Comments on Nats Insider: The Nats' (updated) all-time stat leaders

I never would have expected to see Lannan's na...

2012-01-23T11:35:08.538-05:00

I never would have expected to see Lannan's name at or near the top of so many of these pitching categories. It's shocking and sad. But at least we have plenty to look forward to in the coming years as Zim, Gio, and Stras climb atop those lists.

Wow. Zimmerman is truly the "Face of the Fra...

2012-01-21T19:23:06.069-05:00

Wow. Zimmerman is truly the "Face of the Franchise." Too bad we're going trade him when Rendo is ready.

Lannan makes me laugh -- belly laugh: he wants 5.7 million in arbitration. He's averaged 7.25 wins per year -- and nearly 11 losses!! Is he out of his mind? Rather, will the Lerners actually give this space saving less than mediocre hurler that kind of money? Dont give Lannan the money -- cut him outright. We do not need him.

John C - depending on the length, it could be a &#...

2012-01-20T16:41:38.755-05:00

John C - depending on the length, it could be a 'No Prince' signal too.

I've kind of resigned myself to no Fielder. It just seems like Boras is trying to get him to Texas. If we lose him, I really hope they add someone good to the OF mix.

Looking forward to hearing the details on Morse...

2012-01-20T16:38:37.960-05:00

Looking forward to hearing the details on Morse's extension. The team option years are the key (and only reason to do it from the team's perspective). I am hoping for 2 option years.

JZimm next!

Beast mode extension! http://www.mlbtraderumors....

2012-01-20T16:37:13.142-05:00

Beast mode extension!

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2012/01/nationals-extend-michael-morse.html

Like this move. It rewards one of the Nats own (yes, they traded for him, but c'mon!). It also may make him more valuable as a trade chip IF the Nats sign Fielder, Harper slugs his way to Nats Town and the Nats are able to acquire their own Unicorn (a high-OBP, excellent defense speedy CF/leadoff guy).

As well as clearly signalling that the Nats are making their moves without waiting around for Boras/Fielder to get off their keisters.

Ryan Zimmeran - Without a doubt the 1st Hall of Fa...

2012-01-20T16:36:45.727-05:00

Ryan Zimmeran - Without a doubt the 1st Hall of Fame of the 3.0 version of the Washington Nationals.

Mulit-year too! Hooray! Zimm will get extended...

2012-01-20T16:32:31.169-05:00

Mulit-year too! Hooray!

Zimm will get extended, I can feel it.

Speaking of changing subjects, and of signings, ch...

2012-01-20T16:29:36.643-05:00

Speaking of changing subjects, and of signings, check out the Morse news in Mark's Twitter updates at the top of this page (of course, he's probably new-posting me even as I type :-)).

Players are signed often coming off of injuries...

2012-01-20T16:27:03.422-05:00
Players are signed often coming off of injuries. Chien Ming Wang and Mark DeRosa are 2 examples.

Signing a player coming off an injury as a free agent is an entirely different thing than trading for a player coming off an injury. Signing a FA only costs money, whereas trading for a player costs you another player and/or prospect(s). Injured players are worth much less in trade than they are as FAs. No one "takes a flyer" on an injured player by trading for him. Especially they don't trade a player of real value like Upton for a guy coming off injury like you have been suggesting.

Changing subjects, I've been reading a bit out...

2012-01-20T15:45:20.777-05:00
Changing subjects, I've been reading a bit out the Fausto Carmona (as we once named him) situation. I hope everyone in Nats management realizes that they'll be double- and triple-checking things at U.S. consulates throughout the Caribbean this month and next. Even if a player is 100% clean on his identity, I can only imagine that everyone needs to apply for their visas early and be quick about providing any additional supporting dox that the consular officers may request. It wouldn't surprise me to see a spike in 'visa problems' throwing a monkey wrench into a number of spring training camps this year.

Mark - thanks so much for the expanded info! I don...

2012-01-20T15:41:00.917-05:00
Mark - thanks so much for the expanded info! I don't trust my memory so well at times - but I remember we said the same thing at the game about the home run. I also remember Scott Olsen's game - I really thought he was going to turn out to be a decent pitcher. Not so much.....

The problem with that type of contract is that if ...

