SB Nation - Ramon Ortiz

Heroes of the Zeros: The Starting Rotation

Slyde — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 14:21:24 -0000

It's that time of the decade when people start creating lists of the best and worst whatevers of the past 10 years. I was going to do that too, but then I decided to make you guys do all of the work. So, over the next two weeks we will be voting on the players that we think deserve the title of All-Decade team member for the Cincinnati Reds. Each day, I'll present you with a new position, and you get to vote. While we do this, the running totals will be kept secret so that you will be surprised when we announce the final roster on December 31st. The maybe we can finally put to bed what might be the worst decade in Reds history.

We'll start with where it started to end, the starting rotation. The Reds haven't exactly been stocked with quality starting pitching during the decade, but you still have to figure out who the top 5 of the decade are. To qualify for the team, a pitcher must have spent at least 50% of his time with the Reds as a starter and he must have made at least 20 starts in a Reds uniform. The rest of the qualifications are up to you. I've listed the stats for the 23 pitchers that meet our minimum qualifications. The voting form is in this post after the jump.

Click header to sort table by column
	ERA+	FIP	GS	Years	G	CG	SHO	W	L	W-L%	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	ERA	HR	OPS
Jose Acevedo	78	5.17	54	2001-2004	68	1	0	16	21	.432	304.1	334	198	189	97	222	5.59	58	.830
Bronson Arroyo	113	4.47	136	2006-2009	136	8	3	53	50	.515	871.2	887	424	387	260	630	4.00	119	.755
Homer Bailey	81	4.92	37	2007-2009	37	0	0	12	13	.480	195.0	217	129	118	97	132	5.45	23	.803
Rob Bell	92	5.93	35	2000-2001	35	1	0	7	13	.350	184.2	176	112	105	90	145	5.12	41	.840
Brandon Claussen	85	4.96	57	2004-2006	57	0	0	15	27	.357	309.2	351	195	176	120	223	5.12	47	.824
Johnny Cueto	94	4.87	61	2008-2009	61	0	0	20	25	.444	345.1	350	191	177	129	290	4.61	53	.792
Lance Davis	97	4.66	20	2001	20	1	0	8	4	.667	106.1	124	60	56	34	53	4.74	12	.808
Ryan Dempster	66	5.27	35	2002-2003	37	1	0	8	12	.400	204.1	236	150	145	108	150	6.39	30	.856
Elmer Dessens	115	4.47	80	2000-2002	104	2	1	28	27	.509	530.1	564	246	232	148	306	3.94	66	.756
Osvaldo Fernandez	88	4.60	28	2000-2001	35	1	0	9	9	.500	159.0	172	95	93	64	71	5.26	14	.775
Aaron Harang	106	4.07	193	2003-2009	195	13	6	69	73	.486	1231.1	1288	606	572	315	1043	4.18	169	.767
Pete Harnisch	92	5.80	29	2000-2001	29	3	1	9	9	.500	166.1	181	105	94	63	88	5.09	32	.836
Jimmy Haynes	84	5.05	56	2002-2004	57	1	0	17	25	.405	306.0	354	188	172	145	183	5.06	38	.820
Luke Hudson	87	5.44	25	2002-2005	31	0	0	10	11	.476	139.0	124	83	76	81	98	4.92	18	.790
Cory Lidle	80	4.95	24	2004	24	3	1	7	10	.412	149.0	170	95	88	44	93	5.32	24	.832
Kyle Lohse	101	4.24	32	2006-2007	33	2	1	9	17	.346	194.2	213	109	99	52	131	4.58	23	.777
Eric Milton	77	5.40	66	2005-2007	66	0	0	16	27	.372	370.1	439	256	240	103	231	5.83	73	.850
Ramon Ortiz	80	5.66	30	2005	30	1	0	9	11	.450	171.1	206	110	102	51	96	5.36	34	.882
Steve Parris	98	5.10	33	2000	33	0	0	12	17	.414	192.2	227	109	103	71	117	4.81	30	.858
Elizardo Ramirez	75	5.30	26	2005-2007	31	0	0	4	14	.222	142.2	176	106	97	47	86	6.12	24	.876
Ron Villone	87	5.92	23	2000	35	2	0	10	10	.500	141.0	154	95	85	78	77	5.43	22	.871
Edinson Volquez	128	3.90	41	2008-2009	42	0	0	21	8	.724	245.2	201	107	94	125	253	3.44	20	.681
Paul Wilson	86	5.00	66	2003-2005	66	1	0	20	21	.488	396.2	450	231	215	130	240	4.88	60	.817

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 12/13/2009.

