It's never a good sign your team's VP of player development compares your rotation unfavorably to the group he's assembled to take the hill in AAA. That's just what Nationals VP of player development Bob Boone did yesterday, however, after Tim Redding left his start with back pain. John Patterson's release and Shawn Hill's injuries already left the team short or arms but Boone's feeling pretty chuffed nonetheless.
"The first thing you noticed when we took over here was, 'Oh, my God. We've got this mishmash. We've got to get younger, but better. Now, we've got guys with big arms that we're going to have to release, guys that we never would've released two years ago. And that's a really good sign."
Just as a reminder, the Nats finished 10th in the NL in runs allowed last season and Odalis Perez, who's bettered a league-average ERA twice in a nine-year career, was the only notable addition to the staff. He'll be starting Opening Day, quite a rise from the unemployment line in one month's time and a big reason to wonder if Boone hasn't been drinking just a bit too much of his own Kool-Aid.
The Nats shouldn't be rushing prospects to the big leagues for a losing season but even good teams would find it odd to equate releasing big arms with positive progress. Patterson may never get back to what he was after two years of injuries but why not find that out before releasing him?
It came as somewhat of a surprise when the Washington Nationals released John Patterson last week, but it didn't take Patterson long to find a new home. After being unemployed for three whole days, the oft-injured starter agreed to a minor league contract with the Texas Rangers.
The Texas Rangers have agreed on a minor league contract with former first-round pick John Patterson.
"It's a comfortable fit and I'm looking to getting out there and getting going," said Patterson, who was 0-2 with a 7.00 ERA in three spring starts for Washington. "I feel good. I've been working real hard, throwing a lot. I haven't had any problems."
The 30-year old former first round pick has missed most of the last two seasons thanks to pinched nerves in his forearms that just never seem to go away. Patterson had surgery in September to hopefully fix the problem, but it's going to take time to recover from it, and he realizes he's not going to be ready for the Majors by opening day so he has no problem accepting the minor league deal.
Which is fine for the Rangers as well, because the Rangers can always use all the pitching they can get. They've already signed Sidney Ponson to a minor league deal this season, and are already dealing with annoying injuries to Brandon McCarthy, Kevin Millwood, and Vicente Padilla. If Patterson can manage to stay healthy, this could turn out to be a very good move for Texas.
Because baseball contracts are guaranteed, it's pretty rare to see a cut in spring training that would be qualified as "shocking." At least, that's what I thought. Then the Nationals cut John Patterson this afternoon. It's true that he's been batting some serious arm trouble the past two years (he's got nerve damage in his right arm), but he was still expected to be one of the Nationals' top starters (he was in consideration to start the first game in their new park) this year and this move came from way out of the blue. For his part, Patterson seems to be handling things well:
"I didn't progress as fast as they wanted me to progress," said Patterson, who was Washington's Opening Day starter last season. "After what I've been though the last two years, I think it was a risk they were not willing to take.
"I don't think Mr. Lerner seeing me pitch against Baltimore helped the situation at all. That was not brought up at the meeting. I don't think that helped. I pitched pretty good in two starts, but he didn't see those. He saw the worst start I had. He never saw me pitch healthy. I would probably say that had something to do with it."
What's really baffling about the move is that Nationals are the type of team that can spend some time seeing if Patterson can get his form back, then trading him to a contender and, you know, actually getting something in return. The Nats are still rebuilding and just giving away a guy like Patterson certainly doesn't help that, even if it does get a young starter some extra starts.
Do you remember John Patterson? Chances are you might not. It's that whole "out of sight out of mind" thing ... and Patterson has been out of sight for the Nationals since early May with what four doctors in four different cities have called a compressed nerve in his elbow. But Patterson is seeking a new treatment to relieve the compression, and is willing to travel again to get it:
Patterson, on the disabled list since May 6, spent the past week visiting four orthopedists in four cities. Their conclusions were all basically the same: Patterson has a compression of the radial nerve in his elbow. The right-hander, though, will travel to Toronto to receive treatment that Manager Manny Acta said has not been approved in the United States. (...) Acta said the treatments Patterson is seeking are similar to those used by Oakland closer Huston Street, who just rejoined the Athletics after spending 18 days in Toronto undergoing a variety of homeopathic treatments.
If Huston Street got the bionic man treatment, there's no telling what they'll do to Patterson up in Canada. But he's already proven that he's willing to go to great lengths to get healthy and salvage his career. Let's hope this works for John's sake, because who knows where he'll go next, and what they'll do to him once he's there.
