Nationals GM Mike Rizzo was disappointed to fall short of signing Jason Heyward, tweets William Ladson of MLB.com. The exact terms of their offer to Heyward are unknown, but it’s thought that they were prepared to guarantee at least $200MM. The club still covets a left-handed outfielder.
Here’s the latest on their search along with other Nats notes:
- The Nationals are in on Rockies outfielders Carlos Gonzalez and Charlie Blackmon, tweets Pete Kerzel of MASNsports.com. Gonzalez and Blackmon figure to command a hefty return. The oft-injured Gonzalez, 30, played in 153 games last season. He caught fire in the second half of the season with a .285/.337/.638 triple slash. He also reached a career best 40 home runs. Prior to the second half hot streak, he had suffered through a season and a half lost to injuries and below average production. Gonzalez has two years and $34MM remaining on his contract. Blackmon, by comparison, is projected to earn just $4.5MM in his first of three arbitration seasons. The 29-year-old is coming off a solid 2.1 WAR season (.287/.347/.450 slash).
- The club has remained in touch with free agent Denard Span too, tweets Ladson. Rizzo wants to confirm Span is healthy before making a commitment. Span’s agent, Scott Boras, is said to expect a multi-year contract.
- As for the bullpen, the Nationals have ended their pursuit of Aroldis Chapman, per Ladson (on Twitter). It goes without saying at this point, but the Reds will have to wait for the league to rule on Chapman’s future before they can re-market him. In my opinion, and in light of the criticism received by the Baltimore Ravens, Dallas Cowboys, and other NFL franchises related to domestic abuse cases, some MLB clubs may be out on Chapman at any price.
Davis / Upton / Cespedes
Can’t the Nationals sign any of the above with the money?
might not feel like they are worth the money they are going to get on the market.
Of course, but the lineup is heavily right-handed (Harper is the only lefty at the moment), so Rizzo is targeting left-handed outfielders. Davis is primarily a 1B (although I believe he has done some outfield work) and Ryan Zimmerman will be there for quite some time. If Rizzo does decide to go for a right-handed outfielder, it will probably be Upton, since he has an association with him from Arizona.
I think Davis wants to play first but he is very capable in right. Runs good routes and has a good arm
Can’t the Cardinals just trade for Cargo and go post for Meada?
I would love to see the cardinals trade prospects and take on cargo’s horrible contract.
Get him away from the thin air and he will be lucky to hit 20 home runs.
Another nail in the cardinals future.
Oh yeah sure. And those 16 HR’s he hit on the road last year (mostly in places like San Diego and San Francisco, where no one hits HR’s)? Figment of the imagination. And the very reasonable $17m he’s owed next year? Must be a mistake. It’s twice that.
Dude, you’re like, so plugged in to the universe. Some universe anyway.
CarGo’s horrible contract? Your team just offered Jason Heyward 10/200+ million and you think the 2/37 million for CarGo is horrible? Your thin air argument is just ridiculous. Coors Field will definitely enhance you BA and triples, but it is not markedly better for HRs than many other parks. In fact it was 5th in HRs behind Baltimore, Yankee Stadium, Wrigley, and Milwaukee. Do you think Kris Bryant is just a product of Wrigley Field? Was Chris Davis lucky because he played in Camden Yards? Of course Coors is a hitters park, but to think that their hitters cannot thrive elsewhere is just asinine.
You winch
Oh hell no he gets hurt too much
Looking more and more like Boxberger or McGee will be traded.
The Nationals would be wise to steer clear of both Gonzales and Blackmon as both have MAJOR home/road splits showing how they would likely perform away from Coors for 81 games a season. Plus, the Rockies want significant returns for each, and they’re just not worth it, IMHO.
If you judge Rockies hitters by the road numbers, then you would have to conclude that Jose Fernandez is nearly a 4 ERA pitcher (that’s his career mark for road games). That’s just one of a huge number of possible examples. It’s just poor analysis. If you prefer, just look at what Rockies hitters do when they leave Coors to play for another team. Dexter Fowler had monster splits as a Rockie too. So did Matt Holliday.
Look at the splits for Cargo and Blackmon and tell me in all seriousness that they could do well away from Coors. Nationals need to stay away from both of them.
Hate to break it to you, but lots of players in lots of parks have severe home road splits. Sometimes it’s an anomaly, sometimes it’s real, sometimes players just get an extra boost with a home crowd behind them.
Blackmon and cargo have each hit everywhere they’ve been historically. I wouldn’t trade for cargo personally but blackmon could be a great pickup for someone
In all seriousness, H/R splits are not reliable for Rockies hitters because Coors Field is such a drastically different environment than anywhere else. EVERY hitter that plays with Coors as a home field will have extreme H/R splits (some bigger than others, but almost all are quite drastic), which makes it a nearly useless stat for measuring skill for Rockies hitters. So you can choose to believe that H/R stats are unreliable for the Rockies OR that the Rockies have never had a big league hitter in the history of the team. Which do you think is the more likely correct answer.
“the Nationals have ended their pursuit of Aroldis Chapman”. And somewhere Dusty Baker is crying into his beer reading up on Archie Bunker quotes.
What would it take for CarGo to go to Washington? I was thinking a pitcher maybe Aj Cole and Shortstop Wilmer Difo and maybe more with the Rockies taking on some of that contract
Why would the Rockies eat cash? CarGo is signed for 2 years at 37 million. That is practically a bargain with the money that is being thrown around this offseason. With Story and Rodgers the Rox don’t really need Difo or any SS at this point.. Cole is somewhat intriguing although I would prefer Fedde just so I can say we got both 2013 first round TJ surgeries on the same team. Pair him with an OF/1B prospect and maybe a reliever and you might have something.
Michael A. Taylor & A. J. Cole for Charlie Blackmon..?
I don’t think the Nats have much middle infields depth among prospects after Turner and Difo, so I’d hate to see Difo go.
I get notifications about Reds updates. I originally saw this headline and thought “Awesome! Maybe the Nationals are interested in Bruce!”
Jk, Reds suck and are inept.
Nationals need an advantage on offense considering the Mets’ deep rotation.
Would like to see them sign Upton / Cespedes for a clear edge.