't mean they would have done the same in 2013 if the Marlins had kept their FAs, or that we would have struggled against them in 2013 as much as we did in 2012. It's a small win for the Nats in the short term that it's worth maybe an extra game or two if we're in the wild card chase, but it's utterly meaningless in terms of the division race. It's not great news in the long term if Marlins ownership sells or decides to spend more wisely, because they now have an excellent crop of young talent.

The big win for Nats fans here is that the Blue Jays are now poised to head off the hated Orioles just when they looked to have a decent chance to content in the weakened AL East.

natsfan1a said...

You only did it in your heart, though, so there's that. :-)

MicheleS said...

Darn it.. I cheated on Adam for nothing. (and Stanton isn't a left handed bat)

JIM BOWDEN‏@JimBowdenESPNxm

One GM who inquired on Giancarlo Stanton was told that they were NOT going to trade him PERIOD
November 13, 2012 9:53 PM

Exposremains said...

If anyone still believes that the Montreal Fans were to blame for losing the Expos just read this article by Passan:
http://sports.yahoo.com/news/marlins-trade-a-baseball-tragedy-bud-selig-deserves-blame.html

natsfan1a said...

Well, technically, I believe that would be two WS.

baseballswami said...

The Marlins have won a World Series. At what point exactly did they become a farce?
November 13, 2012 10:41 PM

natsfan1a said...

Oh, never mind. Feel Wood had it.

natsfan1a said...

I think Buehrle was on board because of his time with Guillen in Chicago.

Second, and of at least equal importance, no quality FA (or agent) in his right mind will sign with Miami. If I'm Buerhle this morning I'm looking for my agent and packing heat.

Don said...

When the Nats were finishing dead last and not spending on payroll year after year in their nice new park, the mantra was "NO free agent will go there", because a dedication to winning did not exist at Nats Park (we were building it the "right way", stocking the farm and such) and that sentiment turned out to be either not so true or not so important (the Nats got the players they needed and won). The Marlins went glam and then quickly shed it all and have in about 6 months stocked the farm and such. So, now they have have a few nice pieces (Stanton alone makes them a dangerous club) and the felxibility to overpay for a Jasyon Werth kind of guy (maybe Josh Hamilton?) and go from there. And they have done this build it up, strip it down, build it up dance before and with some wild success. I wish we could count them out as being doormats for years to come (the way we were for years), but it's way too early to be penciling these guys in as last place finishers.

Diz said...

Fast Eddie is correct.

No FA will ever want to sign with Miami knowing in the back of their mind that a) they can be traded at any instant and b) Loria will have another fire sale.

On another note, how bad does it look on Loria after getting a new stadium from the city and then salary dumping the very next year?

They could have a payroll around the A's or Padres next year and even with a AAA roster, could still make a boat load of cash.

Faraz Shaikh said...

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2012/11/mlbpa-monitoring-mlb-comments.html

Unbelievable!

MicheleS said...

Don while I agree they are a threat (Hello, look how tough Houston was even though we swept them). This issue is Pitching! They really don't have too much (it's probably all really young and a couple of years away from being viable). They maybe able to overpay for a Hamilton or an ARod, but most players want to go to a place with a chance to win (Werth new we had Stras and Probably Harper as well at the time of his deal). I don't see that with Miami.

It's a credibility issue with the Ownership. This is the 3rd fire sale they have had since the 97 championship.

Ghost Of Steve M. said...

NatsJack in Florida said...

Alot of us saw this for what it was..... flash and fireworks intended to sell corporate blocks of seats and suites. And it worked as anyone who attended a game down there and saw the actual fans in seats versus announced attendence can attest.


You and I were laughing about this last year. It was a well planned out scheme with a back-door escape hatch to sell those suite, sponsorships, advertising and season tickets. If it didn't work out, they pull the chord to the escape hatch which is trading everyone as the joke is that the contracts were all seriously backloaded. The net result is they look like the same Marlins of a few years ago, all young talent that will play in an empty stadium.

The other funny part a year ago was the public showcase of stars in and out of Miami with Pujols and others and that alone sold tons of tickets. Other teams do cheap tricks like this. The Orioles do it every year. They attach their name to every big name Free Agent to drum up fanbase excitement and never sign anyone.

While those who like to complain and only on the surface saw what the Marlins were doing, said the Nats should've done the same in 2008 when the Nats opened their stadium, you can see that there is no quick fix---just ask the LA Dodgers.

