Because I Can

The Washington Nationals right now want to build up their farm system so they can be a successful franchise. This is an excellent idea, but there's not reason not to add to payroll and shore up the rest of the team while they're at it. Since I live in a fantasy world where I make up stuff like this, I'm going to post my Nats roster for next year, with a little help from the Unofficial MLB site, which has all the contract info.

Before that happens, I will officially call the Nats getting rocked tomorrow because Roy Halladay is starting for the Blue Jays, and he's awesome.

Now, that having been said, here are the people under contract for next year:

Marlon Anderson - OF
Luis Ayala - RP
Christian Guzman - SS
Livan Hernandez - SP
Nick Johnson - 1B
Brian Schneider - C
Jose Vidro - 2B

Guys with options:

Ryan Drese - SP
Brian Lawrence - SP

Players not under contract that won't be free agents:

Chad Cordero - CP
Ryan Zimmerman - 3B
Gary Majewski - RP
Jon Rauch - RP
Ryan Church - OF
Marlon Byrd - OF
Zach Day - SP
Alexander Escobar - OF
Brendan Harris - IN
Matt LeCroy - 1B/PH
John Patterson - SP
Michael O'Connor - SP

Before looking at next year's free agent pool, let's check the roster

C - Schneider
1B - Johnson
2B - Vidro
SS - Clayton
3B - Zimmerman
OF - Escobar
OF - Church
OF - Anderson

IN - Harris
1B/PH - LeCroy

SP - Hernandez
SP* - Lawrence
SP* - Dreese
SP - Patterson
SP - Day
SP - O'Connor

CL - Cordero
RP - Rauch
RP - Majewski
RP - Ayala

Players that will be Free Agents next year:

Alfonso Soriano - OF/2B
Daryle Ward - 1B/PH
Felix Rodriguez - RP
Ramon Ortiz - SP
Damian Jackson - OF
Jose Guillen - OF
Robert Fick - C
Joseph Eischen - RP
Royce Clayton - SS
Pedro Astacio - SP
Tony Armas - SP

The question of free agents is which players are best to sign for the team, then which are best for the money. Here are people I absolutely retain.

Soriano - he can be a leader for this franchise, with his work ethic. Great arm, bat and speed.
Fick - backup catcher and pinch hitter, and that's his market value. Why not

Maybe characters:

Ward - lefty power off the bench, is price right?
Guillen - decentish bat
Armas - reliable starter, puts in his 180 innings

The rest can go. The bullpen is solid, and a mop-up man and lefty reliever can come via non-roster invite. I would expect Dreese and Lawrence to go next year, so that leaves Hernandez and Patterson, which isn't a lot. There is a need for another starter, unless the club feels like letting Hill or Day start regularly. So besides Soriano, that would be the big acquisition. Picking up another outfielder would be a priority as well, but maybe not as high a priority. Ideally, getting a true leadoff hitter will help.

I would heavily pursue Dave Roberts as my first choice there. The guy can run, and he and Sori can probably run a few double steals. If not him, then Ryan Klesko would be good too, or Kenny Lofton (who can still perform despite his age).

For the starting pitcher, Barry Zito is the big prize. But that might not be the best move, or even possible; the Nats may blow their wad on Soriano. Andy Pettite, Soriano's former teammate, might be a good acquisition if he can be coaxed away from Houston. Tom Glavine is old but can still pitch, and the same can be said for El Duque. Both Hernandez brothers would be kind of cool really. Byung-Hyung Kim is a maybe, although as diverse as DC is, he may attract a good following, and he would probably come cheaper than Chan Ho Park, though Park may be a better option. If you want to live dangerously, Kerry Wood.

Here's the end result of the Nationals, assuming the ex-Yankee pickups in the rotation.

C - Schneider
1B - Johnson
2B - Vidro
3B - Zimm
SS - Clayton
LF - Soriano
CF - Church
RF - Roberts

Bench
LeCroy
Anderson
Byrd
Harris
Fick

Rotation
1 - Livan Hernandez
2 - Andy Pettite
3 - John Patterson
4 - Orlando Hernandez
5 - Michael O'Connor

Bullpen
Cordero (CL)
Ayala
Rauch
Majewski
mop-up
lefty

That's not a bad team. Power from Soriano and Johnson, straight hitting from Vidro, and who knows what from Zimm. The bullpen for the Nats is already great. This team could challenge for the division.

Opening day lineup in 07, then

Roberts
Vidro
Soriano
Johnson
Zimmerman
Church
Clayton
Schneider
L. Hernandez

Labels: Nationals