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Offseason Update: Sept. 27, 2016

Fallball2014A few news items to pass along “out of cycle”…

NATS TRADE BOSTICK
To the chagrin of some, the Nats did indeed trade Christopher Bostick, but to the Pirates, not the A’s. As the scouting report in the linked story indicates, the selection of a light-hitting, defensively challenged catcher seems rather odd, given the glut of the latter in the system right now.

TWO NATS MAKE THE BA TOP 20 PROSPECTS FOR THE GCL
As expected, Juan Soto – GCL MVP – made the list at #3 as did Carter Kieboom, the Nats’ 2016 1st Rd. pick, at #14. A tidbit from the BA chat:

Dan (Western MD): Might Juan Soto begin next year in Hagerstown? How does his development compare to Robles at the same stage?

Ben Badler: Yes, he almost certainly will start in the South Atlantic League next year. He’s a completely different player than Robles though. Soto is a more polished hitter than Robles was at the same age, both in terms of his swing and his approach, but he’s just an ordinary athlete at best on a corner, while Robles is one of the best athletes in the game with premium tools outside of the batter’s box.

MATT SKOLE NAMED MiLB GOLD GLOVER
The folks at Rawlings did little to diminish the perception that defensive awards are offensive awards in disguise [insert Rafael Palmeiro reference here] as Matt Skole was among the nine named for 2016. He joins Steve Lombardozzi and Taylor Hill as previous honorees. (In fairness, it’s possible he’s developed more range and quicker footspeed, but I can’t recall anyone else who has at that age/size/weight in 11 seasons I’ve been following the Nats minor-leaguers).

TRANSACTION STUFF
• Released – RHP John Feliz, SS Luis Rengel
• Re-signed – RHP Mark Blackmar, Jaron Long, and RHP Andrew Robinson

No surprises here: three veterans re-upping, two DSL guys who’ve been MIA since 2015 and 2014 (respectively).

23 Commments

  1. The Gold Glove award for Skole calls that award into question. The competition must have been pretty lame.

    1. Agreed. Who could possibly watch enough AAA games to have any idea who the best defenders to make an informed vote? Lombardozzi wasn’t a terribly great defender when he won it either.

  2. Bostick fits in pirates scheme
    Difo has played well in another
    Cup of coffee
    Strap it on Severino and show your stuff
    A knee injury on an innocent jump and land for RAmos
    Eghads

  3. Luke your dog is listening to Autumn by Vivaldi in picture with
    Leaves

    Thought in leaves trail on Bostick

    Beckwith and Jake Noll could rise
    Quick

  4. Will in yesterday’s thread left a blistering review of the Bostick for Matt Latos trade, which is looking worse by the day. A good read.
    Karl, your earlier post about Koda Glover being misused or just overused is unfortunately turning out true. Last 7 appearances, he’s given up runs in 5 of them.

    Spencer Kieboom, come on down!

    1. Not so much misused or overused as rushed too quickly to the bigs. I think the kid has great potential, assuming his confidence doesn’t get ruined.

      What I really don’t understand is Rizzo not doing more to beef up the bullpen. Trading Rivero for Melancon was almost a wash in that it solved the closer problem but stretched their already thin middle relief.

      1. That pitch Glover threw the other day was a real meatball, the best phrase was ‘room service’ pitch.

        The good news is he’ll probably be ready for great things in 2017.
        Not gonna happen this year.

      2. With Solis returning, they have a very solid pen IMO for holding leads (MM, SK, BT, MR, SS). Sure, Glover was rushed, but he was worth a look and that experience should be valuable for future years. Plus, Lopez had a great outing, so he’s become a strong playoff candidate. With all of the arms maturing in the minors, I’m ready to trade Gio, release Perez, and go with young guys much more next year.

        1. They could just not exercise Gio’s option, but I’ll bet they not only do so but that he will be back next year. The reality is that he’s the only lefty starter they have above Low A ball, and he’ll still be relatively cheap at $12 million per year.

