Hat tip to Baseball America
Washington Nationals (25)
- Righthanders: Eddy Baeza, Hector Carrasco, Noel de Leon, Daniel Foli, Josh Hall, Jim Magrane, Edward Valdez, Rafael Vargas
- Lefthanders: Brandon Claussen, Mike Hinckley, Chris Michalak
- Catchers: Juan Brito, Brandon Harper
- Second basemen: Brent Abernathy, Dan Dement, Greg Thissen
- Third baseman: Tony Blanco
- Shortstops: Manny Alexander, Melvin Dorta, Felix Fermin Jr, Marcos Yepez
- Outfielders: Frank Diaz, Tyrell Godwin, George Lombard, Abraham Nunez
hoagie | 02-Nov-07 at 5:22 pm | Permalink
can’t say i’m too disappointed to see any of these guys go. too bad diaz and hinckley never ended up how we thought they would, but that’s baseball.
estuartj | 02-Nov-07 at 10:17 pm | Permalink
I don’t see any first basemen here? Where art thou Larry Broadway?
Markfd | 03-Nov-07 at 12:33 am | Permalink
Out of all these guys the only guys I would sign would be:
Josh Hall
Brandon Claussen
Greg Thissen
Marcos Yepez
Frank Diaz (I’d give him one more year to prove he can play above AA)
All the rest can try to find a job elsewhere.
VladiHondo | 03-Nov-07 at 10:39 am | Permalink
Thus we close the door on one of Bowden’s failures, carrying Tony Blanco throughout the Nats’ epic run in 1st place in 2005, and fight for a playoff spot, all hampered by the Rule 5 pick riding the pine.
Louis J. | 04-Nov-07 at 11:31 am | Permalink
VladiHono
I’m not a Bowden fan BUT you’ve been listening to too much sports talk radio shows! Blanco was a failure but he didn’t cost the Nationals a playoff spot in 2005. Also, I thought only the POPE was infallible. If you want to highlight GM’s who have made bad decision (failures), let me give you a list for starters: Orioles, Tampa Bay, Toronto, Dodgers, Twins, White Sox, Rangers, Astros, Marlins, Cardinals, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh & Giants. Plus, what did the infamous great guru Brian Cashman & Billy Beane do for their clubs. Their clubs and the Nationals all had injuries but which GM handle the situation better? If you would like to list Bowden’s failures, I’ll provide the list of the good moves he made. For instance, getting rid of Jamey Carroll was a bad decision. Trading Wilkerson, whats his name & another whats his name for Soriano and Soriano for darft choices Jordan Zimmermann & Josh Smoker was a good decision. Unloading Vidro & $12.5M for whats his name and another whats his name and later getting Wily Mo Pena was a good decision. Trading Livan & $15M for Matt Chico & Garrett Mock was a good move. Signing Dmitri Young, Ronnie Belliard, Tim Redding, Jesus Colome and selecting Jesus Flores were good decisions. And, let’s not forget the selections of Zimmerman, Maxwell, Marrero, Willems, King, Gonzalez and the best 2007 draft of any club according to Baseball America.
Lighten up! I’m sure Bowden will do something in the future to complain about but his past few years have been better than most GMs.
Louis J. | 05-Nov-07 at 8:59 am | Permalink
Brian
Will the Nationals resign any of the Minor League free agents listed in your posting such as Abraham Nunez, George Lombard, Brandon Harper, Juan Brito & Melvin Dorta. What’s left in Columbus & Harrisburg makes them very thin in OF and CA.
Brian Oliver | 05-Nov-07 at 11:16 am | Permalink
Louis - My guess is that they’ll bring back some of those names listed above. It’s just prcedural that they are declared free agents, offering them the opportunity to shop themselves around for opportunities that can put them in better positions to make the majors.
Suns Fan | 05-Nov-07 at 1:05 pm | Permalink
Say a guy who is 22 gets released, and is playing in AA, and is a solid player but not a prospect. Is he free to go to the highest bidder? Is there a salary cap in the minors? I’ve heard that some minor leaguers make six figures (AAAA players), while others are lucky to make $12K a year.
Louis J. | 05-Nov-07 at 3:25 pm | Permalink
Sun Fans
I’m not an expert but free agency for minor league players has not cap and no draft choice compensation rules. BUT, remember that players in the minor leagues are not protected by their club for a reason, not enough talent to make the Majors or very little trade value. Case in point, if the Nationals could trade Larry Broadway or thought he could play 1B, would they allow him to be a free agent? A traditional AAAA player is one that is not good enough to make the majors; therefore, its doubtful that a team would pay “six figures” for said player when he can be replaced by some other prospect. But some AAAA players who have been around for 10-13 years probably receive more than the norm such as Rick Short of the 2005 Nationals and a guy named Scott Seabol, a power hitter, who has played for many teams. Finally, I’m not sure if the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) has any provisions for seniority and pay levels for minor league players.
An unusal situation could develop where a team signs a veteran player (not a 22 year old) who has been demoted to the minors and has declared himself a free agent to a “six figure” salary. Remember, Dimtri Young, Ronnie Belliard and Robert Fick were initially signed to minor league contracts in 2007 probably in the “six figure” range.
VladiHondo | 06-Nov-07 at 12:10 pm | Permalink
LJ
most of those minor league contracts signed are conditional, a certain amount if they make the majors (above minimum), otherwise, less.
As far as Bowden, he’s improved, making better moves once he got proper supervision. His track record was about 60-40 his first Nats year. Good was Castilla, Guillen, Loaiza, Carrasco, even Baerga, Byrd and P Wilson. Bad was Blanco, losing Vargas, Ohka-Spivey, Guzman, Escobar for Owens and releasing Scott Downs. For Blanco, you never see a contending team carry a Rule 5 unless they actually contribute.
This year Bowden was pretty good, no real failures besides perhaps Snelling for Langerhans.
Louis J. | 06-Nov-07 at 1:13 pm | Permalink
VladiHondo
Thanks for the info. Good to see that you lightened up! About the proper supervision comment, you may surprised but I don’t think Kasten/Lerner have much to do with supervising Bowden player personnel moves except to require any large expenditure ($1m or more) and/or long term contract be cleared with them. If Bowden wanted to trade Cordero, Kasten would not stop it. I believe that Bowden was in favored of signing McGeary to that large bonus from the beginning and finally convinced Kasten to take it to the Lerner for approval of the amount and the decision to exceed the MLB slotting rules. Bowden is a cagy dude and has been able to do everything he wanted to do since the Lerner Group became owner. That includes hiring the manager, adm. staff additions, consultants, scouts, drafting prospects and player moves. Bowden is using up his goodwill while he has it!!