I will only be accepting your first vote, so don't bother trying to stuff the ballot box, you cheaters. I don't care how much you want Jimmy Haynes in this rotation Dan O'Brien, you only get one vote.

Starting Pitchers: Damaged Goods Available

Jesse — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 01:33:46 -0000

More photos » by Tony Gutierrez - AP

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The Twins now have approximately $62 million committed to eight players who are under contract for 2010, and with J.J. Hardy's estimated arbitration salary likely somewhere around $6 million Minnesota will have approximately $17 million to shell out to their arb-eligible players. Even with a payroll which would open the year at over $80 million for the first time in frachise history the organization is still in a position to add some payroll. How much? Probably not too much. But with third base, second base and two rotation spots up for grabs there's no doubt the front office will continue on their quest to improve the team.

Minnesota has picked up a bit of a stigma as an organization that likes to rely on bargain-bin veterans to flesh out their roster, and there hasn't been a shortage of that philosophy applied to the starting rotation over the last few years. Do your ears still flush red when you think of Ramon Ortiz and Sidney Ponson? Or maybe Livan Hernandez still has you a bit baffled? Those moves, at the time, were railroaded for the quality of the player rather than the organization's decision to bring in veteran help, although there was also a strong belief that a rotation centered around Johan Santana, Francisco Liriano and Scott Baker would be just fine.

The front office agreed with us last winter, and they stayed fully in-house when constructing their rotation.

Things can change a lot in the span of a year. An area of strength going coming out of 2008 is a bit of a weakness, or at the very least not nearly as deep as we thought it would be, coming out of 2009. For a team that will always look to get the most value for their dollar, if they do choose to supplement the rotation in the free agent market, their highest reward scenarios might center around these guys. Read all about them after the break.

Rich Harden

#40 / Pitcher / Chicago Cubs

Height: 6-1

Weight: 195

Bats: L

Throws: R

Born: Nov 30, 1981

	W-L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2009 - Rich Harden	9-9	27	26	0	0	0	0	141.0	122	74	64	23	67	171	4.09	1.34

26 starts in 2009 and 25 starts in 2008--not bad. Then there were the 13 starts in '06 and '07 combined, with 19 starts made in '05. In fact, in Harden's six-plus star-crossed seasons in the majors he has had exactly one full season: 2004.

A couple of back injuries, a strained left oblique and a rap sheet full of right-arm issues, Harden's inability to keep himself on the mound isn't exactly a secret. Which is why he's even on this list. Anyone who can strike out more than a man per inning while allowing less than a hit per inning, with that kind of fastball and that kind of stuff, is a guy who's makeup has "Ace" dripping out of every pore.

This past season Harden missed 19 games in May and June due to issues with his back, before coming back and eventually being shut down at the end of September because of his pitching arm. Again.

Obviously he's a risk, but that's why I wanted to talk about these guys. The oblique strains don't bother me--it's the problems (plural) that Harden has had with his rotator cuff and his UCL. His mechanics aren't exactly smooth and without constant training to strengthen and stabalize his cuff I'm worried he could have to resort to Tommy John surgery at any time. But I'm not a doctor.

Harden is likely to garner a lot of guarded interest this off-season, and in spite of his injuries and high pitch count innings could still receive multi-year offers that would be worth double-digit millions easy. Naturally I'm not opposed to the Twins chasing him and signing him to a deal as long as it's done right. While the Twins may not be able to guarantee more money than most of the other clubs out there, offering him a low base with a number of achieveable incentives for games started and innings pitched could make a deal at least tempting.

