8:17pm: A Nationals official said he'd be "surprised if we missed this opportunity" to extend Zimmerman, writes Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post.
3:04pm: Hurdles still exist between Zimmerman and the Nationals, Amanda Comak and Marc Lancaster of the Washington Times write. Manager Davey Johnson says he'd endorse an extension for the third baseman.
9:32am: Zimmerman said he's close to an extension, ESPN's Tim Kurkjian tweets. The third baseman suggested he wants a no-trade clause, according to Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post (on Twitter). He said he's willing to sign a "team friendly" deal since he wants to play in Washington. The sides haven't yet agreed on the no-trade issue, Heyman tweets.
FRIDAY, 7:26am: Zimmerman didn't ask for "Tulo money," Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com tweets. The deal between Zimmerman and the Nationals would be in the $18MM per season range, Heyman writes. Fellow 2005 first rounder Troy Tulowitzki signed a ten-year, $157.75MM extension last offseason.
THURSDAY, 4:46pm: Kilgore reports that most notable hurdle remaining is no-trade language (Twitter links). Amanda Comak of The Washington Times says the two sides are close, but not significantly closer than they were this morning.
4:15pm: The Nationals and Zimmerman are close to an extension, reports Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (Twitter links). The new deal would be for at least six years, but Rosenthal cautions that deal-breakers remain in place and are described as "real."
MLB.com's Bill Ladson hears that the two sides are "close to a resolution" on an extension (Twitter link).
11:05am: Rizzo and Van Wagenen are expected to meet this afternoon, Kilgore reports. It may be the final face-to-face meeting before the deadline for a deal.
9:16am: The Nationals remain "hopeful" that they'll work out an extension with third baseman Ryan Zimmerman, GM Mike Rizzo told reporters, including Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post. The Nationals will continue talking to Zimmerman until this Saturday's deadline, though there's no guarantee of a deal.
“I don’t have a real good idea on the deadline, whether it’ll get done or not," Rizzo said. "We’re continuing to try.”
Rizzo said the deadline won't stop him from talking to agent Brodie Van Wagenen, according to MLB.com's Bill Ladson (on Twitter). Van Wagenen was in Nationals camp yesterday, though we shouldn't over-analyze his presence since agents regularly attend Spring Training and he also represents Drew Storen and John Lannan.
Trade Rendon?
He’s a second baseman. Ryan is underrated and a stud. So good on defense and a quality hitter.
No. Hes a third baseman.
For now, but wasn’t the talk at draft time around trying him out at second?
Sure, talk was such. The Nats are starting him at 3B, however.
I’m not saying he won’t be moved to second or first down the road.
Actually, it came out earlier this week that Davey Johnson had asked Rendon to come in early so he could get started on working at 2B AND SS.
Everything I have heard/read says that Rendon is projected to be well above average defensively as a major league thrid baseman. Zimmerman is amazing, but it’s definitely a decision that’s going to have to be made. He might be most valuable to them in trade with the dearth of quality third basemen at the moment.
Zim to 1st makes sense in a couple years
Maybe in several years. If Rendon is as good as billed he will hit an MLB roster long before one of the best defensive 3Bs in MLB is moved to first.
Why would you trade away a potential Top 10 prospect(when healthy)?
If you extend Zim, move Rendon to 2B
I’m still not convinced Zim can play third for a long time and stay healthy.
Why? He had a fluke injury brought on by sliding headfirst.. He looked fine once he came back this year. Unless he has an abnormal amount of errors this year I don’t see any reason why you move him.
In the case that he does look clearly affected by it, at that point you discuss with him that it’d be best to move to 1B
He came into ST last year with an oblique strain and sat out the start and that contributed to the abdominal tear or whatever happened to him last season. And dont for get that he only played 105-6 games 3 years ago too.
Obviously the Nats front office have the same concerns or they’d have given Zimmerman an extension already.
Zimmerman for Longoria
god you would be a great GM
its more even than people think..
When you take contracts into account, it’s not remotely close.
It is so far from being even. It’s not a debate. They may be comparable players, but their contract situations are so disparate that the trade proposal is absolutely ludicrous.
This isn’t the NBA.
I imagine Zimmerman is going want Werth-plus money.
7 years, $140 million.
He’ll want Tulo money
Ridiculous amount of money for a good yet aging player. he does not deserve that much. He should be well compensated but Werth or Tulo money is overpaying well over what he is worth
lol what? They’re the same age, have similar career stats, and both offer GG defense at premium positions.
Werth is vastly over paid. No way he is worth his contract amount. Tulo is a great player but because he is larger than the average shortstop, his plays appear to be spectacular. Someone like Reyes or Andrus can get to the ball quicker and thus make it look easier. Tulo has a tremendous bat and thus is thought of as the “best shortstop” in MLB. He’s got the best bat in terms of power but not average. In my opinion, he is not the best short and is overpaid. Zimmerman has been hurt and maybe I misspoke about the age because it just seems he is older because he missed so much time last season. He should be well compensated but not along the lines of the above mentioned contracts.
Over the past three years, Tulo has the second best average, second best OBP and best slugging % by a mile among MLB shortstops. As far as defense, over the same period, he is ranked as the 6th best fielding shortstop in MLB. Put that all together and you easily have the best shortstop in the game, no question. Who could you possibly think is a better shortstop than him at this moment?
In terms of overall contribution to his team, it’s Jose Reyes.
He is a four-time All-Star and led the major leagues in triples in 2005, 2006, and 2008. Reyes also led the National League in stolen bases in 2005, 2006, and 2007. He was the NL batting champion in 2011.