Theophilus T. S. said...

I think there's a law of physics that says adding Jose Reyes to your team reduces the probability of winning a championship. Notwithstanding, I think the price the Orioles will pay for Hamilton just went up at least one year and probably $3-$4MM/year.

MicheleS said...

NatsJack.. ROAD TRIP TO MIAMI!

Don said...

Think about it, in 2012 the Fish spent over $100M and finished last, and they weren't drawing the fans with the big money players anyway -- if the Marlins did not just blow up the club, then what would they have looked like for 2013? They were looking at being a second tier club if they were very lucky, and those big contracts for Bell, Beuhrele and Reyes were not going to make things better for the club in 2014 and beyond. Would FAs (for the small pile of coins the Marlins had left to spend with those ugly contracts in tow) have been looking to go to a not likely to compete Miami anyway?

The more I think about this trade and the Hanley and Sanchez and Infante moves, the more I think that Loria is some kind of genius -- an evil genius, no doubt. But these trades are arguably very smart moves. You can call the club out as not being committed to a path, but you could also praise them for getting ahead of the curve and undoing their mistakes and not being saddled by them for years to come. The bad contracts are all gone and they have a cornerstone guy in Stanton (not all that different from where the Nats were going into the winter in 2010). We'll see what they do from here.

MicheleS said...

At the end of last year, I swore I wouldn't go see the Nats play the Marlins. Everytime I went we would get crushed and it just depressed me.

Had to recant that since we play them for the Home Opener, now I may actually go to those games without a feeling of dread.

MicheleS said...

And here is the audio from this morning's Davey visit with the Junkies.

Davey

Anonymous said...

NatsJack in Florida said...

"The haul in this trade for Marlins may appear well but at any given time a teams list of their 10 top prospects consists of AT THE MOST 2 players who'll end up as Major League contributors. Good luck with those numbers."

I enjoy your contributions, NatsJack, but this is simply not true. Pick any year before 2009 or so. Pick even a middle of the road farm system. You'll likely find AT LEAST (not at most) 2 players who contribute at the major league level.

And that's for an average farm system, which the Marlins are not. The top 3 farm systems ranked by Baseball America between 2007 and 2008 were the Rays, Red Sox and Reds. Here are their prospect lists from that time frame:

Rays: http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/rankings/organization-top-10-prospects/2008/265414.html

Red Sox: http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/rankings/organization-top-10-prospects/2008/265385.html

Reds: http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/rankings/organization-top-10-prospects/2008/265231.html

Take a look and see if you find more than 2 major league contributors per team. Spoiler alert- you will. In fact you probably will find more than two all-stars per team.

Anonymous said...

Please don't mistake my comments as a defense of the trade, however. It's awful, especially considering the stadium deal. What I'm saying is that they are well positioned for 2-3 years down the road if ownership suddenly changes its tune or, more likely, sells the team.

Ghost Of Steve M. said...


Don said...

And to some extent the Lerners did something similar in terms of screwing the fans when they got their big publicly financed park and kept payroll in the bottom tier of MLB in 2008, 2009 and 2010.
November 14, 2012 8:40 AM


First of all, Major League Baseball in 2004 negotiated with the DC Government to get the publicly financed stadium, the Lerners were never in the picture so you and everyone else that keeps acting like the Lerners took advantage of something keep twisting any truth. In fact, the sales price of the team was higher most likely due to the fact that the winning bidder for the Washington DC franchise didn't have to worry about self-financing.

I still believe there was an extreme downside to DC building the stadium. It lacked many upgrades which a baseball team with some foresight may have included and you still have to consider for any new stadiums a retractable roof which is the ultimate in luxury items.

In hindsight also, money in the 'last place' years was being spent on the farm system and that was the plan and that plan has paid off the last 2 years, clearly. Why keep complaining about that? Aren't you satisfied with the results?

Ghost Of Steve M. said...

bowdenball, I agree with you on the surface but its still a numbers game. The more BA Top 100 prospects you have just gives you better odds that more will work out.

The Marlins have had a history of producing some very good players but can they produce them fast enough. Will the Jacob Turner's and Marisnick's turn out to be star players? Time will tell.

