Major League Baseball’s Winter Meetings have finished in Indianapolis and the Nats’ front office is headed home. Can’t say this team is radically different than when they left. Ivan Rodriguez was signed as a free agent to be the backup catcher – though he may play a lot early in the season as Jesus Flores recovers from shoulder surgery in September. They also added another arm to the bullpen by trading for Yankees reliever Brian Bruney.
Nats took some hits on the length of the Rodriguez deal – two-years and $6 million for an aging player. But they wanted a veteran presence at that spot, he’s probably still better than Josh Bard and Wil Nieves – especially defensively – and they were going to have to overpay to get someone like that. Rodriguez will be introduced officially at a press conference tomorrow at Nationals Park. Expectations for a 38-year-old future Hall-of-Famer on his fifth team in 26 months? Maybe .260 with 10 homers and 50 RBI in 350 at-bats and creep that OPS up near .700. That’s not good. But it is better than what was here before.
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The Bruney trade is interesting. Nats gave up a Rule V pick to get him, which ended up being Dodgers outfielder Jamie Hoffman. He has an injury history, but gives the Nats a power arm and added depth to the bullpen. Then again – he was also left off New York’s postseason roster until the World Series and even then gave up three hits and two runs in 1/3 of an inning. The Nats bullpen almost has to be better than the 5.09 ERA it posted last season. But how much? Are Bruney and Mike MacDougal legitimate options at closer? Sean Burnett and Tyler Clippard both had good seasons last year and weren’t with the team until late June. Can they repeat that for a full season? Is top prospect Drew Storen a possibility or does he need more seasoning? Still a ton of questions here.
And until the starting rotation is sorted out we won’t know if guys like Craig Stammen and Garrett Mock and Collin Balester are options in the bullpen, too. That’s next up on Mike Rizzo’s list. Because right now it’s John Lannan and…and…a ton of holes. Stephen Strasburg is not a lock to start the year in Washington. You could argue he shouldn’t be even if he pitches well in spring training. Ross Detwiler showed flashes last year, especially during his September recall. We’ll find out Saturday if the Nats want to go to arbitration with lefthander Scott Olsen or just non-tender him. Olsen had surgery on a torn labrum over the summer. Rizzo wanted no part of oft-injured Shawn Hill last spring because of the constant question marks surrounding his health. He wants players he can rely on in the rotation. Does he roll the dice with Olsenl? J.D. Martin, Shairon Martis, Balester and Mock are all options. But I can’t imagine more than one of those pitchers starting the season in Washington’s rotation after what happened last year with such an inexperienced group.
Who else? The Nats maintain interest in Livan Hernandez and talked with his agent this week. Also still on the open market are Joel Piniero, Jason Marquis, John Smoltz and Jarrod Washburn. It might get expensive – in years and dollars – to grab one of those pitchers. But it would be difficult to go into the season without one of them – or someone similar acquired in a trade – and hope to avoid 100 losses again. Rizzo is still in search of a veteran middle infielder, too, before spring training starts in about two months.