My offer: Two years with team option for year a third. 2010: $4 million base ($500K for 12, 17, 22, 27 and 32 starts; $500 K for 100, 125, 150, 175, 200 innings pitched; $9 million possible; $1 million buyout option if less than 100 innings pitched). 2011: $6 million base, same incentives. 2012: $10 million base, same incentives, $1 million buyout.

Ben Sheets

#15 / Pitcher / Milwaukee Brewers

Height: 6-1

Weight: 225

Bats: R

Throws: R

Born: Jul 18, 1978

Sheets didn't pitch at all in 2009, and at two years older than Harden would be 32 in 2010. His rap sheet of injuries is even more varied than the Cubs ace, with long stretches of time missed for back injuries, finger injuries and, of course, right arm injuries. This last time around he's had flexor tendon surgery and, if you listen to his agent, would be ready for spring training.

He doesn't strike out quite as many guys as Harden but he still allows less than a hit per inning, has better control and is far more efficient with his pitches. Prior to this last surgery anyway. Like Harden his fastball is mid to upper-90's, and his breaking balls can break your knees. Prior to this last surgery anyway.

Sheets made 31 starts and pitched 198 innings in 2008 before missing all of '09, but from '05 to '07 he wasn't pitching full years either. From the ages of 23 to 25 though, which may be where some of these problems began for a guy who was at the time a younger pitcher, Sheets made 102 starts and threw more than 670 innings. You could argue he was over-worked, although by the time a guy hits his mid-20's he should be able to handle a full load. I tend to lean away from the over-worked arguement.

Where I see Harden landing with a more high-profile team who is willing to take a chance on him and spend a little more ching, Sheets is the option who already looks like he'll appeal to everybody. Second-tier teams (like the Twins) who still have a little wiggle room might run straight for the former Brewer to avoid getting drawn into a process with Harden.

My offer: One year with a team option for a second. 2010: $3 million base ($500 K for 11, 22 and 33 starts; $500 K for 100, 125, 150, 175 and 200 innings; $7 million possible). 2011: $5 million base, same incentives, $500K buyout.

Erik Bedard

#45 / Pitcher / Seattle Mariners

Height: 6-1

Weight: 200

Bats: L

Throws: L

Born: Mar 06, 1979

	W-L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2009 - Erik Bedard	5-3	15	15	0	0	0	0	83.0	65	29	26	8	34	90	2.82	1.19

Bedard had arthroscopic surgery on his left shoulder back in August, repairing what had been a spot of general disrepair. A torn labrum was the main issue, but the area apparently needed a good clearing. Apparently he'll be ready for the beginning of the season, but it's the second time in as many years where he made just 15 starts.

His stuff, just like the stuff of Harden and Sheets, qualifies him as an ace. He can be a dominant strikeout pitcher at times, although a little streaky even when healthy and not as efficient with his pitches as Sheets. What had been very low fly-ball numbers increased slightly in Seattle, but his plus fastball and plus breaking ball continued to be his best pitches and were seemingly unaffected.

The biggest issues with the former Mariner and Oriole enigma are his consistency and, just like the other two guys on this list, his inability to stay healthy for a whole season. His control tends to stray at times as well.

My offer: Identical to Sheets' offer.

Conclusions

Clearly there are more guys on the market than these three who could qualify as damaged goods. Mark Prior is attempting a comeback, Bartolo Colon is still floating (or sinking) around out there somewhere and even a guy like Noah Lowry has some appeal. But these three guys are the creme of the crop, because they all have the ability to be that elusive Ace pitcher.

Is there a safer option between the three? Which guy would you prefer, if any?

Poll

Which of these three pitchers do you prefer?

Rich Harden

364 votes

Ben Sheets

218 votes

Erik Bedard

161 votes

None of the above

89 votes

832 votes | Poll has closed

Friday Pebble Report: Friedrich continues to dominate, and to get let down by Nuts bullpen

Rox Girl — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 18:47:13 -0000

Colorado Springs: L 3-5

Dan Ortmeier had two hits, including a double and a pair of RBI, but the Sky Sox were mostly shut down by Ramon Ortiz and the Grizzlies.

