Umm, maybe CF. Bowden knows that they will be available this year. He just said so. Personally, I lean toward Torii Hunter. Having him on the squad for the next 5 years will surely put some teeth in to marketing to a largely African-American area. He's a face-of-the-franchise player that's wants to be featured in a big market. let's go get him.

So, just to confirm we offered Soriano to the Yanks and Twins for Hughes/Graza straight up and to the Red Sox for Buchholz straight up and all three teams rejected it? I didn't know that. Fascinating. Any other deals out there that didn't materilize for Soriano last year? I think Bowden is criticized too much by the media (ESPN in particular) for not dealing Soriano.

On CF...and a veteran pitcher...a pitcher who may not be an ace, but could be a great help/leader for a young staff. Andrew Jones, Rowan, Hunter and Johnny Damon all could be good cf's. Since we need some power, I'd go with Jones or Hunter.

Tori Hunter...hip-hoppa, somewhere I heard that he likely would not sign with the Nats as he doesn't feel they are primed for a title run, and he is over 30. My guess is Streinbrenner will nab him to play CF. I'd love to have him patrolling the new Nats park though. I really don't want Jones. Actually, I kinda like Nook there, if what we've seen post all-star break is the real Nook.

Torii Hunter is who I'd spend money on. He is still reasonably young and his stats are great. He is also a great defender, team leader and a character guy. He spends a lot of time and money on community stuff, which is important in a city like Washington. I'd love to have that type of leadership in the clubhouse.

We could also use another HR threat in the corner outfield positions as well.

I say:

Make a run at Hunter and Rowand, but if it's too pricey stick with Nook, Pena, and Kearns. Veteran catcher.

Honestly, I'd rather not spend the money just because we have it. Save it. All our moves should be in the minors. This team can hold its own and while it's not championship numbers, it could reach .500 next year, which would sell plenty of tickets and build plenty of hype while the real work is happening down on the farm.

It's gotta be spent on adding more to the offense. Just look back a few weeks ago when the team put together the pretty good winning streak. The offense was coming through and putting up runs on a constant basis which gave the pitching just enough support. The young pitchers will keep us in the majority of games and should continue to get better. No reason to overpay for a veteran pitcher this offseason

Go after Rowand!

Nice summary of the ugly starting pitching options. There may be no place to spend the money sensibly. Hunter will get a huge offer from Texas and has roots in Dallas so is just a fantasy here. Damon is signed and would only be available in trade. Even if he is available, he has no arm and would be a defensive liability. That said, the idea of a high OBP lead-off hitter who can run is very appealing. If there were a middle infielder who fit that bill, then the list of options in the OF expands. Spending money on a CF who ends up with an albatross contract just does make sense.

I think Bowden's given the answer to the question -- the money is going to be spent in CF. I am glad to see that they aren't buying the Nook Logan mirage -- I know he's putting up better numbers but I still question his baseball instincts. The diving play he made Sunday was due to the fact he misplayed the ball by backing up on it before he ran in. The only one in the media I heard mention that was Ray Knight.

I think the money is going to be spent on two outfielders -- Adam Dunn and a centerfielder. Like everyone else, I think its going to be Hunter, Rowland or Andruw Jones. I'd prefer Andruw, I think he has the most upside, and that this is just an off year for him. Could be a bargain (if there is such a thing in free agency...)

What? You could not get Bowden to say what Cincinnati Red he is going after in the off season? Will it be Griffey or Dunn for our outfield? It has nothing to do with tallent, but who he picked 10+ years ago. Remember, the saying the past two seasons was "Get Your Red On". "Red" being the key word.

My money is on making a good show and going after Hunter, Jones, ect... but settling for Dunn.

Please please don't spend money on Andruw Jones. SO overrated! Boras is his agent. Yuck. His defense has been horrid over the past three seasons and his offense is in the tank, despite some power.

Hunter is a decent player, but at 32, his numbers are set to decline (plus, he plays in Minnesota, which tends to favor speed guys). Also, he'll cost a fortune.

Let's take a flier on Fukudome! He'll be expensive and totally unproven at this level, but if we need a CF and Logan isn't the answer, let's do it!

(So much fun to play with other people's money!)

In the previous discussion the ever-erudite Hendo was waxing lyrical:

--- --- ---

To the tune of "Guantanamera":

Albaladejo [one-two-three] -- we love some Albaladejo
Al-ba-la-deee-jooo, we need some Al-ba-la-deee-jooo

That's the chorus. How about some verses from our other lyricists?

