A Nationals press release from today …
The Washington Nationals today agreed to terms with 19 minor league free agents, including righthanders Steven Shell and Dennis Tankersley, catcher Humberto Cota, and infielders William Bergolla, Yurendell de Caster and Antonio Perez. The club also agreed to terms with lefthander Mike Bacsik, righthander Bobby Brownlie, righthander Tristan Crawford, lefthander Mike Hinckley, lefthander Arnie Munoz, lefthander Jason Stanford, righthander Jim Ed Warden, catcher Chad Moeller, infielders Luis Jimenez and Ed Rogers, and outfielders Jason Dubois, Tommy Murphy and Jorge Padilla. All 19 players received an invitation to 2008 Nationals Spring Training.
Of the nineteen names above, six of them are new (in bold italics).
- Bergolla, 24, hit .306 with 22 doubles, seven homers and 37 RBI in 99 games with San Francisco’s Triple-A Fresno squad in 2007. He appeared in 17 games with Cincinnati in 2004 for his lone big league experience, batting .132 with an RBI. In eight minor league seasons, the Venezuela native is hitting .289 with 144 doubles, 27 homers and 253 RBI.
- Perez, 27, batted .218 with two homers and nine RBI in 26 games with Oakland’s Triple-A Sacramento team in 2007 before a sprained right knee ended his season in May. The Dominican native has appeared in 216 big league games with Tampa Bay (2003), Los Angeles-NL (2004-05) and Oakland (2006), batting .244 with six homers and 43 RBI overall. He played in a career-high 98 games with the Dodgers in 2005, batting .297 with 13 doubles, three homers and 23 RBI.
- Stanford, 30, is 2-5 with a 3.61 ERA in 23 games (12 starts) in portions of three big league seasons (2003, ’04, ’07) with Cleveland. The 30 year-old owns a career record of 52-37 (.584), a 3.21 ERA and a 2.9/1 strikeout-to-walk ratio in eight minor-league seasons. By signing with the Nationals, the 6-foot-2 Stanford will play outside the Indians organization for the first time since signing with Cleveland as a non-drafted free agent in 2000 out of UNC-Charlotte.
- Moeller, 32, is a veteran of eight big league seasons with Minnesota (2000), Arizona (2001-03), Milwaukee (2004-06), Los Angeles-NL (2007) and Cincinnati (2007). He has appeared in 421 big league games overall, including a career-high 101 contests in 2004 with Milwaukee. Moeller is a career .224 hitter with 26 homers and 113 RBI. The University of Southern California product played in a combined 30 games with Los Angeles-NL and Cincinnati in 2007, batting .161 with a homer and two RBI.
- Rogers, 29, batted .249 with 16 doubles, six homers and 35 RBI in 111 games with Boston’s Triple-A Pawtucket club in 2007. The Dominican Republic native, who originally signed with Baltimore as a non-drafted free agent in 1997, hit .207 with a homer and four RBI in 30 big league games with the Orioles in 2002 and 2005-06. Rogers is hitting .262 with 55 homers and 371 RBI in 930 minor league contests.
- Murphy, 28, appeared in 20 games in three stints with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in 2007, batting .184 with a double and two RBI. The switch hitter spent the majority of the 2007 campaign with Los Angeles’ Triple-A Salt Lake club, where he hit .270 with 18 doubles, six triples, four homers and 32 RBI in 80 games. Murphy, who was selected by Los Angeles in the third round of the 2000 draft, also appeared in 48 games with the Angels in 2006, when he hit .229 with four doubles, a homer and six RBI.
Not all of these 19 players will remain with the Nationals beyond spring training (I’d be surprised if it ends up any more than 10 of them). Of the new names above
- Antonio Perez is another of the Bowden/Reds alum to join the Nationals (he was part of the Ken Griffey Jr trade)
- Bergolla is another Reds alum. A middle infielder with speed. Think of him as a 2008 version of Bernie Castro.
- Stanford made it back to the majors last season after missing most of 2004 and 2005 after elbow reconstruction surgery
- Rogers was once a highly hyped Orioles prospect (he drew comparisons to Derek Jeter back in 1997). As part of a crackdown on actual names/birthdates after the events of 9/11, it was then revealed he was has actually three years older than Baltimore believed he was.
- Moeller seems the clubhouse favorite to be the backup catcher in Washington (assuming Jesus Flores is given regular minor league playing time in the minors)
Ryan Sullivan | 27-Nov-07 at 6:57 pm | Permalink
Brian and others-
Curious with what you said with Chad Moeller: do you think the Nats can send Flores to the minors for regular work? In my opinion, Flores is every bit as good a catcher today that Schneider is, and sending him down to the minors would seem to be a bad message to send him and those in the organization. Thoughts?