Mike Bacsik is very close to being called up to the major leagues to pitch for the Washington Nationals. But if I was Bacsik, I wouldn't leave the house. You see, the whole reason Bacsik is on his way to the show is because practically every other Nationals starter has fallen to injury. First is was John Patterson. Then Shawn Hill. Jerome Williams came off the DL on the 15th to only last two innings before returning.
And now it's Jason Bergmann, who recently came within six outs of throwing a no-hitter, is on now the disabled list with inflammation in his throwing elbow. So that's four-fifths of his rotation, in addition to Ryan Wagner and Luis Ayala, on the DL. Your starting rotation is now Matt Chico, Jason Simontacchi, Levale Speigner, and Bacsik. Yet this team, amazingly, has won five out of six.
We wondered what was in the Wheaties of the Nationals pitching ... now we know: elbow inflammation. Don't eat those Wheaties, Mike.
The Washington Nationals are all about the reality television genre. Robert Fick and Dmitri Young, for example, are big fans of American Idol. And they're none too pleased with Wednesday night's results. Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post's DC Sports Bog got Fick's take on Idol vote, and on the current season in general:
"I just think it's the way she looks," he said of Melinda and her untimely exit. "Melinda was 29. I don't know. Melinda's the best singer, she is. But the way she looks, she doesn't look like the American Idol." Point being, he loves Idol. Been watching for years. I asked for his favorite contestant this season. "I liked Gina Glocksen the best," he said. "I thought she was good, and I thought she got screwed."
From the information I've obtained (which is my way of saying that I'll never admit that I watch even a little American Idol when in "reality", I'll watch a few songs between innings), half the finalists got screwed via "Sanjaya-mania", which basically means that not only did Gina get screwed, but the show has officially jumped the shark. Dmitri Young weighs in after the jump:
The Fanhouse's look at the day's most intriguing matchups
Philadelphia Phillies (8-11) vs. Washington Nationals (6-14)-7:05PM Est.
Look out world, here come the Phillies! After getting off to a horrible start that's basically had Charlie Manuel talking to himself and screaming at others, the Phillies have won four games in a row. With two more games scheduled against the Nationals, they could make it six in a row and be on the brink of .500. Aaron Rowand has been crushing for the Phils, and with John Patterson going for Washington, it's highly possible the entire Phils lineup wakes up tonight.
Cleveland Indians (10-7) vs. Texas Rangers (8-11)-7:05PM Est.
The Tribe has won three straight, including a two-game sweep up in Minnesota, and find themselves tied for first in the AL Central with the White Sox. Tonight C.C. Sabathia looks to continue his early season dominance. Sabathia comes into the game 3-0 with a 2.25 ERA. He'll be going against Brandon McCarthy, who's been making Ken Williams look like a damn genius thus far. McCarthy is 1-3 for the Rangers with a 10.20 ERA.
Arizona Diamondbacks (10-11) vs. San Diego Padres (12-8)-9:40PM Est.
This is tonight's best pitching matchup as Jake Peavy and Brandon Webb face off against each other. Webb won the NL Cy Young last season, and Jake Peavy might win it this season if he keeps up his current pace. He's 3-0 with a 2.13 ERA and he'll be going against a Diamondback team that is struggling. After starting the season off in first place, the DBacks have now lost five straight games and they're falling to the bottom of the division. Randy Johnson got rocked last night, but thankfully Webb is their ace, and they'll look to him to get things back on track.
Redskins quarterback Jason Campbell could probably step right into the Nationals rotation and have the strongest arm of the whole bunch. On Saturday night, Campbell settled for throwing out the ceremonial first pitch of the Nationals' game against Arizona.
Washington Redskins quarterback Jason Campbell threw out last night's ceremonial first pitch. When Campbell was introduced, he drew louder cheers than the Nationals. Campbell's pitch was out of the strike zone -- high and inside -- to outfielder Chris Snelling. As he walked through the stands, the young quarterback was mobbed by autograph seekers. Campbell was wearing a Nationals' home jersey with his No. 17.
Campbell had better keep that jersey and consider learning a change-up (especially if the 'Skins decide to draft JaMarcus Russell as has been speculated on). Besides, with the Nationals starting pitching spitting the bit in the first inning yet again (on Saturday, it was John Patterson's turn to give the opposition three runs before his team ever grabbed a bat), they could offer Campbell a whole lot of dough to be a two sport athlete.
