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Full of Sound and Fury, Signifying Nothing


Back on July 12, 2006, the Nationals made what at the time was a huge deal for them.

The Washington Nationals today acquired outfielder Austin Kearns, shortstop Felipe Lopez and right-handed pitcher Ryan Wagner from the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for right-handed pitcher Gary Majewski, left-handed pitcher Bill Bray, infielder Brendan Harris, shortstop Royce Clayton and right-handed pitcher Daryl Thompson.

Why do I bring this up today? Well, according to Cincinnati reporter C. Trent Rosencrans, the Reds today ourighted Thompson from the 40-man roster, ostensibly ending what ended up being a pretty uneventful deal.

The only players remaining with their respective team is Bray who underwent Tommy John surgery this year and Thompson.

The other principles of the deal have either been released, traded or outrighted from the Nats or Reds. And for the most part without much to show for it on the field.

Here are their respective stats just for their next organizations

Player G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG TB
KEARNS 390 1503 1286 177 311 63 4 34 159 7 8 179 270 242 346 376 484
LOPEZ 325 1354 1202 147 301 58 8 13 97 49 20 119 223 250 320 344 414
Player W L ERA G GS GF SV IP H R ER HR BB SO WHIP BB/9 SO/9 SO/BB
WAGNER 3 5 5.05 40 0 7 0 46.33 56 32 26 5 23 29 1.71 4.5 5.6 1.3
Player G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG TB
CLAYTON 50 164 149 13 35 8 0 2 13 6 3 11 32 235 290 329 9
HARRIS 8 11 10 2 2 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 4 200 273 500 5
Player W L ERA G GS GF SV IP H R ER HR BB SO WHIP BB/9 SO/9 SO/BB
BRAY 7 6 3.84 111 0 22 3 89.00 99 45 38 8 38 91 1.54 3.8 9.2 2.4
MAJEWSKI 2 6 7.38 88 0 18 0 78.00 134 67 64 10 22 46 2.00 2.5 5.3 2.1
THOMPSON 0 2 6.91 3 3 0 0 14.33 20 11 11 3 7 6 1.89 4.4 3.8 0.9

None of the three players acquired by the Nationals returning anything near the results anticipated with Lopez playing his way out of DC, Kearns cratering in his final two seasons, and injuries forcing Wagner to retire.

The returns for the Reds was not that much more impressive. Majewski immediately came up lame (which led to much complaining and a protest from Cincy). Bray is injured and likely will not be ready until late in 2010 at the earliest, Thompson had a cup of coffee, Clayton finished the year with the Reds with less than stellar numbers, and Harris hardly played before being dealt to Tampa Bay in the off-season for an unknown return.

It goes to show that even as big a deal that appeared at the time, the final results (still TBD to some degree) have fallen far from huge.

This entry was posted on Friday, November 20th, 2009, 5:18 PM and is filed under Players, Washington (MLB). You can follow any responses to this entry through RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

  1. #1 by Todd Boss - November 20th, 2009 at 17:52

    I remember being totally excited at the time. Bray has some local roots so that was disappointing to see him go, but the promise of Kearns and Lopez was fantastic.

    Then i remember seeing the look on their faces at the press conference. Kearn’s hat was askew, both of them looked as if they had just been told their grandmother had passed.

    Kearns’ under performance can be understandable at times; fighting through injuries, always trying to play his way back. Lopez’s professionalism though was a disgrace. The second he left town he suddenly remembered how to play again. Too bad we can’t ask for his salary back.

  2. #2 by Positively Half St. - November 20th, 2009 at 17:57

    Todd Boss has the best point of all of it. The Nats could have won out in this trade is Lopez wasn’t such a fainting goat. The crybaby failed us on purpose, and found his game again once he left. There is no other ex-Nat I have such distaste for.

  3. #3 by Positively Half St. - November 20th, 2009 at 17:58

    “if Lopez”, not “is Lopez”

  4. #4 by Sue Dinem - November 20th, 2009 at 18:07

    But the opposite is also true… what seems like a minor trade can end up being huge in retrospect. Like, Atlanta trading a veteran LHP to Detroit for a 20-y.o. kid that wasn’t drafted until the 22nd round and was sporting a 4-10 record with a 5.68 ERA at the time.

