Tag: Washington Nationals (Page 9 of 14)

      Nationals sign No. 1 overall pick Strasburg

      August 18, 2009 /

      The Stephen Strasburg era is about to begin as the Nationals beat Tuesday’s midnight deadline to sign the top overall pick by agreeing to a deal for roughly $15.1 million.

      Per the Washington Post:

      The contract details: Strasburg’s signing bonus is $7.5 million; his four-year deal includes a total of $7.6 million in annual salaries. He gets a prorated share of the league minimum, $400,000, this year. Then he makes $2 million in 2010, $2.5 million in 2011, and $3 million in 2012. A few of the Nats players I’ve talked to or texted with since the deal went down believe — uniformly — that this was an excellent deal with the club, and very reasonable. I don’t think Strasburg will face much animosity within the clubhouse.

      Time will tell if Strasburg is worth the money, but for now the Nationals have to be relieved that the contract is done. Agent Scott Boras doesn’t make things easy for clubs, but now that he’s signed Washington can concentrate on the baseball side of things.

      Ideally, Strasburg will be on the fast track to the big leagues and even though they could delay his free agency status if they wait to bring him up, the Nats may want him to be in their starting rotation as early as next season. It might be hard to keep him off the big league roster if his high-90s fastball and top-notch slider carve up minor league hitting throughout the winter.

      MLB

      MLB Power Rankings—Top 5 and Bottom 5

      August 15, 2009 /

      It’s getting down to pennant race times and there are some incredibly tight races and a lot of teams that are at least in contention. Here we’ll take a look at who we think the Top 5 teams are right now and who the Bottom 5 are as well.

      Top 5

      1. New York Yankees (73-43)—Not only did the Yankees sweep the rival Red Sox last weekend and make quite a statement, they’ve won 10 of 11 and are 22-6 (.786) since the all-star break. That is just scorching.

      2. Los Angeles Angels (68-45)—You have to feel for the surging Rangers and even the Mariners, because neither one is going to catch this fundamentally sound team. If Mike Scioscia isn’t the best manager in baseball, he’s surely the most underrated.

      3. St. Louis Cardinals (65-52)—The Cards grabbed Matt Holliday before anyone else could and he’s batting .493 with a slugging percentage of .813 in his first 75 at-bats with St. Louis. Pujols/Holliday has got to be the most fearsome 3-4 tandem in baseball.

      4. Los Angeles Dodgers (69-47)—The Dodgers hung on without Manny for a few months, and then cooled off when he returned. They’ve lost 7 of 11 but still lead their division by 5 games and are 32-14 against NL West opponents.

      5. Philadelphia Phillies (65-48)—Suddenly with Cliff Lee and Pedro Martinez, and Jimmy Rollins finally finding his stroke, the defending champs are poised to make another run deep into October and possibly November.

      Bottom 5

      1. Washington Nationals (41-75)—They recently won eight in a row but still trail the Phillies by 25.5 games and the fourth place Mets by 13.5. So yeah, they’re still the worst team in baseball.

      2. Pittsburgh Pirates (46-69)—The Pirates actually looked half decent early in the season, but they did what they always do in July—made a whole bunch of trades and pretty much surrendered the season as well as the next three seasons, as they’ve lost 11 of their last 13 games.

      3. Kansas City Royals (45-70)—Remember the Royals were 14-12 and everyone started talking about this team being decent for the first time in two-plus decades? We remember, but then they remembered that they were the Royals.

      4. Baltimore Orioles (48-67)—This team has some great young players like Adam Jones and Matt Wieters and Nick Markakis, but playing in that division is almost unfair.

      5. Cleveland Indians (49-66)—Once again, the Indians have disappointed and started selling off players. Cliff Lee, like CC Sabathia last year, is the reigning AL Cy Young winner, and the Tribe also dumped popular catcher Victor Martinez and infielder Ryan Garko. Next year sure has a familiar ring on Lake Erie.

      Bullz-Eye Sports Channel, MLB

      Nationals’ Zimmermann to have Tommy John surgery

      August 11, 2009 /

      According to a report by NBC Sports, Nationals’ starter Jordan Zimmermann will have to have Tommy John surgery to repair his right elbow injury.

      (Acting general manager Mike) Rizzo says Monday that Dr. James Andrews reviewed an MRI exam done on Zimmermann’s right elbow and agreed with a Nationals team doctor that the pitcher should have an operation to repair a ligament.

