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John Lannan

Trade Candidate: John Lannan

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John Lannan and Chien-Ming Wang are currently battling for the Nationals' fifth starter job, a competition created by the team's Edwin Jackson signing last month.  Since Wang was re-signed as a free agent in November, Lannan seems more likely to be traded this spring.

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Lannan, a 27-year-old southpaw, posted a 3.70 ERA, 5.2 K/9, 3.7 BB/9, 0.73 HR/9, and 54.1% groundball rate in 184 2/3 innings last year.  Though his career ERA sits at an even 4.00, Lannan's recent SIERA figures suggest he's more of a 4.50-type pitcher.  He's pitched 182 or more innings in each of the last four seasons, including a minor league stint in 2010.  Lannan takes the ball every fifth day, and his groundball rate ranked sixth in the National League in 2011.

With a $5MM salary, Lannan provides a modest amount of surplus value.  He's technically under team control through 2013, but if another typical season pushes him to the $7.5MM salary range for that season, he might be non-tendered this December.  So, Lannan's trade value lies mostly with the 2012 season.

It's difficult to find a team with a big need for $5MM innings guy right now.  The Brewers may have mild concerns over Shaun Marcum's shoulder, but Marco Estrada would be a suitable fill-in.  A.J. Burnett's Pirates debut may be delayed until June due to a broken orbital bone beneath his eye, but would the team be inclined to spend an additional $5MM because of that half-season injury?  The Giants' Ryan Vogelsong is dealing with back pain, but he'll miss less time than Burnett.  The Angels have standard fifth starter uncertainty given Jerome Williams' hamstring injury, but not enough to necessitate an acquisition.

The Orioles' rotation has its share of aches and pains, but plenty of candidates as well.  The Red Sox and Blue Jays could use some depth, but their current candidates are more interesting than Lannan, if less reliable.  The Indians have four pitchers vying for their fifth starter job.

The Tigers seem a bit more open than most to adding a starting pitcher, though presumably not at the cost of $5MM and/or a useful young player.  There's also a case for the Athletics to add someone like Lannan.  Overall, though, it's clearly a buyer's market if the Nationals look to trade the lefty.  Though GM Mike Rizzo has said he's always open-minded to any deal that positively impacts the club, I don't think it'll happen with Lannan this spring unless another club suffers a major loss in its rotation.

Photo courtesy of Icon SMI.

Cafardo On Lannan, Bourjos, Cespedes, Vazquez

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Jason Varitek is facing a very difficult decision, and the catcher has been considering the very difficult reality of retirement, writes Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe.  Varitek, who turns 40 in April, would seem to be a good fit in Minnesota.  The Twins will likely carry three catchers as Joe Mauer will need time to DH and rest and Ryan Doumit will mostly DH while also backing up Mauer.

Varitek isn't the only veteran wondering about his baseball future.  Ivan Rodriguez, Johnny Damon, Magglio Ordonez, and Vladimir Guerrero also hope to continue playing in 2012.  Here's more from Cafardo..

  • There is a lot of speculation that the Nationals will deal John Lannan to the Angels for Peter Bourjos, with the Halos putting Mike Trout in center field.  The Nats beat Lannan in arbitration last week and were said to be aggressively shopping the left-hander.  
  • Alternatively, the Nats could move Jayson Werth to center and sign a right fielder.  Cafardo adds that it now appears that Yoenis Cespedes is not in their plans and they have cooled on B.J. Upton.
  • Javier Vazquez is retired for now, but Cafardo wonders if a team could convince him to play.  An AL GM remarked that Vazquez would be a perfect fourth or fifth starter on a contending team and believes that the pitcher looks as good as he's ever been.
  • Scott Boras is no longer representing Manny Ramirez.  Ramirez signed on with Boras in early 2008 and the agent negotiated the slugger's two-year, $45MM contract with the Dodgers the following year.
  • Boras wound up receiving eight offers in total for Prince Fielder, including the winning bid from the Tigers.
  • A couple of agents are frustrated after dealing with the Red Sox front office/ownership lately as compared to what they were used to in the past.  However, there has been quite a bit of praise for GM Ben Cherington.
  • Right-hander Brandon Webb hasn't given up on pitching and according to one American League executive, the plan is for the 32-year-old to throw for teams sometime in March.
  • Mark Prior is also looking to attempt one more comeback.  The right-hander, who spent some of last season with the Yankees, had surgery for a sports hernia and the problem isn't completely corrected.  Like Webb, Prior could work out for teams as early as March.
  • Knuckleballer Charlie Haeger was supposed to be in Red Sox minor league camp but instead ripped up his elbow long-tossing over the winter.  The veteran will unfortunately miss the season.
  • Cafardo feels that the Red Sox missed an opportunity to sign Edwin Jackson to a good value deal at one year, $10MM and shouldn’t let Roy Oswalt slip away now.