--- --- ---

Which has me thinking about the possibilities in making a slight tweak to the lyrics of Bob Dylan's "Quinn the Eskimo", turning it into "Zimm the National". A small excerpt:

'Cause when Zimm the National
Hits one
Everybody's gonna jump for joy
(chorus)
Go on, get out! (did you see it!)
Go on, get out! (where he hit it!)
You've not seen nothing
like the Mighty Zimm

"it could reach .500 next year, which would sell plenty of tickets and build plenty of hype" - When was the last time .500 sold tickets? Getting over 81 wins sells tickets, certain players sell tickets (though very very few of them can single-handedly), and playoff teams sell tickets. Champions sell tickets. Not .500 teams. Theyve got to get over the .500 mark with the audiences that they have, and go from there.

Im not so sure if Fukudome will cost a lot, mostly because he is viewed as MLB unproven. Most importantly, he wont require a posting fee. Thats a mess.

If Dunn becomes a free agent, the Nats should sign him immediatly. Forget the fact he used to be a Red, played under Jim Bowden, and was teammates with a few guys all ready here, but remember, hes a genuinely GOOD player.

Of the FA CFs Id get Jones because I believe he would be the youngest, and the most lineup altering.

Honestly, Id only really look at signing Dunn and have Maxwell-Bernadina patrol center. Atleast for a year.

Then again, what about Mike Cameron?

List of F/A pitchers: worse than yuck. Bet that the one most overpaid for is Prior. Someone will cross their fingers and hope/pray/delude themselves that he really can get back to where the Cubbies thought that he would be.

OK, I'm becoming more intrigued with Logan. He's beginning to do some of the basics the way he is supposed to. He seems to have learned to take the first step back, even if you need to come in. On one deep fly, to his right, he went back before cutting across, quite properly. On a deep fly to dead center, he went back, picked it up and made the catch. That is the most difficult play for a CF. to make.

Maybe the answer is a big bopper in left. I don't know who is up for F/A, but, Wily Mo has not impressed me (not that my judgment matters) so far (and that includes the HR he his yesterday.

Can we get Livan Hernandez for a decent price? He looks quite a bit slimmer this year than he did when he was wearing a Nationals uniform, and I really like to laugh when his "big slow curveball" makes hitters look stupid.

And to echo what Catcher50 just said, Logan has been looking good in the field lately.

We could use A-Rod!

I guess the question is 'How much do the Nats really believe in Maxwell as the CF of the future?' If they do, they want a short term CF solution. (Hey, Andruw! Spend a year in DC and take 2 at earning a fat long-term deal).

Barry, correct me if I'm wrong, but I seem to remember reading a column of yours that intimated that Livo was part of a clubhouse clique (with Vidro and Guillen) that management wanted to clear out.

I agree that we shouldn't spend money just because we can, once you start overpaying it's hard to stop and down that road lies some ugly sites.

I think we have the 10 SPs we'll invite to camp;
Patterson
Redding
Hill
Bergmann
Chico
Lannan
Hanrahan
Detwiler
Balester
Mock

We'll know much better by winter where we are with Maxwell, Flores and K. Casto to make better decisions on who will fill the backup CA slot, CF and IF Bench. Then Bowden can start looking at how much we really have and need to spend. The goal is .500 plus and to make a run at the wildcard spot, with Guz and NJ back, what do we need from outside the organization to make that happen?

Andrew Stebbins asked "When was the last time .500 sold tickets?"

Um, 2005 in RFK. Of course it did help that the season record of 81-81 was made up of a 50-31 first half followed by a 30-51 second half. Doing it the other way around might not have worked as well...

Side by side comparisons of Hunter, Rowand and AJones will prove to anyone that Hunter is easily the best value and we should pull out the stops for him $10-12M/year for 4-5 years.

Dunn would be a mistake; we already have one free swinging strikeout machine in Pena. Not to mention 6 former Cincinnati players. If they were so good in cincy, why weren't they a powerhouse?

Other Free Agency/offseason thoughts: ignore pitching market unless we can do a 4-5M/year flyer on a guy we think can be better than our #4/#5 starters (Redding and/or Chico). Try to replace Batista w/ a cheaper off-the-bench hitting alternative (moot if Maxwell blossoms). Trade Church for minor league hitting. Trade Logan and Langerhans for whatever you can get. Only offer Patterson and Escobar incentive laden MLB min contracts and make them earn their money. Cut loose everyone else that can't hit their way out of a paper bag (Fick, Jiminez, Langerhans). Give Kearns and Lopez one-year ultimatums to produce or think about replacing them too.

