Nationals Opinions: Best Second Baseman In Nats History
Jul 28, 2014; Miami, FL, USA; Washington Nationals second baseman
Danny Espinosa(8) connects for a two run RBI single during the sixth inning against the Miami Marlins at Marlins Ballpark. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports
Once the 2015 season begins on April 6 against the New York Mets at Nats Park, it will be the 10th anniversary of the Washington Nationals playing baseball in the Nation’s Capital. While Washington has yet to win a postseason series in its short franchise history, there have still been plenty of good players that have donned the Nats uniform over the past decade. To begin our slideshow series of our All-Decade team, we are going to take a look at the second base position. In total, there have been 22 players that have played that position for Washington in their franchise history. This season, Yunel Escobar is likely to be the 23rd player for that spot as he is expected to be the Opening Day second baseman.
It is a unique spot for the Nationals because when they moved from being the Montreal Expos, they already had a franchise second baseman in Jose Vidro. Vidro had played for the Expos from 1997-2004. Out of those 22 players who have played second base , 13 of those players had played second base for multiple seasons.
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For this slideshow, we are going to profile some of the players who have played the position and then ultimately give our prediction of who the best second baseman of all-time is for the Nationals. We also want to get your opinion on who you think should be the best at their respective positions. Feel free to comment this piece with your selection.
Next: Jose Vidro
Jose Vidro
As I mentioned before, Jose Vidro was already the franchise second baseman when the Expos moved to Washington DC. The sixth round pick in the 1992 MLB Draft spent 2005 and 2006 with Washington, the first two seasons that the team was in DC.
His best season out of the two came in 2006. In 127 games that season, he hit .289 with seven home runs and 47 RBI’s. His on-base percentage was fourth on the team in ’06 (.348) and third on the team in 2005 (.339). Even though his numbers were respectable, Vidro was not the player that he was in Montreal when he went to three All-Star games and won a Silver Slugger award in 2004.
This is especially true when you consider his WAR of -0.8 was the second lowest on the team in ’06 (Jose Guillen was -0.9). His defensive WAR in 2006 was -2.0, which was the worst single-season of his entire career.
Ultimately, Washington would end up trading Vidro to the Seattle Mariners in December 2006 for Emiliano Fruto and Chris Snelling. Snelling was the only one of the two who actually played at the Major League level, appearing in 24 games at catcher in 2007.
Vidro doesn’t get the nod for this honor in my opinion because the glory days of his career were left up in Canada. While he would go on to play his final two seasons in Mariners, he was not the All-Star that he was with the Expos.
(Photo Credit:YouTube.com)
Cristian Guzman
Guzman came to the Washington Nationls in 2005 as a free agent after spending the first six seasons of his career with the Minnesota Twins. However, he would not become the shortstop for Washington until 2010. In 89 games that season, he hit .282 with two home runs and 25 RBI’s.
Even though he only played a half season in Washington, Guzman was still a productive player. In 2009, he had a great season for the Nats as his .316 average was fourth in the National League. While Guzman only had 22 RBI’s in the first half of the 2010 season, he was seventh on the team in RBI’s. This goes to show you how bad the Nationals were at scoring runs that season (Adam Dunn led all players with 59 RBI’s before the All-Star break).
The 2008 All-Star also receives a honorable mention on this list because he was a part of the trade that gave the Nationals a very good young pitcher that is still on the team today. At the trade deadline in 2010,Guzman was dealt to the Texas Rangers in exchange for pitchers Ryan Tatsuko and last year’s 15-game winner, Tanner Roark.
Guzman split time at second base that season with Adam Kennedy, who ended up playing 34 games at that position. In the end, Guzman’s best seasons in Washington came before he made the position change to second base. That being said, he was still a solid player for the Nats franchise and I am sure he will find a way to be heavily considered for the best shortstop in team history along with the current shortstop, Ian Desmond. That being said, he falls a little bit short of the best second base position.
Next: Adam Kennedy
(Photo Credit:Doug Benc/Getty Images)
Adam Kennedy
Kennedy was a player for that 2010 Nationals team that could play multiple positions. During that ’10 season, he played 86 games at the second base position, but also played 51 games at first base as well. Washington signed him in the offseason as a free agent after Kennedy spent his first 11 seasons with the Cardinals, Angels, and Athletics. He is more known for his 2002 season as the second baseman won the ALCS MVP and was a part of the Angels run to the World Series title.