  5. #5 by John - November 20th, 2009 at 18:09

    If you can look into the seeds of time, And say which grain will grow and which will not.

  6. #6 by VladiHondo - November 21st, 2009 at 17:02

    Is that from “Days of our LIves” soap lead-in??

    ;)

  7. #7 by John - November 22nd, 2009 at 18:32

    Vladi: Both my quote and Brian’s title are from Macbeth. Perhaps you already know that, since you put the “;)”

    Like the sands through the hourglass, so are the failed trades of our lives :)

  8. #8 by peric - November 23rd, 2009 at 03:28

    Things seem very, very, very quiet now in Natstown. Methinks Rizzo and company are keeping their next moves very close to the vest. Not many whispers out there? Or is it just my imagination?

  9. #9 by Jeff E. - November 23rd, 2009 at 06:07

    Who here buys the Phil Rogers piece in Sunday CHI Tribune painting WASH as next address for Vlad????? who here wants Dunn traded for perhaps Texas ranger pieces. Boggs and an arm or two? Blalock plays in NL??? laynce Nix- mr. Rizzo!! Hudson along the Potomac??? happy Thanksgiving, nat nation! out.

  10. #10 by Rich - November 23rd, 2009 at 11:49

    Jeff, I think Phil Wood answers your question below:

    http://masnsports.com/2009/11/strasburg-new-coaching-hires-g.html#comments

    He claims the Nats wouldn’t get a top of the rotation guy for Dunn and goes on to say: “As for trading Dunn, who’s going to trade a top-of-the-rotation starrter for him? I think you might get a handful of prospects, but the Nationals already have several high ceiling pitching prospects in their farm system. You can never have too many of those guys, I know, but if Dunn’s to be traded, I think you’ve got to get something of immediate value, not simply potential.”

    I then asked him abt the “high ceiling pitching prospects” and what that means and apparently it only means that they have major league potential. Not that they will be good Major Leaguers

  11. #11 by Sue Dinem - November 23rd, 2009 at 13:59

    Wood’s being more than a little facetious with his reply. For starters, when was the last time a top-of-the-rotation pitcher was traded in the offseason? I can think of two this decade: Curt Schilling and Erik Bedard. Neither was traded for a major-league hitter. Even back-of-the-rotation starting pitchers aren’t traded very often, and when they are, it’s usually for relievers, not major-league position players. The closest I can think of in recent memory is the Josh Hamilton trade, and that’s a crappy comparison because Hamilton had had such little major-league service time.

  12. #12 by Pilchard - November 23rd, 2009 at 14:05

    Agree that Adam Dunn is not going to bring a ton in return. IIRC, he is geting paid $10 million for 2010, will then be a FA, and he is probably the worst everyday defensive player in the game.

    Based on his salary and the fact that he needs to DH to generate substantially more runs than he gives up, only AL teams with a need at DH and ability to take on payroll would be interested. Of that limited group, the Nats need to find a team offering something that they want. Trading Dunn is much easier in theory than in reality.

    Would guess the only chance to trade Dunn will come in July if a major AL contender (Yanks, Red Sox or Angles) suffers an injury and has a big need for a LH bat just before the trading deadline No team is going to deal legit prospects at this point for Dunn.

  13. #13 by VladiHondo - November 23rd, 2009 at 14:22

    btw Dunn earns $12m this year, his contract was $8 & $12m for the 2 years.

    Also Josh Beckett was certainly top of the rotation when he was traded.

  14. #14 by Sue Dinem - November 23rd, 2009 at 15:23

    VH – Well, I did say that “I can think of,” but the point still remains: top-flight pitchers are traded in-season and rarely for major-league bats. If you’ll recall, Lowell was considered in decline and overpaid at the time; Beckett was considered an underachiever (remember the blister problems?), which is partly why he slipped my mind (then again, memory is the second thing to go as you get older; I don’t remember what the first was ;-)

    Pilchard – That’s how I’d peg it, too, for Dunn’s “tradeability.” In fact, he may even get dealt at the deadline anyway just because he’s not in the team’s long-term plans a la Nick Johnson this year (though if healthy and producing, Dunn should net some more prospects). Naturally, we all here hope that that also means that Marrero is living up to his billing.