Tulsa: W 8-1

Chaz Roe pitched pretty well. He's had a high walk rate this season but has been more effective at preventing runs. Is it just luck? Since 2007, his ERA has been better than his FIP, so even though he appears to be somewhat lucky this season, I'm doubting that he's been the one and a half runs of ERA (3.30 vs. 4.74 in 2009) lucky the difference between the two would indicate. Daniel Mayora had a pair of hits, and raised his average to .309 for the year. Mayora hits well, a lot of singles some walks, not much power, at home and on the road, against RHP's and LHP's. He is a Texas League version of Freddy Sanchez, only probably less of an asset on defense.

Modesto: L 6-7

Christian Friedrich is number one on Baseball America's Prospect Hot Sheet this week, and another dominating performance last night at Rancho Cucamonga is part of the reason. What separates Friedrich right now from Brian Matusz is mainly the lack of a quality changeup.

Matt Repec, Jeff Cunningham and Jason Van Kooten homered in the loss. Scott Beerer, after starting slow, has really started heating up at the plate with three more hits last night.

Asheville: W 8-4

The two quick promotions from Tri-City this season, Beerer and Mike Zuanich, have both thrived with their new teams, and give the Rockies a pair of interesting polished bats that are still old for where they're currently assigned but seemingly talented enough not to write off. As the younger of the two, Zuanich intrigues me a bit more right now. He's been murder on left handed pitching and an extremely tough out against RHP's. He already has three HBP's at Asheville in just 40 PA's, meaning right handed pitchers are trying to bust him inside to little success so far. Zuanich is just four months younger than Modesto's Cunningham, both are a couple of years or so younger than Paulk and Kindel at Tulsa.

Tri-City: L 5-9

We don't talk enough about Tim Wheeler or Ben Paulsen. Nice work at Tri-City by both so far. Rob Scahill threw four solid innings yesterday, striking out seven and giving up two runs. He's had two terrible appearances and six great ones so far, the inconsistency is a little frustrating, but that's definitely the ratio you would rather see than the other way around. He's probably had the fourth or fifth best debut of our 2009 draftees, although now that I think of it, how would I rate that? Keep in mind that this isn't a ranking of these guys as prospects, or Nolan Arenado would be listed, just a ranking of how their 2009 professional debuts have impacted their status as prospects:

Chris Balcom-Miller
Rex Brothers
Rob Scahill
Tim Wheeler
Ben Paulsen
Jared Clark
Charlie Ruiz
Rhett Ballard
Dan Perkins
Avery Barnes

Am I forgetting anybody? Maybe Dustin Garneau, and Paul Bargas has pitched alright. Kent Matthes started out well, but fizzled, Joe Sanders hasn't been able to translate to wood that well thus far. Matt Sanders and Joey Wong haven't had much success yet, either. Anyway, I'm curious how other people see our 2009 draftees performing so far.

Casper: W 5-4, L 0-5

Brandon Whitby hit a bases clearing triple as the Ghosts scored four runs in the bottom of the seventh for the walk off win in the first game. They got shut out in the second game, but Edwar Cabrera does look like he might finally be pitching like he did in the Dominican as he came on with 2.2 innings, striking out five and just walking one in relief of Clint Tilford. I might actually have the order of these games reversed. I'm tired and just want to make sure I publish something Pebble Report-esque today.

Twins Sign Mark Grudzielanek to Minor League Contract

Jesse — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 20:37:22 -0000

I'm surprised. Are you surprised? We shouldn't be surprised, it's a quintessential Twins move.

Mark Grudzielanek

#?? / Second Base / Minnesota Twins

Height: 6-1

Weight: 200

Bats: R

Throws: R

Born: Jun 30, 1970

The following occurred between 12:45 and 12:46 pm CDT today:

Jesse: Grudz?
Jesse: Really?
Seth: Ya...just had it confirmed, too.
Jesse: Why am I surprised?

I don't want to set anyone up with the wrong idea here, because there are merits to this signing and I'll get to them later, but honestly: why was I surprised? The Twins organization has done a fantastic job over the years of acquiring veterans in twilight in the hope that they can provide some kind of depth or leadership. I could also add production, but that hasn't always been the case.