I don't know who is on the market, but how about spending some money on a second baseman who can hit? Felipe seems like a nice guy and all, but I think we could do better without him.

Bring Livan back, Hill will be the #1 starter, with Lannan, Hanrahan, Bergmann, Chico, Redding, and Patterson competing for spots 3-5. The Nats need to upgrade at least two of the outfield positions and let the current group fight for the remaining starting job.

Why not get Podsednik and Dunn? Seems like Bowden has no problem picking up ex-Reds and Dunn fits the bill for power, not a bad fielder, either.

Podsednik - great fielder, can hit lead-off, not too expensive and the Tribune columnists out here all seem to think he's played his last game in the 2nd city.

We trade either Nook or Church, keep the other as #4 - I'd be inclined to keep Nook, as he's closer to Pods in skill and Pods might not be able to hack a full 162 next year. This would probably leave Wily Mo out, as well. I like him, but I think Dunn/Pods/Kearns is a much better outfield than Wily Mo/Nook/Kearns.

Part of my thinking is that if Nook is not-to-be the starting CF next year than we need to find someone to hit leadoff. I wasn't impressed w/ Lopez up top and it sounds like if Guzman can MOVE than they're going to have him playing short anyway. I like Belliard at 2nd which means we'd need to bring in a #1 hitter.

Maybe, but $30M/a won't get you in the door for an interview with Boras.
------
We could use A-Rod!
Posted by: Nats Fan | September 4, 2007 01:11 PM

Trust in Randy St. Claire, get a couple of big bats, and let Manny find someplace to play them.

I disagree that we need to spend on a veteran pitcher. Not at all.

As for CF, I've been jonesing for Torii all along, but I don't have much hope. Dude's going to be in very high demand for much sexier teams. (not that I think Nats aren't sexy, but see previous posts about Baseball Tonight/ESPN Nats coverage). Please do not, repeat DO NOT, pay for Andruw Jones. I was a Braves fan until 2005 so I had plenty of love for him, but the Boras factor and his seeming decline just scream NO WAY. As for Dunn and Rowand? Meh. Go ahead if we can get a decent price.

I'm starting to agree with others that we may not need to spend it all now just because we can. Use a little to get hold of some minor league position players to get stocked up, but let's see what happens next year with what we've got, (or who we get for off-season trades for Church and/or Logan and/or Lopez), especially if we can get Guzman, Johnson, and Patterson (in descending order of liklihood) back on the team in full form.

Thanks Barry for the tasty tidbits about the Soriano-for-pitching non-trades.

BTW, I've seen a couple of comments about Felipe's attitude/actions being a problem. Can anyone elaborate. What actions? What attitude (Hustle?, Reluctance to be coached?, bad behavior?)

FAs are so risky. By the end of the contract one inevitably feels like the team overpaid. Having said that, this franchise needs an infusion of position player talent, so it might be worth a shot. I'd like to know more about Fukodome. It seems that scouts don't think he's a CF defensively. If not, I'd go with Rowand. He's the best combination of relative youth, production, and attitude. My only caution is that his numbers are probably a little pumped up by CBP and the line up he's hitting in.

How about these for the off season moves:

1. Sign Rowand (or Fukodome)

2. Package Lopez and one or two of the solid middle relievers (Schroder, Colome, Wagner, Abreu, Rivera, King) for an upgrade at 2B.

3. Plan to give Wily Mo 550 ABs. He's still young, and I think he deserves a full time shot.

4. Plan to be patient with the young pitching. Start Detwiler, Balester, etc. in AAA or lower. Bring them up perhaps in mid year.

5. Assume you'll need both Da Meat and NJ next year given their sketchy track records.

I forgot to add that some money should pay for Dmitri's weight loss plan so he can feasibly play the outfield. With Nick Johnson (hopefully) returning, we've got a log-jam at first base.

I agree with Nats Fan. A Rod will opt out of NY and Washington would be a great place for him, with no pressure he had in NY. Plus he could move back to his natural position of shortstop. It would be a big contract to swallow, but it could be doable. You would have to eat the rest of Guzman's contract, but you have really done that for three years anyway right? You leave Nook out in centerfield and hope what we have seen the past month is what you will get.

