Washington Nationals Mock Signings: Rounding out the final roster

As Site Expert Blake Finney’s stint as faux GM of the Washington Nationals came to a close, it was time to put the finishing touches to the roster.

This article is essentially a day three recap of FanSided’s GM Simulation, in which Blake Finney, Site Expert here at District on Deck, took on the challenge of being Washington Nationals GM.

We’ve already made our bigger moves so far with the acquisitions of Dallas Keuchel, Zach Britton and Ian Happ. While we tried to add some more impact players, and we’ll touch on the moves we failed to make in our next piece, it was time to round out the rest of the roster.

Our roster so far had a total payroll of $159.8 million, which is a fair way under our budget, meaning we had a lot of room to work with. If you add on Cots’ projections of $2.3 million for 40-man roster salaries and $14.5 million estimated player benefits, we had $29.5 million worth of breathing room.

With this in mind, here are some of the openings we were looking to fill as the simulation came to an end:

• Starting pitcher
• Starting catcher
• Left-handed hitting first baseman
• Backup middle infielder

Luckily, we were able to acquire all of the above, and we’ll go into the details of each deal in this article. First up was the highest priority in netting a number four starter to replace Tanner Roark.

Lance Lynn, SP

In terms of the rotation moves so far, we’ve signed left-hander Dallas Keuchel and also dealt Tanner Roark to the Texas Rangers. That leaves one open spot in the Washington Nationals starting rotation for Lance Lynn.

Lynn was one of the main victims of last season’s strange offseason where several high profile free agents were without teams as Spring Training began. He ended up having a sub-par stint with the Minnesota Twins, before becoming a reliable option for the New York Yankees down the stretch.

The right-hander was thought to be one of the more sought-after names in last year’s free agent class. He had a 72-47 record while posting a 3.38 ERA in his seven-year stint in St. Louis with the Cardinals, but couldn’t replicate it last year, posting a 4.77 ERA between his two teams.

His FIP of just 3.84 suggests he could be due for a rebound if he can find a team early and get a full spring’s worth of work in. He would be worth the risk, given that he was practically Mr. Consistency with the Cardinals and would be exactly what you would ask for out of a fourth starter.

You don’t need them to dominate every outing, you just want them to keep your teams in games. That’s exactly what Lynn provides, so after we dealt Roark, he was near the top of our shortlist.

We were able to agree a very fair $13 million deal over the next two years, as he hopes to reestablish himself as a reliable starter. In reality, the second season would probably be an option year for either the team or player, but per the simulation rules, we could only offer straight contracts.

Logan Morrison, 1B

One of the more interesting holes to fill this offseason is finding a backup first base option to protect Ryan Zimmerman. There were still several options on the table at the end of the simulation, but we pounced on another former Twins player in Logan Morrison.

In the last two seasons, it’s been Adam Lind and Matt Adams occupying that role with great success, and now it’s time for Logan Morrison to fill that role. One loose criterion was for it to be a left-handed hitter so that on Zimmerman’s days off, they could slot in against a tough right-hander, and Morrison fits that bill.

Although his batting average and on-base percentage are pretty similar against righties and lefties, he is able to turn on the ball for more power against right-handers. His slugging percentage jumps up from .369 against lefties to .447 against right-handers, making him a big threat to go deep in the lineup.

That power against right-handers is also useful when he needs to come in and pinch-hit, which has been part of the job description before too. Morrison shouldn’t be expected hit to the same level as Adams and Lind off the bench, but he will at least put up a fight with a .655 OPS in 96 pinch-hit ABs.

While we also won’t be expecting production like the career-year he had with the Tampa Bay Rays in 2017 when he 38 home runs, there’s a lot to like about Morrison’s potential production.

With money going elsewhere on the team such as the rotation and bullpen, Morrison was probably the best value option going. We were able to ink him to a one-year $1.5 million deal with little-to-no risk attached. A perfect reclamation project.

Jonathan Schoop, 2B

Yes, this one isn’t strictly a free agent signing like the rest, but thought it was worth including in this piece as a last minute final touch. After missing out on Freddy Galvis in free agency, we quickly moved to trade for Jonathan Schoop from the Milwaukee Brewers.

We actually had preliminary discussions to bring Schoop in earlier on the simulation before we went with Ian Happ. However, in need of a backup infielder, we came back and decided to part with Nick Raquet in order to get it done, with the Brewers eating some of his salary in 2019.

With Schoop’s MLBTradeRumors projected arbitration for 2019 at $10.1 million next year, we felt the salary relief was vital to the deal. Thankfully, the Brewers were determined to ship him out as their infield is crowded and were happy to take on $3 million of his salary.

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While Jonathan Schoop didn’t have a particularly appealing slash line last season at .233/.266/.416, a .261 BABIP suggests that better luck is ahead. With over 20 home runs in each of the last three seasons, he can add some thump to the bench and as a rotation player that Howie Kendrick and Wilmer Difo didn’t have. Definitely a solid addition to the bench.

One of the more underrated aspects of getting Schoop is that while he’s primarily a second baseman who can spell Happ a lot, he can also play shortstop. In 74.1 innings at the position in 2018, he actually recorded one Defensive Run Saved and a 17.0 UZR/150. Nothing outstanding, but he’s solid there if Trea Turner was ever injured.

The only real downsides to this trade are that we could potentially be paying Schoop to be a $7 million backup, which is a very steep price, even if it is for only one season. The other downside is that we are giving up a nice prospect in Nick Raquet who had a 3.74 ERA across two minor leagues levels last season. However, he’s still only in High-A and at least two seasons from the big leagues, so it’s not a huge loss.

Keep an eye out for the full recap of the FanSided GM Simulation as we look at the trade opportunities that we missed, and the final roster calculation, including salaries and how far under the luxury tax we came.

We hope to have a full recap of the simulation in the next couple of days in which we review how we did in crafting the Washington Nationals. We’ll also spill the beans on some additional transactions that could’ve been, and share our final figures.