These signings have all fallen under one of two categories. Either these veterans were A) washed up and we all knew it (James Baldwin, Jesse Orosco, Juan Castro, Bret Boone, Ruben Sierra, Tony Batista, Phil Nevin, Jeff Cirillo, Ramon Ortiz, Sidney Ponson, Craig Monroe, Livan Hernandez, the return of Eddie Guardado, Luis Ayala, Sean Henn) or B) all things considered weren't a bad gamble (Tom Prince, Rick Reed, Kenny Rogers, Henry Blanco, Jose Offerman, Terry Mulholland, Pat Borders, Mike Redmond, Rondell White, Jason Tyner, Mike Lamb, Adam Everett, R.A. Dickey). Of course, whether or not any of column B actually worked out is another matter altogether. But you're catching my drift, and I didn't even list all of Joe Mauer's third catchers.

Now we can officially add one Mark Grudzielanek to that list. I think the reason this signing surprised me is because Grudz was a free agent. It was almost too easy. Of course if the Twins were in contact with Grudz, you can bet they were probably in contact with Ray Durham, too. Let's get to the actual analysis of this deal.

Contract

Minnesota has offered Grudzielanek a minor league deal, and he'll report to a Gulf Coast League squad in Florida. He made $4.5 million with the Kansas City Royals in 2008, but suffice it to say he won't be making anywhere near that much this year. Financial terms haven't been disclosed, but I'd be surprised if it cracks the one million mark. It sounds like he did have offers in the off-season, being a Type B free agent, but he declined those offers.

Age

This is the bit that everyone is going to focus on: Grudz is 39. Most guys are out of the league by this time, whether that's by choice or not, but here's something to keep in mind: even at 38 he was a good player.

Offense

Patience & Discipline: Grudz hasn't really been a guy who walks a lot over the course of his career, but he makes up for that by being a great contact hitter. He makes contact on over 90% of his swings, and goes outside of the zone at right around the league average rate. Again, the walk rates (5% of plate appearances) are low, but Alexi Casilla (6%) and Brendan Harris (7%) aren't walk machines, either. He sees roughly 3.5 pitches per plate appearance.

Power: He's a career .395 slugger, .106 isolated power. As a full-time player he's always been good for plenty of doubles, but as far as the long-ball goes he's a middle infielder. This is a secondary concern for anyone playing second base.

Batted Ball: Grudz is a line-drive hitter. A lot of analysts will say that hitting line drives isn't a repeatable skill, and that might be accurate, but when you're hitting them at a rate that's better than league average year after year after year, something is going well.

Defense

Arm: This has never been a problem. He spent a lot of time at shortstop for the Expos earlier in his career, but for a guy who would be playing exclusively at second base, the arm is fine.

Range: Oddly enough, for a guy who was 38 last season his range didn't fall off too much. The problem is that he is a bit older, and having lost that first step does mean something. That's reflected in defensive metrics like UZR/150, which came in at 5.3 in 2008. Still above average, which is very much in line with Grudzielanek's history, it's just not what it was.

Conclusions

There are a lot of positives here; just not as many as we'd hoped as fans rooting for someone like Freddy Sanchez. This is a move that has zero risk for the Twins, who are still counting on Casilla to get the job done. If Casilla faulters again, it's not as though Minnesota would be wasting a roster spot by calling on Grudzielanek. The biggest focus as far as positives go though, and it's a big one, is this: it's not going to take much to improve on what the Twins have been given from second base this season. If Grudz is ready by the middle of August, comes up and hits .280/.330/.380, that's an improvement. As far as his defense goes, there would have to be something desperately wrong for him to have suddenly turned into a negative player in the field. For a guy like this, his offensive skills may disappear, but the glove will linger on.

What does leave me slightly disappointed is the fact that this is such a by-the-numbers move for the Twins. There's no risk here, but sometimes that's exactly what a team needs for a boost: a risk. A sign that, yes, dammit, this organization believes in you so much that we went out and put our own asses on the line. Sometimes I get the sense that the front office forgets that everything about baseball is a two-way street, it's all a relationship, from the fans to the players to the front office.