Of course it won't happen. I don't believe Hunter will consider DC and I doubt Jones would either. Plus he is a Boras client if I'm not mistaken and he will hold him out for top dollar. That should be interesting, contract demands considering his performance this year. Of the three big names, I think we only have a chance at Rowland. Which would be a nice pickup.

Unfortunately I think the money will go to an outfielder this off season and he's already playing in Cincinnati.

Since we already have red uniforms, do you think we could just change our names to the Reds?

I have been mulling this question over for a while... and the topic keeps coming up in its varied forms... so I'll ask it now, and someone that is more facile in the stats can take a shot at it...

Is there a statistic or index that compares the relative value/cost of players in different positions? Barry's post (and Bowden's comments) indicates that young pitching has added value that goes beyond the salary and statistical analysis of recent performance. That being the case, how does one evaluate the relative merits of a Soriano vs. a promising A ball pitcher? There must be enough information out there for someone to have done some sort of market analysis.

As for free agent CFs, I was watching the Texas game the other day, and the announcers said that they thought that the chances of Hunter going to Texas were very high, because he owns a home in Dallas... that would make sense to me.

Here's the other thing... since young pitching has such great value, seems that the Nats are in a particularly good place to be in terms of trading for a CF, rather than diving into the free agent market. I've said before, I think that the value you get in trade is higher than the value you get in the free agent market... My question above would help to quantify that suspicion, especially if you could express the relative value of players in relation to dollars.

As for pitching... look back over the last two months of the season... and ask yourself, how many times have starting pitchers left the Nats in a situation where they were out of the game by the 5th inning? The answer is, not too often. It happens, but it happens with every team. All you really want from your starters is to get to the 6th or 7th inning in a position to win... and more often than not, it has been the lack of offense that has hurt them, rather than pitching or defense... though (without mentioning names) there were a few mental lapses on the last road trip that cost... The point is... we're in as good a shape for pitching as you could expect, and most of our pitchers are at the beginning of their careers, rather than the end. Nobody thinks that 2008 is a penant race year. Dress rehearsal is more like it... so take a flier with the young pitchers, trade for a CF that has speed, pop and five good years in him... teach WMP to make contact, get Nick healthy... it is actually a pretty short to-do list for the offseason, compared to "find five starting pitchers, plus stock your entire farm system..."

As for where to spend the money, if we can get Damon, put him in LF.You could probably get him for relief pitching maybe with some cash to offset the contract. Then go get a CF in free agency - preferably one with power (Rowand would do, but Jones is better). Keep Nook as a backup. Next go get the best 2B or SS you can. (I like Guzman and Belliard, but you have to move someone out somewhere). San Diego or Cleveland might be interested in Lopez (??). Thank Batista and Fick for great attitude and inspiration, but be prepared to displace them along with Jiminez and Langerhans. Trade Rauch and Rivera before anyone realizes how worn out they are. Keep Cordero unless you can really get good value. I was going to trade Tim Tolman too, but he seems to be over his slump. If he's good enough for Manny, I'll keep him.

Why is it, what irrational urge is seizing me, that I want Livo back next season?

Please stop me before I spend the Lerners' money foolishly. (I'll try to sit quietly and hum a few choruses of "Zimm the National." Brilliant, 502.)

Seriously, I don't care how much is spent as long as it's spent wisely -- and particularly not in overpaying for FA pitching. When in doubt, continue to stock the farm system.

A-Rod would have to play left field AND 3b/ss, all 162 games, to be worth paying the maybe $35M *PER YEAR* x 5? he's going to get. Yes, he would eat NL pitching alive. He might hit .400, drive in 200, and hit 75 HR, and he *still* wouldn't be worth that kind of money.
You can get 2 Sorianos and a Dmitri Young for that. So to speak.

It's not irrational, Hendo, it's the great deals we got on those Hernandez Nats jerseys that went on sale this summer.

---------
Why is it, what irrational urge is seizing me, that I want Livo back next season? ...
Posted by: Hendo | September 4, 2007 02:12 PM

Wigi asks: "Is there a statistic or index that compares the relative value/cost of players in different positions?"

You might have a look at Baseball Prospectus' VORP (Value Over Replacement Player), which tries to do just that.

maybe to the Reds for a toolsy outfielder ...

