{"id":7494,"date":"2013-08-27T09:29:26","date_gmt":"2013-08-27T13:29:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com.\/?p=7494"},"modified":"2014-09-24T09:24:46","modified_gmt":"2014-09-24T13:24:46","slug":"ladsons-inbox-82613","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/?p=7494","title":{"rendered":"Ladson’s Inbox 8\/26\/13"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"ClippardTyler_landing_masn.com\"<\/a>

Tyler Clippard has been one of the few bright spots for the 2013 Nats; why isn’t he closing? Photo Masn.<\/p><\/div>\n

Excellent, I was just thinking that I had nothing to write about and\u00a0MLB Nats beat reporter\u00a0Bill Ladson<\/strong> posted a mailbox. \u00a0Honestly, if I had a steady stream of people emailing me questions I’d have a field day. \u00a0I’d post so much content my hands would melt from carpal tunnel syndrome. \u00a0I’d post 8,000 word columsn like what\u00a0Bill Simmons<\/strong> used to do. \u00a0Anyway.<\/p>\n

Here’s how I’d have responded to the questions Ladson took. \u00a0As always, I write my answer here before reading his and edit questions for clarity\/conciseness.<\/p>\n

Q:\u00a0Given the way\u00a0Dan Haren\u00a0has pitched since being activated from the disabled list, do you see any chance the Nationals re-signing him?<\/b><\/p>\n

A: Nope. \u00a0Zero. \u00a0Zilch. \u00a0They’re not going to make another $13M mistake in 2014, not with the way that\u00a0Taylor Jordan<\/strong> has pitched. \u00a0The Nats little splurge last off-season pushed their payroll into unknown territory, and I’ll bet they bring it back (especially since that pocketbook hit brought nothing but a .500 record). \u00a0Dan Haren<\/strong> is more likely to get flipped to a pitching starved contender in the next week (unless the Nats stupidly hold out for too many prospects, as seems to be the case) and will be plying his trade elsewhere next season. \u00a0Ladson says no as well but then completely hedges his answer, saying that “things could change” and “we should have more information in the off-season.” \u00a0 Well, can’t that be the answer to every question? \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Q:\u00a0Why isn’t Tyler Clippard closing?\u00a0<\/b><\/b><\/b><\/p>\n

A: Because the Nats stupidly gave\u00a0Rafael Soriano<\/strong> a $30M deal, and he’s a “big name closer” that someone in this team’s executive heirarchy was convinced that we needed. \u00a0I don’t think it was\u00a0Mike Rizzo<\/strong>; this moves smelled like a fan-boy ownership panic move in reaction to\u00a0Drew Storen<\/strong>‘s NLCS Game 5 meltdown.\u00a0\u00a0The problem with Soriano, as has been well established in his prior stints, is that he’s a whiner, a clubhouse cancer, and a problem child when he’s not used in save situations. \u00a0His track record<\/a> speaks for itself: look at his seasonal performances when he’s a closer versus when he’s not. \u00a0He wore out his welcome<\/a> in Tampa Bay with probably the most easy-going manager in the game Joe Maddon<\/strong>. \u00a0We’ve already learned this year he doesn’t work out with his fellow relievers, sits off to himself, isn’t a part of the team. \u00a0Great acquisition guys!<\/p>\n

We played in the Diamond Dream Foundation golf tournament yesterday and had the opportunity to play alongside former Baltimore Oriole pitcher\u00a0Dave<\/a> Johnson<\/a><\/strong>, who now does radio work for the Orioles on MASN. \u00a0This same topic came up; why isn’t Clippard closing but more importantly; what are the Nats going to do with\u00a0Tyler Clippard<\/strong>\u00a0in this coming arbitration hearing? \u00a0 Johnson said that the save statistic is what the players wanted to be judged on for arbitration hearings, and now they’re slaves to it. \u00a0Clippard is having a fantastic season, but isn’t the closer, and he belives that management isn’t going to want to pay him $5-$6M to be a “middle reliever.” \u00a0I’m guessing the Nats try to sign Clippard to a 2-year deal this off-season, buying out his arbitration years.<\/p>\n

They’ll never do this, but another option for the team is this; trade Clippard to a team looking for a closer, get prospects back, and then his pay becomes commensurate with his role. \u00a0But this would significantly weaken the bullpen going into next year needlessly. \u00a0Its only money; if the Nats didn’t learn this from last year’s transactions (letting\u00a0Tom Gorzelanny<\/strong> walk over a couple of million dollars? \u00a0Non-tendering\u00a0John Lannan<\/strong> to save $5m?) then that’s unfortunate. \u00a0I’d rather have had a couple of guys getting a ton of money as insurance policies than a $30M closer for a .500 team.<\/p>\n

Ladson pointed out curious reliever usage in the last series and postulates that\u00a0Davey Johnson<\/strong> may have had enough of Soriano himself. \u00a0We’ll see if Clippard closes the rest of the way and how Soriano handles it.<\/em><\/p>\n

Q:\u00a0Do you think Mike Rizzo would consider hiring Mike Scioscia as the Nationals’ next manager? Looks like his time in Anaheim may be ending.<\/b><\/b><\/b><\/p>\n