Baseball is a business. By that definition, picking up a guy like Grudzielanek is a good move simply because getting a guy to play league average anything at second base constitutes an upgrade. But I just had my sights on something a bit more substantial.

There's still time.

Poll

Which list does Grudz belong on?

A) He's washed up and we all know it.

53 votes

B) All things considered, not a bad signing.

245 votes

C) I've already ordered my "Grudz" jersey.

33 votes

331 votes | Poll has closed

Wednesday's Frosty Mug

KLSnow — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 14:56:33 -0000

Some things to read while searching for a can of black paint.

Since the news broke that Ben Sheets will have surgery and miss most of 2009, there's been some speculation that the Brewers may try to offer him a two-year deal at a bargain price while hoping he bounces back. Adam McCalvy ended that speculation yesterday. Barring a sudden and dramatic turn, Sheets' Brewer career is over.

Braden Looper's deal is worth $4.75 million and has a mutual option for 2010, although I haven't seen the price tag on it yet. Brew City Sports has Seth McClung's reaction, but Gareth is even less impressed.

With Braden Looper in the fold, Baseball Prospectus predicts the Brewers will win 85 games, which would leave them ten games behind the Cubs and 3 games back of the Braves and Phillies, who would tie for the NL Wild Card. Looper adds two wins to the projection.

I have two bobble head notes today. First, The Brew Town Beat is one of several blogs questioning the curious choice of Jeff Suppan for a bobble head. Meanwhile, in the comments of this post on the promotional schedule, Trent Durrington raises an interesting point: with the exception of the brat, all the 2009 bobble heads are white, despite the Brewers being one of the more diverse teams in baseball.

MLB FanHouse's Better Know a Prospect series covered the Brewer system yesterday, with Mat Gamel, Alcides Escobar and Angel Salome profiled. The more I look at the Brewer roster heading into camp, the more I'm certain all three guys will spend at least a large portion of 2009 in AAA. I've got a post on that scheduled for later today. Meanwhile, Sean (Chone) Smith has a post at The Hardball Times discussing minor league defense, and Alcides Escobar draws a mention.

On the hot stove:

Angels: Are reportedly clearing roster space to make room for Bobby Abreu.
Blue Jays: Acquired former #1 overall pick Matt Bush from the Padres for a PTBNL.
Dodgers: Signed Eric Milton to a minor league deal.
Giants: Signed Ramon Ortiz to a minor league deal.
Mets: Re-signed Jose Valentin to a minor league deal.
Rays: Won their arbitration case with Dioner Navarro, who will make $2.1 million this season.
Rockies: Signed Randy Flores to a minor league deal.
Royals: Signed Jamey Wright to a minor league deal.
White Sox: Signed Ben Broussard to a minor league deal.

Baseball America noticed that, with the deal listed above, the Blue Jays will enter camp with 27 pitchers and just 13 position players on their 40 man roster. The Brewers, for comparison purposes, will have 22 if they drop a position player to add Braden Looper.

Earlier this week, I mentioned that Ray Durham was complaining about not receiving any offers this offseason. The Nationals offered Durham a shot to be their starting second baseman, and he turned it down. Durham is 37 years old and has made $7 million or more each of the last five seasons despite being a part-time player (fewer than 500 at bats) in all of them. If he's looking for similar money in this market, which can't even find money like that for Adam Dunn, then perhaps it is time for him to retire.

An increased emphasis on defense, where Durham is substandard, probably isn't helping his case either. FanGraphs wonders how far down this road baseball can reasonably go.

It's a little early in the day (still pre-coffee) for me to be trying to understand new statistical research, but Tangotiger's notes on the impact of events, sorted by position in the lineup, are interesting enough that I may come back to it once my brain is fully functional.

First, though, I may need to call and cancel my XM subscription: the AP is reporting Sirius-XM is preparing to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, which likely means they won't make their scheduled payment to Major League Baseball, which will in turn likely be the end of live game broadcasts on the service.

