Sunday, February 08, 2009

The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year


The workload of The Real Job has taken away the blog fun over the past week, but as Spring Training Dawns on the horizon this coming week, it's baseball time again for Our Washington Nationals.

Unquestionably, The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year.

And to get us started--here are some notes of interest over the past week.

Happy to see Shawn Hill win his arbitration case yesterday, now the receiver of a $750,000 salary in 2009. Despite the very fact that injuries have curtailed his wonderful talents, there is not even a single person within Our Washington Nationals that denies Our Number 41 can be a top of the rotation starter--if he ever pulls it all together. Hill is worth every penny to find out.

A rare arbitration win which also found me shaking my head upon getting the press release announcing that Our Washington Nationals late this afternoon had agreed to a one-year $2.8 Million Contract with Scott Olsen before heading to arbitration. Olsen shook on just $300,000 more than Washington had offered to the arbiters. Scott had asked for $3.5 million. I don't follow the arbitration process too closely, but if Shawn Hill only garnered one win in 2008, but Our New Number 19 received 8 and started 30 Games for The Marlins and has shown to be durable, you had to figure Olsen had a good chance of receiving that higher salary. $3.5 Million, I recall, was a possible number Washington feared giving out to Tim Redding had they offered him, instead of non-tendering him.

Interesting.

Now, let's just get Ryan Zimmerman and Josh Willingham under contract before Washington attempts to rip them apart in arbitration. Nobody really ever seems happy with this process--both player and management agree that it's does more harm than good.

Adam Dunn has never been on my list of possible free agent signings for Our Washington Nationals in 2009, but when I read that he is basically looking for the opportunity to play for a winner--now--that pretty much sealed the deal for me. As Washington grows their franchise, it would please me more to see players that truly want to be here, not those that just want a paycheck and move on. No problem with Adam Dunn wanting to play for a winner, but if he really is going to say he wants to win--he should sign for any reasonable amount offered for his chance to win that ring right now. Is it really about money or is it about winning Adam?

Which reminds me of the Orlando Hudson interview on MLB Network's Hot Stove recently where Hudson mentioned he's very interested in playing for The Dodgers, The Yankees and The Mets. And as an afterthought said basically: "Oh yeah, The Nationals are in there too." But anyone could read between the lines--Orlando Hudson really doesn't want to play here either. That's fine with me, suit up Anderson Hernandez and Ronnie Belliard until someone better comes along.

67 players will post up at Major League Training Camp over the next 8 days--who will be the surprise candidates to make the 25-Man Roster come April 5th? The recently signed Javier Valentin probably has a pretty good shot of being the 2nd string catcher. He may not be a better backstop than Wil Nieves defensively, but Valentin is a switch hitter and possesses some pop in his bat--better skills at the plate than Nieves. Those two should have a nice friendly battle.

Will this be Justin Maxwell's last chance? Maxwell seemed especially upbeat when I recently ran into him at one of the last Winter Caravan Events. Newly married and a new father to boot can perk anyone up--but Maxwell said he's healthy. Everyone knows he's talented--can he put it all together this spring?

The same way I feel about Ryan Langerhans. He's the perfect complimentary outfielder--stellar defensive player, good On Base Percentage with some pop. The final roster numbers are a problem for Ryan. With Elijah Dukes, Willie Harris, Josh Willingham, Lastings Milledge, Austin Kearns, Roger Bernadina and Wily Mo Pena all heading to camp--the outfield depth chart at the beginning of Spring Training Camp is full before anyone steps on the field. But that doesn't mean things will remain the same from the start of camp to the end. Outfield changes could be significant and the most interesting look-see throughout the six week camp.

Remember--trades can still be made.

And how about non-roster pitcher J.D. Martin? This young man has shown pretty good control, doesn't walk many and seems to have a strikeout pitch. Maybe one of those sleepers that no one notices before they breakout and make a name for themselves. Considering Our Bullpen is in flux, Martin's seasoning may give him the opportunity to stick.

