Saturday Smorgasbord
It’s mid-November, but it may as well be mid-January – it’s already that slow.
The Rule 5 protection deadline is next week, and Mr. Boss over at NationalsArmsRace has broken it down as he has every year since 2010 (fun fact*: his site started the same day I assumed full control of this site). I won’t steal his thunder, but I would agree that it won’t be very many, and probably less than most of us think.* Narrator: It’s actually just coincidence.
The better news is that once we find out who’s added, we can start the offseason agenda. I know many of you are champing at the bit to start, but this year the marathon is three miles weeks longer. You can’t sprint through Framingham and expect to get past Newton at the same pace.
Baseball America didn’t put up a free agent tracker last year and probably won’t this year. But if you have a thing for park factors, they’ve got you covered.
I know many of you are going straight to Fresno – the number to look at is the percentile: That’s in relation to all the ballparks while the factor is in relation to the league. For example, relative to the PCL Chukchanski Park is below-average for runs (0.963 vs. 1.000) but in the 94th percentile against all parks. But in general, most of the Nats affiliates play in pitcher-friendly parks (below 50th percentile for runs).
Today, the F-Nats will unveil their new uniforms. Fearless prediction: they will be red, white, and blue with “FredNats” in the since-2009 Washington-style script for the home jerseys and “Fredericksburg” for the road jerseys. Grey jerseys have become less popular for road uniforms, so if they don’t have one I don’t think that qualifies as a surprise.
Finally, both Fresno and Harrisburg will be taking part in MiLB’s Copa de la Diversión. It’s hard not to like something that acknowledges and celebrates the culture of a significant portion of both the fanbase and the players. And if nothing else, teams usually expand their menu, too.
The more things change they stay the same : Potomac unites to Fred with some slight wrinkles – not Bobby Winkles …
Let’s hear it for Swedes !!
Luke mentioning Copa is causing some of us to have Barry Manilow going through our brain today !! Thanks. Lol.
Matt Reynolds good luck in Royals chain.
This brings to mind how Fresno will be seeded in 2020??
Luke the suspense is killing us. FRED surely cannot have more red than F- troop RED ( those pants rival the Boog Powell / Frank Robinson Cleveland Bloody Mary pants and top combo !)
FRED should output a tee shirt which has all the local logos with swinging George big on the front …
Luke is that true?? I never knew that
Luke. Why did the free agency compensation slots change since the days when Trader Jack signed key free agents for the WS bound Padres?
Say it so, Joe, that both key free agents could exit and Rizzo has two sandwich picks not as valued as years prior ??
Yeah. Just noticed it this morning.
With Matt Reynolds leaving the system and Difo and Adrian Sanchez out of options, the Nats are going to be in the market for some SS-capable infielders for the upper minors. Reynolds was already out of options; otherwise, he probably would have gotten more of a chance with the big club than he did. The one time they did bring him up, they had to DFA him.
Reynolds offers a good real world example of IL vs. PCL. In 2018 at Syracuse, his OPS was .779 and he hit 4 homers. In 2019 at Fresno, his OPS was .923 and he hit 16 homers. (He did play 25 more games in ’19, but not enough that it should have had a 4x difference in HRs!)
Should be fun seeing how the brass re – seeds F troop
I vote for Sharp , Banks and Braymer on 40 man add
Compare Reynolds and Jake Wilson in foiled with PCL baseball supply
The Nats lead baseball in open roster spots with 10. The next closest are the Cubs and Twins with 8. Maybe this means the Nats will protect a player or two that they otherwise might not.