If you missed it yesterday, be sure to stop by this post to sign up to win one of ten WhatIfSports gift certificates as part of the Brewer Advent Calendar. I've got another giveaway today, so check back around noon to sign up for that one too.

Oh, and it sounds like the Brewers got out of High Desert and the California League at the right time.

Drink up.

Washington, D.C.'s Nationals Looking For Bailout, Help Recovering From Offensive Woes... PLUS: A Personal Note To Manny Ramirez.

Ed Chigliak — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 03:42:15 -0000

Who Wants To Play For the Washington Nationals?

While Washington was busy this afternoon, completing a 1-year/$2.6M dollar deal to bring free agent starter Daniel Cabrera to DC, (as MLB.com's Bill Ladson reported in an article entitled, "Nats ink Cabrera to one-year deal"), the Nationals' stated backup plan for adding a power bat to the lineup suffered a serious blow, as the Los Angeles Dodgers, perhaps frustrated by Manny Ramirez's reluctance to sign a deal to return to LA, emerged as another potential suitor for free agent outfielder Adam Dunn, the lefty home run hitter who has exactly 40 HR's in each of the last four seasons following a 46 homer '04 campaign, (all for the Cincinnati Reds)...

FOXSports.com writer Ken Rosenthal mentioned, for the first time I've heard anywhere, in an article entitled, "Angels standing pat on offense, for now", that the Nationals have shown interest in free agent outfielder Milton Bradley, and Mr. Rosenthal goes on to identify Washington as, (at the point he published), "the only known suitor" for Adam Dunn, after mentioning earlier in the post that the Los Angeles Angels, who had been rumored to be interested, had instead decided to find, "offensive solutions from within."

ESPN.com's Buster Olney brought Washington's search for a slugger up in an article entitled, "Manny solely to blame for his current plight", about Manny Ramirez's inability to find the deal he wants in the current market, mostly, in Mr. Olney's opinion, because of his own past actions, with Mr. Olney writing that:

"The Nationals apparently have money to spend, and in theory, if they were to sign Ramirez, it could be an interesting play. He would be a lure for fans and would give a reason for folks to tune in to watch the Nationals, something that very few people did last season."

Count me as one of the few, (and proud), or 1 of the 9,000 DC tv viewers, who took to calling ourselves by our assigned viewer numbers at some point last season...Also, You might remember, at the end of Washington Post writer Chico Harlan's Nationals Journal post this weekend entitled, "Boras: For Tex it just came down to winning", Mr. Harlan wrote, in the last paragraph, that he had asked Scott "Maximum" Boras, who represents both the new Yankees' First Baseman, and Manny Ramirez, "...twice...whether the Nats had expressed any interest in the 36-year-old slugger. Boras didn't want to comment. Either time." I'm just saying? Manny in DC?

I predict that Daniel Cabrera ends up being the Nationals' premier free agent signing. Notice I'm not ruling out trades...but excuse me, once again...

A note to Mr. Manny Ramirez, from federalbaseball.com:

I promise, (if the DC franchise will provide all financial backing)...DC will give you 2-Years/$50M? That's a serious offer, and $5M more than the Dodgers offered...Whatta ya think, Manny? Then the Nationals can trade Willingham and Kearns to some other team as a corner outfield package....and you, Dukes and Milledge can play left to right in Nationals Park...with Willie Harris as the fourth outfielder?

Dominican Winter League UPDATE...

The Tigres del Licey defeated Aguilas Cibaenas this afternoon by a score of 5-2, (though one run remains unaccounted for in the MiLB.com box score as of this moment.) Anderson Hernandez, who started at second for the Tigres, finished the day 3 for 4 with a double, his 3rd in 3 Dominican Winter League playoff games so far, and he's now hitting .462, for the 2-1 Tigres in Postseason play which started this past Friday. On the mound for Aguilas Cibaenas...our old friend Nelson Figueroa. Figueroa gave up 8 hits, 5 runs and a walk in 2.0 IP...former Nationals' favorite Ramon Ortiz got the start, and the "W" for Licey, which is fitting...