Monday’s News & Notes

18 Commments

1. With Brown going to DC, and with the injuries throughout the catching corps, it gets harder and harder to imagine the Nats trading anybody this week. I thought earlier in the year that Danny Rosenbaum was a possible trade chip, but of course he fell off the face of the earth. I guess the Nats will just go forward with the crew they have now.

   +1/2St.

2. Good link on Harrisburg; pretty bad when Waters gets called out by name for not hustling. Hope the tirade by LeCroy wakes a few players up, they’re in a nasty slide.

   Hagerstown’s still raking even without Goodwin.

   1. Funny thing was… when Walters was pulled, one of the Harrisburg reporters thought it meant he was called to the Nats to take Desmond’s spot.

      Pretty bad he got benched, instead.

   2. Before folks want to put this on LeCroy (and I know many of you do), Walters was benched in-game by Rupp at Potomac for the same infraction.

      1. Luke,
         You’ve a scout’s eye, does Walters have ‘makeup’ issues? This is not something you want to see with one of your best middle infield prospects.

         Granted, he’s only recently been in our organization.

         1. I’m not qualified to judge a player’s makeup in this capacity. That’s something that’s best left to the pros, who can talk to the appropriate folks that can testify to what/how the players do/act off the field. But I haven’t seen anything overt or outrageous, if that’s what you’re asking.

3. I hesitate to even ask this, but is there anyone in this system other than Espinosa that could play shortstop, even on a defense-only basis, in the majors at this point? Certainly not Lombardozzi. Seth Bynum and Josh Johnson @ Syracuse seem like out-of-place utility guys, and Walters @ Harrisburg I understand is more a bat-first, see if he can stick at shortstop project.

   1. I think now we understand why they were willing to hang with Ian despite all of his struggles. Other than Danny we don’t have anyone else I’d want to see as anything more than a one game fill in at short.

      One thing I noticed during the game I attended last week was that Lombo dove for and whiffed on a ground ball Danny probably would have fielded had he been at 2B. Lombo’s a very steady fielder, but he doesn’t have Danny’s range.

      1. That’s because Espinosa is a SS playing 2B — I see the same thing when Hague plays there vs. Sanchez at Potomac.

   2. I said this (lack o’ shortstops) earlier in the year link.

      I’m not as down on Josh Johnson as you might be for defense, but I think that’s a moot point given that Davey Johnson have proven himself to be a bat-first, defense-second kind of guy – no Rabbit Maranvilles for him, even if he used to be his teammate (*rimshot!*).

4. Does Burns profile as a leadoff hitter? Would he rank as one of the Nats’ top ten prospects come end of season? He has been pretty consistant all year and if I recall correctly he has taken to switch hitting pretty quickly. Add to that his speed and he seems like one to keep an eye on (if he’s indeed a leadoff hitter, since he has no power to speak of and is a little on the small side).

   1. I think he does. Thus far he’s looked like Boomer Whiting minus two ticks of speed (bear in mind, at his peak, I believe Whiting could hang with Billy Hamilton in a footrace) but two more ticks of power (a little bit of faint praise since 19 out every 20 XBH Boomer hit were stretched singles).

5. I have always heard that Lombo was considered a good defensive second baseman. Now, reading some of the blogs on the Insider, several people suggested he was not very good. I realize that many comments on these sites are based on nothing substantial. For example one poster was surprised that DeRosa had played second base during his career. Huh? However, Luke or smebody else who actually knows what is going on in the minor leagues, what is your opinion on Lombo? Also, what about Rivero’s defense?

   1. Just based on observations from watching him play in MLB games… he’s got a huge problem with waiting for the ball to come to him… and not attacking on ground balls. Add to that a below average arm… and you’ve seen several bang-bang plays at first, including one that was beaten out.

      1. Lombo is a good 2B but he’s been bounced around so much this year that I think what you’re seeing is rust, with the exception of the arm — it’s never been there, especially on anything hit to his right.

   2. As I mentioned above, what I noticed in a game I attended last week was that Lombo doesn’t have Danny’s range at 2B. Of course, few do.

6. DEVELOP, DEVELOP, DEVELOP, DEVELOP! Case in point, the Nationals have a roster full of infielders in the minors, veteran minor leaguers and no one is capable of replacing Desmond for 7, 14 or 21 days. That’s a problem! These guys range in age from 23 – 32 years of age. If they are in “dubs” or “trips” and can not get “the call” for the short term solution, that’s a problem in player development. As I have stated before, we must trade, release or promote some of the older minor leaguers, draft younger and develop HS talent in the approximate league (GCL) if the Nats want to become a “sport destiny”! Failure is a part of baseball and it will happen to young HS talent but it certainly in the LONGGGGGGGG RUN it can and will be worth the wait! JUST my opinion……..

   1. It keeps coming up, so before people start knee-jerking with “too old for the level”– here’s a rule of thumb that Brian Oliver gave to me. Obviously, younger is better, but you can see by the way this is constructed, it also gives a story arc of sorts in terms of where a guy starts in his journey.

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