  15. #15 by phil dunn - November 23rd, 2009 at 15:46

    garbage in, garbage out!

  16. #16 by dd - November 23rd, 2009 at 20:44

    Brian, planning a recap of the AFL? Looks like Storen, Marrero and Espinosa did well.

  17. #17 by Pilchard - November 24th, 2009 at 23:03

    Former Nat top prospect Mike Hinckley signed with the Orioles today.

  18. #18 by Rich - November 25th, 2009 at 12:57

    Here’s a question for the group:

    I keep reading how the Royals have signed a bunch of minor league free agents:

    http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/kansas_city_royals/index.html

    Isn’t that something that we should be doing as well? Or are our triple A rosters just that good that we won’t benefit from the next JD Martin or what have you? Is Rizzo dropping the ball? Don’t we need relievers?

  19. #19 by Brian Oliver - November 25th, 2009 at 13:16

    Rich – Not sure if it’s that the Nationals aren’t signing anyone or that we are not hearing about them signing anyone. Some teams (the Nats are one) are not very forthcoming with the minor league F/A signings (no idea why)

  20. #20 by Sue Dinem - November 25th, 2009 at 15:54

    Mostly likely it’s because of the DC’s bulldog baseball writers. And by bulldog, I mean that they’re asleep unless there’s food involved (those of you who’ve ever owned one will get what I mean).

  21. #21 by JayB - November 25th, 2009 at 20:04

    I think what we are seeing is that the New FO is not yet organized and functioning well……As always the pace of Nats decisions is slow and deliberate with no sense of urgency not matter how may 100 loss seasons they post.

    RIzzo is on record saying the most important part of the off season was the FO moves….leaves me with this empty feeling that this off season is done. They will do some basic work in Feb to pick up what is left over…..classic Lerner approach and we know what that has done for our winning %’s.

  22. #22 by Berndaddy - November 26th, 2009 at 11:41

    Brian, here’s hoping you and yours have a Happy Thanksgiving. As for the Nats FO, it’s the holidays. They’ll figure it out. What we don’t know we’ll surprise us, I think. Let’s all hope 2010 is the start of something beautiful in DC baseball. Till then Brian thanks for the gift of the Nats minor league insight. It’s appreciated…….

  23. #23 by Guy Holly - November 26th, 2009 at 12:48

    JayB,

    Could you at least be optimistic about something this time of year. My father used to say “If you don’t have anything good to say, say nothing”. That would be appreciated here. This is a blog about growth not pessimism. Be Happy its Thanksgiving and almost Christmas. Be thankful you have a team to be constantly angry about.

  24. #24 by Mark L - November 26th, 2009 at 13:38

    This was JayB’s official complaint of the day!

  25. #25 by Sue Dinem - November 26th, 2009 at 13:53

    “Are we there yet?”

    JayB, your father hasn’t backed out the driveway…

  26. #26 by JayB - November 26th, 2009 at 14:40

    Happy Holidays to you all….when I see some progress from this new front office, I will be the first to say so. They need two good vet starters (not Livo types) two relievers, a proven defensive Middle Infielder. They were all there for the bidding a month ago….JJ Hardy, Omar V others are already gone. The time is know…..If they can not even sign Minor League Free agents and announce it…..they are not yet fully functional…..truth hurts I know….

  27. #27 by Guy Holly - November 26th, 2009 at 17:08

    JayB,

    Sometimes you give those who trying to fix the situation some room to work. No one thought the Nyjet Morgan trade was a good one, but it turned out well. Unlike the previous regime Mr. Rizzo knows how to play his cards close to the vest. We’ll know a lot more by January 15th. Relax its just a game. The world won’t end if the Nats are bad.

  28. #28 by JayB - November 26th, 2009 at 17:11

    Loved the Morgan trade……Milledge was the worst CF leadoff choice Acta could have ever made. No the world will not end when the Nats are bad yet again, but it did not have to be like this in the past and it does not have to be like that next year. Just need to be aggressive not sit back and wait for the cheapest leftovers.

  29. #29 by Andrew Stebbins - November 26th, 2009 at 22:58

    Mmmm…leftovers.

  30. #30 by Sue Dinem - November 27th, 2009 at 08:47

    Nice… some cheese to go with that whine.

