{"id":7052,"date":"2013-06-25T16:31:11","date_gmt":"2013-06-25T20:31:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com.\/?p=7052"},"modified":"2013-06-25T16:31:11","modified_gmt":"2013-06-25T20:31:11","slug":"ask-boswell-62413","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/?p=7052","title":{"rendered":"Ask Boswell 6\/24\/13"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Lots<\/a>

Lots of grief for Espinosa and Haren this week. Photo Nats official.<\/p><\/div>\n

We’re now almost 3 months in, the team is still stuck at .500 and the natives are getting restless (see\u00a0Haren, Dan<\/strong>‘s forced D\/L trip as penance for his performance lately and Danny Espinosa<\/strong>‘s forced demotion to work on his batting). \u00a0I wonder what the tone of\u00a0Tom Boswell<\/strong>‘s weekly chat questions on 6\/24\/13<\/a> will be?<\/p>\n

As always, I answer here before reading Boswell’s answers and edit questions for clarity.<\/p>\n

Q: Should the Nats move Ian Desmond up in the order?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

A: Ian Desmond<\/strong>\u00a0has mostly been batting 5th or 6th<\/a> (depending on injuries to the 3-4-5 guys). \u00a0 Frankly there’s no place else to put him. \u00a0They bought\u00a0Denard Span<\/strong> so he could bat lead-off, and now suddenly\u00a0Anthony Rendon<\/strong>\u00a0is the prototypical #2 hitter; hits to all fields, good bat control, high average and some pop. \u00a03-4-5 are set in stone when they’re healthy. \u00a0 The only question is whether Desmond merits batting before or after\u00a0Jayson Werth<\/strong>. \u00a0I’d say he will stay in the #6 hole. \u00a0Boswell says #6 is the best spot for him and he’ll stay there until\u00a0Adam LaRoche<\/strong>‘s contract is up.<\/em><\/p>\n

Q: Why do fans boo home-town players who are struggling?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

A: The genesis of this question is the cascade of Boos rained down on\u00a0Dan Haren<\/strong> after his latest meltdown. \u00a0 I think fans are fans: they pay good money and expect this team to be successful. \u00a0When a guy lets in 7 runs in 3 and a third innings … well that’s a game spoiled. \u00a0Are they booing the player or the team, really? \u00a0Should they boo? \u00a0Eh; you certainly hear “good baseball town” crowds booing players. \u00a0Boswell says he’d have booed Haren too, but also notes what a class act and competitor he is<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Q: Where do we go with Dan Haren now?\/Will Ohlendorf get the spot start?\/Is Haren getting DFA’d?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

A: Just answered a lot of this myself in a post<\/a> yesterday. \u00a0Short answer; spot start from someone,\u00a0extended rehab assignment for Haren, and probably a long-man role in the bullpen if we find a competent starter replacement. \u00a0 I don’t think he’s getting DFA’d because any one of a number of pitching poor teams would snap him up in a heartbeat despite his crummy numbers. \u00a0Boswell thinks the team is going out on the open market to replace Haren and notes he’s hearing\u00a0Taylor Jordan<\/strong> is getting a shot this weekend, and thinks that summarily demanding that a struggling player be released is cruel.<\/em><\/p>\n

Q: Is Ian Desmond a flawed player?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

A: The question arises because of Desmond’s small delta between his BA and his OBP (.280 and .318<\/a>) and his approach in clutch situations. \u00a0I think Desmond has taken a small step back from last year’s break out season but otherwise all three of his slash line numbers are right where they were last year and in the same relative ratio as last year. His 2012 OBP was about 40 points higher than his average (same as this year), and his slugging is about at the same slightly lower figure. \u00a0He’s on pace to hit the same number of homers and actually increase his total extra base hits. \u00a0I see no issues here. \u00a0I’ll take a 120 OPS+ shortstop who plays plus defense anyday. \u00a0Boswell agrees, saying Desmond is a complete player and an all-star. \u00a0Nuff said<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Q: Is Werth’s groin strain another example of a Nats player coming back too soon?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

A: It doesn’t seem so. \u00a0Different injury, and one that does tend to bedevil older players like\u00a0Werth. \u00a0Lets just hope it isn’t too long. \u00a0Boswell does kind of scoff at Werth’s excuse of “playing dehydrated.” \u00a0As if there wasn’t enough ways for a professional athlete to hydrate themselves during the day.<\/em><\/p>\n

Q: Will either Haren or Espinosa get another start in 2013?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