Experience which Odalis Perez already possesses, but was not good enough to land him a significant Free Agent Contract with another Major League Ball Club this off-season. Perez wasn't great last year, but he was decent enough to give Washington a solid starter most every fifth day out. Consistency, which if Perez makes the squad, will allow Our Washington Nationals to not rush Jordan Zimmermann, if the 22 Year Old needs a little more seasoning in the minors, or Shairon Martis.

Considering Perez was allowed to walk by Washington, I have found it interesting that JimBo has waited out so many players this off-season. After making the bold attempt to sign Mark Teixeira to a huge contract earlier this winter, Our General Manager hasn't gone out and just thrown away money to make up for the fact that Teixeira wanted to win right now elsewhere. Instead, his judging of the market has been fairly decent. He's hasn't overpaid for Dunn, and Bowden doesn't appear to want to give up a draft pick for Hudson. And despite some fans wanting Washington to throw a ton of money at Free Agent Pitcher Ben Sheets, the resultant report that Sheets needs further surgery on his pitching elbow, makes that Non-Signing a very shrewd one.

With so many Free Agents of various talents still available, it would not be surprising to see somebody fall into their laps as Spring Training begins. No one wants to sit on the side while positions are being determined on the field. And when you look at those 67 players coming to Viera, except at 1st base (where Nick Johnson and Dmitri Young are the incumbents), there are a host of players wanting, and waiting, to prove themselves valuable to Our Washington Nationals Major League Team this season. For the first time since Baseball returned to DC in 2005, Washington has depth up the middle, a host of young arms on the mound and a competitive Training Camp starting later this week that will hopefully help boost Our Franchise back up that ladder of success.

Yes, it's baseball time again (and it's so nice to write that!), time for those beautiful sounds again: The THWACK OF THE BAT!! The rhythm of playing catch--BASEBALL HITTING LEATHER!! After a long cold winter, the time is now to enjoy the game back on the field of play.

It really is: The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Front line free agents do not want to play for a losing team. These free agents want to play for the same five or six teams at the top of the heap. Most of them, after getting the big bucks, turn out to be flops anyway. Adam Dunn had a bad attitude when he played in Cincy. I can't imagine he would be any different if he came here. He is out of shape, a poor fielder and he strikes out way too much. Good riddance.

Anonymous said...

I still think Adam Dunn ends up here and gets a fresh start.

The guy can deliver that punch that is needed in the 4 hole in the lineup.

Kenny G said...

Keep the team off the DL and I could see 70-75 wins or so. Which is a marked improvement from 59. Then again, anything is a marked improvement from a 59-102 record! These next few months are going to take FOREVER!

Anonymous said...

SBF:

I noticed that the piece you provided a link to on Adam Dunn was written by Chico Harlan, based on info from Ken Rosenthal. I can't imagine a pair of baseball writers (to the extent that Chico can truly be considered a baseball writer) more negative towards the Nats than those two. Let's not attribute to Dunn second-hand stuff coming from already negative sources needing something to talk/write about.

When are you leaving for Viera?

Sam R said...

I can't for the life of me figure out why the Nationals don't lock up Ryan Zimmerman. If he gets to FA status he will be gone. This journey to arbitration is a losing proposition for the Nats. Not only will they lose the arbitration, they'll lose the fans good will and they'll lose something with Zimmerman himself. If the Nats had money to chase Texiera then they have money to lock in the face of our franchise. Get it done!

Take Me Out To The Ballgame!

Sam

yazzy1956 said...

"Shawn Hill is worth every cent to find out?"

We have 7.6% unemployment in this country and Hill nearly doubles his salary to $750,000 by winning ONE game in 2008 with an ERA well over 5? This is like Wall St. moguls getting bonuses for running their company or bank into the ground!

If he wins two games this year, should he get a $1 million raise next year? He's not even guaranteed a job in the rotation on one of the worst teams in baseball. This is insanity.

Anonymous said...

justin Maxwell's last chance? he's just barely out of college

Screech's Best Friend said...

Justin Maxwell is 26 years old playing AA Ball. At some point he has to stay healthy and show he belongs. This really could be his last chance. He's been out of college for 4 years. He's not a high schooler. And I really like him and think he's very talented.