Friday’s News & Notes

32 Commments

1. A promising first few pro games from Scudder and Esthay, for whatever the SSS is worth.

   For sample sizes a bit larger, I hear (I don’t have the subscription) that in the Baseball Prospectus midseason prospect rankings, Robles is #4 overall and Soto is #12. That’s a lot of love for Soto based on very little actual playing time.

   Edwin Jackson would seem ready to be the next man up for the big club, particularly since Fedde clearly isn’t. There’s been a lot of turnover on South Capitol since EJax was on the 2012 squad.

   1. Soto is 12? Wow, didn’t see that one coming. Definitely seems very promising but I’d flip him for Osuna or Iglesias.

      1. I’d hope the Nats could extract more value for a borderline top 10 prospect than an above average reliever (Iglesias), or even a very good one (Osuna).

         For example, Andrew Miller, the best reliever in baseball, cost a top 40ish prospect (Frazier) and a fringe top 100 prospect (Sheffield).

         Even if we are desperate for some bullpen help, we can’t give away our best prospects for pennies on the dollar.

         1. Here we go. Romero in the fold
            This should be interesting

            1. I wasn’t a fan of the Romero pick at all, but he’s ours now, so I guess we have to pull for him to keep his (knuckle)head together.

         2. Will, I agree on your assessment of trade value. They had Jorge Castillo of the Washington Post on MASN last night during the first part of the rain delay, and he said that he hears that the organization keeps saying the trade “untouchables” are Robles, Soto, Fedde, and C. Kieboom. That doesn’t mean that they won’t actually be traded, of course, but it does mean that they’d expect a lot in return for them.

            The Nats do have a bad habit of having to overpay for their midseason trades in prospect terms because the Lerners have a bad habit of insisting that Rizzo get the trading team to pay the salaries. That apparently became the sticking point on the rumored trade earlier in the summer that would have sent Ward and Luzardo to the Chisox for David Robertson. The Lerners reputedly wanted his entire remaining 2.5 years of salary covered.

         3. I don’t think my suggestion was crazy, although I understand it might not be everyone’s cup of tea.

            Gleyber Torres + went for Chapman. Chapman > Iglesias/Osuna but Iglesias/Osuna is cheaper and multiple years of control. Also Torres > Soto. I don’t think Soto by himself even gets it done, and I am very bullish on him. But he’s an 18 yr old corner OF prospect in Low A, and the Nats have their best lineup ever and a clear path to the playoffs. I’d rather do this than give up luzardo and Neuse for Robertson, which is what I think it takes there. I’d rather get the better, more controlled player.

   2. New Baseball America rankings: Robles #8, Fedde #70, Soto #95.

2. Oh, and today is the draft pick signing deadline, at 5 p.m. Romero still has not signed with the Nats, although both sides seem confident a deal will get done. It’s not looking so promising for Montes de Oca signing, though.

3. After like 2 years, BP finally got around to scouting a Nats prospect. They did a pretty positive write up on Sheldon Neuse: http://www.baseballprospectus.com/prospects/eyewitness_bat.php?reportid=460

   FV of 50. By comparison, Fangraphs rated Neuse as a 40 before the season began, but I’d expect his season so far might raise more eyebrows.

   In other news, Roberto Medina was released. It seems a bit premature, given he didn’t feature at all this season, and had interesting 15 and 16 seasons in the DSL. Plus, he’s still only 19. The Nats have had far more patience with others that have had far less success…

   1. Thanks for the Neuse link. The Nats could lose Murphy at 2B after 2018 (he would probably be willing to re-sign but age/years could be issues on the Nats’ side) and likely will lose Rendon after 2019 (Boras client), which is why the high picks of Neuse and Kieboom last year made sense. Drew Ward might be in play as well, although we’ve generally been told that his future is at 1B. He’s struggled this year as one of the younger players in the Eastern League (and with an awful team).

      With 3B seen as more of a power position than 2B (Murph has become quite an exception), power development will have a lot to do with whether Neuse can stay on the left side of the infield. He was a reliever with a mid-90s heater as a two-way player in college, so there’s no question about his arm strength.

      1. The Nats may lose both Rendon and Murphy, but the fact that Rendon is a Boras client will only help the Nats. No organization has more Boras clients than the Nats.

