Nats320
The Baltimore Orioles designated Luis Matos for assignment today. Which means the Orioles have 10 days to trade him, or he is available on waivers for free before he can be sent to the minor leagues. I have watched Luis for the past 5 years, and although he is a mediocre hitter with some pop, HE IS AN EXCELLENT CENTERFIELDER!! No one needs a solid caretaker centerfielder more than the Nationals. If he becomes a free agent, I would jump on this guy and release Damian Jackson. We are not talking much money. Jackson is only owed appox. $400 grand and Matos would be available for a prorated minimum salary. He's only 27. Come on JIMBO--do the decent thing, give our pitchers a fighting chance on flys to the outfield!!!
I agree for the most part, especially when looking at the trade-off vs. Damian Jackson, whose only real asset is speed on the basepaths, which Matos equals. I like the guy, and hope he can assume a much more permanent role in another system in the peak of his career (many look at the age of 27 as where a player "comes into their own")...
ReplyDeleteThe only thing that gives me pause is the reason Matos was released by the O's, which was his dissatisfaction regarding the lack of playing time taking on the bench role in favor of Patterson.
So I guess the question is: if the Nats picked him up, would he immediately assume the full-time status as centerfielder? Or are there a few names that we're grooming for the immediate future, (I don't know enough about the rules in terms of call-ups/send-downs) such as bringing Ryan Church back into the fold, or Brandon Watson, Mike Vento, Kenny Kelly or Tyrell Godwin (again, not sure if any of these outfielders are specifically centerfield types, not to mention their numbers in the New Orleans stats)?
Cheers