{"id":13192,"date":"2016-11-28T12:07:43","date_gmt":"2016-11-28T17:07:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/?p=13192"},"modified":"2016-11-28T12:07:43","modified_gmt":"2016-11-28T17:07:43","slug":"nats-winter-meetings-preview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/?p=13192","title":{"rendered":"Nats Winter Meetings Preview"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_13193\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/footer_634x200.png\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-13193\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-13193\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13193\" src=\"http:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/footer_634x200-300x118.png\" alt=\"Winter Meetings 2016\" width=\"300\" height=\"118\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/footer_634x200-300x118.png 300w, https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/footer_634x200.png 635w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-13193\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Winter Meetings 2016 &#8230; here in DC!<\/p><\/div>\n<p>As requested from Dr. Cane in the comments, lets chat about what we may see transpire at the upcoming Winter Meetings. \u00a0This year&#8217;s Winter meetings are a week from now, running from <a href=\"http:\/\/www.milb.com\/milb\/events\/wintermeetings.jsp\">Sunday 12\/4\/16 to 12\/8\/16 at the Gaylord Hotel in the National Harbor<\/a>. \u00a0I&#8217;m halfway curious to drive over there to witness the &#8220;scene&#8221; in the lobby\/hotel bar, having read about\/listened to multiple podcasts over the years describing how these meetings work. \u00a0On the other hand, I&#8217;m sure I wouldn&#8217;t appreciate it if some nerd was hanging around my office while I was trying to get work done, so maybe not \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n<p>In this space we&#8217;ve talked about a couple of items related to what we may see transpire in DC in the next week:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>An analysis of the roster\/<a href=\"http:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/?p=12940\">GM for an Off-season post<\/a><\/li>\n<li>A <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/?p=12966\">rule-5 prediction piece<\/a>: \u00a0We saw a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.masnsports.com\/nationals-pastime\/2016\/11\/voth-bautista-among-five-players-added-to-nats-40-man-roster.html\">ton of rule-5 guys protected<\/a>, but none really will impact anything except the edges of the roster for 2017.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>We still have some significant issues to address on the roster. \u00a0How many will we see resolved at these meetings? \u00a0Here&#8217;s some of the rumors (two good links: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.mlbtraderumors.com\/2016\/11\/2016-17-top-50-mlb-free-agents-predictions.html\">mlbtraderumors.com FA predictions<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/bleacherreport.com\/articles\/2670109-mlb-free-agents-2016-17-predicting-final-landing-spots-for-the-top-15-players\">BleacherReports predictions<\/a>) \u00a0I&#8217;ve been hearing about as they relate to the obvious holes we have to fill; apparently the Nats and <strong>Mike Rizzo<\/strong> are <a href=\"http:\/\/www.mlbtraderumors.com\/2016\/11\/rival-executives-expect-nationals-to-be-aggressive.html\">expected to be &#8220;aggressive&#8221; this winter<\/a>.\u00a0 I&#8217;ll take them position by position:<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #3366ff;\"><strong>Center Field\/Outfield<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>One rumor has the Nats moving\u00a0<strong>Bryce Harper<\/strong> to center and buying one of the big corner OF bats on the market. \u00a0<strong>Jose Bautista<\/strong> or\u00a0<strong>Brandon Moss<\/strong>. \u00a0<strong>Josh Reddick<\/strong> was an early name but he got snapped up quickly. \u00a0<strong>Carlos Gomez<\/strong> could be an interesting name.<\/li>\n<li>I&#8217;ve read that the team will splash out cash for\u00a0<strong>Yoenis Cespedes<\/strong> and really &#8220;go for it&#8221; during the Harper window.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Mark Zuckerman<\/strong> recently reported that\u00a0<strong>Ben Revere<\/strong> basically played with a bum shoulder the whole season and the team may very well tender him and go into 2017 with him as the starter.