BREAK UP THE F-ING NATIONALS

stevewizzle wrote:

DeathFromAbove1979 wrote:
Jayson Werth is less than 2 weeks from coming back according to reports…. Desi is on the 15 day DL, I heard an interview where he was talking about it taking 6 weeks for one of the other guys to come back, I forgot who he said though. He then joked saying "He is older than me though", I think by like a year or two hahaha. I can't wait to HOPEFULLY get a full healthy line up. If only our catchers could stay healthy :\ when is the trade deadline?

where does jayson werth bat when he's back?  he's an OBP guy who can swipe bases and create runs.  seems like the #2 slot really is where he belongs, which will bump harper from his spot he's started to get comfortable with.  there's no reason to mess with 3-4-5-6 (zim, morse, laroche, des) - i think harper and werth on the top of that line-up is one scary line-up.

trade deadline is July 31.  almost no chance Nat's make any moves.  catcher needs upgrades, but ramos is the future, and solano returning will be an upgrade if flores continues to struggle.

chaz wrote:
I can't remember where he hit.  He had an off year last year.  Started slow this year but was heating up when he got hurt.  In my house we used to call him 'Werthless', but we'd just taken to calling him 'Werthful' when he went down.

HoyaSaxa03 wrote:
trades can happen after the deadline, players just have to clear waivers first - I think we'll add some middle infield depth, but nothing that couldn't happen after the deadline.

HoyaSaxa03 wrote:
cesar-izturis

DeathFromAbove1979 wrote:
Is it becuase he didn't have TJ surgery? And the Sox dealt with this situation a year ago as well? I actually don't know much about the Sale situation.

vansmack wrote:

DeathFromAbove1979 wrote:
Is it becuase he didn't have TJ surgery? And the Sox dealt with this situation a year ago as well? I actually don't know much about the Sale situation.

In his first full season now, he came to them with elbow soreness in mid-late May.  They devised a plan to limit his innings and give him extra time off between starts in July and up through mid-August.  For example, they gave him 12 days off in the beginning of July and gave him 9 days off until last night because of an off day.  They're doing it once again, maybe twice if they can, throughout August.

Seems to make sense.

gaaaaaaaaah wrote:
that catch was ridiculous.

its a damn shame roger cant get more playing time.

HoyaSaxa03 wrote:
sharks eat trout:

vansmack wrote:
From Buster Olney his morning:

One executive joked recently that there is not a more inevitable offseason connection than the Nationals and center fielder Michael Bourn, who is eligible for free agency in the fall. "Can we just put that one in the books now?" he said, noting all the factors in play. They are:

1. The Nationals need a center fielder, and Bourn is a former Gold Glove winner whose performance this year is charting very well. His UZR/150 rating is the best among those at his position, according to FanGraphs.

2. Bourn, 29, is at the peak of his career as a hitter, and his .756 OPS this season is his second-best. Bourn ranks sixth in the majors in runs scored, and of course, all of his damage has been done as a leadoff hitter. Washington's leadoff hitters ranks 19th in OPS this year.

3. And Bourn is represented by Scott Boras – and there are a whole lot of Nationals represented by Boras, from Stephen Strasburg to Bryce Harper to Jayson Werth to others.

But another rival official noted all the money that the Phillies have freed from their payroll, with the trades of Hunter Pence, Shane Victorino and Joe Blanton. "You know who they want, right?" the official asked. "They love Michael Bourn."

He was drafted and developed by the Phillies, of course, as a fourth-round pick in 2003, and the Phillies know all about his gregarious personality, and that he has a grinder's mentality. For years, manager Charlie Manuel has tried to settle on a leadoff hitter; sometimes he has used Jimmy Rollins, sometimes Shane Victorino.

If the Phillies make a strong push for Bourn, it's unclear whether they would be willing to outbid the Nationals. Washington opened this season with a payroll of $92 million, and if its wealthy ownership is willing, it has a lot of room to grow under the luxury-tax cap. Bourn figures to get a multiyear deal for something in the range of $16 million to $22 million annually, and as has been well-documented over the last six weeks, the Phillies already have a lot of payroll obligations well into the future, with $20 million-plus commitments to Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Cole Hamels and Ryan Howard on the books. The Phillies also will have to find a third baseman, a starting pitcher and at least one outfielder, depending on their internal evaluations of Domonic Brown and John Mayberry Jr.

Josh Hamilton will be the most dynamic free agent outfielder this fall, albeit with a lot of questions about how much he can be counted on. But Bourn might be in the best leverage position of all the outfielders if, in fact, the Nationals and Phillies – division rivals – focus on luring him away from another division rival, the Braves.