          I agree that they should make a trade to clear the logjam of young starters. The guy I’d consider trading is Roark. Much as I like him, he’ll be over 30 next year, doesn’t have dominating stuff and his value going into his first arbitration year will never be higher. He’d bring back a pretty big haul in return, though those innings he eats will be hard to replace.

          1. Agree. Gio has some value at $12MM/yr for 2 years, so I’d pick up the option and trade him, even if I can only get a few A-ball lottery picks. Interesting idea with Roark and I’m not opposed to trading him for a big bat either. Scherzer, Stras, and Ross make up a very good 1st 3 and I’d give Lopez and Giolito strong looks in the spring also. I could see the Nats making a Dan Haren-type pitcher acquisition to bridge the gap to the young pitchers. But, with Fedde, Cole, and Voth as viable options also, I’d hate to block those guys with too many vets.

          2. I don’t see the logjam of young starters. I have been very disappointed in what I’ve seen from Cole and Giolitto. Reynaldo Lopez looks like he’s got something to work with.

          3. Give Giolito a chance. The kid just turned 22 and lost a whole year of development due to the TJ surgery. Like Glover, he was rushed up to the bigs too quickly this year.

            I agree that Cole should be moved to the bullpen where he might have Tyler Clippard-like success, but don’t forget they also have Voth and Fedde waiting in the wings. Voth will have to be added to the 40-man roster this offseason and Fedde next year. Personally, I think Fedde looks like he could be really good.

          4. I looked at a bunch of HOF pitchers’ early years the other day.

            Greg Maddux – 6-14 with a 5.61 ERA, 1.638 WHIP in 27 starts in 1987 at age 21
            Randy Johnson -7-13 with a 4.82 ERA, with a 1.512 WHIP in 28 starts in 1988 at age 25
            Roy Halladay – 2nd year at age 23 in 2000. ERA of 10.64 4-7
            Max Scherzer – 9-11, 4.12 ERA, 1.344 WHIP in 30 starts in 2009 at age 24.

            Personally, I’d put Giolito in the rotation early in the season and give him 8-10 starts – the scouts were so positive about him that I want to see what he can do with a fresh arm and an offseason of prep with Maddux.

      3. The Nats’ bullpen is a team strength IMO. In all of MLB, the Nats bullpen is 2nd in ERA, WHIP, OBP, SLG, OPS. Understand that you can never have too much pitching, but in ranking the team needs/weaknesses heading into the playoffs, the bullpen wouldn’t make the list.

        Melancon has saved 14 out of 15 for the Nats (would’ve been 15 for 15 if Trae Turner had read the ball off the bat). He has a WHIP of 0.86 and K/BB ratio of 25/2 with the Nats.

        Treinen has a run of 13 straight scoreless appearances going.

        Kelley has a run of 12 straight scoreless appearances.

        Rzepczyinski has been scored on once in 12 appearances with the Nats.

        Even the shaky Oliver Perez has not given up a run in September (7 appearances).

  5. It wii be important to watch how many starts Pedro Severino gets the next 6 days. Lobaton can’t hit lefthanders at all and Severino is at least as good, if not better defensively.

    Luke was dead-on the other day complaining about Dusty’s malpractice, playing checkers when the other managers are playing chess. How he handles Severino from now on will determine a lot.

    At NP, we’ve worked hard getting these kids ready for the show.

    1. I imagine that as a college arm, he should move quickly through the organization and perhaps be on the cusp in early 2018.

    2. Cool. Having all of these young arms will keep the Nats as perennial contenders for many years to come. I just hope they break through and win a title one of these years. 🙂

      1. I actually typed “Orange” first, then changed it. Luke, did you ever enlighten the poor guy about his nickname while he was with Potomac?

        1. Guys, the nicknames are just for us… we can only hope that they get picked up elsewhere, but I’m not holding my breath. I’m quite well aware that most of them are bad puns, which are an acquired taste (i.e. either you like ’em or you don’t).

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