   2. Rizzo loves hoarding catching
      Very interesting Felix Tavares still on auburn roster after the flip of Latin arms to GCL and NCAA drafted arms added .
      Kudos to Cuban outfielder @ Burg
      Helping plug outfield holes with
      Royal speedster Stanford and Cat Ballou
      The balcony cCAT calls withstanding – LuCroy and Gardner adapt their
      Styles with roster mixes

4. The unhittable Edwin Jackson. In 4 games with Syracuse:

   17.1 IP 4 H 10 BB 20Ks .071 AVG 0.81 WHIP

   The walks are a concern, but got to think he is the next man up, when the Nats need a starter.

   1. He’s certainly surpassed Turner on the depth charts.

   2. Some players have long careers and others like Funky Cold Medina go home early to life after baseball .
      Nats need some more luck with R/R
      Outfielders advancing levels

5. J Blash is a possible 1b/3b long term ??

   1. The scouting report I saw on Blash said he’s built like an NFL tight end, so I assume he could be taught to stand in LF as a possible alternative to 1B. Adam Lind looks like the guy at the end of the bar, and the Nats let him stand in LF from time to time.

      Speaking of such things, it will be interesting to see what the Nats do with Taylor going on the DL. Will they just activate Heisey, or is this Stevenson’s opportunity?

      1. I see several reports saying it will be Heisey. Oh well. It would have been nice for Stevenson to get his first cup of coffee.

         1. Sounded like the plan is to go with Heisey, with the hope that Taylor would be back the weekend after the all-star break. If Taylor is out longer than that, they will need to bring up Stevenson or Bautista (unless he is still injured) because Brian Goodwin (who is marginal defensively) would be only OF on the roster that can play at an MLB level in centerfield. The Nats have a lot of fly ball pitchers and OF defense is key to the organization. No chance they go an extended period without a legit defensive centerfielder.

            One other aspect of the Taylor injury as it may put the brakes on any trade discussions involving Stevenson until the Nats are confident that Taylor is 100%.

      2. Heisey is healthy ?

         1. The bigger question is when is Werth going to be healthy? Heisey was really, really bad when he was playing earlier this season. Raburn has been significantly better, so it will be interesting to see what they do when Taylor and Werth come off the DL.

      3. Good Senior in GCL / WPB

6. Romero has signed. Will be interesting to see where he goes. My guess is Potomac.

   1. They’re currently sending him to West Palm for processing. I would shocked if they sent him to Potomac, despite all the babble about him having a major-league arm “right now.” Start him at Auburn and make him earn promotions, like everyone else. Glover made it to Hags in his draft summer (as did Brinley and A. Lee) and started in Potomac the next spring, on his way to the majors a few months later. Few starters progress that rapidly, though.

7. Saw that the Nats’ officially announced over 20 international free agent signings.
   Does anyone know where if there are any scouting reports on some of them? Thanks.

   1. I saw in BA the list. A pure 3 B.
      Several SS/ MIF. A lefty pitcher ,
      Several RHP including a DR kid ranked 48 in BA top 50.
      Several OFs one lefty swinger and a few R/R

      1. Kid 48 on list of 50 by BA from VZ
         Not DR

   2. The Nats went over their international bonus ceiling last year; so, they were limited in the amounts they could pay (I think the max bonus the Nats could offer this year was $300K to an international FA). The Washington Post had a brief article about this in the last week.

8. So a couple of years ago, I considered a dearth of young LHPs to be a major hole in the Nats’ minor league system.

   Suffice to say, that is no longer the case. Despite not signing Andrew Suarez a couple of years ago and trading away Taylor Hearn and Nick Pivetta, the Nats now have a really deep stable of young left-handed pitchers in the lower minors.

   I count 22 LHPs between AA (Matt Crownover) and rookie ball who are 24 or younger, with Hector Silvestre (25 in December) being the oldest. (This counts Seth Romero and 12th round JC pick Jackson Stoeckinger, whom have yet to be assigned to a team.)

   Given how every team needs lefties, I imagine this gives the parent club some nice options to trade away this month in the quest for proven relievers, a back-up catcher who can hit above the pitchers he catches and (if they think it’s needed) a stop-gap shortstop.

   Regardless, in the coming years it appears lefthanded pitching is going to be a Nationals strength, which is a pleasant change.

   1. We shall see which guys stretch into true starters especially the Latin kids

9. Pivetta is a right handed…

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