Notes On The Edwin Jackson Signing

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Nationals GM Mike Rizzo held a conference call with media this afternoon to discuss his team's agreement with right-hander Edwin Jackson.  Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post has some of the pertinent details…

  • "We did not acqire Edwin Jackson to trade another starting pitcher," Rizzo said.  "In spring training or before spring training, if a deal comes up we can’t pass up that positively impacts our ball club, we’d certainly be open-minded to it.”  We heard earlier today that the Nats were shopping John Lannan in order to free up some room for Jackson in the club's rotation.
  • In regards to Lannan, Rizzo said that though the southpaw has a minor league option remaining, Washington won't send him down to Triple-A.  "We feel that he’s a major league-caliber starting pitcher,” Rizzo said. “He’s a major league starter, and he’s ready to help a contending team. That’s what we’re going to use him as.”
  • Rizzo noted that six of last year's playoff teams had at least two starters with 200 innings pitched, and Jackson's presence will help correct the "innings shortage" Rizzo said the Nationals suffered last year.  This would seem to be a point in favor of the Nats keeping Lannan, as Kilgore notes Chien-Ming Wang's injury history, Stephen Strasburg's 160-inning limit and the fact that Jordan Zimmermann has never thrown more than 161 frames in a season.
  • The Nationals began talking with Scott Boras about Jackson within the last two weeks, and Jackson's willingness to accept a one-year contract was the turning point in negotiations.  “The term and the value was too good to pass up," Rizzo said.  "We felt it improved our club immensely. There comes a point where his value was such that we were comfortable making the deal.”

Nationals Aggressively Shopping John Lannan

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After beating John Lannan in an arbitration hearing this week, the Nationals are now aggressively shopping the left-hander according to Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports. The move would potentially clear $5MM in payroll, and Rosenthal says (on Twitter) they are targeting Edwin Jackson (not Roy Oswalt). Signing Jackson is contingent on trading Lannan, he adds. The Nationals would like to get a position player in a trade for Lannan, MLB.com's Bill Ladson tweets.

Gio Gonzalez, Stephen Strasburg, and Jordan Zimmermann are locks for Washington's rotation, and Chien-Ming Wang is a safe bet as well given his $4MM salary. That leaves Lannan and Ross Detwiler for the final spot, though Detwiler is out of options. He could potentially shift to the bullpen if the team is able to move Lannan and sign someone like Oswalt or Jackson.

Lannan, 27, is the team's highest paid pitcher. He posted a 3.70 ERA with 5.2 K/9 and 3.7 BB/9 in 184 2/3 innings last year. It marked the third time in four seasons that he has started 30 games, pitched 180-plus innings and kept his ERA under 4.00. He will be under team contract as an arbitration-eligible player in 2013.

Nationals Beat Lannan In Arbitration

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The Nationals beat John Lannan in arbitration, so the left-hander will earn $5MM in 2012, Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post tweets. A hearing took place yesterday to determine whether Lannan should earn $5.7MM, as he and his representatives at CAA requested, or $5MM, as the Nationals offered.

All of the Nationals' arbitration eligible players are now signed for 2012, as MLBTR's Arbitration Tracker shows. Lannan was arbitration eligible for the second time this offseason and will remain under club control through 2013. The 27-year-old posted a 3.70 ERA with 5.2 K/9 and 3.7 BB/9 in 184 2/3 innings last year. It marked the third time in four seasons that he has started 30 games, pitched 180-plus innings and kept his ERA under 4.00.

John Lannan Had Arbitration Hearing Today

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Nationals southpaw John Lannan had his arbitration hearing today, tweets MLB.com's Bill Ladson.  We'll know soon whether the CAA Sports client will be paid $5.7MM or $5MM in 2012.  Lannan's hearing was the first of 2012, and arbitrators Robert Herzog, Elizabeth Neumeier and John Skonier are expected to decide by Thursday according to the AP.

A file and trial team, the Nationals have had arbitration hearings with Alfonso Soriano, Chad Cordero, John Patterson, Felipe Lopez, Shawn Hill, Sean Burnett, and Brian Bruney since 2006.  The Nationals won five of the seven hearings.

Arbitration Filing Numbers

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Many players avoided arbitration today, but dozens of others exchanged figures with their teams in anticipation of hearings. Most cases won't go to arbitration hearings, but teams such as the Rays, Nationals, Marlins, White Sox, Blue Jays and Braves have stuck to 'file and trial' policies in the past. 

MLBTR's arbitration tracker will keep you up to date on every one of the filing numbers from around the game, but here are the highlights — players who filed for $4MM or more. Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com had most of the info with MLBTR and others also contributing:

Nationals Links: Lannan, Willingham, Roster

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A few items about the D.C. nine….

Players To Avoid Arbitration: Monday

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Teams and players exchange arbitration figures tomorrow if they haven't already come to terms for 2011. That means plenty of players will likely avoid arbitration today. We'll keep track of them all right here and with our Arbitration Tracker; the latest updates are at the top of this post:

Odds & Ends: Tigers, White Sox, Lannan, Looper

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Monday night linkage..

  • The Tigers went from sellers to buyers this offseason, writes MLB.com's Jason Beck.
  • Hank Blalock's former teammates are surprised to see him still without a job, writes T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com.  Earlier today we heard that the Rays and Marlins are thought to have interest in the 29-year-old.
  • Pitcher Cha Seung Baek tried out for the Mariners today, tweets Corey Brock of MLB.com.  Baek last pitched in the majors in 2008 and was released by San Diego in October of 2009.
  • Chuck Garfien of CSNChicago.com spoke to White Sox GM Ken Williams, who said that he nearly pulled off a deal that would have possibly given the club the best rotation in the history of the game.  Williams wouldn't name names, but Garfien believes that he was referring to Roy Halladay.
  • Nats pitcher John Lannan has decided to part ways with agent Andrew Mongelluzzi and latch on with Brodie Van Wagenen of Creative Artists Agency, according to Bill Ladson of MLB.com.  Lannan will be arbitration-eligible after the 2010 season and become a free agent after the 2013 campaign.
  • While the Dodgers remain in contact with Braden Looper's representation, the chances for a deal are slim as they cannot offer him a spot in the rotation or the salary he wants, writes MLB.com's Ken Gurnick.
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