Its all hindsight but they have turned the Josh Johnson, Hanley Ramirez and Mike Stanton players into top talents while whiffing on LoMo, Coghlan, and Gaby Sanchez as they were at one time top prospects so I would say they have had mixed results. There was a time that LoMo, Coghlan and Gaby were all looking like future stars.

MicheleS said...

As Ghost points out, the Lerners and Rizzo built from within. You can't trust the Loria Regime to do the same.

Don said...

Ghost -- I was not complaining about the Lerners, just pointing out the clubs build in different yet similar ways sometimes (try to get young, under control talent, try to shed bad contracts and odler players -- as Houston, Boston, the Cubs and Oakland have recently done). But let me ask, is it that the Lerners went low on their 2008, 2009 and 2010 payrolls in the big, new publicly financed park at least in some part because they did not negotiate the stadium deal themselves (they merely bought it and benefited from it) and because there was no retractable roof? If only there had been a roof!!

Ghost Of Steve M. said...

What's up with Michael Morse's strange tweets like he is going to be traded and he's been a lifelong fan of the Marlins or is this his attempt at humor? I'm seriously confused.

Anonymous said...

Every team has mixed results with top prospects, GoSM. My only point was that you can't dismiss an outstanding farm system as an asset. More than one or two solid guys come out of the good ones, and the Marlins now have a good one. Thankfully from our standpoint, they also have a terrible front office who likely will either: (a) not spend to supplement that farm system with the necessary FA talent; or (b) will spend poorly.

peric said...

In hindsight also, money in the 'last place' years was being spent on the farm system and that was the plan and that plan has paid off the last 2 years, clearly. Why keep complaining about that? Aren't you satisfied with the results?

Not to mention the draft picks acquired. What's the matter don't you like Stras? Harper? And there's at least 2-4 more on the way that are at that level or just below.

The Nats strategy was to leverage the draft, not just signing higher round picks over slot ... but drafting and signing lower round highly talented prep school and highly talented college picks like Nate Karns. That's what caused Bud Selig to put a cap on draft bonuses. The Nats were driving the price up on new prospects to astronomical heights because in the end, they were and are still the best way to invest your money. Particularly in the Nats case given they are financially hamstrung but the media deal with MASN where they only get around 10% of their own take.

Given :

1. When this franchise arrived in Washington the farm system was far worse than any major league franchise. In fact Rizzo claimed it was in worse condition than the Arizona Diamondbacks were in their first year as an expansion franchise.

2. There's less money coming in for ownership thanks to Angelos and the MASN deal.

3. Free agents weren't about to come to the Nationals. Witness Mark Texiera. The Nats turned in the highest bid.

The Nats had to follow the strategy they followed. It was poorly contrived by JimBo the Segway black leather pants Segway rider and Stan the carnival barker. Look what Stan has done to the Dodgers.

But with the rise of Rizzo to GM things came together at warp speed : scouting, player development and those invaluable draft picks.

So stop complaining Don. Things could definitely be a lot worse. Just look at the Redskins.

peric said...

What's up with Michael Morse's strange tweets like he is going to be traded and he's been a lifelong fan of the Marlins or is this his attempt at humor? I'm seriously confused.

Giancarlo Stanton? No the Marlins appear to have decided to build around him. Probably Nolasco? Of course Stanton's tweets might not have sat well with Loria?

MicheleS said...

Ghost.. Morse is just probably being a realist. He knows if Adam Stays he might be moving on. When Mikey becomes an FA after next year, he has 1 shot at a big payday. He knows it.

And he last night on twitter he was interacting with the fans about the Marlins fiasco (apparantly Morse lives by Loria). He is a Miami boy and grew up with the Marlins (they did win 2 WS's) probably not happy with what he is seeing happen to his hometown team.

peric said...

I think Morse is being facetious or just explaining why he is poking at the Marlins moves.

peric said...

Ghost.. Morse is just probably being a realist. He knows if Adam Stays he might be moving on.

Just the opposite IMO. Morse is far more valuable in left-field than any free agent. Trading for someone younger might make sense but that player would have be close to or at Harper / Rendon ceiling wise. Let's face it with Perez, Goodwin, Hood, and who knows perhaps Skole (don't know if he's been tried in left-field yet?) they have plenty of fire power now. And Tyler Moore just isn't a left fielder. He's a first baseman at best and then a DH. This is not the case with Morse in spite of Natslady's constant complaining about him.

Ghost Of Steve M. said...

