{"id":14596,"date":"2017-11-22T10:44:46","date_gmt":"2017-11-22T15:44:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/?p=14596"},"modified":"2017-11-22T10:46:18","modified_gmt":"2017-11-22T15:46:18","slug":"ask-collier-happy-thanksgiving","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/?p=14596","title":{"rendered":"Ask Collier & Happy Thanksgiving"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Why<\/a>

Why do so many people think TRADING Harper is the way to win the 2018 World Series? Photo via fanragsports.com<\/p><\/div>\n

A nice little surprise just before the Turkey day weekend: an ask\u00a0Jamal Collier<\/strong> post on mlb.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Q:\u00a0Would you consider trading Harper? I am one of his biggest fans, and I know the desire to win next year, but would the return be worth it in the long run?
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A: Forensicane; don’t bother reading this next answer, because you’re not going to like it.<\/p>\n

Teams attempting to WIN THE WORLD SERIES in the coming year do not trade their marquee players.\u00a0 Not only that, but teams attempting to win don’t trade one of the best players in the league.\u00a0 \\<\/p>\n

Not only that, but lets say for the sake of argument that the Nats WERE willing to trade Harper.\u00a0 He’s got one\u00a0 year of control left.\u00a0 He’s set to make north of $20M in 2018.\u00a0 He’s an injury risk.\u00a0 And he’s absolutely going to Free Agency.\u00a0 How much does anyone really think he’ll realistically fetch in trade right now?\u00a0 If he were cost controlled or had multiple years of control left (like an\u00a0Adam Eaton<\/strong> or a\u00a0Jonathan Lucroy<\/strong> when he fetched a lot a couple years back) he’d get a kings ransom.\u00a0 But he’s not; he’ll cost a significant portion of a team’s payroll in 2018 and gets just one year of service.<\/p>\n

And then there’s this: why does anyone think this ownership group will trade him??\u00a0 For many years, we’ve asked why the Angels hold on to\u00a0Mike Trout<\/strong> and “waste” his talents on a sub-.500 team.\u00a0 The answer is always the same: the owner in Los Angeles doesn’t want to move his marquee asset.\u00a0 Why does anyone think that\u00a0the\u00a0Lerner group isn’t thinking the same thing?\u00a0 Baseball is still relatively “new” in this town, still fighting it out for the casual sports fan.\u00a0 What kind of message does it send to the casual fan base if you move your most marketable asset?\u00a0 Who else on the Nats is getting goofy TV spots<\/a> with national telecom companies?<\/p>\n

So, no, the team isn’t trading Harper, nor should they.\u00a0 Instead they should be doing *everything* they can to win in 2018 before he (and many others) walk out the door.\u00a0 And (lets not forget), while I think its a certainty that Harper is in NY or LA in 2019 … we also were pretty sure\u00a0Stephen Strasburg<\/strong> was heading out the door too, so you just never know.<\/p>\n

Collier also expresses similar exasperation at the number of these questions he’s getting, then re-iterates many of the arguments above.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Q:\u00a0You don’t list\u00a0Adam Lind<\/a>\u00a0as a possible signee. Why not? Is it that Brian Goodwin can fill that role … but who is the backup first baseman?<\/b><\/p>\n

A: I think Lind could resign … similarly to the way that\u00a0Stephen Drew<\/strong> thought he could parlay his successful 2016 into a starting gig for 2017, Lind probably thinks the same.\u00a0 Finding veteran bat-only beefy 1B\/PH types on the open market is not tough; the Nats have specialized in this for years.\u00a0 So they’ll do what they always have done; wait out the market, sign someone on the cheap later in the off-season if they get desperate, or otherwise have a cattle call in spring training for the backup bench bat.<\/p>\n

Its worth noting that, much like one-year relievers, sometimes you catch lightning in a bottle with your pinch hitters and its worth cutting bat early, not later.\u00a0 Consider some of the year over\u00a0 year stat lines for our primary bench bats recently:<\/p>\n