      The team will seek a third opinion before consulting with Zimmermann and his agent on whether to have the surgery.

      This is a massive blow to both Zimmermann and the Nationals, who view the 23-year-old as the cornerstone to an up-and-coming starting rotation. If he does follow through with the surgery, he’ll likely miss the entire 2010 season and won’t be ready to rejoin Washington’s rotation until 2011 at the earliest. And of course, there’s no guarantee that he’ll respond well to the surgery.

      This is disappointing news for a developing young star like Zimmermann.

      MLB

      Nationals fire manager Manny Acta

      July 13, 2009 /

      With a 26-61 record over the first half of the season, the Washington Nationals have decided to part ways with manager Manny Acta. The club anointed bench coach Jim Riggleman as the interim manager for the rest of the season.

      The Nationals organization gambled in 2007 by hiring a young coach (Acta was 38 then) to manage a young team. Acta seemed to be well liked by his players and peers, but you can’t have a manager learning on the job at the same time young players are trying to develop in the big leagues.

      Acta didn’t have the best talent to work with in Washington, nor did he have the greatest front office to support him. But he still deserves a ton of the blame for his eventual demise, so nobody should go on believing that he got a raw deal here.

      The Nationals do have a ton of young talent (with more on the way with Stephen Strasburg on the fast track to the big leagues), but they’re going to need to find the right fit at manager. Who that person is, I don’t know. But it has to be someone with the right balance of experience and exuberance, because this young team will wear on a manager’s nerves. Maybe somebody like Joe Giriardi after the Yankees impatiently fire him at the end of the season for not going to the playoffs?

      MLB

      NL & AL team awards at halfway point

      July 7, 2009 /

      Tom Verducci of SI.com put together his individual and team awards now that baseball is at its halfway point. Below are some of his team awards.

      AL Biggest Surprise: Texas Rangers.
      The team with four straight losing seasons has never been more than 3 1/2 games out of first place all season. Kevin Millwood has been a true workhorse and ace for a pitching staff that has held up very well under coach Mike Maddux.

      NL Biggest Surprise: San Francisco Giants.
      They might not even hit 100 home runs and they might be the least patient hitting team in the league, but the Giants are a legitimate wild card threat because their pitching is spectacular.

      AL Biggest Bust: Cleveland Indians.
      Yes, injuries have helped take this team out of contention, but the Indians shouldn’t be this bad. The bullpen has been frightening.

      NL Biggest Bust: Arizona Diamondbacks.
      Suddenly, they are a stagnant organization, and the A.J. Hinch hiring as a completely inexperienced manager has looked about as risky as it sounded at the time.

      AL Best Plan A: Detroit Tigers.
      They fast-tracked Porcello, traded for Edwin Jackson, moved Brandon Inge to third, acquired Gerald Laird and Adam Everett and paid Gary Sheffield to go away, a symbolic move that the organization knew the team had grown too old and unathletic. The emphasis on pitching and defense has been spot on.

      NL Best Plan A: Los Angeles Dodgers.
      They cut their payroll by $18 million and wound up with the best record in baseball. The Orlando Hudson signing was a gem, not to mention those of Casey Blake, Mark Loretta, Brad Ausmus and Randy Wolf, gamers all.

      AL Worst Plan A: Oakland Athletics.
      Oakland does a nice job of collecting assets on the cheap, but the plan doesn’t seem to come together. Old horses Jason Giambi, Orlando Cabrera and Nomar Garciaparra have 729 plate appearances and OPS+ marks of 92, 69 and 83. Matt Holliday isn’t as valuable now as when Oakland acquired him. And the Athletics continue to have major problems keeping players healthy. Oakland does have a bunch of good arms that could pay off big soon, and there’s still time to invoke a good Plan B before the trade deadline.

      NL Worst Plan A: Washington Nationals.
      Why is Adam Dunn here? The Nats have too many outfielders who are poor defenders, too many starting pitchers who can’t go deep enough into games, too many relief pitchers who can’t get enough hitters out and too many dumb mistakes.

      I’m happy to boast that the team’s Verducci picked as his biggest surprises (Rangers and Giants), were two of the five teams I chose as my “deep sleepers” in the offseason. (Hey, this back isn’t going to pat itself, you know?)

      Of course, I was the one who also ranked the Diamondbacks as the seventh best team and the Indians the ninth best team in the league for TSR’s 2009 MLB Preview. (Hey, this body isn’t going to throw itself under the bus, you know?)

      MLB

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