{"id":13298,"date":"2017-01-06T12:11:34","date_gmt":"2017-01-06T17:11:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/?p=13298"},"modified":"2017-01-06T12:11:34","modified_gmt":"2017-01-06T17:11:34","slug":"colliers-inbox-1417","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/?p=13298","title":{"rendered":"Collier’s Inbox 1\/4\/17"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Is<\/a>

Is this the best we can do for backup infielders? photo via offtherecordsports.com<\/p><\/div>\n

Happy New Year!<\/p>\n

Nats Beat reporter\u00a0Jamal Collier<\/strong> posted another inbox<\/a>; here’s how I would have answered the questions he took.<\/p>\n

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Q: The Nationals and A’s have proven to be strong trade partners over the years, and I believe the A’s have a few players to fit the Nats’ needs. Do you think Washington could trade for Sean Doolittle<\/a> and Stephen Vogt<\/a>?<\/b><\/p>\n

A: We mentioned this in passing in the comments discussion recently; it does make sense to try to acquire Oakland’s closer\u00a0Sean Doolittle<\/strong>. \u00a0Acquiring\u00a0Stephen Vogt<\/strong> makes less sense right now, given that the Nats have guaranteed\u00a0Jose Lobaton<\/strong> money for 2017 and have signed\u00a0Derek Norris<\/strong> to be the starter. \u00a0For similar reasons as to why the “Nats are still interested in\u00a0Matt Weiters<\/strong>” arguments make no sense, acquiring Vogt wouldn’t make much sense either. \u00a0If you acquire Vogt, you tell the league that you need to trade either Lobaton (no options\/5-year veteran who cannot be sent down and who has a guaranteed 2017 contract) or Norris, and it isn’t exactly the best way to go about maintaining a player’s value when the whole league knows you need to make a deal. \u00a0That’s why we got very little in return for\u00a0Danny Espinosa<\/strong>, and that’s why signing a third catcher to a guaranteed deal wouldn’t make any sense.<\/p>\n

The one issue that may be blocking a Doolittle deal is the farm system; as in, we’ve gutted it this off-season already. \u00a0\u00a0Billy Beane<\/strong> knows how valuable closers are; he just watched\u00a0Aroldis Chapman<\/strong> and\u00a0Kenley Jansen<\/strong> cash in and he has seen what the likes of\u00a0Andrew Miller<\/strong> and\u00a0Wade Davis<\/strong> fetch in trade. \u00a0I’m not saying Doolittle is in that class of pitcher … but he’s not chopped liver. \u00a0The price tag just may be too high for\u00a0Mike Rizzo<\/strong> to consider.<\/p>\n

Collier says Doolittle would be a good fit, but that Oakland isn’t shopping its players right now.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Q:\u00a0Wilmer Difo<\/a> is the only middle infielder on the 40-man roster, other than the starters. It seems to me the Nats need another infielder on the bench. Emmanuel Burriss<\/a> seems to be the only other option. What do you think?<\/b><\/p>\n

A: Yes, the Nats definitely need another MLB quality backup infielder. \u00a0Emmanuel Burriss<\/strong> is not that; he’s a 4-A guy who only played last year because Philadelphia isn’t really trying right now. \u00a0Wilmer Difo<\/strong> is not the guy you want to be injury option #1 either. \u00a0This is why I want\u00a0Stephen Drew<\/strong> back, as discussed ad naseum in the comments recently. \u00a0But I also admit Drew may have priced himself out by virtue of his 2016 performance, and it may be an outlier season. \u00a0Who else is out there? \u00a0Not much at this point<\/a>. \u00a0I think the Nats are kind of thin right now all the way around; if we lose any of these key players for any length of time, the alternatives are pretty poor. \u00a0Imagine giving 400 ABs right now to Difo or to\u00a0Michael Taylor<\/strong>? \u00a0\u00a0I mean, what does this team do if\u00a0Anthony Rendon<\/strong>, not exactly known for being a rock heathwise, misses 2 months? \u00a0Who plays 3B for that time? \u00a0Matt Skole<\/strong>?<\/p>\n

I think the team needs a bit more depth both in INF and OF right now, honestly.<\/p>\n

Collier says the Nats are comfortable with Difo as a bench option, as evidenced by his presence on the NLDS roster. \u00a0But I don’t buy that; i think he was on that roster as basically a 25th man\/pinch runner guy, not because he had earned it.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Q:\u00a0The offseason trades seem to point to the Nats believing Stras is going to be healthy, why would they think that?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A: Because he’s not the first player to suffer a Strained Flexor Mass, because its not nearly as severe an injury as other arm injuries, and because the team is probably hyper-monitoring\u00a0Stephen Strasburg<\/strong>‘s recovery. \u00a0Its basically a 1 month injury, 2 if you’re being really cautious. \u00a0Had the Nats made the World Series i bet he woudl have pitched. \u00a0I can’t imagine any reason he won’t be ready to go by 4-1.<\/p>\n