  31. #31 by JayB - November 27th, 2009 at 10:16

    Luis Atilano is on the 40 man roster…..nowhere on John Sickels latest review of Nats prospects. He has not played an inning of MLB ball and is younger than other pitchers who are on the list of players. Production above A ball is very questionable…..Hit 4 batters in two games in winter ball and has an ERA out of this world. Is this someone another team is going to take in rule 5 draft and do we care if he walks to another team?

    Looking at the 40 man roster it just shouts…”we have not really taken a hard look at this yet. Disappointing that after a full season of Rizzo making decisions we still can not make a call on Saul R.? I see a lot of indecision and fear of making mistakes right now. Not a good sign going into winter meetings is it?

  32. #32 by Sue Dinem - November 27th, 2009 at 10:51

    Out of curiosity, JayB – How many Nationals minor-league games did you go to this past summer? It’s obvious you’ve never seen Atilano pitch, so I’m wondering how many other players you’ve never seen play.

  33. #33 by JayB - November 27th, 2009 at 10:55

    3……never seen Louis…that is why I am asking….what do you see and why did John Sickels see nothing if there was something left. I know he was a high draft pick of the Braves……I did see Saul R all I needed to as a Season Ticket holder….Why is he still here?

  34. #34 by Brian Oliver - November 27th, 2009 at 11:38

    Sickels does not get the opportunity to see everyone in every organization. He makes his judgments many times in the same way we do … from what we hear or can gather from his stats.

    As for Rivera, he’s an arb-eligible guy and that decision does not ahve to be made until next week. MLB teams don’t make those decisions until the deadline. There still is work to do. Of that there is no question. But IMO the arb eligible guys cannot be a check mark against them.

    Right now, it’s impossible to prove a negative. We cannot say they are not signing any minor league free agents just because we haven’t seen any releases stating they have.

    I have asked the question about minor league free agents and am attempting to see if I can find anything out.

  35. #35 by Sue Dinem - November 27th, 2009 at 11:52

    Atilano is a sinker-slider-fastball guy that gets groundballs and throws strikes – he was on a 75-pitch limit most of ‘08 but was able to get into the 5th inning nearly every start. Sickels will likely rank him in the high 20s/low 30s in his ‘10 prospect book. And, like several other players, he is still a candidate to be dropped to make room for the draft.

    (Brian – When and how can Rizzo drop players to make room prior to the Rule 5, assuming you believe as I do, that he’s waiting to do this at the last minute).

    I have no answer for you on Saul R., but I suspect his days are numbered.

  36. #36 by Brian Oliver - November 27th, 2009 at 12:07

    SueD – The Nats have to make their 40-man moves by December 8. The arbitration deadline should open up a couple of spots and they can also decided whether to outright other guys between now & 12/8

  37. #37 by JayB - November 27th, 2009 at 12:08

    Brain,

    Thanks for you info…I hope to hear about Minor League Free agents..if indeed they have done any of that work.

    IMO…keeping Arb guys may well cost them Wilkie…..I would have cut Saul at the least now to put Wilkie on the 40 man…..Just because they do not have to make a decision, waiting may bell cost them while being proactive most certainly would not cost them anything in the Wilkie, Saul case.

  38. #38 by JayB - November 27th, 2009 at 15:44

    50 transactions mostly MILB free agents signed this past month……none by WAS per MLB.com stats

  39. #39 by Sue Dinem - November 28th, 2009 at 08:29

    Nationals re-signed pitcher Logan Kensing and catcher Jamie Burke last week (Nov. 17-23). Since October, they have also re-signed:

    Jesse Estrada, P Jesus Valdez, OF Charlie Fermaint, OF

    FWIW, here’s the list of FAs per BA, which is “my Calgon” for the info above: http://www.baseballamerica.com/blog/prospects/?p=7288

  40. #40 by JayB - November 28th, 2009 at 09:31

    Signing your own trash was not really what I had in mind for the New Improved Rizzo led Nats of 2010. Sue how many Nats games did you attend last year? Does these moves count towards improving the team in 2010?

    Kensing was gas on every fire, just about the worst pitcher I have ever seen at the MLB level. Burke…come on a 40 year old catcher who was home in August because nobody in baseball was as poorly set up to need him till the 2009 Nats came calling.