Don, I can appreciate that but anyone who says the Lerner's took advantage of a publicly financed stadium is distorting the facts just like saying Angelos has taken advantage of his publicly financed stadium. Both owners took over after the deals were in place and they pay their rent.

In fact, much credit to that stadium in Baltimore because Angelos got the State of Maryland to do the 20 year overhaul and spend another $24 million to do a bang-up job in an outfield renovation.

All overhauls the Nats have wanted have been paid by the team and DC was well rewarded by all that Sales Tax from the playoffs. Talk about a nice windfall!

DaveB said...

I have to think Morse was just reacting to the flurry of comments (including Bryce's) getting excited about bringing Stanton here. Many of those had direct references to him taking Morse's spot, but I think the tweets were just an attempt to take it with a sense of humor.

Faraz Shaikh said...

as a professional player, I don't think calling yourself a division rival's fan is considered professional.

I honestly don't care as far as he keeps his bat going against all teams, including marlins.

JD said...


The big picture point is that no commissioner not named Selig would have allowed such an obvious dump of salaries to stand especially since most of this talent was acquired a year ago in a transparent bid to fool the Miami patrons to buy into the 'new' Marlins right after Loria was given a new shiny stadium build with tax payers money.

The moral of the story is that when Loria and Samson come to calling on your town you should hide your women and children and lock down all your possessions.

Theophilus T. S. said...

Goodwin seems to be making a good case in the AFL for spending a year or year-and-a half at AA/AAA.

Ghost Of Steve M. said...

Bowdenball, if I am a Marlins fan it is short-term pain for long-term gain. If they had an honest owner like the Red Sox, I would say "good move". The Buehrle contract was a bad one but the Reyes contract happened to be a fair one. Losing Reyes hurts. Also, the Marlins were counting on previous top pitching prospects like Brad Hand who has struggled.

If their goal is to build a top team around Giancarlo Stanton like the Nats did around Ryan Zimmerman, it could certainly work if that's their goal.

Today the Marlins payroll is $16 million + arbitration deals and new acquisitions. I'm sure they will get some aging veterans who have no place to go.

Now if they trade Stanton, then they are truly going to look like the Houston Astros.

Don said...

Peric -- again, I am not complaining about the Lerners having not spent on payroll. They had a strategy to avoid spending for the sake of spending on a club that was not going to win, the idea was to build a talent base of under control young talented guys (and then have payroll flexibility to add FAs or take on salary to build the winner). The Fish just sold off a bunch of bad contracts to build a base of under control talented young guys and now they have payroll flexibility. I am not ranting against the Lerners so much as I am saying that Loria is really not all that different in terms of what he's trying to do. He is very likely in a better position today than he was yesterday in terms of building his club for the future.

Theophilus T. S. said...

Someone said the CBA would not permit the Marlins to go Dollar General on payroll. Can anybody cite chapter and verse on that?

JD said...


Theo,

I don't know about the CBA but I do know that the big spending clubs have a revenue sharing commitment to the small market teams so if Loria reduces his payroll to nothing and does not put the money back into his team he gets to pocket the money. This will not make the Yankee and RedSox owners very happy since they get to right Loria a check and the talent beneficiary of the trade is a team in their won division.

JD said...


Don,

Your points are very well taken except that Ghost is 100% correct in that Loria does not have a history of team building but he does have a history of crashing and burning and pocketing other people's money.

JD said...


Congrats to Bryce and Davie. Very well deserved indeed.

I think Gio comes in 2nd to Dickey in the Cy Young.

peric said...

I am not ranting against the Lerners so much as I am saying that Loria is really not all that different in terms of what he's trying to do. He is very likely in a better position today than he was yesterday in terms of building his club for the future.

Loria's history speaks against it. Look what he did to this franchise. In point of fact a good bit of why this franchise was as bad as it was both in the farm system and in the majors was due to Loria.

He isn't doing anything different than he has done in the past as owner of the Expos and the Marlins. He gutted a world series team!

SCNatsFan said...

Peric I don't know how you can say ALR signing is good for Morse staying here. You can argue you can have them both but without ALR Morse becomes much more valuable and important.

Ghost Of Steve M. said...

Here's the great news for the Nats. The Nats have generally stunk against the Marlins and the Braves have 'owned' the Marlins.

The Nats were 9-9 vs the Marlins while the Braves were 14-4 last year.

