Is Davey Johnson up for the task at hand? Photo unknown origin.
I whiffed on the last couple of Boswell’s chats, finding time enough to read them but not to write a 2000 word missive in response. Boswell’s on vacation this week, so here’s Dave Sheinin covering for him and doing a chat.
As always, I paraphrase the “questions” for levity and clarity, and I answer each question myself before reading Dave’s answer.
Q: Has the game passed by Davey Johnson?
A: Camera shots certainly seem to catch Johnson in an “old man” stupor from time to time. I don’t think Baseball is like Football in that older generations of coaches can’t compete b/c the game has passed them by. But I don’t sense that Johnson is really that in tune with the game right now. The team has swooned since he took over, he has lost more than his share of 1-run games (fairly or unfairly set at the foot of the manager). In reality this is a longer-term answer, meaning we’ll only be able to tell after he runs the team for a while. Sheinin says that whoever replaced Riggleman was destined for a fall, and that he’s ok with everything Johnson has done thus far.
Q: Is Strasburg going to hit Potomac during his rehab trip, or are they gonna get screwed over again?
A: Good question; I’d say this time he appears for Potomac at some point, as the Nats had Wang travel up and down the system to get starts on his regular rotation. There doesn’t seem to be a need to keep Strasburg out of Potomac’s awful outfield. Sheinin agrees.
Q: How would you handicap the odds of the following trades happening by the deadline: 1. Nats trade Marquis 2. Nats trade Livan 3. Nats trade Clippard 4. Nats trade Desmond 5. Nats trade other(s) 6. Nats acquire Colby Rasmus 7. Nats acquire BJ Upton 8. Nats acquire Michael Bourn 9. Nats acquire other CF.
A: I’d put them in this order of most likely: 1, 5 (Coffey), large gap, 3, 2, 7, 9 (Span), 8, 4, 6.
I think Marquis and Coffey are definitely moving. I don’t think anyone would want Livan. I have a hard time thinking that the team is going to move Clippard or Desmond. Rasmus probably goes elsewhere. Bourn is a lesser version of Upton, so we’d probably want Upton over anyone else.
Sheinin thinks that the most likely players to get traded is Coffey, and doesn’t think Marquis is going anywhere.
Q: Do you think Riggleman intentionally left the team at its “high-water” mark?
A: Absolutely. Riggleman was frustrated by the lack of communication from his boss (Rizzo), frustrated by his lame-duck status and probably was reading the tea-leaves that he’d be let to just play out his contract and let someone else enjoy the spoils of his work in 2012. So he gave the team an ultimatum at the time that best suited his negotiaitons. Rizzo called his bluff and Riggleman walked. I know most believe Riggleman acted selfishly, but I put a ton of blame on Rizzo’s poor handling of the situation. One conversation probably could have avoided all the negative press that followed Riggleman’s departure. Sheinin thinks Riggleman knew exactly what he was doing.
Q: Would you trade both Clippard and Norris to get Denard Span?
A: No, I would not. I think the Nats value the combined value of both those players, both under team control for at least 4 years (Clippard) to at least 6 in Norris’ case. Span is decent, but for that price i’d shoot for Upton (who has more power and steals more bases). Sheinin dodged the question, stating that Span wasn’t really in play. Which he wasn’t at 11am monday, but since then rumors have floated about the Twins and Nats talking about him.
Q: What kind of pitch count will Wang be on? What would be an expected first outing?
Probably nothing too conservative; he’s been rehabbing for literally a year and a half. But if he reaches 100 pitches in an outing i’d be surprised. I think a 5ip 2run outing would be a major success. Sheinin doesn’t expect much.
Q: What will the team do with Gorzelanny, who seemingly is making way for Wang in the rotation? DL?
A: The team can’t demote him (options), so they probably demote Detwiler and have Gorzelanny be the new long-man out of the pen. At least until we trade a starter or someone goes down with an injury. He may have an “invented injury” all of a sudden and go onto the 15-day DL. Certainly the team has been shady in the past in the way it handles DL trips, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see this happen here. Sheinin says that teams hide injuries all the time for competitive purposes.
Q: Why is Drew Storen’s name in trade rumors?
A: Good question. I have a very hard time believing the Nats would consider trading Storen unless it was to obtain someone marquee. It may be that other teams are asking about him and that news is leaking out. Sheinin does say that relievers are fungible, as I’ve said many times, and you never say never to a trade possibility.
Q: What makes more sense in 2012: Morse in LF or at 1B?
A: Makes more sense: keeping Morse at first and Nix in left and not messing with what has turned into a very healthy middle-of-the-order for this team. Reality: LaRoche isn’t going to get traded and we don’t want to light $8M on fire, so he’s going back to 1B. Which means Morse is back in left and Nix is left out. Sheinin says a lot can happen between now and next spring, like us signing Prince Fielder and making this whole conversation moot.
Q: If you had to bet right now, is Desmond or Lombardozzi starting in the infield next year?
A: I’d bet Desmond starts there and is given one more year to figure it out. Lombardozzi starts in AAA and if he earns his way up, he earns his way up. Sheinin agrees, but says that Desmond needs to start producing or risk losing his job.
Q: Why did Riggleman call out Boswell during his departure?
A: Probably because Boswell wrote a ton of not-so-nice pieces essentially proving just how bad a manager Riggleman has been over his career. You’d probably be pissed as well. Sheinin thinks that Riggleman’s rant was misguided.
Q: Who starts in CF for this team in 2012?
A: Who knows. It really seems like this team is in the market for a CF, so right now i’d say its a FA to be named. I don’t think it will be Ankiel or Bernadina. Ankiel parts ways with the team and Bernadina battles with Nix to be the 4th outfielder. Sheinin agrees.
Q: Which team will regret their big contract more? Werth/Nats, Howard/Phillies, Jeter/Yankees or A-Rod/Yankees?
A: Probably the Nats. Howard is a big bat in the middle of a talented lineup and it more or less goes unnoticed that he’s not producing at his normal levels in 2011. The Yankees have so many $40M mistakes that its comical, but the A-Rod contract in particular looks like it will be a massive albatross in a few years (A-Rod is guaranteed $20M in 2017, when he’ll turn 42 mid-season). Sheinin agrees.