2012-01-20T15:33:25.991-05:00
The problem with that type of contract is that if Fielder doesn't live up to the hype and earn the performance incentives opt-out, you are still stuck with him. Darvish is only making around 10 mil/per, which is in and of itself undermarket (since the Nippon Ham Fighters are getting another 51 million or so). Darvish has an incentive to get out of the contract in order to get a better one. In your scenario Fielder would need to sign a below market attractive contract with us, or at least have those final years be low enough that he is incentivized to void them. The difference is, Darvish had very little leverage (exclusive negotiating rights, no MLB track record), Fielder has far more (free agent, established elite player in his prime). He is going to command upwards of 22-25 mil per year and if he is not putting up the elite numbers as advertised, two more years and 44-50 million is going to be a hard pill to swallow. What would work is if everything were done with mutual opt out/buy outs where Fielder had the opportunity to excel and reenter the market in 3-5 years and if he underperforms the teams has the ability to cut its losses for a modest buyout. Still, I think Boras knows that the way to get money in those later years is by tying it to these next few prime years. Darvish is younger and would be expected to have a longer shelf life than Fielder - if all goes well Darvish has another big payday in front of him, Boras knows that Fielder probably only has this one. If teams are scared of his body when he is 27, how are they going to feel when he is 32?

I still say, if we can get him for 5-7 years at a cost that does not hamstring the franchise (i.e. prevent extending Zim), go for it. Otherwise tell Boras to go find a different sucker.

Verducci trying to pimp Fielder to the Rangers ove...

2012-01-20T15:19:15.424-05:00
Verducci trying to pimp Fielder to the Rangers over on CNN/SI. An interesting read.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/writers/tom_verducci/01/20/prince.fielder.yu.darvish/index.html?sct=mlb_t11_a0

baseballswami: Yes, Ramon Ortiz took a no-hitter d...

2012-01-20T15:18:41.895-05:00
baseballswami: Yes, Ramon Ortiz took a no-hitter deeper than anyone else in Nats history, carrying one into the 9th inning on Sept. 4, 2006 before the Cardinals' Aaron Miles led off with a single. Ortiz then got Chris Duncan to line into a double play, leaving him one out shy of a shutout ... only to serve up a towering, upper-deck homer to Albert Pujols. Frank Robinson pulled him after that, and Chad Cordero got the final out.

And yes, Ortiz indeed clubbed a home run in the bottom of the eighth, sending RFK into pandemonium. I do remember saying to someone in the press box at the time that the home run would probably cost Ramon his no-hitter, because you could see he was so jacked up from hitting that thing, he was going to have a hard time settling down for the 9th inning. Sadly, that's exactly what happened.

As for other near no-hitters in Nats history, I'm not sure if there's an actual list anywhere, but I do remember Scott Olsen(?!) carrying one deep into a game against the Dodgers in 2010, and I also remember Jason Bergmann (?!) going deep once himself.

The closest I remember anyone coming to throwing a no-hitter against the Nats was Milwaukee's Wes Obermueller (?!) who took one into the 7th inning on May 17, 2005.

Speaking of nomads and avoiding such things, if th...

2012-01-20T15:15:48.584-05:00
Speaking of nomads and avoiding such things, if the Nats do NOT sign Prince Fielder, what is their long term plan at 1B? I can assure you it is not Ryan Zimmerman.

Just another point to follow Just Wondering, there...

2012-01-20T15:11:48.884-05:00
Just another point to follow Just Wondering, there are other benefits to that type of option. There is still risk for the player, because if they have 4 great years and opt-out, there is no guarantee the market will be any kinder than it was this time around. And no guarantee they get a better deal then they currently have. But it does allow everyone to walk away if the marriage is unsuccessful for other reason than player performance. If you are lucky, he turns it down and comes off the books as he declines.

I don't know how hard it would be to find this...

2012-01-20T15:10:52.399-05:00
I don't know how hard it would be to find this info - is the Ramon Ortiz, almost-no-hitter the deepest that any nat has gotten into a game without anyone getting a hit? I was at that game and will never forget it. I think he also hit a home run, bizarre. Also -- I wonder how deep we have gotten into a game without getting a hit -- I can remember games where I was quite afraid it was going to happen, but I don't remember how far it got. I just don't think anyone keeps records of that kind of thing. I don't remember any other pitcher going that far.

Mark Hornbaker said... If you would like to see i...

2012-01-20T15:10:27.882-05:00
Mark Hornbaker said...
If you would like to see if any of these players rank in the Washington Senators / Nationals All Time Stat Leaders visit this link.
http://dcbaseballhistory.com/d-c-baseball-records/

Thanks for this link. I was not aware of this site.

Just Wondering, good points on Darvish. Interestim...