Trade Rauch and Rivera before anyone realizes how worn out they are.
Posted by: NatBisquit | September 4, 2007 02:07 PM

No doubt, RFK has won more games than any Nats player, and disguised a minor league pithing staff. How many "warning track" shots would have been walk-offs in any other park? 20 a year?

Yes Barry thanks so much for the insights on the trades that Bowden tried to make.

To me the biggest questions for the off-season are whether Guzman and Johnson will be healthy and back to form. If Guzman can lead off, and Bowden is convinced that Johnson will come back, then the Nats are a lot closer to the winning formula than most people expect; and ONLY THEN would I take a chance on a strikeout-prone slugger like Dunn or a defensive liability like Jones. Imagine Andruw Jones and Dmitri Young patroling the outfield together! That would be tough to watch.

Aaron Rowand? I know he's a .300 hitter and has said he'd like to play here, but watching him at RFK for the last Phillies series made me nervous. If he was auditioning for Bowden, he flamed out. Strikeout after strikeout, and tantrums at the plate (throwing his helmet, slamming his bat...). Is that his normal behavior?

Oh yes, and as for pitching, count me as one of the fans that wouldn't mind seeing Livan back in a Nationals uniform. When Bowden waved and traded him in '06, I thought "Good move. Get some pitching prospects (Chico), and Livan will be a free agent in a year so we can always get him back."

I don't think for a minute that he's a #1 or #2 starter anymore -- at least not for a contending team -- but Livan is very entertaining to watch, a fan favorite, and most importantly he does one thing that no current nationals pitcher can do: he will throw 200+ innings without breaking a sweat. Every staff needs pitchers who can do that, and the Nationals have none.

How many years can the Nats continue to have pitchers lead the league in relief appearances?

For all the Rowand advocates, have you seen his home/road splits? On the road, he's got a pedestrian 286/356/440. In the hitters' haven in Philly, he's Babe Ruth: 335/403/601.

Some team will overlook this and will way overpay for Rowand. I hope it's not the Nats.

Manny has said definitively, we will not see Dmitri Young in left field.
Torii Hunter is reported (mlbtraderumors.com/2007/09/torii-hunter-tu.html) to want $70M for 5 years, but he lives near Dallas, so if he doesn't go to a team the MSM gives a chance to win, he'd go there.

Tori Hunter will be here next year, along with A-Rod! And Jon Miller will be broadcasting Nats games! He longs to work for Peter Angelos again!

I just don't get the Rowand fascination. Yeah, he runs into walls. Look where that got Jim Edmonds (viz.: into the neuropathy textbooks).

Rowand is better than Ryan Church at going after chances outside his zone. As a hitter and a straight center fielder, he's inferior to Church.

Of all the things we can't afford, overpaying for circus catches has to be pretty near the top of the list.

Brewers acquired LHP Ray King from the Nationals for a player to be named.
King rejoins the team he pitched for from 2000-02. The portly specialist had a 4.54 ERA for the Nationals. Left-handers, though, were hitting just .161 off him, showing that he can still be useful while facing one batter at a time. The Brewers are picking him up too late to include him on the playoff roster if they make it.

The posters who have mentioned A-Rod -- there is no way he would come here because we are a rebuilding project. Placing that issue aside (and the potentially weird mojo that having A-Rod in the clubhouse would bring), I actually think it is an interesting question about whether it would be worth it for the Nats to get him at the going rate ($30M/yr?) if they could. As Stan pointed out recently, there are very few players who sell tickets. A-Rod is one -- not just for his performance, which is excellent, but his star power. Plus, you'd be buying the publicity of him hitting his 600, 700 and 800th homeruns in your uniform. For a franchise like the Nats, which is shamefully often covered after the Redskins QB's hangnail on many media outlets, it could be the classic spend-money-to-make-money proposition that might be worth it.

Late breaking news ^

I'm usually on your side of the various debates, Hendo... but "As a hitter and a straight center fielder, he's inferior to Church"?!?!?!?! That's just crazy talk, man...

By all means get Dunn! Out of the Great American Smallpark, he'll hit .240 like Kearns and Lopez. And let's get rid of Nook for someone slower and more expensive! Is Brad Wilkerson available? He strikes out as much as Dunn!

Hendo:

Does VORP take into account the marketplace? I thought it only addresses the offensive onfield performance.

I guess what I really want to know is, what is the currency by which a team evaluates a trade to determine if it is equitable?

