A Couple More Thoughts On Yesterday’s Cuts
Rather than bury this in the comments, I’d thought I’d make this a post unto itself, which is perfect because with a night game, there might not have been a new entry today (except for something I’m saving for either a rainy day or next week’s off day 😉
Anyway… another factor to consider with the Corey Brown/Eury Perez discussion is the new CBA. Here’s the link from BA, but in a nutshell: players with six years of MLB service that sign minor-league deals are now entitled to both a $100K retention bonus and a midseason escape (June 1) clause unless teams release them before March 30.
Essentially, this is codifying what has been done with veterans for years. In theory*, it’s giving these players a better chance of hooking on elsewhere in the majors by making it more expensive for teams to stash them in AAA. According to the article, three Nats in camp fall into this group: Rick Ankiel, Jason Michaels, and Chad Durbin. Like all things CBA, what remains to be seen is how teams will react to the new rules. *Why do I get the sneaking suspicion that like 20 of these 30-odd players will hit the streets on the same day?
As Zuckerman noted yesterday, Ankiel seems nearly certain to rise above the fray of OFs bidding to join Jayson Werth and Michael Morse, but does Roger Bernadina necessarily have an additional edge (aside from already being on the 40-man, being younger, and cheaper) by not costing the team extra? Probably, given the presumption that it comes down to “The Shark,” Michaels, and Brett Carroll battling for the fifth OF slot.
In other news, Todd Boss has begun a series on Rule 5ers Brad Meyers and Erik Komatsu. You’ll be shocked to learn Brad Meyers why hasn’t appeared in the box scores (no, you really won’t) and how Erik Komatsu may actually stick with St. Louis. Turns out Meyers and Komatsu have something in common that might also not surprise you, especially when you consider that injuries and the Rule 5 draft go together like corruption and college sports.
Good stuff, here. You’re right, now we’re getting to the seamhead material that is so much fun.
Let’s hope we get Meyers back sooner rather later and then Rizzo can remove that egg on his face.
Why are we so keen to get Meyers back?
My opinion on Meyers is that he provides some experience at the AAA level, a commodity that was depleted with the trade of Milone and Peacock. He also has shown potential to be a #4-5 starter. Plus if we get him back for nothing why not.
Not nothing. It costs $25,000 to get him back (the Yankees bought him for $50,000, so in reality we’d be up $25,000 for our troubles).
Meyers has been pretty excellent in the minors. If it wasn’t for an injury in 2010 that caused him to miss most of the season, Meyers might be getting some serious recognition.
He’s a lot like Tom Milone- unheralded but consistently very good- to the point that people have had to take him seriously.
Besides an unlucky 2008 (4.79 ERA but a 3.42 FIP), he’s been nothing short of excellent. Just look at his stats…
AA: 115 IP, 2.11 ERA, 9 K/9, 1.4 BB/9, 6.4 K/BB, 1.00 WHIP
AAA: 95.2 IP, 3.48, 7 K/9, 1.4 BB/9, 4.93 K/BB, 1.33 WHIP
Those numbers are very similar to Tom Milone’s, who was finally starting to get rave reviews before he was traded, except Meyers has a little better “stuff”. His fastball sits in the high 80s-low 90s (Milone’s is merely in the mid to upper 80s), and has three other average pitches (slider, curve, changeup) to go with his very good command. To top it off, he’s shown a propensity to induce groundballs.
The problem is he’s already 26, and there’s a couple other more proven guys ahead of him in the pecking order- Detwiler, Wang, Lannan and Gorzelanny, for various reasons, are all valued ahead of him. But as long as his shoulder injury isn’t too serious, the Nats should be very anxious to get him back.
Meyers has also had injury problems during his minor league career. It retarded his progress and allowed similar pitchers like Milone and Rosenbaum to move ahead of him. And as you stated there is his age which almost puts him into the AAA backup category. He’s on the cusp. Its sad to think he could have been in Syracuse 2 years ago and perhaps in the majors as a starter now. He and Milone certainly look better than Lannan.
I didn’t know Larry Broadway was in the lineup?There was Bowden’s attempt at developing a left-handed power bat for first base.