To the Mariners from the Nationals in a three team trade with the Athletics.
The Mariners acquire: OF/1B Michael Morse
The Nationals acquire: RHPs A.J. Cole and Blake Treinen
The Athletics acquire: C John Jaso
After Adam LaRoche re-signed with Washington earlier this month it was essentially a done deal that Morse would be traded. Morse, who had built a mediocre career as a Mariner from 2005-2008, will be a key addition the offense starved Seattle Mariners. The Mariners had tried and failed to pry Justin Upton from the Diamondbacks, and had in fact completed a deal, but were denied by proxy of Upton having Seattle on his no trade list. Seattle also expressed heavy interest in Josh Hamilton before he signed with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.
This trade makes sense for all teams. A.J. Cole was originally drafted by the Nationals and traded to the A's for Gio Gonzalez. John Jaso is a very serviceable (and in my opinion underrated) catcher who will provide good depth for the Athletics and turn George Kottaras in to a possible trade chip. Michael Morse's offense is much improved from his first term in Seattle and will be hugely appreciated in 2013. This is also the only logical way Morse will be able to perform as an every day player.
The best team in baseball just got better. The Washington Nationals responded to worries about their bullpen by making Rafael Soriano the richest reliever in baseball. He will join fellow relievers Craig Stammens, Tyler Clippard, Drew Storen and more in the almost exclusively right handed Nationals bullpen. After Soriano put up Mariano Rivera-like numbers for the Yankees he opted out of his contract and declined a qualifying offer to become a free agent. His contract with the Nats includes 2015 option that vests automatically if he finishes 120 games over the initial two year deal, which should be automatic if he can stay healthy and the Nationals are anywhere near as good as they look like they are going to be.
The Washington Nationals are the best team in baseball and didn't really need to do a whole lot with their offseason. Mike Rizzo is a genius, Davey Johnson is a very good manager and top to bottom the whole roster ranges from competent to prodigious. To make matters much, much worse for their competition is the fact that the bulk of their talent has years of excellence ahead of them; most notably staff ace Stephen Strasburg and the 20 year old total-bro NL Rookie Of The Year wunderkind Bryce Harper. The Nats are so goddamn good that they are actually in a position where they will either have to trade or bench the coveted and versatile Michael Morse due to the surplus of talent they have built up.
Washington is only responsible for two major moves in the offseason. One is the addition of RHP Dan Haren, an MASSIVELY underrated pitcher who after one underwhelming year was signed on a remarkable one year $13MM contract. If Haren bounces back, which I think is almost inevitable given his age and prior track record, this is going to be a major steal for the Nationals. Worst case scenario, Haren duplicates or degrades from his 2012 performance and Washington has a little money to chew. My estimation is that Haren will win 15 of his 30 or so outings and get extended by the end of the 2013 season and 29 other teams are going to look salty as hell.
Washington's new center fielder Denard Span
The other major move by the Nationals was the acquisition of center fielder Denard Span from the Twins for pitching prospect Alex Meyer. I am a little iffy on this move (I'd have preferred Ben Revere) but Span should play well in Nationals Park. Span has proven to be an exceptional leadoff hitter thanks to a career .357 OBP. His defensive prowess when paired up with Harper and Werth make an already formidable Nationals outfield an exceptional force to be reckoned with. I personally think that Meyer has what it takes to be a pretty damn good starting pitcher, and while exchanging a potentially good pitcher for a pretty good center fielder might look silly in a few years, the Nats have enough young up and coming talent to not really need every competent farmhand they have in stock.
The inherent risk in either of the aforementioned deals is pretty much washed out by the brilliantly designed team already set up and ready to play, so what do they have left to do? The only glaring issue right now lies is the bullpen. The Nationals let a substantial bulk of their pen walk. Mike Gonzalez signed with the Brewers, as did Tom Gorzelanny who was non-tendered by the Nationals. Sean Burnett signed a two year contract with the Angels, leaving Zach Duke as the only lefty in the pen. GM Mike Rizzo said that a second lefty was not necessary given the dominant splits over left handed hitters on behalf of several of the right handed relievers. While many of the RHP's do appear more than capable holding together a capable pen, I think re-signing Gonzalez or a more aggressive pursuit of J.P. Howell would have been a prudent move given the Nationals relatively inexpensive offseason.
