The Beltway Boys: TOO MANY PITCHERS? NAH

TOO MANY PITCHERS? NAH

[September 7th] -- For more than a year, Jim Bowden has been telling us that he was going to rebuild the Nationals from the ground up, and that the farm system is now in far better shape than in was when he took over.

He's right. Want some proof?

Last year, the Vermont Lake Monsters won just 23 games and featured a rotation that included Aaron Jackson, Terrence Engles, Zach Baldwin and ErikArnesen.

Who? My point exactly.

Though the Lake Monsters' season is not quite over, I thought it might be fun to take a look at this year's rotation and see if there has been any improvement.

Duh.

The rotation this season features Hasan Pena, Cole Kimball (who returned this year), Glen Gibson, Colton Willems, Jordan Zimmermann and Adrian Alaniz. Up until a few weeks ago, all six were pitching like Roger Clemens. Though Pena and Gibson haven't faired as well of late, all of them have done a superb job this year.

To be sure, some of their individual stats are quite pedestrian, but there are a few spectacular efforts as well. For instance, none of the six allowed more hits than innings pitched. That's unheard of. The worst batting-average-against belongs to Pena at .256, still very impressive for a rookie league pitcher.

Overall, Adrian Alaniz has the most impressive stats. He's allowed just 35 hits in 55 innings while striking out 9.5 batters per 9 innings while walking 1.1 per 9. He was an 8th round pick this year out of the University of Texas.

Of course, there is no chance that all of these guys are going to make it to the new stadium in a few years. That said, a few of them will have the talent to make it, but will probably be traded for veterans to help solidify holes in the major league roster.

For the first time, the Nats have enough young arms 1) for themselves and 2) to use as trade bait.

I knew it would happen, but never thought it would happen this quickly. It's amazing how picking good players in the draft helps. It sounds easy, but just look at the last six or seven Nationals' drafts.

Again, thank you Major League Baseball.

# posted by Farid Rushdi @ 1:01 PM

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Orlando Hudson To Nationals?

MLB Traderumors is predicting that second baseman Orlando Hudson will likely end up in Washington.

I think they are right.

The Nationals have no one in-house who can play second and no one wants to see Cristian Guzman next to Adam Dunn.

The Nationals still have enough money remaining in the till to pay Hudson $5 million or so for 2010.

The Nationals have enough back of the rotation starters (Scott Olsen, Ross Detwiler, J.D. Martin and Craig Stammen) to spend the remaining resources on Hudson.

Big Changes, Little Names

Big happenings? Nah. Just happenings. Zach Day was designated for assignment by the Colorado Rockies and Capitol Punishment is reporting that the Nats have claimed him off the waiver wire. So we ended up getting Preston Wilson for nothing. That's nice. Billy Traber, he of the tight leash, was sent down to New Orleans and replaced by Mike O'Connor.

Rasner Rocks For Yanks

What was it that Jim Bowden said when he lost Darrell Rasner to the Yankees through waivers last winter? Wasn't it something like, "C'mon, it wasn't like he was going to make an impact at the major league level?" Well Jimbo, it seems like some of your "minor" transactions are coming back to haunt you.

Rasner, a 6'3" righty from Carson City, Nevada, was waived February 11th by the Nationals, just a couple of weeks before the start of spring training. He was picked up and assigned to 'AAA' Columbus. He had some injuries this year, but it didn't effect his pitching. In 58 innings for the Clippers, Rasner went 4-0, 2.76. But wait. There's more.

Pitching on Sunday against the Twins, Rasner pitched 6 strong innings, allowing just 1 run on 6 hits. In two starts, he's now 1-0, 1.17.

What do you always like to say, Jim, something about "You can never have enough pitching?" Let's see, you waived Rasner, and he's starting for the Yankees. You waived Claudio Vargas, and he's starting for the Diamondbacks. You waived Byung Young Kim, and he's starting for the Rockies. You traded Tomo Ohka for a guy no longer in the major leagues, and he's starting for the Brewers.

Jim, if I were you, I'd stay away from the waiver wire. Seems like you haven't figured it that it's supposed to help the team, not hurt it.

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