Time to give Arnie Munoz a try out as a MLB LHP relief specialist

See you later Burger King... I guess now we know why Arnie Munoz was brought up, too..

Q- "Barry, what would it cost to get A-Rod to come to the Nats?

Barry - "The National Mall."

So, Ray King is gone. I guess they waited for Bowie to be ready before trading him. Or maybe the Brewers didn't want to send anyone down. Wonder what kind of player to be named we will get for him. I'm guessing J.J. Hardy and Bill Hall would be out of the question. Probably an A baller with flaws and potential. Still. Anything to improve the system. Ray was a one year deal. Maybe we'll re-sign him like we did with Stanton.

Q- "Barry, what would it cost to get A-Rod to come to the Nats?

Barry - "The National Mall."

Oh, too bad. The only malls the Lerners own are White Flint and Tysons. Who might those malls bring in trade?

Re my assessment of Rowand vs. Church, Matt opines: "That's just crazy talk, man..."

I'll go halves with you on that. Church is the better fielder:

Church's CF FA: .908
Rowand's CF FA: .853

But Rowand is the better hitter:

Church's line: .264 / .338 / .432
Rowand's line: .310 / .379 / .519

While I think Church is underperforming at the plate and Rowand is overperforming, that's not what I had in mind when I made my assertion. I was just looking at the wrong numbers. Sorry about that.

Good bye and Good Luck, Ray King! So many hitters looked out at you like a zombie from their land of nightmares, and you struck 'em out again! You should be embraced in the Land of Beer and Brats, and will be one of the slimmer people there. Have some suds and cheese curds for me, and bring the Brew Crew a pennant!

Whoops, another goof. I said VORP when I should've said WARP. Blame jet lag.

Individual players' PECOTA pages on BP contain, in addition to WARP, a breakdown of OWARP and DWARP (Offensive and Defensive Wins Above Replacement Player) per year. That might be what Wigi and others are looking for.

Perhaps that creepy empty mall in Landover off 202. The parking lot formerly known as Landover Mall. Doh! They already own it!

* * *
Q- "Barry, what would it cost to get A-Rod to come to the Nats?

Barry - "The National Mall."

Oh, too bad. The only malls the Lerners own are White Flint and Tysons. Who might those malls bring in trade?

if Maxwell is supposed to be the CF of the future (2009?), why spend $$ on a FA CF (Jones, Hunter, Rowand)? We need someone to bridge that gap for a year or so. Is Nook that guy? His recent play seems to indicate so, but I don't know if this would work for an entire season.

Why not sign Kenny Lofton to a one-year deal? I know he's not young (far from it), but at 40 he still plays a mean CF and as a lead-off hitter he's getting the job done with a .301 avg and a.378 obp. At this point in his career, he's only signable for one year deals so if he flames out, the Nats won't have him on the books beyond 2008. If he does work out, he provides veteran leadership, solid defense, a true lead-off hitter and Nook can spell him in CF from time to time. Plus, he'd be a decent teacher to Maxwell.

I know this doesn't solve the power hitting dilemna the Nats have, but if Wily Mo can still be a threat to hit one out ... who knows? I'd be up for a Pena/Lofton/Kearns outfield next year.

Also, for the love of ... please do not sign Mike Cameron or Corey Patterson to play CF. Their AVG/OBP/OPS are all lower than Lofton's.

Sorry to disagree with Bowden, but he should sign a veteran starting pitcher. The guys we have are too untested (Chico is the only one who will come close to having spent the whole year in the rotation and they're downplaying him). Byrd would be a good fit but he's going to get too much money coming off a career year. Still, pick up a veteran who would start every fifth day. I'd go for Rowand in CF, figuring that Maxwell's at least two years away from being a fulltimer. Then trade either Dmitri or Nick (assuming they're both healthy) next May to fill another hole (LF? 2B?).

What are Dunn's numbers away from Cincinnati? I see no reason to sign him unless he wanta to play for free (he not even a CF). I'm increasingly with Hendo regarding Rowand - although he does play hard and you can't measure that statistically. But what Felix Pie? The Cubs will be looking for more pitiching and maybe a 2B when they don't win the World Series again this year.

