National Record

With the underrated signing of veteran 1B Adam Laroche last week, the Washington Nationals enter the 2011 season with the best infield group the organization has fielded in recent memory. 2nd year SS Ian Desmond, all star 3b Ryan Zimmerman and late season 2b call up Danny Espinosa  should benefit greatly from Laroche’s solid glove work at First. Desmond, in particular, struggled on defense with 34 errors, 13 on throws while  Zimmerman had 6 throwing errors among his 17 total. Espinosa was one of 3 minor leaguers to hit 20 home runs while stealing 20 bases in 2010 and is the clear favorite to be at 2nd base on opening day.  Get excited Nationals fans, he  played short stop at Long Beach State, following in order: Bobby Crosby, Troy Tulowitzki and Evan Longoria. In other words, MAJOR stud potential!

2011 Washington Nationals Top 10 Prospects, according to the January 10-23 issue of Baseball America

1- Bryce Harper, OF

2- Derek Norris, C

3- Espinosa

4- A.J. Cole, RHP

5- Wilson Ramos, C

6- Sammy Solis, LHP

7- Cole Kimball, RHP

8- Eury Perez, OF

9- Chris Marrero, 1B

10- Brad Peacock, RHP

I talked about this a couple of days ago and now it’s a done deal but the Nationals have inked Adam LaRoche to a two year deal.  He’ll make a nice complement to Jayson Werth in the lineup and at least one of those guys should see some better pitches because of the other.

It’s a two year deal and LaRoche will make $16 million.  That’s pretty much in line with what the going rate is so it’s all good.  The Nationals still have to pay some premium because of their losing seasons but hopefully with the new look lineup, they’ll be able to get on the right track.

The Nationals are looking for another slugger and now that Derrek Lee has signed with the Orioles, they’ve reportedly offer Adam LaRoche a two year deal.  LaRoche has been all over the place since he left the Braves and while he drove in a 100 runs last year for the Diamondbacks, he did with an OPS of just .788.  Still, this is a guy who’s hit 20 home runs every season since his rookie year in 2004 and he’d give the Nationals a guy to offer some protection to Jayson Werth.

Once you get past Werth and Ryan Zimmerman, there’s not a lot of pop in the lineup.  Inking another masher like LaRoche, especially if they can get him at a reasonable price, would go a long way towards the Nats meaning something in 2011.  One problem is, LaRoche is looking for a three year deal and while he hasn’t gotten it yet, it’ll be interesting to see if someone bites now that a guy like Lee is no longer on the market.