2012-01-20T14:53:45.415-05:00
Just Wondering, good points on Darvish. Interestimg comparison to Prince.

Since I first read about the unusual opt-out claus...

2012-01-20T14:42:15.857-05:00
Since I first read about the unusual opt-out clause in Yu Darvish's contract, I've been wondering if there's any applicability of that model to Prince Fielder. Here's a good description (including analysis) that I just came across of the Darvish contract:

http://www.bbtia.com/home/2012/1/19/yu-darvish-the-win-curve-and-the-genius-of-the-contract.html

In essence, Darvish can opt-out after five years if he's performed exceptionally well. This might seem to be a counter-intuitive option from the Rangers' standpoint, but it gives their new pitcher a tremendous incentive to perform. And even if he performs at that exalted level and they lose him, they've at least gotten those exceptional years from him. Not the usual ways teams approach options, but a creative approach that might be applied to Fielder.

In the current market, Scott Boras seems unable to generate the 10-year, $25m/year contract that he originally sought for his client. Assume for a moment that's he now willing to consider a shorter (six- to eight-year) contract at the same $25m/year. What if, instead of an eight-year deal, a team were to offer a six-year deal with an opt-out after four years if Fiedler had reached certain performance goals? Those goals could be either numerical (i.e., averaging .300/.400/.500 and 35 HRs) or honorific (i.e., based on MVP votes, leading the league in HRs or slugging, Silver Slugger awards). If Prince reaches those goals and leaves, it's a shame and everyone gets upset, but he'd be 32+ and -- we all fear -- heading downhill anyway. If he doesn't reach those goals, he will presumably have been trying for them and either getting close or, perhaps, failing miserably. But failure was always a risk and now you've only got him for two more years, not four-six more.

This is not necessarily to suggest that the Nats should be offering Fielder such an option, but more a thought experiment about how the Dervish model might apply to Fielder. And wondering whether his super agent would go along...

Not a big Bowden fan but he had to work within the...

2012-01-20T14:25:19.965-05:00
Not a big Bowden fan but he had to work within the budget he was given, initially by MLB.

In other news, RIP Etta James.

Not that I am ever interested in what the Phillies...

2012-01-20T14:19:46.736-05:00
Not that I am ever interested in what the Phillies are doing but it is interesting to me that 4 of the top 10 HR hitters have been with the team for the entire time and Ruiz joined them one year later.

Someone earlier used the word "nomad" for our plucky lads and that basically is what it was. Not sure if this was Bowden's fault or our owner but we have not had a lot of keepers have we?

Sec 215 - if I could type I would be dangerous - o...

2012-01-20T14:15:30.591-05:00
Sec 215 - if I could type I would be dangerous - of course it was 59,thanks for catching that.

My prediction on the Prince signing is the Rangers by Jan 30. I am not happy with that but at least we won't see him as often.

I know some of you were curious for a comparison t...

2012-01-20T14:09:18.194-05:00
I know some of you were curious for a comparison to the Phillies, so here's their top 10 in a couple of categories from 2005-11:

HOME RUNS
1. Ryan Howard 284 (2005-11)
2. Chase Utley 173 (2005-11)
3. Pat Burrell 124 (2005-08)
4. Jimmy Rollins 123 (2005-11)
5. Jayson Werth 95 (2007-10)
6. Shane Victorino 79 (2005-11)
7. Raul Ibanez 70 (2009-11)
8. Aaron Rowand 39 (2006-07)
9. Carlos Ruiz 36 (2006-11)
10. Bobby Abreu 32 (2005-06)

WINS
1. Cole Hamels 74 (2006-11)
2. Jamie Moyer 56 (2006-10)
3. Brett Myers 44 (2005-09)
4. Kyle Kendrick 43 (2007-11)
5. Roy Halladay 40 (2010-11)
6. Ryan Madson 38 (2005-11)
7. Jon Lieber 29 (2005-06)
8. Joe Blanton 26 (2008-11)
9. Cliff Lee 24 (2009, 2011)
10. Cory Lidle 21 (2005-06)

Steady Eddie - I did see the Gio games, nice upsid...

2012-01-20T13:31:22.635-05:00
Steady Eddie - I did see the Gio games, nice upside for the Nats, but did mention it because he wasn't pitching for DC at the time.

I does paint an interesting picture (pardon the pun) for the staff this year, with JZimm, Det, and Gio on the list and no Stras. I really like the Nats rotation for 2012.

-Chris