Oh by the way, the Nationals dropped to 1-5 after their 7-1 loss on Saturday.
Or does he just have realistic expectations? Bowden explains the mindset regarding the trade deadline in his Washington Examiner column:
Although the trade deadline is four months away, we must start preparing now. We target clubs we think will contend and we commence scouting their top prospects in April and will continue through the deadline. We focus on starting pitching prospects as well as all of their top young players. We are blessed with a deep staff and because of that we have professional scouts whose only responsibility is covering the minor and major leagues. We have added several top pitching evaluators, including former major league pitchers Bill Singer and Bart Johnson. When you are rebuilding, you must consider all trade proposals. You're always looking for the deal where you trade one established player for three young players.
The Nationals farm system could have used some grade A prospects in exchange for Alfonso Soriano last season. Don't totally blame Bowden, as the offers he was getting for Soriano wasn't what he had hoped. But unfortunately, the offers that the Nats will get for anybody other than Ryan Zimmerman (and good luck prying him loose) will be meager at best.
Bowden's obvious best bet to get good value would probably be to deal Chad Cordero, who has had rumors follow him around for the past few months. Teams may be more willing to overpay for a closer nowadays that more teams are putting emphasis on the bullpen. Also, with Cordero not eligible for free agency until '09, teams would pay more for him than for Soriano, who was a free agent this past winter and would have been a slam dunk to move on no matter where he was traded.
Ronnie Belliard, John Patterson, or even Ryan Church could be other players used to rebuild the farm system come July.
No, I'm not going to completely write off the Nationals after two games.
Five? Ten? Maybe. Not two ... that would just be silly.
But not only is the Nationals' starting rotation threatening to mathematically eliminate them by June (Shawn Hill was barely better than John Patterson in a 9-3 loss to the Marlins tonight), but at this rate they may not have enough to field a team by July. First, Cristian Guzman and Nook Logan get hurt on Opening Day (both were placed on the disabled list), but Ronnie Belliard came perilously close to joining them. You wouldn't believe how:
He was in the wrong place at the wrong time, standing in foul territory near the batting cage. Belliard never saw the wayward, 100-foot throw from rookie catcher Jesus Flores that was intended for Brian Schneider. It was several feet off the mark and caught Belliard flush on the left temple He immediately fell to the ground. Manager Manny Acta yelled out, "Trainer! Trainer!" and all eyes turned toward Belliard, fearing something serious had happened. Fortunately, he was all right. Woozy, but all right.
Good news for a team that could use all the good news it could get. But back to the starting pitching, it's one thing to give up thousands of hits to Miguel Cabrera (who's hitting .714) and Josh Willingham (three hits on Tuesday), but when the pitcher gets a couple of hits and an RBI, there's problems. Scott Olsen got the job done with the bat, and pitched relatively well despite five walks, taking a shutout into the sixth.
It's never a good sign your team's VP of player development compares your rotation unfavorably to the group he's assembled to take the hill in AAA. That's just what Nationals VP of player development Bob Boone did yesterday, however, after Tim Redding left his start with back pain. John Patterson's release and Shawn Hill's injuries already left the team short or arms but Boone's feeling pretty chuffed nonetheless.
It came as somewhat of a surprise when the Washington Nationals 
Because baseball contracts are guaranteed, it's pretty rare to see a cut in spring training that would be qualified as "shocking." At least, that's what I thought. Then the Nationals cut 
Do you remember 
Mike Bacsik is very close to being called up to the major leagues to pitch for the Washington Nationals. But if I was Bacsik, I wouldn't leave the house. You see, the whole reason Bacsik is on his way to the show is because practically every other Nationals starter has fallen to injury. First is was John Patterson. Then Shawn Hill. Jerome Williams came off the DL on the 15th to only last two innings before returning. 
The Washington Nationals are all about the reality television genre. Robert Fick and Dmitri Young, for example, are big fans of American Idol. And they're none too pleased with Wednesday night's results. Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post's 
Redskins quarterback Jason Campbell could probably step right into the Nationals rotation and have the strongest arm of the whole bunch. On Saturday night, Campbell settled for throwing out the 
Or does he just have realistic expectations? Bowden explains the mindset regarding the trade deadline in his 
No, I'm not going to completely write off the Nationals after two games.
