{"id":1621,"date":"2011-06-14T12:52:58","date_gmt":"2011-06-14T16:52:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/?p=1621"},"modified":"2011-09-07T12:20:45","modified_gmt":"2011-09-07T16:20:45","slug":"ladsons-inbox-6511-edition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/?p=1621","title":{"rendered":"Ladson’s inbox: 6\/20\/11 and 6\/5\/11 editions"},"content":{"rendered":"

I forgot to publish my previous edition of this.\u00a0 So its located below.\u00a0 Meanwhile here’s the 6\/20\/11 edition<\/a>.\u00a0 I don’t think Bill’s done one of these since.\u00a0 A lot of the statistics quoted were at the time of writing (6\/20\/11) and may be a bit dated by now.<\/p>\n

Q: How do you think Jayson Werth has done this year, considering he hasn’t had Ryan Zimmerman, Adam LaRoche or a productive leadoff hitter in the lineup for most of the season so far?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A: He’s barely above 100 OPS+, after a number of seasons in the league top 10.\u00a0 His slash line: .232\/.332\/.409<\/a>.\u00a0 I think he should be doing better no doubt and is finding out how tough it is to lead a team without much in the way of lineup protection.\u00a0 (Ladson thinks he’s doing fine, when you take into account his leadership in the clubhouse).<\/em><\/p>\n

Q: Should the Nationals trade a valuable reliever like Tyler Clippard to get a hitter that could improve the team’s offense?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A: The Nationals should make any trade, involving any player, if the return is deemed worth it.\u00a0 Perhaps not Zimmerman, Strasburg or Harper, but anyone else is fair game.\u00a0 That being said, I don’t think Clippard should be traded unless he fetches quite a haul, because of his importance to our bullpen.\u00a0 So perhaps its a self fulfilling prophesy; we won’t trade him unless he gets valued like a front-end starter, but he’s merely an 8th inning reliever.\u00a0 (Ladson more or less agrees with what i’ve written).<\/em><\/p>\n

Q: Should Espinosa start hitting strictly right-handed?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A: Here’s his 2011 splits<\/a>, and they’re pretty distinct.\u00a0 He’s hitting .206 as a lefty, .315 as a righty.\u00a0 But, look at his BABIP split.\u00a0 .217 as a lefty and .352 as a righty.\u00a0 So he’s been amazingly unlucky as a left-handed batter so far.\u00a0 Despite what his splits look like, you don’t purposely get rid of a lefty-capable hitter.\u00a0 He’s a rookie after all (lest we forget), and can improve his switch hitting abilities.\u00a0 (Ladson agrees; let him continue to switch hit).<\/em><\/p>\n

Q: Do you see the Nationals making many major moves at the Trade Deadline?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A: Realistically, I can see the team moving a couple of pieces (perhaps Marquis and Coffey).\u00a0 I could also see them make a couple of waiver-wire trades very late in the season (Cora and Hairston).\u00a0 I don’t see them acquiring any MLB players or moving any prospects.\u00a0\u00a0 If players like Ankiel or Gaudin were playing better, they’d be trade targets too.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 (Ladson for some reason thinks the team will try to acquire a lead-off hitter and a starting pitcher, mentioning Gorzelanny as the one to be replaced.\u00a0 Can’t see either move at this point in the season.\u00a0 Getting a lead-off hitter will be an off-season task).<\/em><\/p>\n

Q: Why would the Nats trade Jason Marquis? He solidifies the third spot in the rotation for 2012.<\/strong><\/p>\n

A: For all of these reasons:<\/p>\n