National Record

With players set to report by February 25(Pitchers and Catchers on Feb 20th), the 2012 Washington Nationals enter the season with their most talented roster since moving the District of Columbia in 2005. Nationals  Manager Davey Johnson enters camp at the helm for his first full season and  the team hopes to ride the momentum they mustered in the 2011 season’s 2nd half to post a 80-82 record into contending status in 2012. Lets look at the areas the team will focus on in camp.

1-Outfield- The key to the entire outfield focuses on 2 players-rookie sensation Bryce Harper and 1B Adam Laroche. First, Harper. The 1 overall pick in 2010 draft can play any of the 3 outfield positions and will be given every opportunity to make the big club out of spring training. Harper hit .389 in 13 games last spring and was equally outstanding in the minors and Arizona Fall League. Ideally, with a great camp, he is your everyday right fielder. Laroche, who hit 25 homers and drove in 100 runs in 2010, is returning from major shoulder surgery that limited him to 43 games in 2011, Reports have him healthy and ready for the season, if he is good to go, 1B-OF Michael Morse(.303,31 homers, 95 rbi, team high .910 OPS) can be penciled into the left field position after taking over at 1b when Laroche went under the knife. OF Jayson Werth will start regardless of the OF alignment but whether it is in center or right is almost solely dependent on Harper’s performance. The team has resigned Rick Ankiel, who has a cannon arm and great defensive instincts in center, to join returning veteran Roger Bernadina  in the competition. Long time major leaguer Mike Cameron, who at one time was the top defensive centerfielder in the game, also will be in camp as a non-roster invitee. This group and how it is aligned will go a long way in determining the success or failure of the 2012 Washington Nationals. 

2- Starting rotation- Like the Outfield position, their is depth and talent present and camp(as well as health) will go along way in determining how the 5 spots are selected. I think 4 of the spots are guaranteed to be filled by righties Edwin Jackson, Stephen Strasburg and Jordan Zimmerman with trade acquisition  Gio Gonzalez the lone southpaw. Lefties John Lannan(mentioned frequently in trade rumors) and  Ross Detwiler  will battle veteran right hander Chien-Ming Wang most likely for the 5th spot. But do not discount the fact that Wang, Zimmerman and Strasburg have all battled injury in recent years. Look for Johnson, who is outstanding at utilizing young pitchers, to find creative ways to maximize this talented group. Lannan’s future might also be tied into the outfield competition. If Harper does not make the big club, Washington might look to make a move to solidify the centerfield position. 

The Washington Nationals continue there highly productive 2011-2012 offseason,  adding two veteran pitchers to supplement both the bullpen and rotation over the last 7 days. All star relief pitcher RHP Brad Lidge was signed to a 1 year deal January 26th and will provide veteran leadership(Won a World Series with Philadelphia in 2008 when he did not blow  a save the ENTIRE season). The 35 year old will help ease the load on both setup man RHP Tyler Clippard and closer RHP Drew Storen but has battled arm injuries the past 2 seasons. Lidge was limited to 25 games in 2011, going 0-2 with a 1.40 ERA and 23 Ks over 19.1 innings. For his career, he boasts the highest strikeout rate over 9 innings(12) of any major league pitcher who has thrown at least 500 innings. 

