Friday’s News & Notes

21 Commments

1. Ross would be on his fifth day on Tuesday, which, probably not coincidentally, is when Strasburg’s slot in the MLB rotation will come up, against the Mets. Ross may get the call in a major intra-divisional game.

   All around, great performances by Ross, Bleier, Williams, and Bach. Bach may not have the velocity of a “prospect,” but he’s sure putting up the stats of one. Also, a lot of good work from the ‘pen as well. The system is just bulging with arms.

   1. I thought the Nats announced the Roark was taking Strasburg’s spot in the rotation. Is that incorrect?

      1. The update I saw said that it was likely to be either Roark or Ross but that it wasn’t set. We’ll see. I’d rather them have Roark as a bullpen option against the Dodgers and Mets.

2. Any chance the Nats move Andrew Stevenson up to Hagerstown pretty soon as it’s pretty apparent he can handle the level of pitching he’s seeing at low-A?

   Granted, it’s a short sample size, but in 17 games he’s only had two without a hit (and in one of those two games he drew two walks) and his currently riding a 12-game hitting streak and his slash line is .362/.416/ .435 with a double, two triples, seven walks and stolen six of nine bases.

   Obviously not much power, but the kid is a slap-hitter and he’s most definitely doing it at Auburn and appears ready for a bigger test.

   As an aside, if this kid is a fast-mover, between Stevenson and Trea Turner, the Nats are gonna have some nice contact hitters in their lineup in a couple of years.

   1. Gotta think you are right that he gets a quick promotion or two. Would also be nice to get some speed in the lineup with those two guys!

3. Poll question : trade deadline targets. Chapman
   And Zobrist . Count the cost three arms and Difo
   Total ??
   Opinions . Reactions

   1. There will be two very different levels of price tags between Chapman and Zobrist. Zobrist is a half-season rental who is past his peak, so I would hope the price for him would be only a couple of average-level MiLB arms, say Simms and de los Santos. The package would be more if Clippard is also part of the deal, but it would be the same level of value. I keep saying that I think Beane will want Voth, but it would be a tough call to give him up in a deal for player(s) who won’t be around for longer than four months.

      Chapman is a different beast entirely, in his prime and around for a year and a half. Teams will be tempted to overpay for him. They’d be looking for something like Cole, Jordan, and Voth, which would be a heck of a price to pay for a reliever. (I’m considering Giolito and Ross as untouchable and Lopez nearly so.) I would really hate to see Difo as a part of any deal as well. He has gotten somewhat overlooked with Turner’s arrival, but he’s nearly as talented.

      Really, if they make a deal, I hope that they would be looking at guys like Taylor Jordan and Taylor Hill and not dipping too deeply into the younger arms. I’ve got nothing against the Taylors, but they’re 26, and they’re both capable of being back-of-the-rotation starters for MLB teams. But their chances of cracking the DC rotation next year aren’t high.

      1. What you just cited about the age of the Taylors combined with their lack of success at the MLB level is also why they will not bring much of a return. Both look like AAAA guys to me.

         I am also not nearly as high on Difo as some here. He had one great season last year at Low A and has yet to go deep at the AA level. With Espinosa in the fold for two more years and Turner about to make his debut–not to mention other middle IF guys starting to make noise at the lower levels–my guess is that Difo is at the top of Rizzo’s list of possible trade offerings.

         1. I’ve been up and down on Difo myself, so I completely get what you’re saying. FWIW, here’s a scouting report on him from this season, projecting a higher ceiling than I thought he had:

            http://www.baseballprospectus.com/prospects/eyewitness_bat.php?reportid=203

            A lot rides on whether he can show last year’s power at higher levels, and if he can truly play SS. He’s also getting to the tipping point with age where, rightly or wrongly, he’ll start aging out of being a “prospect.”

            For the Nats, the Taylors are AAAA; no argument there. But they’re better than several guys in the bigs eating innings at the back of rotations right now for other teams. They may not be that “valuable,” but neither are most half-season rentals, so they seem like a fair trade. Would other teams prefer arms with more upside? Sure, but I doubt they’re going to get them.

4. Does anyone have any intel as to why Ross has been held to such low pitch counts? Seems like every start he’s pulled around 60 pitches. He’s not a teenager and the 121 innings last year. Is the plan to cap him at something like 160 innings this year? They must be saving bullets, but I don’t think anything haa been actually announced…

   1. *threw 121 innings last year…

   2. Good observation/question. I haven’t seen any intel, but what does he have to prove going through the Gwinnett lineup one more time? I’m all for being gentle on the young arms. Ross in particular may even get an audition for the postseason DC bullpen, which is all the more reason to keep him fresh.