Small imperfections aside, the Nationals are set up for their second consecutive year of domination. Strasburg is going to pitch his first complete year and dominate his way to a possible Cy Young THANKS TO THE SMART THINKING ON BEHALF OF THE NATIONALS MANAGEMENT TO LISTEN TO MEDICAL EXPERTS AND SHUT HIS SEASON DOWN, REGARDLESS OF PLAYOFF CONTENTION, SEE ROBERT FUCKING GRIFFIN THE THIRD. The offense is going to crush and the defense is going to shut opposition down behind a dominant starting rotation. The Nationals, best team in baseball, are going to win the 2013 world series. I'll put a beer on it*.
Sneak preview of everyone getting me beer after they thought some other team was going to win the World Series and foolishly bet against me and had to buy me beer.
Ace Stephen Strasburg returning in 2012 after Tommy John surgery.
As I stated in my article about Ryan Zimmerman's extension, the Nationals aren't messing around, and this is the first year in a long time that they are set to emerge as a relevant team. There are a few key elements that need brushing up, some outfield help and bullpen for example, but the age of futility is not far from being abandoned in the nation's capitol. Last year the Nationals made, in my opinion, the second worst deal for a
free agent in Jayson Werth (the first being Carl Crawford, which makes
me question the whole Theo Epstein thing... more on that in a week or so
when I get to the Cubs). This offseason they were abuzz with
productive, gutsy moves. The acquisition and securing of young talent
are setting the bullish nats up to be a force in the coming years.
Ivan Rodriguez has stated an interest in playing again this season. The former MVP has proven more than durable, carving out a major league spot behind the plate that has spanned more than two decades. Pudge can't hit like he used to, and he is coming off an injury riddled season, but he could prove relevant to a team who wants a decent bat off the bench, or just one looking for some veteran influence.
The Cardinals have extended Yadier Molina to a 5 year $75MM dollar contract. Extending catchers is always risky as it is an oft-injured position but talent like Yadier's is rare and the 3x All Star is still pretty young, and seemingly only getting better. Assuming he hits anywhere close to the way he has been for two or three of these contract seasons, maintains his glove and stays healthy, this contract will look like a bargain. Hopefully the front office told him to stop reinforcing Brandon Phillips' claims that the St. Louis Cardinals are all "little bitches" so he can refrain from flipping out and throwing punches or spitting all over the place every time he gets upset about something.
Mike Napoli was acquired for next to nothing from the Blue Jays (who incidentally acquired him only a few days before for VERNON WELLS. Still blown away by that one.) and flourished in his first year in Texas. In the latter half of the season he hit almost .400, and while that is a complete anomaly, it proves his bat is legit. He announced earlier this week that he wants to test free agency. My guess is that he plays his ass off and earns a four a five year extension with Texas that will see him in a DH role by the end of his contract.
Long time Red Sox Captain Jason Varitek and veteran backstop Bengie Molina announced their retirements earlier this week. I'm just writing this in to say congrats to the two of them on two long lasting careers. I'd be shocked if Varitek didn't stay in Boston and get some sort of front office/managerial position at some point.
The Nats ain't fuckin' around. This offseason they've made some pretty monster moves, but the six year extension that will keep Ryan Zimmerman at the capitol's hot corner through 2019 (2020 with the club option) may be the biggest. I'm usually pretty skeptical about huge long term contracts, but skill like Zimmerman's doesn't come around too often. His career line is .288/.355/.479 career hitter and last years stats pretty much duplicate those numbers, but in the 09 and 10 seasons he batted for .297 and .307 averages respectively.
God damn you Dodgers and your taking all of my favorite mediocre ex-Brewer free agents! Relief pitcher and former National, Brewer and Red is now Dodger. After a pitiful 82-79 year for a team with a Cy Young award winning pitcher and deserving candidate for the NL MVP award, the Los Angeles Dodgers did an impressive job collecting forgettable free agents for no discernible reason. Todd Coffey is now joins Chris Capuano and Jerry Hairston Jr as another not great ex-Brewer-now-Dodger who I still really liked for whatever reason. I can't really make sense out of signings of players like this other than that they might serve as trade chips for low end prospects down the line, but to what end? I'd try and find the logic that's inherit in them not having an owner right now but that kind of got blasted to bits when I heard they made a huge run at Fielder. Oh well, whatever! Here's to you, Mr. Coffey. I hope the California sun casts beautifully over your giant belly at Dodger stadium as you make your mad dash from the bullpen.