The Nationals were bringing in a player with veteran experience that could try to bring a winning culture to Washington. Even though he hit under .250 (.249) with three home runs and 31 seasons that year, take a look at what Kennedy did in the second half of that season.
During those final 2.5 months, Kennedy’s on-base percentage of .339 was third on the team behind Michael Morse and Ryan Zimmerman. He had five stolen bases (fourth on the team) and hit .256 (fifth on the team).
When you look at his defensive numbers, his total zone runs at second base was fourth in the National League at second base with five (only Chase Utley had more with seven). Of course, Kennedy also had another second baseman as a teammate that has played the position for the last few seasons in Danny Espinosa.
Give Kennedy credit for having some productive numbers at the positons and being a solid veteran in the clubhouse. However, this is another player that Washington got towards the latter stages of their respective careers. Kennedy would play a season for the Mariners and a season for the Dodgers before retiring after the 2012 season.
(Photo Credit: AP/Gregory Smith)
Ronnie Belliard
When you look at the Washington Nationals all-time stats, you probably wouldn’t be able to guess that Ronnie Belliard would have the best average in a single season from a second baseman in Washington history. That happened in 2007 when Belliard hit .290 (Vidro hit .289 in 2006).
The player that signed as a free agent in December of 2006 after nine seasons with the Brewers, Rockies, Indians, and Cardinals hit 11 home runs in 2007 and 2008, his first two seasons in Washington DC. His .290 batting average in ’07 was second on the team behind first baseman Dmitri Young, who hit . 320 and his .427 slugging percentage was fourth on the team that year.
When you look at his 2008 season, Belliard only appeared in 96 games as he had the second most appearances at the position with Felipe Lopez playing in 100 games. Even in a smaller role, Belliard was still fourth in home runs and second in slugging percentage (.473) on the team that season. Only Elijah Dukes had a higher slugging percentage.
The player that was part of the Cardinals 2006 World Series team would play the bulk of the 2009 season in Washington, hitting .246 with five homers and 22 RBI’s in 86 games. Right at the August waiver deadline, Belliard was sent to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Victor Garate and Luis Garcia to help LA in their run toward the NLCS that season.
While Belliard was one of the better power hitters in franchise history at that position and had a solid glove (second in the NL in fielding percentage in 2007 at .989), he falls just short of topping the player who receives this honor on the All-District team.
Next: And Number One is....
Aug 6, 2014; Washington, DC, USA; Washington Nationals second baseman Danny Espinosa (8) tries to field a ground ball in the eighth inning against the New York Mets at Nationals Park. The Nationals won 7-1. (Photo Credit: Evan Habeeb-USA TODAY Sports
Danny Espinosa
That’s right. The Nationals second baseman for each of the last five seasons takes home the honor of the best Nats’ second baseman over the past decade. Danny Espinosa was the team’s third round pick in the 2008 MLB Draft. He wouldn’t spend much time in the minors as he made his debut in September 2010.
In his five seasons with the Nationals, Espinosa has been by far the best second baseman in team history because of his power. In 2011, he hit 21 home runs and drove in 66 RBI’s. Those numbers were good enough for second on the team behind Morse in both categories. In 2012, his numbers would stay around the same as he hit 17 home runs with 56 RBI’s.
In each of those two seasons, his WAR was above two (2.8 in 2011 and 2.5 in 2012). While the 27-year old has struggled each of the past two seasons, the hope is that by focusing on hitting from mainly the right side of the plate that he will go back to those 2011-2012 numbers.
As far as his fielding goes, Espinosa has been one of the better fielders at his position. His fielding percentage was top five in the NL in 2011-2012. Plus, just this past season, his range factor per nine innings at second base was third in the NL last season (4.87).
While the strikeouts can be high for Espinosa, there is still a ton of room for the Nationals second baseman to continue to grow as a hitter. Not to mention, he has a very cool mustache. Congratulations to Danny Espinosa for being the best second baseman in Nationals history, according to District On Deck.