The most the Braves could improve is +4 while the Nats could improve +9. While both those scenarios are possible with the "new look" Marlins, its highly unlikely and has never been done that a team has swept all 18 games vs 1 opponenet in a season. Let's just say you improve 50% improvement.

That could be a +5 to the Nats who could go 14-4 equaling what the Braves did last year and a +2 to the Braves would be 16-2 which still seems highly unlikely but possible.

As bad as Houston was last year, the Reds only went 10-5 vs them. Can the Marlins be worse than the Astros of 2012?

I believe the net result will be very positive for the Nats in their Win differential and as Nats fans that is the silver lining in all of this.

peric said...

And here is the audio from this morning's Davey visit with the Junkies.

Thanks Michelle.

Poignant ending. When asked which was the worst team he had to deal with as a manager Davey answered with the Dodgers. Why? He was told they had the best farm system in baseball and he found it to be just the opposite. And to make matters worse they had all right handed hitters and pitchers. No left-handed hitting or arms.

There's your answer in black-and-white as to what moves the Nats will make to help their manager. Davey may say he likes Christian Garcia as a starter. He may say he likes Morse at first base and Moore in left if LaRoche signs elsewhere ... but if he is given David Price? Or a talented young left-handed bat to go with Harper? And then there's Anthony Rendon ...

Don said...

Ghost - we can agree to disagree or maybe it is semantic, but the Lerners got a publicy financed park, the fact that the tax payers paid the bill was part of the deal the Lerners bought. There is no twisting or ignoring going on here. The Lerners can't get credit for having spent extra in theory on the club for that significant benefit but then not be considered to have taken andvantage of that significant benefit, because they certainly did. Liek you said, they paid the rent -- they did not pay the costs to buy the site and build the park. I could get into how pretty much every other club that moved into a new park (e.g., Pittsurgh, Minnesota, St. Louis) went big on payroll to fill it (despite not having big TV revenues or being in iffy markets), but that the Nats delivered 100 loss clubs to the fans in return for the expensive tickets to Nats Park, but that's loaded stuff. Like I said above in agreement with some other poster, the Nats had a strategy, the same way that Loria has a different (yet not altogether foreign) one from that the Lerners employed.

peric said...

As bad as Houston was last year, the Reds only went 10-5 vs them. Can the Marlins be worse than the Astros of 2012?

Houston should be a lot better next season. Their farm system is now too deep not to be. Albeit I thought Kansas City would be a lot better by now.

The Phillies should be a lot better next season. They'll make moves to shore up their starting pitching.

Ghost Of Steve M. said...

MicheleS said...
Ghost.. Morse is just probably being a realist. He knows if Adam Stays he might be moving on. When Mikey becomes an FA after next year, he has 1 shot at a big payday. He knows it.

And he last night on twitter he was interacting with the fans about the Marlins fiasco (apparantly Morse lives by Loria). He is a Miami boy and grew up with the Marlins (they did win 2 WS's) probably not happy with what he is seeing happen to his hometown team.
November 14, 2012 10:32 AM


I really like Morse but he shouldn't be Tweeting about his longevity with the Nats regardless of how he feels.

Of course if he reads this Blog and it wouldn't surprise me if he does, the comments have to hurt. I am a Morse supporter and really see his strengths and his biggest weakness (besides his UZR and swinging at outside junk) is his health. If Morse can stay healthy, release the Beast!

Ghost Of Steve M. said...

peric said...
As bad as Houston was last year, the Reds only went 10-5 vs them. Can the Marlins be worse than the Astros of 2012?

Houston should be a lot better next season. Their farm system is now too deep not to be. Albeit I thought Kansas City would be a lot better by now.

The Phillies should be a lot better next season. They'll make moves to shore up their starting pitching.

November 14, 2012 11:02 AM


Agreed with Houston as they should gradually improve.

The ex-WalMart tycoon Glass is another bad owner who finally may be turning the corner. His move to keep Gordon was a key and they have done a great job recently in the Draft and have some very good position players but like the Marlins, quite a few of their prospects aren't progressing. Their biggest problem is pitching, pitching, pitching.

Peric, I see Halladay and Lee continuing on that slow decay. Hamels should be as good but don't see much better. Not sure what they do with their #4 or #5 but I don't see a lot of hope for the Phillies as Howard, Utley, Rollins and Chooch just aren't getting younger. That is 4/8ths of their everyday players. What will they do with 3rd base and their entire outfield and their bench? They have multiple holes to fill and still have a HUGE PAYROLL.

