Happy Halloween Nat Fans! Free agency is upon us and the Nats have a few questions to answer with their pitching staff. Edwin Jackson has hit the market after a 1 year deal posting a record of 10-11 and an ERA of 4.03. Sean Burnett has declined his mutual option electing free agency instead. With a solid season and a 2.38 ERA, it comes as no surprise to test the market.
But before I get into anything, I might as well talk about the shutdown of Stephen Strasburg. Strasburg, coming back from Tommy John, came into the season with GM Mike Rizzo stating there would be an innings limit. This became a distraction throughout the season as many questioned the decision while the Nats were rolling. At first, I was completely against the idea. How could you take one of your top pitchers out!? Strasburg posted 15-6 record with 197 strikeouts and an ERA of 3.16 and the Nats are going to remove him from the rotation? But Strasburg was shaky in a handful of his final starts. He had never had to pitch that many innings over an entire season and add on the Tommy John surgery, I finally agree that shuting him down was the right call. There is a long history of young guys who never fully recover after getting this surgery. This ballclub is young and built for the long term. Some will argue that you take a greater risk to win this season but as a franchise just reaching its first playoff berth, its more important to play it safe. They want multiple seasons of playoffs opportunities and have the tools for that.
Speaking of those tools let’s look at players not named Strasburg. The rotation came into the season with too many pitchers and not enough places to put them. Its a good problem to have. Jordan Zimmermann can be looked at as a player who came back the right way from Tommy John. He was placed on an innings limit last season and shut down. This year he came back healthy and was a lights out pitcher. Potential CY Young winner, Gio Gonzalez brought his intensity to the Nats and a huge pickup via trade last offseason. Ross Detwiler started off in the bullpen as the long man but struggles and injury to Chien Ming Wang led to Detwiler being inserted into the rotation and cementing his spot. Edwin Jackson came to the team via free agency and performed well as a back end of the rotation guy. And of course Strasburg pitched great until his shut down and his replacement John Lannen filled the spot quite well.
The bullpen started the season with a rotating door of closers due to the injury of Drew Storen. Henry Rodriguez and Brad Lidge both got shots and didnt quite pan out. Both may have got too long of a chance to prove themselves… Sean Burnett got a couple chance before the spinning wheel stopped on Tyler Clippard. He took the ball and ran with it and was solid in that closer role. Storen returned and put in the set up man role because of Clippard’s dominance. September roled around though and Clippard started to struggle which led to Storen being reinserted into thr closer slot for playoffs. Storen was strong when he returnes from injury but had 1 rough outing… The 9th inning of Game 5 in the divisional series… Bad timing.
The rest of the bullpen had key players everywhere. Craig Stammen, Ryan Mattheus, Sean Burnett, and Michael Gonzalez all played key roles throughout the season. Christian Garica was a September callup that played his way into key games down the stretch. The Nationals have most of these guys (minus Burnett and Gonzalez) under contract for next season and should be in good shape. Looking ahead to 2013, Tlthe rotation has a core 4 that will lead the team: Gio, Stras, J Zimm, Detwiler. Edwin Jackson hits free agency and I don’t see him returning unless he comes alot cheaper. John Lannen could be a guy to fill the #5 spot but the Nats will probably search the market. Looking at the FA market, guys that could be good pick up for this team: Shaun Marcum, Ryan Dempster, or Anibal Sanchez. Edwin Jackson could return if he comes in cheaper and takes a one year deal. The closer role is Storen’s to lose. While the rest of the bullpen will probably include: Clippard, Stammen, Mattheus, and Garica. If healthy Henry Rodriguez may be given another shot but Davey Johnson will probably want to fill the last two spots with lefties. Tom Gorzelanny has proven dependable as a long guy so he should have a secure spot. Burnett will return I feel to seal this bullpen. Of his price is too high Gonzalez could return to claim the last spot. With 4 solid pieces already in the rotation and just 1-2 spots open in the bullpen, the Nationals team should be almost completely set. Next time, I’m going to discuss the free agent market and highlight a couple players that could help the team heading into 2013.
I just opened a Twitter account so follow me @mdubz11
At last but not least let’s congratulate Nationals First Baseman Adam LaRoche on winnig the NL Gold Glove!