Another way to think about FA signings is perhaps to get away from pure position analyses and concentrate on needs. What I think we need (and can reasonably procure via FA) is a lead-off hitter and another power hitter. Leaving aside firstbasemen, thirdbasemen, and catchers - which two free agents could fill the bill?

ugh. arod would be perfect for this team at shortstop. i really don't want to think of him lying around the monuments without his shirt on but you could hit zimmerman in front of arod and watch the numbers pile up. even kearns would be a sure thing for 100 rbis with arod in the fat of the order.

my personal order of preference at listed random dollar values and no terms length:

Arod @ 30 mil
Torii @ 15 mil
Andruw @ $15 mil
Nook @ $0.35 mil
Rowand @ 12 mil
Dunn @ 15 mil

Nook is fine with Arod coming in. and of course Arod goes to Hall of Fame as a Nat since he'd win his only World Series' here. hey if we got an extra 30 mil burning a hole in our pocket, it might as well be arod's. he could live in dc and make the taxman's dreams come true.

When Dave Dombrowski gave Pudge Rodriguez $14 million a year for four years they said he was crazy. Pudge is old, he's in a decline phase he'll be a waste of money.

How'd that one work out? And it wasn't just his contributions on the field, the splash signing turned the image of the franchise from the 119 loss stumble bums into a major player. Yes, he overpaid, but he overpaid at a premium position and he had no choice but to overpay to get him to come.

Wouldn't you agree that the Nats are in a similar boat?

All as prefice to the suggestion that the guy to target is Andruw Jones.

Since 1997, he hasn't played in less that 150 games a year. Hunter's only hit that mark once. Hunter's a year older so he's just as likely to succumb to injury or defensive sliding as Andruw.

Andruw's hitting skill set translates well to aging. Power and patience last longer than quick bats.

BTW, he's going to go back over 400 putouts again this year. Stark's nonsense on his defensive decline has been greatly exagerated.

Not saying it wouldn;t be risky but sometimes you have to roll the dice.

for all of you lobbying for an a-rod arrival, wake up. aside from the fact that he's going to cost over $30M a season and command at least a six year deal, he's put of a few pounds since his seattle/texas days, and i seriously doubt that he could play shortstop effectively at this point.

as for centerfielders, both hunter and rowand are having career years and will be overpriced (on their overrating) in the market. maybe they could strike a bargain with jones. sure, he has boras as his agent, but coming off a a poor year, his price has surely dropped, something you can't say about the other two. he's the best defender available (i can't believe an earlier poster cited his defenesive shortcomings; how much baseball has that person watched?), and is a few years younger than hunter. or if the nats don't want to spend the kind of money it takes to play that free agent game, patterson and cameron are available at the next level. good defenders, but they don't bring much power to the table. also, i don't think it makes sense to go after podsednik or lofton in the short term, as some have suggested. if that's all you're after, just keep logan and church. they bring as much to the table, and are younger and cheaper. it might be worth it to see if fukudome can be coaxed stateside for a short term contract. but barring that, perhaps the wisest thing would be to pocket the money and spend it on next year's draft picks or a veteran pitcher.

oh, for what it's worth, i think that the robert zimmerman-ryan zimmerman-quinn the eskimo idea is absolutely fine. i'm expecting the originator to be leading us in song in the new ballpark.

Didn't Barry say: "This team is still pledging to increase payroll significantly, perhaps by $30 million." Does he know something we don't about A-Rod coming to DC?

People, people, people --
ENOUGH WITH THE ALEX RODRIGUEZ ALREADY.
He's NOT coming here.

I don't expect Hunter to sign here, really, but I'd like to see it, and 5/$70 wouldn't be out of line, if he stays healthy. He wouldn't be in center for all of that, anyway, and Maxwell won't be starting up here before 2010, if then.

of course that should be 5 (years)/$70 million

I think Rowand is having one of those classic "Walk Year" seasons that he won't be able to repeat. just a hunch on my part.

I'd flip a coin between Hunter and Jones, to be totally honest. I believe that this year is just an off-year for Jones and he'll rebound wherever he goes next year. and I believe that Hunter still has some good years in him.

Dunn...I don't get the hype behind him, and I'm pretty sure everyone is tired of signing former Reds and Bowden's personal buddies.

"... former Cincinnati players. If they were so good in cincy, why weren't they a powerhouse?"

That's kinda what I'm thinking. Each of them plays better than I could, but they all seem to be second-shelf MLB players.

I want a top-shelf team! For the increase in ticket price we will see next year, I think we deserve it.

So no other GM would trade their number one minor league prospect for a player who would be a free agent in two months? What a surprise! I wouldn't do that in a fantasy league.