{"id":3214,"date":"2011-12-01T09:22:51","date_gmt":"2011-12-01T14:22:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/?p=3214"},"modified":"2011-12-01T09:22:51","modified_gmt":"2011-12-01T14:22:51","slug":"ladsons-inbox-112911-edition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/?p=3214","title":{"rendered":"Ladson’s inbox: 11\/29\/11 edition"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Lannan gets no respect. Photo via prorumors.com<\/p><\/div>\n

Another edition of mlb.com beat reporter Bill Ladson<\/strong>‘s inbox, dated 11\/29\/11<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As always, I write my response before reading his, and sometimes edit questions for clarity.<\/p>\n

Q: Do Ross Detwiler or Tommy Milone have a chance to beat out John Lannan for a rotation spot? <\/strong><\/p>\n

A: Doubtful.\u00a0 Lannan <\/strong>may not throw as hard as Detwiler <\/strong>but he’s a more complete pitcher.\u00a0 Lannan is underrated; look at his career numbers<\/a>; never missed a start, no injuries, and sits right at 4.00 for his career.\u00a0 His K\/9 numbers are ticking up, as is his velocity.\u00a0 Milone <\/strong>needs to show that he has Maddux-level control before really showing that he can stick in a major league rotation.\u00a0 I know Milone looked pretty good in September, but if you look closer at his game log<\/a>, he didn’t exactly go against the best competition; the Mets twice (fielding a AAA lineup), Houston (worst team in the league by 10 games), Miami in the last week of the season, and Philly during their September swoon.\u00a0 I’d give Detwiler more love, but he has yet to show during 3 different MLB stints the ability a) stay healthy and b) stay consistent.\u00a0 He throws too much across his body, making his delivery difficult to repeat and his breaking stuff too flat.\u00a0 I think Detwiler makes the rotation as a #5 unless we sign another FA; at which point we DFA Gorzelanny and turn Detwiler into a long man-spot starter.\u00a0 Milone starts in AAA.\u00a0 Ladson says Lannan is in the rotation, unless he’s traded for a CFer<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Q: What is your opinion on center fielder Yoenis Cespedes, and do you think Rizzo will go hard after him? <\/strong><\/p>\n

A: He looks promising; comparisons to Sammy Sosa<\/strong> without the steroids.\u00a0 However, he’s not projecting as a true CFer (more of a corner) and this team doesn’t need a corner outfielder.\u00a0 Plus, the Cuban league isn’t exactly equivalent to the high minors, so he’s not a 2012 option for teams.\u00a0 He’s looking at at least 1 full year in the minors, perhaps two.\u00a0 That’s a lot for a reported $30M price tag (or higher).\u00a0 I think he goes to a team looking for the longer term.\u00a0 Ladson agrees with the above, but says the Nats are interested<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Q: Trying to acquire Roy Oswalt is lacking any real logic. Oswalt had a losing record last year. His balky back meant he had the fewest starts in his career. He will be a year older next season. It would be risky at best to acquire Oswalt. Why do it? <\/strong><\/p>\n

A: The questioner really should look at Oswalt’s career stats<\/a>; yes he had an injury last year but it was the first of his career.\u00a0 In fact, for an 8-year stretch he was among the most durable (and best) starters in the league.\u00a0 Who cares about his record; look at his performance.\u00a0 3.69 era in a hitters park, 1.33 whip not great but not terrible.\u00a0 K\/9 down slightly, but his bb\/9 is consistent with his career.\u00a0 How much of this was due to his pitching with the injury?\u00a0 I’d much rather have Oswalt on a 3-year deal than Buehrle.\u00a0 Ladson agrees, noting the same items I did and throwing in some glowing quotes from Jayson Werth<\/strong><\/em>.<\/p>\n

Q: Do you think Coco Crisp could help the Nats? He is a free agent and I don’t think he would cost a lot of money for even a two-year contract. <\/strong><\/p>\n

A: NO.\u00a0 Look at my CF-only post<\/a>, where you find that Crisp had a 91 ops+ and a negative UZR\/150.\u00a0 So, he can’t hit AND he’s a defensive liability.\u00a0 Why do we want him again?\u00a0 I’d rather stick with Werth in center and get a one-year alternative for a corner OF.\u00a0 Ladson says the Nats aren’t interested in any FA not named Cespedes, and will pursue a trade<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Q: Is Michael Cuddyer an option for the Nats? He’s got a good bat and is good defensively. Would the Nats consider starting Werth in center and let Cuddyer take over in right? <\/strong><\/p>\n

A: Presumably this was written before Cuddyer was linked with the Phillies.\u00a0 I’m not sure i’d entirely say he’s good defensively (he was marginally positive UZR\/150 in RF<\/a>, his primary position, after two years of being awful, and is mostly horrible at 2B, 3B.\u00a0 Only at 1B is he ok … but we have two guys for 1B already).\u00a0\u00a0 But he did pound the ball in 2011<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0 I’d be up for him in RF and Werth in CF, if for a short time.\u00a0 He is right-handed though, adding to a very RH heavy lineup (Ramos, Zimmerman, Desmond, Werth and Morse all RH-only).\u00a0 Ideally we’d find some LH-hitting outfield options to help balance things out.\u00a0 Ladson though says he’s not a fit, that Harper would be considered before Cuddyer<\/em>.<\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

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

Another edition of mlb.com beat reporter Bill Ladson‘s inbox, dated 11\/29\/11. As always, I write my response before reading his, and sometimes edit questions for clarity. Q: Do Ross Detwiler or Tommy Milone have a chance to beat out John Lannan for a rotation spot? A: Doubtful.\u00a0 Lannan may not throw as hard as Detwiler […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,4,5],"tags":[182,164,360,115,39,258,51,297,501,34,393],"class_list":["post-3214","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mlbpitching","category-minorspitching","category-natsgeneral","tag-bill-ladson","tag-bryce-harper","tag-coco-crisp","tag-jayson-werth","tag-john-lannan","tag-michael-cuddyer","tag-ross-detwiler","tag-roy-oswalt","tag-sammy-sosa","tag-tommy-milone","tag-yoenis-cespedes"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3214","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=3214"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3214\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3244,"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3214\/revisions\/3244"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3214"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3214"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3214"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}