Clearly, I tried to find the most adorable name for contract discussion, and frankly it saddens me that there isn't a key for a backwards "R". Anyways what I'm going to do with this is just offer brief opinions about recent signings.
Edwin Jackson
Jackson last year with the Cardinals
If everyone in the MLB retired today and wrote an autobiography about there careers, I'd want to read Edwin Jackson's before everyone else. In Jackson's nine year career he has pitched for seven different teams. His career stats look like those of a back of the rotation pitcher (4.46 ERA, 60-60 win loss) but has steadily improved, last year posting a 3.79 ERA and a 12-9 win-loss. He was the author of the ugliest no hitter I've seen in my life, throwing 149 pitches and walking eight batters. He was also one of the main players in St. Louis' Hail Mary series of trades that got them in to the playoffs and eventually won him a World Series ring. And now, for one year, he's a Washington National.
So what's with the Bobby Bonds treatment? Edwin Jackson is a deceptively good pitcher. Every fourth or fifth outing it seems like he gives up 15 runs in two and a third innings, but he wins more than most four pitchers. I'm not saying he deserves Cliff Lee money but if Suppan can get 4 Yrs 42 Mil then I think Jackson deserves to at least get to know his neighbors. If I had to guess, the Nationals trade Jackson to the Rangers on July 15th.
Edwin Jackson's No Hitter
Ryan Rowland-Smith
I don't know much about this dude. He's an Australian and I saw him get smoked in an interleague game that brought Seattle to Miller Park. I also know that his dad is a "celebrity trainer".
That being said, apparently he's also part of Theo Epstein's mystery plan that is going to put rings on the fingers of the Chicago Cubs some day. I'm skeptical about the whole Epstein revolution and it doesn't help my skepticism that he is bringing a guy around who neither the Mariners or the Astros felt was up to standard. I guess we'll see.
Gerardo Concepción
I don't know very much about Concepción other than the fact that he's a young Cuban pitcher with a pretty decent amount of promise. What I do know that there is an incredible amount of mystique around all of the foreign free agents who have come to light this offseason. Darvish and Cespedes being obvious examples, but even some Milwaukeeans have already adopted Aoki as an adequate substitution for Braun assuming a suspension takes place. None of this has to do with Concepción necessarily, but it wouldn't do Cubs fans much good to look at this guy as some definite ace. For the record I've heard most scouts put his ceiling at a high four, low three pitcher. Still, a very young and promising looking prospect is never a bad acquisition. Concepción looks a lot more like a sneaky Epstein move for potential championships down the road.
Casey Kotchman
This signing actually made me a little jealous. Being of the mindset that defense wins as many games as home runs do I had no idea why no one in Milwaukee thought would be a good platoon partner for Gamel in games when one or two runs might make the difference. Alas, Kotchman is now an Indian. I think it's an awesome, relatively cheap signing for the Tribe who only have former Brewers prospect and current bust Matt LaPorta manning first. Travis Hafner is also capable of maybe playing first but my guess is that he is too busy watching sick 1999 clips of the WWE because according to Wikipedia he's a "huge fan of Stone Cold Steve Austin".
To be honest I don't have much to say about this signing and what it means for Cleveland, but I will use it as a pedestal to talk about how horse shit awards are. Golden Gloves being the obvious example in this case. Here's an interesting Kotchman fact: he holds the major league record with 2,379 chances without an error at first base. Gold Gloves? Zero. Here are some first basemen with Gold Gloves in the AL-Mark Teixeira, Mark Teixeira, Adrian Gonzales, Mark Teixeira, and Mark Teixeira. I'm not trying to take anything away from the dude, but if he weren't a Yankee and a slugger, Mark Teixeira would not have four gold gloves. The same could be said for Jeter's five.
Awards are meaningless anyways but if I didn't appear crotchety on here I wouldn't be doing my job.