A: I think the answer is likely yes. \u00a0This team has shown itself to be incredibly brittle so far (Saw a stat that the opening day lineup hasn’t played together since the 2nd week of April). \u00a0The odds of another guy going down with injury and requiring the return of either guy seems high. \u00a0The better question is likely what happens after 2013. \u00a0Haren’s one year deal is clearly over, and the Nats can’t possibly offer him a Qualifying Offer. \u00a0Danny Espinosa<\/strong> will be sans position and will be traded (even more proof of this?\u00a0 The fact that Espinosa is playing SS in Syracuse).\u00a0 Boswell interpreted the question more of a “rest of their career question” and said that Espinosa clearly has more career but Haren, maybe not unless he adjusts his approach<\/i>.<\/p>\n

Q: Why is there a disagreement between Harper and Johnson on his rehab?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

A: Much to-do about nothing? \u00a0Either way, it doesn’t sound good when you have media members scurrying from one guy to another to play “he said, she said” in the papers. \u00a0Those two need to get on the same page, whether Bryce Harper<\/b> is going on a rehab assignment Tuesday, Wednesday or three Fridays from now.\u00a0 turns out: he’s going out on rehab tonight.\u00a0 Boswell thinks its just Davey Johnson<\/strong> being too positive on how long it takes guys to come back<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Q: Why hasn’t Espinosa gotten surgery, if it has so clearly impacted his performance?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

A: Probably two words: “Anthony” and “Rendon.”\u00a0\u00a0I think Espinosa’s been reading the tea leaves and knew that his spot was the most likely destination for Rendon, and that Rendon (once arriving) likely wouldn’t give it up. \u00a0So far, that scenario is playing pretty much exactly as in Espinosa’s worst fears. \u00a0Boswell talks about how the Nats evaluated Espinosa’s injuries now and at the time<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Q: If the Nats were to pursue someone like Lee or Gallardo in the trade market, what would it cost them? \u00a0And who is untouchable?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

A:\u00a0Cliff Lee<\/strong> is owed so much money that it may not take as much in prospects as one would think. \u00a0But, the Philles have to declare that they’re out of it first … and they’ve got basically the same record as the Nats right now. \u00a0Gallardo is signed through 2014 with a 2015 option for about the same money we’re paying Haren right now .. and he has limited no-trade<\/a>. \u00a0The thing is; is he worth trading for? \u00a0He’s only so-so this year, better the last two years. \u00a0I think Yovani Gallardo<\/strong> probably rates a bit below\u00a0Gio Gonzalez<\/strong> on the trade market b\/c of his salary \u00a0and being slightly less on the field, so perhaps two good prospects plus a young guy.<\/p>\n

Who is untouchable at this point? \u00a0Rendon, Karns<\/strong> (they like him too much), Jordan (gotta see what they have now). \u00a0Brian Goodwin<\/strong> (he’s Span’s replacement in two years). \u00a0A.J. Cole<\/strong> (they worked pretty hard to get him back). \u00a0I don’t think they want to part with Matt Skole<\/b> either. \u00a0But that’s not leaving a lot to work with in terms of prospects.
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

Boswell doesn’t really talk much about these guys or who the Nats are keeping … but fantasizes about getting\u00a0David Price<\/strong>. \u00a0Dream on; the Tampa Bay Rays don’t trade unless they know they’re winning the deal.<\/em><\/p>\n

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

We’re now almost 3 months in, the team is still stuck at .500 and the natives are getting restless (see\u00a0Haren, Dan‘s forced D\/L trip as penance for his performance lately and Danny Espinosa‘s forced demotion to work on his batting). \u00a0I wonder what the tone of\u00a0Tom Boswell‘s weekly chat questions on 6\/24\/13 will be? As […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,5],"tags":[1853,17,185,257,164,246,983,135,137,223,482,114,115,733,129,196,1554,24,125,1251],"class_list":["post-7052","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chatmailbag-responses","category-natsgeneral","tag-adam-laroch","tag-aj-cole","tag-anthony-rendon","tag-brian-goodwin","tag-bryce-harper","tag-cliff-lee","tag-dan-haren","tag-danny-espinosa","tag-davey-johnson","tag-david-price","tag-denard-span","tag-ian-desmond","tag-jayson-werth","tag-matt-skole","tag-mike-rizzo","tag-nathan-karns","tag-ross-ohlendorf","tag-taylor-jordan","tag-tom-boswell","tag-yovani-gallardo"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7052","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=7052"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7052\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7063,"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7052\/revisions\/7063"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7052"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7052"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7052"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}