<\/li>\n<li>I&#8217;ve heard the Nats associated with\u00a0<strong>Andrew McCutchen<\/strong>, who may actually not be a good CF any longer, but any trade for him may be tough to do since he struggled so badly in 2016.<\/li>\n<li>Also heard that the team could be involved in trade for someone like\u00a0<strong>J.D. Martinez<\/strong> if the Tigers attempt to re-tool their roster.<\/li>\n<li><strong>My Take<\/strong>: i&#8217;m on the &#8220;move Bryce to CF&#8221; and acquire a corner bat. \u00a0I&#8217;d be happy with any of these names as a way to bolster the offense.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"color: #3366ff;\"><strong>Shortstop<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>All of these CF moves assume\u00a0<strong>Trea Turner<\/strong> returns to Short and\u00a0<strong>Danny Espinosa<\/strong> either becomes a trade candidate or assumes the\u00a0<strong>Stephen Drew<\/strong> utility infielder role.<\/li>\n<li>I fully support Turner back to SS; i just don&#8217;t understand those that want to keep him in Center when he&#8217;s a natural short stop and, frankly, its a heck of a lot easier to find a CF than a SS.<\/li>\n<li><strong>My Take<\/strong>: I&#8217;m on the &#8220;we should trade Espinosa&#8221; boat if he&#8217;s not the starter, if only for the rumors we read about him as a clubhouse presence when he&#8217;s not playing.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"color: #3366ff;\"><strong>Closer<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>There&#8217;s three major closers on the market and more than three teams chasing them. \u00a0Nats not expected to be a massive overpay &#8230; but you never know. \u00a0One rumor has them on\u00a0<strong>Aroldis Chapman<\/strong>, banking on him retaining his velocity.<\/li>\n<li>Another rumor has the Nats being more sensible and rolling the dice on a former closer like\u00a0<strong>Greg Holland<\/strong> and then buying up a middle reliever (someone like a\u00a0<strong>Brad Ziegler<\/strong>) to supplement the loss of several arms from this year&#8217;s bullpen.<\/li>\n<li>But there&#8217;s all sorts of middle relief arms out there. \u00a0<strong>Joe\u00a0<\/strong><strong>Blanton<\/strong> may get 8 figures. \u00a0Who knew.<\/li>\n<li><strong>My Take<\/strong>:\u00a0I like the Holland + Ziegler\/Blanton route to add to our existing Kelley\/Treinen\/Glover trio, then add in the two lefties Solis\/Perez and you have your bullpen. \u00a0Kelley could be the closer if Holland can&#8217;t do it and that&#8217;d still give the team three really good 8th\/9th inning arms. \u00a0Replace Glover with a long-man if you want, or consider that both Perez and Blanton are former starters who could suck up innings, or be original and forgoe the darn long-man and just depend on call ups if you get a ton of innings thrown by the bullpen over a short period of time.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"color: #3366ff;\"><strong>Catcher<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Matt Weiters<\/strong> to the Nats makes a lot of sense;\u00a0<strong>Scott Boras<\/strong> client, no draft pick compensation this year.<\/li>\n<li>The team has already missed out on a couple of catchers who have gone off the board early.<\/li>\n<li>They may be looking a some trade targets.<\/li>\n<li>Clearly they&#8217;re not going to go into 2017 with just <strong>Jose\u00a0Lobaton<\/strong> and <strong>Severino<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Wilson Ramos<\/strong> seems more and more likely to be gone, perhaps a remnant of the insulting pre-injury offer they gave him, perhaps just a reality of the market for his services coming off a 2nd major knee injury. \u00a0We love the Buffalo, but he may be better suited for an AL team that can DH him every once in a while, and one that can survive until July when he&#8217;s ready to go.<\/li>\n<li><strong>My Take<\/strong>: I have no idea what they&#8217;ll do. \u00a0But they have to do something.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>I don&#8217;t really think the team needs or seeks any upgrades elsewhere, but yet we still hear weird rumors every once in a while.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Chris Sale<\/strong> acquisition via trade; don&#8217;t really understand the need; yes that&#8217;d give the team three &#8220;Aces&#8221; at the top but at what cost if it requires them to gut the farm system?