He will never lead in home runs but his other contributions are plenty.
Exactly zero people think Reyes is on the level of Tulowitzki. Tulo’s a better hitter, and a better fielder, and it’s really not close.
He will never lead in triples, but his other contributions are much better.
The fact that you had to resort to the number of triples he had in a season is pretty much all anyone needs to read to know how flimsy your argument is. There really can’t be any way that you would prefer to have Reyes over Tulowitzki, given the choice. Of course Reyes is good, but Tulo is a legitimate middle of the order bat that plays an excellent shortstop. Come on…
Im a Met fan and I don’t think Reyes was ever better than Tulo. That’s just ridiculous.
Im a Met fan and I don’t think Reyes was ever better than Tulo. That’s just ridiculous.
Werth is vastly over paid. No way he is worth his contract amount. Tulo is a great player but because he is larger than the average shortstop, his plays appear to be spectacular. Someone like Reyes or Andrus can get to the ball quicker and thus make it look easier. Tulo has a tremendous bat and thus is thought of as the “best shortstop” in MLB. He’s got the best bat in terms of power but not average. In my opinion, he is not the best short and is overpaid. Zimmerman has been hurt and maybe I misspoke about the age because it just seems he is older because he missed so much time last season. He should be well compensated but not along the lines of the above mentioned contracts.
You must not follow baseball
When healthy, Zimmerman is the Best 3B in the National League, and is a close 2nd to only Evan Longoria in terms of Best 3B in Baseball.
Just a heads up, Tulo > Reyes. Not even a debate.
Is Zimmerman the best in the NL? Maybe, but I bet a lot of people would take a healthy Pablo Sandoval over him. I also would prefer Beltre to Zimmerman, and he’s not as close to Longo as you think.
Isnt every player technically an aging one? by your account nobody who gets older should get paid well. His skills havent declined, he is still pretty young, and he plays a premium position…why wouldn’t you pay him
I’m a big Zim fan but I see no reason to rush. I’d like to see that he’s fully recovered and can be the player he was two years ago. If he proves he is–and that would take anywhere from half to 3/4 of a season, lock him up. His agent won’t say no to the right offer at that time.
He’s two full seasons away from free agency. When a player who’s been injured is anxious for an extension that far in advance, it only underscores the need to establish that he’s fully healthy and can produce at the level he wants to be paid for.
Zimmerman is a great commodity lock him up! If Rendon is amazing in 2-3 years worry about it then and conver Rendon to a different position or move zimmerman to first. There is no such thing as too much talent, heck the Angels are going into the season with 3 first baseman!
Zimmerman is a great commodity lock him up! If Rendon is amazing in 2-3 years worry about it then and conver Rendon to a different position or move zimmerman to first. There is no such thing as too much talent, heck the Angels are going into the season with 3 first baseman!
In a somewhat random statement i just wanna say that its funny how evey year David Wright is considered better than Zimm by pre-season ranking, etc, and with the exception of last year being a wash for both, Zimm always has a better year. Just goes to show how he is underrated
MLB.tv had Wright ranked the TENTH best 3rd baseman on a recent panel of 3 former player “experts” and a computer performance analysis and projection. I don’t think it is just Citi field….or past injuries….I think Wright’s head has gone somewhere other than having the belief in himself that an elite player has. Not sure he ever will return to the level he was previously regarded as no matter how far the fences are moved in.
He has seriously regressed at the plate ever since becoming “the guy”. Used to have great opposite field power and was a terrific 2 strike hitter. Now he always pulls and is a K machine. Its sad.
Thankfully they know what they’re talking about. And I just checked and, as usual, Wright is ranked higher than Zimm in fantasy. Though i know its different than real life since D isn’t taken into account, i still find it pretty interesting.
Of course he’s ranked higher in fantasy, he’s a .300 career hitter who steals bases and has averaged 100 runs scored and 100 RBIs for his career. Don’t confuse fantasy with real baseball.
In Wright’s defense, and though I don’t know to what extent he’ll bounce back to in the revamped ballpark, he’s definitely a better career hitter than Zimmerman. Wright’s had a career low 118 wRC+ in 2011, which is Zimmerman’s career mark.
I don’t know any ranking that’s had Wright over Zimmerman the past 3 years. Even Mets fans know Zimmerman has a better glove and bat than Wright.
What ranking has recently had Wright higher than Zimmerman?
Zimm hasn’t “always” had the better year. Wright was MUCH better hitter up until 2009 (had an OPS about 120 points higher than Zimm through the end of 2008). Since then Zimmerman has improved, and Wright has slipped and as a result Zimm has gotten much more love than Wright. The only “rankings” Wright has been ranked higher in of late are the fantasy-type rankings largely b/c they put a lot of value in stolen bases
Exciting! I am sure RZ kept team’s future budget in mind or so I hope.
Come on Rizzo, why would you want a no-trade clause on face of the franchise guy?
I got excited, I thought they were extending Jordan Zimmermann.
They should do this as well.
Ridiculous if the hangup is a no-trade clause. He’ll be at 10-5 pretty soon anyway.
I’m predicting he’ll get 6 years/100 million
I’m a Met fan and I’d like to see him stay with the Nationals for awhile.
Don’t really like seeing divisional rivals improve, but I make exceptions when it’s because they extend their homegrown stars. I hope this gets done and both sides end up happy.
Didn’t ask for Tulo money but got more than Tulo… nice!
Didn’t ask for Tulo money but got more than Tulo… nice!