Milledge not Lasting

The Washington Nationals have optioned outfielder Lastings Milledge to their Triple-A ball club in Syracuse on Tuesday. The Nationals are off to an 0-7 start to the season and Milledge has performed just as poorly. He was hitting .167 (4-24) with 1 walk, 10 strikeouts, and just 1 RBI thus far. Assistant General Manager Mike Rizzo said the demotion of Milledge was “…to get more comfortable with his swing, to get more comfortable with the position and to do it in a less stressful situation than the National League East.”

I have to say I was a little surprised by this move. To start Milledge performed very solidly in his first full season in 2008, showing why he has once considered one of the top prospects in the game, In 138 games last year he clubbed 14 home runs and stole 24 bases while batting .268 with a .330 OBP. These definitely aren’t All-Star caliber numbers but they certainly are encouraging for a young player still adjusting to the big league level. Secondly, at only 24 years old Milledge ideally is part of the future of the Nationals organization. Even with the logjam in the Nats outfield I would think they might give him more time to work out his struggles than just 7 games. Also the two outfielders behind Milledge, Austin Kearns and Josh Willingham definitely are not part of the Nats future and I don’t expect either to outperform Milledge over the course of the season.

I understand the Nationals can’t just keep penciling in any player who is struggling just because of his potential and hope for future growth,. For the fans sake they have to attempt to put the winning combination on the field. Honestly though the Nats are headed for the basement in the NL East and even the most optimistic Nats fan knows this. That is why the quick hook for Milledge was so surprising. Being only 24 years old and coming off such a promising ’08, I thought he’d get more than 24 at bats to work through his struggles. I guess that’s why my phone never rang when the Nats were looking for a replacement GM for the recently departed Jim Bowden.
-Robb Lennahan

Nats say goodbye to Perez

Can someone please remind Odalis Perez that he’s Odalis Perez. The left handed pitcher was released by the Washington Nationals on Monday for failing to show up to their spring training camp. Perez was reportedly upset with the minor league contract, worth $850,000 if he made the major league roster that he signed on February 5th. He said he would not show up to camp until his contract was renegotiated. After not returning messages left for him by Nationals GM Jim Bowden and manager Manny Acta the decision was made to release the disgruntled pitcher.

This is an extremely odd move by Odalis Perez. The first question of course is why did he even sign the contract? It’s possible that he wasn’t 100% pleased that all he got was a minor league deal but he still agreed to the contract. In ‘08 the lefty made 30 starts posting a 4.34 ERA, he did however allow 182 hits in only 159.2 IP. Regardless, pitchers are always in demand especially left handed pitchers. I’m sure he had a few teams inquiring about his services. Of course this is pure speculation but I wouldn’t be surprised if he had at least one major league contract offer on the table, yet he choose the Nationals offer. Secondly, Perez’s holdout most likely has put him in an even worse position than he perceived he was in with the Nationals. With spring training games starting on Wednesday does Perez honestly believe he’ll find a better deal for himself now? I could envision a team offering him slightly more money but I would find it hard to believe that a team would be willingly to give Perez a guaranteed roster spot at this point in the spring.

Barring a purely awful spring he was pretty much assured of making the Nationals roster regardless of his contract. The smart move for him would have been to stay with the Nats, if he remained mildly productive he could of drummed up some trade interest and might have been out of Washington by August 1st. He might think he got what he wanted with his release. He’s just overlooking the fact he’s a marginal pitcher who now has a bad reputation. I think I have a better shot at getting a Major League contract than he does this spring.

-Robb Lennahan

Big Donkey a National Treasure

As reported by ESPN’s Buster Olney, the Washington Nationals and Adam Dunn have agreed to a 2 year contract worth $20 million. The deal could be announced later today. If by any chance, you are one of the few people who hasn’t realized how badly the economy has effected the free agent class, this signing should do it for you.

In years past, a player of Dunn’s caliber has been able to essentially write their own ticket. Two short years ago, long term deals from a number of teams would have been something Dunn would have been fielding the moment he filed for free agency. Even though he is only a career .247 batter, this is a player with 5 consecutive seasons of 40+ homers, 90+ RBIs, and 100+ walks. Those are definitely numbers that can help any team.

Baseball Reference cites JD Drew as the 10th most comparable hitter to Dunn and he received a 5yr-70 million dollar contract from Boston in 2005. Troy Glaus, the 6th most comparable hitter through the age of 28, received a 4yr-45million dollar deal from Arizona in 2005. Unfortunately for Dunn, it’s 2009 and my how the times have changed. 2 years at 20 million from the lowly Washington Nationals was the best he could muster, less than 2 weeks from the start of spring training, mind you.

You might just think he held out for the most money he could get in a weak market. This could be true, but I think a player who’s never been on a winning team for his entire 8 year career (save his 44 games with Arizona in ’08 where they went 22-22) would take a few million dollars less to have a chance to at least be on a .500 team.

His signing with the Nats almost ensures his streak of sub .500 teams will run to an even 10 years. This is a great move for the Nationals, though. They get some pop, maybe generate a little fan excitement and sell a few more seats. For Dunn though, all he gets is $20 million and 2 more years of going home at the end of September.

-Robb Lennahan