5. I would be the last person to identify a Rizzo target, but since we know that when he loves a player, he loves a player, I think the chatter on Chapman is real. Rizzo tried to sign him once, went overboard, and I think he would trade for him to keep him here.

   It’s hard to gauge what Cincinnati wants. And of course, knowing club policy, they would be adding salary and then, correspondingly subtracting it elsewhere. So a three team trade that sends Desmond elsewhere would not surprise me, with the prospect haul from that deal going to the Reds, along with a fish the Nats can include. Ryan Sullivan mentioned Joe Ross and that is a smart suggestion of a sell high of a nearly ready player. Lopez may also be sell high, given the pundit love for him. Jordan and Hill are not Aroldis Chapman players. Maybe Austin Voth would be a reasonable part of such a package, but he does not attract the hype in the same way the other two do. Cole’s hype has dimmed off this year. So my feel is that this is best done as a three way, with the Nats sending either the centerpiece who is pretty hyped, or the AL team sending the hyped piece for Desmond and the Nats including the other talent.

   Another name that could find its way into this deal is Blake Treinen. Or, Felipe Rivero.

   I just don’t see Clippard returning. I don’t want to obsess over Zobrist. But Chapman is a difference maker kind of player. If they locked him up, and Bob Miller would help, he’d be a huge addition.

6. As for Difo, I don’t the rationale for why anyone is down on him. He is a legitimate power-speed guy with speed to get over 40 SB/year. He was the best player on Harrisburg before Turner showed up, in his rookie year there, and he works hard and is an idol to the younger Dominicans back at the academy. He may not turn into a superstar, but in a system so lacking infielders who can hit the long ball, I can’t see the rush to trade him. Rendon is brittle, Escobar is having a top year (talk about sell high!), and whoever knows what to expect from Espinosa. Things are rosy in the middle infield, but that could prove illusory.

   1. Amen

7. A couple of additional notes. The very designation of “prospect” is impressionistic to the point of part-meaningless. While many may think it means “hot chick,” it really means, “the it girl.” Which means the player with the fanciest car, is new in town, and everyone is talking about. That could mean a lot. But as we all came to know, some chicks take their glasses off to reveal what you never saw, others go away for the summer and come back a revelation, others open their mouths and take your breath away, and others change their wardrobe and have the measurables after all.

   My point is this. Rankings of prospects, apart from being arbitrary, have to take into account the overall depth within the organization sharing that prospect’s qualities. It isn’t just about position. It’s top speed guys. It’s great glove guys. It’s hard fastball guys, It’s LOOGY and ROOGY stuff, it’s right hand lefthand, it’s power. And of course it’s position. So while we can argue all day over whether Lopez is more of a prospect than Difo or vice versa, what needs to be considered is that there are plenty of great righthanded starting pitching prospects among the Nat’s best. But other than Turner, there really aren’t other pieces above A- that have even the promise of becoming a Difo. That may not make a player untouchable, but increases his price tag in kind beyond what his actual numerical order may be. A team this good, with as many quality players that are expendable, needs to think good and hard about what players may be tradable, but not expendable.

8. GG. Yes Difo has so much street cred in org
   Especialky down in Boca Chica imaginations
   And souls .
   Cathcart , Barrett and Sandy Martinez entrusted
   With so much nurturing with kids taking on the
   Nats red book of play . That helps explain the
   Influx of NCAA guys to assist in learning the
   Nats way . Yes this all takes time. Especially
   The 16-18 year old puppies .

9. Agreed Jeff. Intangibles are never overrated.

10. Sitting with my dog , Luke and all, looking @
    Boxscore son my phone with TV out .
    Funny how since DannyE8 has been super sub…
    DeBruna and Sagdal auburn8 have both played
    1b. The Espinosa effect. Another soul hero in
    Boca Chica.

11. Sitting with my dog , Luke and all, looking @ with TV out .
    Funny how since DannyE8 has been super sub…
    DeBruna and Sagdal auburn8 have both played
    1b. The Espinosa effect. Another soul hero in
    Boca Chica.

12. Nice going , Chris Bostick, in ninth IP
    Vs Bowie!! Sweet !

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