Ghost Of Steve M. said...

Michele, Davey's interview is hilarious in vintage Davey style. Picking up his great deal on patio furniture! Too funny!

Then it gets serious in rehashing and 2nd guessing Game 5 and "walking Kozma".

Ghost Of Steve M. said...

Davey says if ALR leaves its Morse to 1st and TyMo to LF.

MicheleS said...

Davey will be on ESPN980 at 1215

MicheleS said...

Ghost, did you listen to Davey's tone of voice about Morse/Moore? Says to me that is not set in stone if ALR Leaves. I know, probably over analyzing, but it's the off season and this is all we got.

Anonymous said...

GoSM-

You're comparing apples and oranges. What the Nats, Braves and anyone else did against a particular team in 2012 has no bearing on what they will do in 2013. If you want to evaluate how the transaction affects a third party, the only question to ask is what would the third party have done against the team prior to the move compared to what they would have done after the move?

In other words, what would the Nats, Braves and Phillies most likely to have done against the pre-trade 2013 Marlins, and what are they most likely to do against the post-trade 2013 Marlins? I don't know the answer, nobody does. But I do know that the gain for the Nats, Braves and Phillies due to the transaction is roughly the same.

Using 2012 records to determine potential gain is 2013 simply doesn't work. It assumes that the Nats would go 9-9 v the Marlins again in 2013 and the Braves would go 14-4 but for the trade. That is a bad assumption. And in any event the sample size of a single head to head matchup is far too small to start talking about games gained or lost over 162.

JD said...


This is from Keith Law. I share his opinion fully:

'Those limicolous owners are the greatest joke of all in this deal, rooking Florida taxpayers for a publicly funded stadium, only to make one half-hearted attempt to fill it with a contending team, then surrendering after the season to return to their old business model, playing a skeleton-crew lineup while pocketing all of their revenue-sharing money. This isn't a bad baseball deal for Miami; it's not a baseball deal at all -- it's a boondoggle, perpetrated by owners who have pulled one stunt like this after another, with the implicit approval of the commissioner's office. It's time for baseball to rid itself of Jeff Loria and David Samson by any means possible. Miami, the state of Florida, and the sport in general will be better off without them.'

fast eddie said...

Ghost:
I still don't get why, if ALR leaves, Davey would put Morse at 1B and Moore in LF. I've read here that Morse performed OK at 1B when given the opportunity. But aren't they both out of their "natural" positions?

MicheleS said...

Davey on now, reiterating he wants Adam back. Said twice now in this interview.

UnkyD said...

Tori Hunter to the Tiggers, 2years, pending physical...

MicheleS said...

So it's Tony Tarasco will be the 1B coach and OF coach

Ghost Of Steve M. said...

Yah, Tony the T! Trent to 3B I would guess?

Joe Seamhead said...

peric said...


The Phillies should be a lot better next season. They'll make moves to shore up their starting pitching.
November 14, 2012 11:02 AM
__________________________________________

How do you figure that they'll be "a lot better"?

Pitchers:
Lee and Doc have been ridden hard and put away wet.Cole is still very good, but he is also putting up a lot of innings. Kendrick? Inconsistent is being nice. Middle relief? You can have the lot of them.
Papelbon was still generally great.

Look at
A:1B: Ryan Howard is a fat shadow of his former self.His K ratio was the worst of his career when he came back. Guaranteed contract.

B:2B: Chase Utley came back late and put up pretty good numbers, but his knees are paper clipped and rubber banded together. He certainly doesn't have his previous range in the field. Guaranteed contract

C:SS Jimmy Rollins, dubious Gold Glove winner, though still has a great glove, his range is greatly less from what it once was.He's also a royal pain in Cholly's ass.Guaranteed contract

D:3B They have no idea who's playing it for sure. Polonco is toast. The committee of guys they used in his absence can't catch a cold.Frandson and Freddy Galvis will platoon, neither of whom are very good. The Utley move has already been abandoned.

E:Outfield: John Mayberry, Dominic Brown, Juan Pierre, Laynce Nix Is a pretty bad lot.Darin Ruf murdered us in the last part of the season, but he is really a firstbaseman. He sucks in the OF,but with his bat they have to make room for him.

F: Catcher: Ruiz is fantastic

My prediction: Third Place 81-81

Post a Comment