Nationals GM Mike Rizzo added another solid starting pitcher February 2nd to an already talented group when Washington finalized a 1 year deal with RHSP Edwin Jackson, who went 12-9 with a 3.79 ERA after splitting time with the Chicago White Sox and the World Champion St. Louis Cardinals. The innings eater reached double digit wins for the 4th straight season(22 other pitchers can make this claim) and also threw over 200 innings for the fourth straight season. Over the past 4 seasons, Jackson is one of 20 starters to average 12 wins and 200 wins. This signing was important for a couple of reasons Rizzo pointed out when the signing was announced. While the Nationals have 7 starting pitchers after the Jackson signing, several of them have battled health issues and will be on pitch counts and/or inning limits. RHP Jordan Zimmerman(Shutdown just over 160 innings in 2011 after missing most of 2009 and 2010 after undergoing Tommy John surgery) ,Chien Mien-Wang(Has not pitched a full ML season since 2007) , and Stephen Strasburg(Will be on a 160 inning limit in 2012 after coming back in September of 2011 after late 2010 Tommy John surgery)  as well as LHP Ross Detwiller(Hip surgery in 2010) have all missed time with injury issues over the past 2-3 years with various arm ailments so the team is wise to stockpile arms. The Jackson signing gives them insurance, stability and reliability. Rizzo felt the team had “an innings shortage” citing stats showing 6 of the 8 2011 ML playoff teams featured 2 starting pitchers each who topped 200 innings. 

An interesting sidebar to the Jackson signing is a potential trade of LHSP John Lannan, who has 30+ starts in 3 of his 4 full major league seasons. With the signing of Jackson, the team now features 7 potential starting pitchers- LHs Detwiller, Gio G0nzalez and Lannan as well as RHs Strasburg, Zimmerman and Wang. Lannan recently was lost his arbitration case and will be paid $5 million in 2012. The team has needs in the outfield with a center fielder who can also bat leadoff  topping the wish list.  The Boston Red Sox are in DIRE need of a starting pitcher and will not resign star CF Jacoby Ellsbury long term(Bad relationship with team’s front office,medical staff and his agent, Scott Boras). Why not piece together a deal built around Lannan and some prospects? Minnesota Twins CF (and PEST) Denard Span’s name has been linked to the Nationals for the past 18 months or so as well. 

GONZO SIGNS LONG TERM: Washington and newly acquired LHSP Gio Gonzalez agreed to a 5 year/$42 million deal last week. The contract features club options for 2017 and 2018 that could put the total value of the pact at $65 million. Gonzalez was an All Star last season with an awful Oakland A’s team when he went 16-12 with a 3.12 ERA in 32 starts. 

Kevin Goldstein released his top eleven Nationals’ prospects and of course whenever you see one of these lists, you think Bryce Harper.  He should make his major league debut with the Nationals at some point in 2012 but I think he starts at Triple-A to start the season like Goldstein mentions.

Number two and another five star guy is the Nats 2011 first round pick, Anthony Rendon.  He’s a college guy so he could be on the fast track but he signed too late to play in 2011.  It looks like he could finish 2012 at the Double-A level which means a 2013 debut isn’t out of the question.

Matt Purke is third and he’s the top pitching prospect.  He was the Nationals third round pick in 2011 and he’s a lefty out of college as well.  The one downer is, he struggled in the Arizona Fall League.  Brian Goodwin (OF) and Alex Meyer (RHP) round out the top five.

The Nationals shored up their outfielder by signing Michael Morse to a two year, $10.5 million contract.  Morse came over in the Ryan Langerhans trade with the Nationals and after showing some pop in limited time with the team in 2010, he broke out in 2011 and belted 31 home runs while hitting .303.  He strikeouts out a lot (about three times for every walk) but he makes up for it with the high batting average.

He played more then half of his games at first base last year and you wonder if this is them giving up on signing Prince Fielder.  This also means they avoid arbitration with Morse and have him locked up for two more years.  The dollar amount may seem a little high but if he can do what he did last year, it’ll be a bargain.

The Nationals are loaded at the top and they have some top notch talent in their system.  John Sickels posted his top 20 Nationals prospects and what a list it is.  Of course topping the list is Bryce Harper who’s been showing up at either number one or two as far as prospects anywhere.  The question is, does he make his debut this year after only one plus whatever he plays this year in the minors.

Number two is Anthony Rendon.  This guy plays third base and Sickels talks about his shoulder problem.  Number three is A.J. Cole, who’s also the top pitching prospect.  Rounding out the top five is Brad Peacock (RHP) and Brian Goodwin (OF).  The B’s go seven deep though and the B-’s go down to 13.  A lot of depth.