Brian Oliver | 27-Nov-07 at 8:09 pm | Permalink
I don’t see it as a bad message at all. In fact I see it completely the other way. For Flores it is an opportunity to further develop with regular playing time. While I can understand some of the discussions about a platoon, I think it makes much more sense to place him ideally in Harrisburg where he can (a) play almost every day and more importantly (b) work with guys like Ross Detwiler, Jordan Zimmermann, and Shairon Martis with an eye towards the future.
As a RH part of the platoon, he seems destined to maybe 1-2 games/week which is not what he needs. Allow him to face the challenge of some of the better pitching prospects out there in Double-A.
(All of this becomes moot if Brian Schneider is dealt).
Scrub fan | 27-Nov-07 at 8:13 pm | Permalink
I love this kind of post. Remember that the Mets were talking to the Nats about Brian Schneider. Flores could end up the number 1 catcher here.
This further goads me into a question I have asked before- the influx of these players has to mean that the club values at least some portion of them more than what our system already had. Who should we expect to see hit the road?
Even more interesting, please try to keep us up to date with what happens to our own minor league free agents. I am mainly curious about where Larry Broadway goes. I have followed him since 2005, and his name is not in the list above. We started our relationship with the team in 2005 by investing some care in players who only had promise because the system had been ravished. I hope Broadway at least gets his cup of coffee before his career is over.
Tom | 27-Nov-07 at 10:01 pm | Permalink
Brian, I don’t see you getting excited about any of these players. From a minor league team fan’s point of view do you think any of these players will have a positive impact on any of the farm teams? (Most noteably Harrisburg)
Brian Oliver | 27-Nov-07 at 10:07 pm | Permalink
Of the six new names from today’s list, they all seem like Clippers in waiting. The one guy who stands out to me is Jason Stanford. Lefthanded pitcher who looks like a back of the rotation guy,
In Harrisburg, I’d imagine we will see quite a few guys from Harrisburg. The starting rotation could be really interesting with Detwiler, Jones, Zimmermann, Martis, and Meyers.
Louis J. | 27-Nov-07 at 11:53 pm | Permalink
I don’t understand why the Nats can’t sign a better crop of Minor League Free Agents for Columbus such as: contact hitter Mark Johnson(CA)(L/R) with a great OBP & bb:k ratio; power hitting players like Val Pascucci(OF/1B), Scott Seabol (3B), Brooks Conrad(2B) & Justin Leone(RF); versatile INF/OF-switch hitter-on base ability-some speed Bobby Scales; UT-INF Andy Cannizaro & Rodney Choy Foo and pitchers Matt Kinney (RH-SP) & Ron Chiavacci (RH-SP). If the Nats are going to field a AAA team, why not put players on the team who can win and at the same time stock up on players who could help the “big team” during 2008 such as power hitters, versatile infielders and catchers.
Nate | 28-Nov-07 at 1:52 pm | Permalink
Louis J -
It’s not as though Bowden is just going down the aisles at the market and saying “You guys, come with me!” Minor league free agents are free agents after all, and while we tend to think the Nats present the best opportunity for Quad-A guys, the players may feel differently. Pascucci and Seabol in particular might be looking for teams where the infield corners aren’t quite so logjammed. While I understand your point I don’t think it’s quite as simple as the Nats failing to sign the best guys available. The recent drafts and last year’s minor league free agents signings suggest that the front office does have some acumen in identifying talent, even if they don’t get everyone we might wish they did.
Louis J. | 28-Nov-07 at 5:28 pm | Permalink
Nate
I agreed that the Nationals scouting team understands talent. The 2007 draft indicated that fact. And, I sing their praises all the time, However, it does not mean that the same scouts are evaluating the minor leagues for AAA-AAAA players.
So far it appears that the scouting system used by the Nats for minor league free agents is reviewing the list of available players for names they recognize and selecting players that Bowden, Rizzo, Boone, etc. know or who are inexpensive. Why not sign AAA players who could possibly help the “big team” somewhere during 2008. Gods knows that the Nats could use some power hitters; therefore, I would rather have power hitters like Pascucci (a former Expo)(62 XBH w/34HR), Seabol(68 XBH w/32HR) and Conrad (61 XBH w/22) instead of Jason Dubois & Jorge Padilla. The Nats could use a good backup catcher in case of an injury call up and I would rather have Mark Johnson (a good contact hitter with a great OBP & bb:k ratio) instead of Chad Moeller. The Nats could use a versatile infielder like Bobby Scales (47 XBH w/11HR, 373 OBP, 14/17 steals and can play 2B, 3B, LF, RF &1B) instead of Luis Jimnez, Ed Rogers, William Bergolla or de Caster. And Tommy Murphy was an after-thought when they lost Brandon Watson to the Phillies.
The players I mentioned have been around the minors for a lot of years and know that they are not full time ML starters. They are not looking for a team where they could start. But they could help a team as a power bat of the bench, a fill-in late in a game or start when a player needs a rest or is injured. Or, they could make the Clippers a damm good team to watch for the people in Columbus.
If they are not going to spend big $$$$, some little $$$ on a better caliber of Minor League free agents would have been of more help to them during 2008.