Collier notes that both he and his agent have said multiple times there’s no issues, plus Strasburg was throwing bullpen sessions in the post-season…. he’ll be fine.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Q:\u00a0With the trade to the White Sox, I’m concerned that the Nats have denuded their farm system of Major League-ready top prospect pitchers. In case of injury to any of the top six Major Leaguers, it seems that there will be no “next man up” to fill in.<\/b><\/p>\n

A: Me too! \u00a0The Nats gave no less than 20 starts to pitchers outside the opening day rotation in 2016. \u00a0That same number was 28 in 2015, 13 in 2014, 25 in 2013 and just 12 in 2012. \u00a0So that’s an average of 19.6 “extra” starts per year thanks to injuries and unplanned absences. \u00a0You’re absolutely right; the first two likely candidates to take those starts in 2017 (Lucas Giolito<\/strong> and\u00a0Reynaldo Lopez<\/strong>)\u00a0were both flipped for\u00a0Adam Eaton<\/strong>. \u00a0Now we’re looking at those starts going to\u00a0A.J. Cole<\/strong> and to\u00a0Austin Voth<\/strong> initially, and the pickings get slimmer from there. \u00a0“Slim” as in, there’s only really 7 starters on the 40-man at all, so if you really get stuck you’re looking at\u00a0Oliver Perez<\/strong> getting stretched out, or putting someone like\u00a0Blake Treinen<\/strong> back on a starter routine. \u00a0And past that? \u00a0We’re talking a MLFA type like\u00a0Jacob Turner<\/strong> or our own already-outrighted-once\u00a0Taylor Hill<\/strong>. \u00a0In reality we’d never get that far; we’d promote\u00a0Erick Fedde<\/strong> or maybe hope that reformed knuckeballer\u00a0J.D. Martin<\/strong> has something in the tank. \u00a0 But those are not really confidence-inspiring options. \u00a0Here’s hoping for a healthy 2017 from the rotation!<\/p>\n

Collier acknowledges the same and thinks the team may sign some starter depth before spring training starts.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Q:\u00a0Perhaps the Nats could bring in some veteran starters to Spring Training, like they did last year with Bronson Arroyo<\/a>, to compete for rotation spots and as insurance in case of an injury. What will it take to get Trout? Sure he would like to play for a winn\u00e8r.<\/b><\/p>\n

A: See above, yes. \u00a02016 Syracuse had some decent alternatives: Paolo Espino<\/strong> and Aaron Laffey<\/strong> both seemed to be good alternatives. \u00a0Espino signed with Colorado, Laffey is still a FA. \u00a0But there’s a slew of veteran FA starters out there who would probably take a non-guaranteed deal. \u00a0I could see\u00a0Mat Latos<\/strong> coming back b\/c of his\u00a0Dusty Baker\u00a0<\/strong>connection. \u00a0I could see an injury-case like\u00a0Kris Medlen<\/strong> or\u00a0Matt Harrison<\/strong> look at the SP depth and say to himself, “gee, I can probably beat out Cole and Voth for the 6th starter job!” \u00a0So yeah you never know.<\/p>\n

Trout trade; that’s just internet click bait. \u00a0He’s not going anywhere. \u00a0Owner won’t trade him, and putting together a package of prospects to acquire him could never work out; it’d either be not enough for the Angels, or too much for the acquiring team.<\/p>\n

Collier tries to speculate on a package<\/em> for Trout, coming up with Turner, Robles, Ross and perhaps Fedde. \u00a0Think about that trade, what it would do to the current team, and what it does for the future of the team versus what you acquire, and ask yourself if its worth it. \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Happy New Year! Nats Beat reporter\u00a0Jamal Collier posted another inbox; here’s how I would have answered the questions he took.   Q: The Nationals and A’s have proven to be strong trade partners over the years, and I believe the A’s have a few players to fit the Nats’ needs. Do you think Washington could […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,3,5],"tags":[2401,3142,17,2972,185,569,1815,212,1693,891,135,369,845,3396,2425,1458,3391,99,2239,2676,970,852,586,303,733,1208,708,129,78,2658,1875,1347,1014,38,3395,197,240,2650],"class_list":["post-13298","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chatmailbag-responses","category-mlbpitching","category-natsgeneral","tag-aaron-laffey","tag-adam-eaton","tag-aj-cole","tag-andrew-miller","tag-anthony-rendon","tag-aroldis-chapman","tag-austin-voth","tag-billy-beane","tag-blake-treinen","tag-bronson-arroyo","tag-danny-espinosa","tag-derek-norris","tag-dusty-baker","tag-emmanuel-burris","tag-erick-fedde","tag-jacob-turner","tag-jamal-collier","tag-jd-martin","tag-jose-lobaton","tag-kenley-jansen","tag-kris-medlen","tag-lucas-giolito","tag-mat-latos","tag-matt-harrison","tag-matt-skole","tag-matt-weiters","tag-michael-taylor","tag-mike-rizzo","tag-oliver-perez","tag-paolo-espino","tag-reynaldo-lopez","tag-sean-doolittle","tag-stephen-drew","tag-stephen-strasburg","tag-stephen-vogt","tag-taylor-hill","tag-wade-davis","tag-wilmer-difo"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13298","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=13298"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13298\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13302,"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13298\/revisions\/13302"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13298"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13298"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13298"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}