  41. #41 by JayB - November 28th, 2009 at 10:27

    Signing Burke at all is really troubling on further reflection. Is this the best Rizzo can do to build some depth at catcher? Burke as trade fodder at the deadline…..don’t think so….Burke as a coach/player at GCL? Honestly, several other clubs signed minor league free agent catchers over the past few weeks…..we sign Burke. What is the thinking here…..anyone?

  42. #42 by Sue Dinem - November 28th, 2009 at 12:29

    JayB – You bitched about the Nats not signing minor-league FAs, but — as usual — you were wrong. And, how exactly, does one (1) team (Houston) signing minor league free agent catchers (their own) constitute “several other clubs?” (That’s a rhetorical question, which means you don’t have to answer it.)

    To answer your question, I went to three Washington Nationals games last year, 64 Potomac Nationals games, two Hagerstown Suns games, and one Harrisburg Senators game.

    Also, Jamie Burke is 38, not 40. How you can perceive him as anything other than a AAA backup is, to put it mildly, curious.

  43. #43 by BinM - November 28th, 2009 at 13:25

    JayB: Sometimes, minor league signings are just that – Minor League signings. Burke is fine behind someone like Solano in SYR, and helps hold the fort until the younger ones (Norris, Leon, Killian, Nieto, et al) move up.

    On the Nationals farm clubs, it looks like there are apparent gaps to fill in SYR (2B, 3B) and HAR (3B, RF). Also, there are minor-league staffs to complete across the board.

  44. #44 by JayB - November 28th, 2009 at 14:50

    Sue, you are wrong about the catchers signed to date. List does not inclued those who took options to resign with their own teams like Jason V with BOS. Their are others like the Houston Catcher you found……ours is Jamie Burke!

    Hoover, Paul C PHI 11/25/09 Tatum, Craig C BAL 11/20/09 Kottaras, George C MIL 11/18/09 Bellorin, Edwin C KC 11/15/09 Hernandez, Michel C BAL 11/3/09

    Problem with Burke is he was not a AAA backup he was home and then he was playing in the MLB for the Nats….I for one do not want to see that again. We need some aggressive work on this roster….not signing people that nobody else would even put in their Minor League system.

  45. #45 by BinM - November 28th, 2009 at 17:07

    By my list, 11 Catchers have either been signed or traded as of 11/26/09. On the ML side, you have R.Hernandez (re-signed w/CIN), V.Martines (optioned by BOS) & J.Varitek (re-signed w/BOS), G.Kotteras (claimed by MIL), and C.Tatum (claimed by BAL). The other seven were all signed to minor-league deals (Boscan [ATL], Burke [WSH], Hoover [PHI], & Phillips [CIN] were all re-signs, while E.Bellorin & V.Wilson (by KC), and M.Hernandez (by BAL) were new acquisitions.

    See anything interesting among the three that changed teams so far? I don’t.

  46. #46 by BinM - November 28th, 2009 at 17:10

    Oops, make that 12 catchers signed/traded, or claimed.

  47. #47 by Sue Dinem - November 28th, 2009 at 18:03

    BinM – I think we’re both trying to teach a pig to sing. Or discuss the color blue with Stevie Wonder. Or debate the merits of music with Marlee Matlin.

  48. #48 by JayB - November 28th, 2009 at 18:12

    BinM,

    Thanks for the complete (more complete) list……more than the one Sue thinks it seems. I see several catchers that beat a 38 year old who was out of baseball last year…….I would take anyone of the 24-28 year olds over Jamie Burke.

  49. #49 by Brian Oliver - November 28th, 2009 at 18:15

    It seems rather silly to be arguing over Jamie Burke.

    Please cease the name-calling and baiting comments

    Thanks all

  50. #50 by JayB - November 28th, 2009 at 18:15

    BinM,

    I agree that none of these guys make me happy but the problem is history tells us that whoever we pick up is going to be playing for Nats in 2010 at the MLB level. That is what I find unacceptable.

  51. #51 by JayB - November 28th, 2009 at 18:21

    Fair Enough….Brian….let us hope we get some more signings and roster improvements to discuss.

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