{"id":2748,"date":"2011-10-13T21:32:52","date_gmt":"2011-10-14T01:32:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/?p=2748"},"modified":"2011-10-13T21:32:52","modified_gmt":"2011-10-14T01:32:52","slug":"ladsons-inbox-101011-edition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/?p=2748","title":{"rendered":"Ladson’s inbox 10\/10\/11 edition"},"content":{"rendered":"

Here’s my latest personal answers to Bill Ladson<\/strong>‘s inbox, 10\/10\/11 edition<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As always, I edit the questions for clarity, and write my own response before reading Ladson’s.<\/p>\n

Q: Why is there constant talk of the Nationals pursuing Rays outfielder B.J. Upton? The Nationals have a crowded outfield with Michael Morse, Jayson Werth and Bryce Harper. The Nationals are getting killed in on-base percentage, so why trade for Upton who barely bats .250 with a less than impressive OBP. Wouldn’t a better route be to pursue an infielder with a traditional OBP and trade either Ian Desmond or Danny Espinosa? <\/strong><\/p>\n

A: Good question.\u00a0 The Nats like B.J. Upton <\/strong>b\/c he fills two needs for this team; plus defense CF and lead-off hitter.\u00a0 In theory anyway; I agree with the questioner that Upton may be more hype than hope.\u00a0\u00a0 His 2011 was better than his career line, but was less than impressive .243\/.331\/.429<\/a>.\u00a0 He’s slugging the ball more, hitting for more power, but a .331 OBP isn’t that much better than what we were getting out of our own lead-off hitters.\u00a0 Lets not forget either that Bryce Harper<\/strong> isn’t going to be in the opening day 2012 lineup, so its not like he’s ready to go.\u00a0 We still need a CF solution for 2012 and i’m guessing that we go with another year of Rick Ankiel<\/strong>.\u00a0 Ladson more or less agrees, predicting that the team acquires two outfielders this off-season<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Q: With the Nats still looking for pop in the lineup, is it out of the question for them to pursue first baseman Albert Pujols or Prince Fielder and keep Morse in left? <\/strong><\/p>\n

A: I don’t think its out of the question, but I would be really surprised if either marquee first baseman is pursued or signed.\u00a0 They’re both going to command massive, major financial commitments and for a team that has held steady at $60-$68M in payroll, I have a hard time seeing them sign off.\u00a0 Remember, we still have Adam LaRoche<\/strong> coming back, and Rizzo didn’t sign him for the hell of it.\u00a0 Ladson thinks the team may actually pursue Fielder to add lefty pop to the lineup<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Q: Do you see Yankees outfielder Brett Gardner as a possible trade acquisition for the Nationals. What have you heard? <\/strong><\/p>\n

A: Why in the world would the Yankees trade Gardner?\u00a0 Pre-arbitration, decent lead-off option and gold-glove defender in left.\u00a0 We have a left-fielder.\u00a0 It would take a severe prospect haul to get him, and I don’t think we really need him long term.\u00a0 Ladson thinks he’s a great fit and that it is an intriguing deal<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Q: This may sound crazy but what about putting left-hander John Lannan and outfielder Roger Bernadina in a package for a quality starter? Lannan, in my mind, hasn’t been a quality starter and Bernadina hasn’t improved during his time with the Nats. <\/strong><\/p>\n

A: Bernadina is value-less in a trade; he’s out of options and teams know it, so all they have to do is wait until April 1st, 2012 and they can have him for free.\u00a0 Lannan IS a quality starter already; he’s not going to ever get us value in return near what he gives us already.\u00a0 I don’t think either guy is really someone that helps us in terms of trade.\u00a0 Ladson agrees<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Q: Do the Nats conduct “exit interviews” whereby they suggest offseason training, workouts and how the player should work on his deficiencies? <\/strong><\/p>\n

A: I’m sure they do for returning players; i’d guess FAs are just told thanks and we’ll see you.\u00a0 These players are investments, and if the player is motivated he’ll want to do in the off-season what guarantees the most success in 2012.\u00a0 Ladson says that Davey Johnson spoke to every player on the last day of the season, reviewed their performance and talked about 2012. <\/em><\/p>\n

Q: Behind the scenes, was the Nats’ coaching staff holding the players accountable for the high number of strikeouts that were accumulated in 2011? <\/strong><\/p>\n

A: I don’t know if you can “hold a player accountable” for strikeouts.\u00a0 I think strikeouts come with the territory for some hitters; i’ll take a guy that hits 20 homers with more than his average number of Ks.\u00a0 However, a high strikeout guy who is a slap hitter for no power?\u00a0 Bad news.\u00a0 That’s the kind of guy that needs adjustment to his game.\u00a0\u00a0 Ladson notes that Johnson clearly wants the team to take less strikeouts, especially called 3rd strikes, and mentions three guys in particular.\u00a0 Werth, Desmond and Espinosa.\u00a0 Fair enough.<\/em><\/p>\n


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

Here’s my latest personal answers to Bill Ladson‘s inbox, 10\/10\/11 edition. As always, I edit the questions for clarity, and write my own response before reading Ladson’s. Q: Why is there constant talk of the Nationals pursuing Rays outfielder B.J. Upton? The Nationals have a crowded outfield with Michael Morse, Jayson Werth and Bryce Harper. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,14,5],"tags":[184,123,182,188,275,164,135,137,114,115,39,136,129,183,179,167],"class_list":["post-2748","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nonnatsbaseball","category-chatmailbag-responses","category-natsgeneral","tag-adam-laroche","tag-albert-pujols","tag-bill-ladson","tag-bj-upton","tag-brett-gardner","tag-bryce-harper","tag-danny-espinosa","tag-davey-johnson","tag-ian-desmond","tag-jayson-werth","tag-john-lannan","tag-michael-morse","tag-mike-rizzo","tag-prince-fielder","tag-rick-ankiel","tag-roger-bernadina"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2748","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=2748"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2748\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2753,"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2748\/revisions\/2753"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2748"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2748"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2748"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}