<\/li>\n<li>Moves to replace\u00a0<strong>Werth<\/strong> or\u00a0<strong>Zimmerman<\/strong> just seem silly to consider, given the payroll implications of having those two clubhouse leader\/10-and-5 guys suddenly be bench bats. \u00a0I don&#8217;t see this team, this manager or this executive group knee capping franchise defining players like that, especially when they&#8217;re still relatively serviceable. \u00a0 Werth was a 1.1 win player last year with a WRC+ figure north of 100. \u00a0Zimmerman was worth negative fWAR of course, but he was hurt most of the season, so its kind of hard to gauge what he&#8217;ll do in 2017. \u00a0He&#8217;s only 32 after all, and is under contract for a while longer.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Its impossible to predict trades that come out of the blue, but it is worth noting that the Nats have some surpluses of talent that they can trade from:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>I count nine starters on the 40-man roster, which means that several could be trade bait. \u00a0We&#8217;ve heard rumors about <strong>Giolito, Lopez, Voth, Cole, Fedde<\/strong> and <strong>Gonzalez<\/strong> all getting packed up to move out. \u00a0And that leaves out some lesser-renounded but still promising arms lower down in the system (<a href=\"http:\/\/bleacherreport.com\/articles\/2670109-mlb-free-agents-2016-17-predicting-final-landing-spots-for-the-top-15-players\"><strong>Dunning<\/strong> <\/a>of course, but also the likes of <strong>Avila, Baez, Watson<\/strong>, etc).<\/li>\n<li>There&#8217;s now TEN (10) infielders on the 40-man; I see a couple of DFAs\/trades (Espinosa of course, and the loser of <strong>Skole\/Robinson<\/strong> perhaps), and its hard to see a pathway for others (where does <strong>Marmolejos<\/strong> play for example?), but that&#8217;s a lot of infielders for 4 starting spots and and at most six 25-man jobs.<\/li>\n<li>We have more than a few rising quality outfielders, headed by <strong>Robles<\/strong> and new 40-man member <strong>Bautista<\/strong>, but also including the likes of <strong>Stevenson, Agustin, Wiseman, Perkins<\/strong> and <strong>Banks<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>What do you guys see happening?<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As requested from Dr. Cane in the comments, lets chat about what we may see transpire at the upcoming Winter Meetings. \u00a0This year&#8217;s Winter meetings are a week from now, running from Sunday 12\/4\/16 to 12\/8\/16 at the Gaylord Hotel in the National Harbor. \u00a0I&#8217;m halfway curious to drive over there to witness the &#8220;scene&#8221; [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,5],"tags":[17,424,2814,569,1815,498,2821,3326,1939,164,1924,1169,2729,3187,135,2425,385,814,115,3138,3028,213,404,2239,3370,532,852,301,733,2094,129,3060,3043,2000,2758,1875,2822,36,180,1014,3378,2426,1296,2757,147,393],"class_list":["post-13192","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nonnatsbaseball","category-natsgeneral","tag-aj-cole","tag-andrew-mccutchen","tag-andrew-stevenson","tag-aroldis-chapman","tag-austin-voth","tag-ben-revere","tag-blake-perkins","tag-brad-ziegler","tag-brandon-moss","tag-bryce-harper","tag-carlos-gomez","tag-chris-sale","tag-clint-robinson","tag-dane-dunning","tag-danny-espinosa","tag-erick-fedde","tag-gio-gonzalez","tag-greg-holland","tag-jayson-werth","tag-jd-martinez","tag-joan-baez","tag-joe-blanton","tag-jose-bautista","tag-jose-lobaton","tag-jose-marmolejos","tag-josh-reddick","tag-lucas-giolito","tag-mark-zuckerman","tag-matt-skole","tag-matt-wieters","tag-mike-rizzo","tag-nick-banks","tag-pedro-avila","tag-pedro-severino","tag-rafael-bautista","tag-reynaldo-lopez","tag-rhett-wiseman","tag-ryan-zimmerman","tag-scott-boras","tag-stephen-drew","tag-telmito-agustin","tag-trea-turner","tag-tyler-watson","tag-victor-robles","tag-wilson-ramos","tag-yoenis-cespedes"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13192","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13192"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13192\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13197,"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13192\/revisions\/13197"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13192"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13192"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13192"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}