{"id":3664,"date":"2012-01-06T08:51:07","date_gmt":"2012-01-06T13:51:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/?p=3664"},"modified":"2012-01-06T08:51:07","modified_gmt":"2012-01-06T13:51:07","slug":"ladsons-inbox-1412-edition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/?p=3664","title":{"rendered":"Ladson’s inbox: 1\/4\/12 edition"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Will Steve Lombardozzi get a shot at sticking on the 25-man roster? Photo via Syracuse Chiefs<\/p><\/div>\n

Another edition of mlb.com beat reporter <\/strong>Bill Ladson<\/strong>‘s inbox, dated 1\/4\/12<\/a>.\u00a0 As always, I write my response before reading his, and sometimes edit questions for clarity.<\/p>\n

Q: How many wins do you expect the Nationals to have this year? Will a full season of pitchers Stephen Strasburg and Gio Gonzalez translate into a spot in the playoffs?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A: Tough question; If you believe the statistical measurement Wins Above Replacement (WAR), then Mark Zuckerman<\/strong> made a very convincing argument<\/a> that this team is already 11.7 wins better than 2011 without adding anyone else.\u00a0 However; even best laid plans don’t pan out.\u00a0 There are always regressions, injuries and setbacks that you can count on.\u00a0 So to say that the Nats will win 90 games is probably incredibly optimistic.\u00a0 However; if this team is really an 85 win team, then they’re going to be in the Wild Card race and may be buyers instead of sellers, and could get pushed over the top.\u00a0 I’ll say, right now pre Prince Fielder<\/strong> nonsense this is an 88 win team.\u00a0 Ladson says 85 wins but Fielder would turn them into a competitor for the NL East title<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Q: How do you think the bullpen is shaping up? Will Se an Burnett stay or should we be looking for another lefty? Will Tyler Clippard earn closing opportunities in 2012? <\/strong><\/p>\n

A: Our 2011 bullpen was the strength of the team and it comes back mostly in tact.\u00a0 We have yet to replace Todd Coffey<\/strong>, who was serviceable in 2011, but we look to be stronger in the “long man\/spot starter” role.\u00a0 Kimball<\/strong> is hurt but Mattheus<\/strong> was pretty good in 2011.\u00a0\u00a0 Burnett <\/strong>is signed through 2012 so he’s not going anywhere; do we need another lefty if we have both Gorzelanny<\/strong> and Detwiler<\/strong> projected in the bullpen?\u00a0 I’m sure either one could prepare on a rotating basis for a one-out role.\u00a0 Clippard <\/strong>is the set-up guy; he and Storen<\/strong> seem set in their roles and that’s great, since I think Clippard is a better pitcher and is getting the more high-leverage appearances.\u00a0 Not much to add from Ladson<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Q: What is the situation with Rick Ankiel? Will he be coming back to the Nationals? <\/strong><\/p>\n

A: Ankiel<\/strong>‘s not coming back; if the team wanted a plus defender who couldn’t hit, they can find him much cheaper.\u00a0 Kinda like Mike Cameron<\/strong>.\u00a0 Its too bad; he was so good in CF but so bad at the plate.\u00a0 Ladson thinks the team could still be interested in Ankiel as a 4th outfielder<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Q: There is no doubt the Gonzalez deal helps the Nationals right now. But do you think they should have dealt their prospects for a center fielder? <\/strong><\/p>\n

A: It seems like Mike Rizzo<\/strong> cashed in his prospects on a deal he couldn’t turn down, taking advantage of Billy Beane<\/strong>‘s firesale in Oakland to get a pretty good pitcher.\u00a0 Did he *need* another starter?\u00a0 Maybe, maybe not.\u00a0 Does he *need* a center fielder?\u00a0\u00a0 Yeah he does.\u00a0 He also needs a lead-off hitter.\u00a0 And a better short-stop.\u00a0 But you can’t solve all your problems at once.\u00a0 I like Gonzalez<\/strong>; like what we got and think it was a good return on the prospects we gave up.\u00a0 I’m ok living with Werth <\/strong>for a year in CF and buying someone on the open market next off-season.\u00a0 Ladson agrees<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Q: Are there any potential trade suitors for Jesus Flores? He shouldn’t be the Nationals’ backup catcher. <\/strong><\/p>\n

A: Well, the second we traded Derek Norris<\/strong>, Flores <\/strong>became that much more important to this team.\u00a0 Yes he’s our backup, and yes we think he could start elsewhere, so perhaps at some point (if we feel confident that Ramos look strong) we can flip Flores and use Solano<\/strong> for backup purposes at the MLB level.\u00a0 But suddenly we may be looking at needing to develop more catcher depth.\u00a0 Ladson is right in saying that Flores is a project, and that we’d be selling low by trading him now considering his injury past.<\/em><\/p>\n

Q: With the bench still something of a question mark, will Stephen Lombardozzi be given a shot to crack the roster? If he plays well, what chance is there that he will start playing every day? <\/strong><\/p>\n

A: I suppose; I wasn’t incredibly impressed with Lombardozzi<\/strong>‘s Sept 2011 call-up.\u00a0 I thought he looked beyond over-matched at the plate.\u00a0 I’d like to see if he could actually be a good middle infielder and not top-out as a Brian Bixler<\/strong> utility infielder.\u00a0 The team needs a 2nd utility infielder after DeRosa<\/strong> and Lombardozzi could fit the bill.\u00a0 Start?\u00a0 Hmm; Desmond<\/strong> isn’t going to be allowed to hit .220 forever, so yes its conceivable that at some point if Desmond doesn’t start hitting he’ll get replaced in the field, and it’d be great if the team had someone like Lombardozzi to step up.\u00a0 Ladson says its a long-shot<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Q: Why is right-hander Yuniesky Maya still with the Nationals? <\/strong><\/p>\n

A: Two words: guaranteed contract.\u00a0 Clearly he’s not the guy that the team thought he was; we have two more years for him to toil in AAA and serve as a spot starter\/emergency backup.\u00a0 Its too bad; he has the arsenal and the moxie but not the stuff to survive.\u00a0 Ladson calls him a disappointment.\u00a0 Clearly. <\/em><\/p>\n

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

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

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

Another edition of mlb.com beat reporter Bill Ladson‘s inbox, dated 1\/4\/12.\u00a0 As always, I write my response before reading his, and sometimes edit questions for clarity. Q: How many wins do you expect the Nationals to have this year? Will a full season of pitchers Stephen Strasburg and Gio Gonzalez translate into a spot in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,5,534],"tags":[182,212,259,100,369,52,385,114,115,112,461,505,301,578,129,183,179,51,86,108,38,142,172,176,128],"class_list":["post-3664","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nonnatsbaseball","category-natsgeneral","category-weekly-news","tag-bill-ladson","tag-billy-beane","tag-brian-bixler","tag-cole-kimball","tag-derek-norris","tag-drew-storen","tag-gio-gonzalez","tag-ian-desmond","tag-jayson-werth","tag-jesus-flores","tag-jhonatan-solano","tag-mark-derosa","tag-mark-zuckerman","tag-mike-cameron","tag-mike-rizzo","tag-prince-fielder","tag-rick-ankiel","tag-ross-detwiler","tag-ryan-mattheus","tag-sean-burnett","tag-stephen-strasburg","tag-steve-lombardozzi","tag-todd-coffey","tag-tom-gorzelanny","tag-tyler-clippard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3664","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=3664"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3664\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3679,"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3664\/revisions\/3679"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3664"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3664"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3664"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}