Hot Stove Thread 2014-15

Dodgers get Andrew Heaney in the deal. That's one less hard-throwing righty starter for our teams to deal with, Sonner.

 

Just saw a tweet -- NOT A FACT, A TWEET -- that the Nats have traded Ryan Zimmerman and acquired Max Scherzer.

 

I don't know about that, but the Red Sox have apparently traded for Wade Miley:

https://twitter.com/Ken_Rosenthal/status/542874144837087232

 

This will turn the free-agent market upside down -- Barry Zito is attempting a comeback.

http://www.mercurynews.com/giants/ci_27113892/giants-barry-zito-will-attempt-comeback

 

Now the Dodgers have flipped Heaney to the Angels for Howie Kendrick.

http://www.si.com/mlb/2014/12/11/dodgers-acquire-howie-kendrick-angels-andrew-heaney

 

Indeed. But the Marlins are suddenly looking like a team once again fully capable of being a pain in the Nats' ass. They may win only 70 games, but 10 of em will probably come against Washington.

And I've not heard the Zimmerman thing. Probably because it's not even remotely true.

 

If Bill Belichick ran the Red Sox, he'd deal Pedroia for Zimmermann in a heartbeat and open 2B for Mookie Betts.

Alas, Cherington isn't Belichick.

 

You really think the Nats would make that deal?

 

Depends on how committed the Lerners are to spending the money to keep Zim long term.

At some point they have to make hard decisions about which of their young core players are gonna get long-term deals and which will either get dealt or let walk.

My father-in-law insists the Lerners are hoarding dollars for huge deals for Harper and Strasburg, as well as Desmond. I have no idea if this is true or not.

But given the Nats' glaring hole at 2B, they could do far worse than Betts if they're (stupidly) determined to deal Zim.

 

I'd be surprised if the Nats kept both Zimmerman and Desmond. They also have to figure out what to do with Fister, Span, and Clippard, who all have 1 year left on their deals.

"You snooze, you lose," says Boswell.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/nationals/thomas-boswell-in-mlb-teams-that-hesitate-with-pending-free-agents-often-lose/2014/12/10/5fc73a90-80b6-11e4-9f38-95a187e4c1f7_story.html

 

Padres get Kemp, according to the San Diego Union Tribune.

Dodgers have been busy. Kendrick, Rollins, McCarthy added. Kemp, Gordon, Haren gone.

 

No way they keep Span. Michael Taylor will take over CF, perhaps as early as 2015. Kid's a stud.

If Clippard gets a good enough offer to leave, can see Nats letting him walk, too.

But if they don't keep Fister, I'll be shocked. The guy was their second-best SP and he should be affordable (relatively speaking) because he's a groundball specialist who doesn't rack up Ks.

If I was running the Nats, I'd figure out some way to keep the following core players together: Stras, Fister, J-Zim, Harper, Desmond and Rendon. Whether the Lerners will spend to do that, who knows?