To make room for RHRP Tyler Walker, the Nationals designated RHP Marco Estrada for assignment, removing him from the 40-man and making him available for any of the other MLB teams to claim him and place him on their 40-man roster. Estrada spent most of the 2009 season in Syracuse where he was 9-5 with a 3.63 ERA and 1.22WHIP in 27 appearances (25 starts) for the Chiefs.
My guess is that Estrada will go unclaimed and end up back with the Chiefs in 2010.
My “condolences” to Sam who sees a personal favorite dropped from the 40-man.
#1 by VladiHondo - January 29th, 2010 at 10:46
Keith Law has his top 100 up, and in the chat answers two Nat questions posed by Jon of DC:
Jon (DC)
I saw you had both Juan Jamie and Eury Perez on your Nats Top Ten. What is the ceiling on those two and could either (perhaps more likely Perez) crack your Top 100 next year?
Klaw (2:27 PM)
Perez is a CF who can fly and looks like he’ll hit. Have to see the secondary tools, of course. Jamie has missed a lot of time with injuries but was 90-94 last year, good enough that I think they added him to the 40-man.
Jon (DC)
You rank Ian Desmond higher, but does Danny Espinosa have a higher ceiling? Solid regular?
Klaw (2:09 PM)
I don’t buy Espinosa’s bat.
He has Strasburg #2, Norris #31, Storen #92. Overall I like Law, you know he’s doesn’t buy into hype, and even came on here and did battle with some naysayers.
#2 by Sue Dinem - January 29th, 2010 at 12:00
VH – Here’s what Gordon and DeLoney have to say about Espinosa:
“Sound infielder with outstanding defensive tools, a plus arm, soft hands and range. Showed much improved bat speed, which enabled him to hit for average and power. Also willing to draw walks and press the issue on the bases. Offensive production in ‘09 was legit and increases his stock significantly”
Last year, McKamey said almost the same thing, except “he lacks bat speed so is unlikely to hit for BA and power.”
Thus, it could be that Law simply believes that the improvement won’t continue. As I’ve always said, the difference between A- and A+ is minimal, but the jump from A+ to AA is dramatic.
I personally have never seen someone so young with that strike-zone judgment, which could make him one of those guys that hits .230 but gets on base at .360.
#3 by Berndaddy - January 29th, 2010 at 12:02
Yea, but VladiHondo he doesn’t value Storen as a reliever either. I think that’s a mistake. In Storen’s ESPN chat he hinted that he could start if the Nats wanted him too. I think if he can prove his third pitch or add one more the Nats might consider him as a starter…
#4 by Pilchard - January 29th, 2010 at 12:15
Do the Nats want Storen to start?
#5 by Kirkie - January 29th, 2010 at 12:26
To what extent can prospects improve bat speed, and is this a ’skill’ as opposed to a physical attribute?
I always thought of it as the latter – you were born with it or you weren’t – but can you increase it by muscle memory, excercise, improved technique etc?
If so; how ‘dramatic’ could the effects be, and how does it translate into offensive performance? (i.e. is it purely power output, or would it increase average, etc)
#6 by Andrew Z. Stebbins - January 29th, 2010 at 13:43
Nats have signed RHP Miguel Batista to a minor league deal.
#7 by Berndaddy - January 29th, 2010 at 14:08
VladiHondo my guess is that the Nats have him where they want him, eh…
#8 by Jane - January 29th, 2010 at 18:15
Miguel Batista, welcome back!!!!!!!
#9 by Andrew Z. Stebbins - January 29th, 2010 at 19:48
Pilchard – unfortunately, no.
#10 by jeff e. - January 30th, 2010 at 00:08
A poet and an artist. A great diversion in the bullpen, lockerroom and time space filler for Carpenter to read some of his prose in blowouts!!! Love the Ex-pos! even if MLB will not allow video streams to use old footage in brilliant ex-po video streams. Love the 12 second Ellis Valentine throw from RF to HP on a clothes line. more signings in March for that depth chart.
#11 by Scot - January 30th, 2010 at 18:13
Kirkie – excellent, and thought provoking comment. Thanks. Any chance the Nats could opt for the Long Beach SS (projected #3 to the O’s). He reportedly has extraordinary character, leadership attributes to go with premium baseball skills. That could be an very nice middle infield for a dozen or so years. Any thoughts from the faithful?
#12 by expo_ram - January 31st, 2010 at 10:40
A mature Desmond with Espinosa and Kobernus makes our MI prospects look a lot better than what we had a year ago.
#13 by AlexVA - January 31st, 2010 at 12:37
it seems to me that if the Nats knew Espinosa was the answer at SS they’d put Desmond at 2nd for the year and bide their time with Guzman. one reason they might not do that is they don’t think Desmond is ready to play everyday. hence the pursuit of Hudson. If, it was up to me, I’d roll the dice and play him and risk the wrath of the “tired of losing fans” if it didn’t work.
#14 by peric - February 1st, 2010 at 14:48
Looks like MI is an ongoing problem. Thus Kobernus as a choice after Strasburg and Storen. Rizzo looks to have made pitching the highest priority for now so its hard to say when it will be addressed in terms of prospects and the farms.