VIERA, Fla. -- The Nationals have received Rule 5 draft pick Daniel Rosenbaum back from the Rockies, re-acquiring a left-hander who could serve as rotation insurance this season.Rosenbaum, 25, was selected by the Rockies in December's Rule 5 draft and was making a bid to crack their Opening Day roster. He allowed four runs in eight innings of work this spring, but Colorado's late signing of veteran right-hander Jon Garland ate up the last available spot on the pitching staff and made Rosenbaum expendable.
Per Rule 5 regulations, the Rockies were required to pass Rosenbaum through waivers and then offer him back to the Nationals for $25,000 (one-half of the original cost to draft him). The Nationals elected to re-acquire him and plan to have him join the rotation at Class AAA Syracuse to begin the season.
A 22nd-round pick in 2009 out of Xavier University, Rosenbaum blossomed into one of the most effective lefties in the Nationals' farm system. In four minor-league seasons, he's 26-24 with a 2.84 ERA and 1.190 WHIP, spending all of last year at Class AA Harrisburg.
With the Nationals in need of starting depth in case one of the members of their Opening Day rotation gets hurt, Rosenbaum's return could prove fortuitous down the road. Assuming veteran Chris Young opts out of his contract tomorrow, Rosenbaum would be among the potential replacement starters in Syracuse, along with right-handers Ross Ohlendorf and Yunesky Maya.
15 comments:
"Potential replacement starters" and the name "Yunesky Maya" should NEVER be mentioned in the same sentence....
So happy that the Nats can knock Maya down on the emergency starter list. WE have all seen that train wreck too many times now.
Bradley Meyers and Danny Rosenbaum in Syracuse could give the Nats some pretty solid depth ... throw in Ryan Perry and perhaps a healthy Christian Garcia plus Jeff Mandel and Tanner Roarke?
They probably won't need Ohlendorf, Torra or Maya. But given his contract Maya is likely there to stay for this season.
Welcome back Danny and Jeff!
Here's another way of looking at the value of Rosenbaum and Kobernus: In a year in which the Nats forfeit their first- round pick in order to sign Rafael Soriano, they might well have just reclaimed two of the team's top 20 prospects.
Here is MLB's list of the Nats' top 20 prospects heading into 2013:
Rendon, Goodwin, Giolito, Cole, Michael Taylor, Karns, Perez, Hood, Purke, Robbie Ray, Skole, Marrero, Solis, Walters, Garcia, Taylor Jordan, Brandon Miller (the Samford slugger taken in the 4th round of the 2012 draft), Leon, Martinson, Kylin Turnbull.
Now we can quibble on the order here. Personally, I would move Taylor down and vault Skole into the top tier.
But is it plausible that Rosenbaum and Kobernus would crack this top 20? Absolutely.
They might not be in the team's top 10, but the star has dimmed for guys like Hood, Jordan and Turnbull.
Rosenbaum and Kobernus give the Nats two quality prospects and significantly improve the depth at the upper levels.
Jordan and Turnbull are still young ... still learning and Taylor is coming back from Tj. C'mon let's give them a chance at least sheesh!
And it sure looks like Fernando Abad is ahead of JC Romero at this point.
Peric:
I'd be very happy if Jordan or Turnbull or Ray or Mooneyham emerged as a bonafide prospect.
I'm just saying that with so many injuries and uncertainties it's a comfort to have Rosenbaum back.
Graphic on the SF-Angels game says Chad Cordero went to the minors. So he still has a chance, not on opening day.
Just watching the game on DVR. Holy cow. How did they manage in that gale?
Thanks for the update, NatsLady.
Gooooooooooooo Chief!
Someone quoted a scouting report last season that said that Rosenbaum was a lesser Tommy Milone.
That's OK. Maybe he becomes closer clone to Milone at some point soon.
Glad to get him back, more insurance down on the farm. By next year a couple of the young guys may be ready to challenge for the 5th starter spot, so hopefully this will be the last year we're so thin in starting depth.
Has there been any news on Christian Garcia's forearm recently? He's basically shutdown until opening day and then slated for extended ST in Viera, is that right?
LOL, Mark just answered my question with the new post...
I'm just saying that with so many injuries and uncertainties it's a comfort to have Rosenbaum back.
Danny had some injury issues last season which may in part explain why they left him unprotected. Nonetheless he is the ***only*** low 90's left-handed prospect starter to have completed every level up to AAA reasonably successfully at this point.
Of course that makes Danny Rosenbaum extremely valuable in the role of AAA rotation depth this season. Perhaps even more so than Chris Young who is much more of a soft-tosser type.
The Nats aren't going to say this but that has to be what they are thinking. They'll stretch him back out to prepare him for the starter role again ... and if Gio or Det go down with an injury don't be surprised if they call him up.
Daniel Rosenbaum was a totally different pitcher in each half of the season last year at Harrisburg, dominating in the first half, getting dominated in the second half. If we get the first half Daniel back that would be awesome.I heard speculation that he might have been injured but I must of missed seeing that he actually was diagnosed with anything physically wrong. What was his injury, or injuries?
The only injury Rosenbaum suffered came in his final start on a line drive that truly went up the middle. As Danny said in this interview: "Kids, always wear a cup!"
His problems can be traced to difficulties locating on the outer half of the plate, which led to his pitches flattening (and getting flattened). He had some command problems in 2011, too, but was able to get away with his mistakes more often than not.
Post a Comment