District on Deck » Drew Storen

Which Nationals will pleasantly surprise us in 2012?

Stephen Walker — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 16:30:14 +0000

One of the best — and sometimes worst — things about baseball is its unpredictability. Every season, teams and players defy experts’ predictions. Take 2011, for example. Who foresaw a Arizona Diamondbacks division title? A back-from-certain-death St. Louis Cardinals World Series victory? The unforgettable September comebacks and collapses?

For the Washington Nationals, few expected an 80-win season and third place finish in the National League East. No one thought Davey Johnson would become the manager. After his abysmal start, few fans thought Michael Morse would become of the NL’s top sluggers. While his 2010 rookie year foretold great promise, almost no one thought Drew Storen would save 43 games in 2011. Catcher Wilson Ramos has unlimited potential, but not many predicted he would play so well so quickly. Only the most optimistic fans expected to see Chien-Ming Wang on a pitching mound in D.C., let alone perform well enough to earn a new contract.

So, which players on the Nationals’ roster will surprise us in 2012?. Here are my top candidates.

Ian Desmond — Desmond resolved his fielding woes last season, but, until Johnson arrived, seemed to have regressed as a hitter. Johnson told him to junk the banjo hitting and his power and batting average improved. Desmond needs to increase his walk totals, especially if he bats leadoff. Still, he could duplicate or improve his .289/.338/.417 slash line he turned in during the second half of 2011 to complement his already solid defense and excellent base stealing ability.

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Evaluating the Bullpen

Stephen Walker — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 18:00:31 +0000

A hallmark of the Washington Nationals surprising 80-win season in 2011 was their fine bullpen. According to Baseball-Reference.com, the pen’s 31 wins topped all National League staffs (the Miami Marlins were second with 30).

The Nationals bullpen pitched 520.2 innings (source: MLB.Com), second most in the NL behind Atlanta’s 522.1. Their 3.20 ERA marked the fourth best in the NL and the fifth lowest in major league baseball. Overall, the Nationals’ bullpen contributed more to the club’s third place finish than any other facet.

All-Star Tyler Clippard cemented his place as one of the National League’s top set-up men with a NL-leading 38 holds and an insane WHIP of 0.84, the best in baseball for all pitchers who pitched at least 60 innings last season. Drew Storen quietly became an excellent closer, saving 43 (in 48 save opportunities) of Washington’s 80 wins. His 1.02 WHIP was best among NL closers except for the St. Louis Cardinals’ tandem of Fernando Salas and Jason Motte. Both appear poised for strong 2012 campaigns.

How about the rest of the group? While Sean Burnett, now departed Doug Slaten, free agent Todd Coffey, as well as Henry (H-Rod) Rodriguez struggled at times, by the end of the season, Johnson had a solid “A” group – Burnett, Rodriguez, Clippard, and Storen and “B” group – Atahualpa Severino, Coffey, Ryan Mattheus, and Rodriguez to turn to in any situation.

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Prince Fielder’s Impact on Washington’s Future Payroll Obligations

Aaron Somers — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 14:30:18 +0000

Over at his Nats Insider blog, Mark Zuckerman (who’s quickly become one of my favorite Nationals writers) took a fairly thorough look at the organization’s future payroll obligations in the coming years. It’s an important topic to consider, particularly with the ongoing speculation and discussions centered on whether the Nationals are a serious contender to sign Prince Fielder. Without any additional moves, the team is looking at a 2012 payroll in the vicinity of $70 Million – roughly the same place they were in 2011. By 2015, that figure could rise above $100 Million for the first time in franchise history – without any significant personnel moves.

Image courtesy: baltimoresportsreport.com

As Zuckerman suggests, there are two payroll-related concerns to take into consideration with regard to the Fielder possibility. These wouldn’t necessarily affect the organization’s 2012 roster much, as it’s widely believed that the team’s owners are among the richest in all of professional sports so the expenditure is one they could safely handle, but would truly start to have an impact on the roster starting with the 2013 season and beyond.

First, any deal that Fielder may agree to is likely going to require a commitment of at least $20 Million per year. At the moment there aren’t any players on the roster who will be paid a figure that high, but that fact will change with the start of the 2014 season. The seven year, $126 Million contract signed last winter by Jayson Werth calls for an increase in his salary starting in 2014. Werth is scheduled to make $20 Million that year, with a raise to $21 Million for each of the 2015-2017 seasons.

After the conclusion of the 2013 season, Ryan Zimmerman will also reach free agency. There are few who expect that the Nationals will let their homegrown star and face of the franchise leave, but a contract extension is no certainty either. The two sides have reportedly at least had informal discussions about an extension this offseason, but the two sides do not seem close to resolving the matter by any means. Presumably discussions will renew as early as this Spring as I’d imagine both sides would prefer to reach an agreement before Zimmerman does reach free agency. Once again, there is no certainty here, but it seems safe to assume that Zimmerman will be in line for a payday in the neighborhood of $20 Million per season.

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