A: Absolutely. \u00a0If the Angels are dumb enough to let\u00a0Mike Scioscia<\/strong> go, then I agree with\u00a0Buster Olney<\/strong> and\u00a0Jayson Stark<\/strong>, who talked about this same issue on the\u00a0Baseball Tonight Podcast<\/em>\u00a0late last week. \u00a0They said that if Scioscia is fired, “he’ll have a new job in 0.2 seconds.” \u00a0 The Angels aren’t losing because of Scioscia; they’re losing because the GM wanted to spend $400M on aging FA bats in Albert Pujols<\/strong> and\u00a0Josh Hamilton<\/strong>\u00a0while spending about\u00a0$5 on starting pitching this year. \u00a0(I STILL cannot believe the\u00a0Joe Blanton<\/strong> contract; how does he get a 2yr\/$15M contract after the way he pitched in 2012??). \u00a0Ladson agrees<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Q: Considering how well Werth has played this year, are we giving up on Span too soon?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A: Possibly. \u00a0Or possibly we were just expressing irritation that\u00a0Denard Span\u00a0<\/strong>is playing exactly as we feared he would; posting a 91 OPS+ which is nearly identical to his production<\/a> in 2010 and 2011. \u00a0 I’m tired of repeating my own opinion on the matter (we didn’t need Span, we could have kept Harper in center, you’re wasting Harper’s defense in left, we could have used Morse’s power, we didn’t need to give up our best starting pitching prospect, defense in LF and 1B is overrated, blah blah blah). \u00a0\u00a0Ladson says that Span has a “friendly contract” and can be dealt. \u00a0Sorry; don’t see that. \u00a0Rizzo’s way too egotistical to admit a mistake and deal Span now<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Q:\u00a0Looking to next year, doesn’t\u00a0Steve Lombardozzi\u00a0remind you of\u00a0Chase Utley\u00a0at second? And what happens with\u00a0Tyler Moore\u00a0as either an outfielder or first baseman? Both of these young guys are too good not to get a real chance at starting for the Nats.<\/b><\/b><\/b><\/b><\/b><\/p>\n

A:\u00a0Steve Lombardozzi<\/strong> as\u00a0Chase Utley<\/strong>?<\/strong> \u00a0Uh; Utley averaged 30 homers in his peak years and has more than 200 for his career. \u00a0Lombardozzi has four. \u00a04 homers in his life. \u00a0Lombardozzi is a slap hitter, Utley is a middle of the order power hitter. \u00a0Other than that, yeah I guess they’re similar. \u00a0 As for\u00a0Tyler Moore<\/strong> I guess the questioner either a) hasn’t seen his seasonal numbers or b) has forgotten that the Nats have guys locked up through 2014 at every position that Moore can play. \u00a0Unless there’s an injury, the guy is a backup in 2014. \u00a0Ladson agrees with me on Lombardozzi<\/em>. \u00a0As for Moore, Ladson seems to think that the Nats might trade LaRoche. \u00a0Really?? \u00a0Who is going to take LaRoche for 2014? \u00a0He’s hitting .238 with barely any power for a first baseman. \u00a0Who’s taking that contract and giving us anything of value coming back? \u00a0Wishful thinking.<\/em><\/p>\n

Q:\u00a0Would the Nationals have interest in signing outfielder\u00a0Jacoby Ellsbury, who is a free agent after this season?<\/b><\/b><\/b><\/b><\/b><\/p>\n

A: I would think not; Jacoby Ellsbury<\/strong> is\u00a0going to want too much money, we have no place to play him, and I don’t think he’s worth the money. \u00a0He had one great season<\/a>, a couple of decent ones and otherwise is a below-average offensive outfielder. \u00a0 \u00a0I think he’s a lock to stay in Boston. \u00a0Ladson notes that Ellsbury is a Scott Boras<\/strong> client so you never know what’ll happen.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Excellent, I was just thinking that I had nothing to write about and\u00a0MLB Nats beat reporter\u00a0Bill Ladson posted a mailbox. \u00a0Honestly, if I had a steady stream of people emailing me questions I’d have a field day. \u00a0I’d post so much content my hands would melt from carpal tunnel syndrome. \u00a0I’d post 8,000 word columsn […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[123,182,885,363,399,983,2608,137,482,52,281,986,115,213,419,39,238,129,1935,1398,180,142,24,176,128,235],"class_list":["post-7494","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chatmailbag-responses","tag-albert-pujols","tag-bill-ladson","tag-bill-simmons","tag-buster-olney","tag-chase-utley","tag-dan-haren","tag-dave-johnson","tag-davey-johnson","tag-denard-span","tag-drew-storen","tag-jacoby-ellsbury","tag-jayson-stark","tag-jayson-werth","tag-joe-blanton","tag-joe-maddon","tag-john-lannan","tag-josh-hamilton","tag-mike-rizzo","tag-mike-scioscia","tag-rafael-soriano","tag-scott-boras","tag-steve-lombardozzi","tag-taylor-jordan","tag-tom-gorzelanny","tag-tyler-clippard","tag-tyler-moore"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7494","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=7494"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7494\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7497,"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7494\/revisions\/7497"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7494"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7494"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7494"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}