Washington Nationals general manager Jim Bowden revealed on the eve of Labor Day that the labor his team will seek on the free agent market, unsurprisingly, won’t be pitching.
The reason for the team’s push to acquire young pitchers, Bowden said, is that the veteran pitching pickings are slim in free agency this offseason and perhaps beyond.
What you see likely will be what you get in the Nats’ rotation next season, unless the club opts to bring in one veteran with a short-term, reasonably priced deal.
Any money the Lerner/Kasten ownership spends on free agents this winter or any trades it makes likely will bolster the weak offense and bring in a big bat for the middle of the lineup.
This is good news. This team won’t get sucked into the draining practice of signing other teams’ pitchers to expensive, long-term contracts — a risky venture considering the uncertain physical condition and effectiveness of hurlers these days.
The Nationals won’t be as foolish as the San Francisco Giants, who signed Barry Zito to a seven-year, $126 million contract in the offseason and have watched him go 9-11 with a 4.46 ERA.
The Nationals’ Matt Chico, who until this year never pitched above Class AA, outdueled Zito on Sunday at RFK Stadium. Chico makes $380,000 — a little more than half of what Zito makes a start.
The Nationals won’t be as foolish as the Toronto Blue Jays, who signed A.J. Burnett in the winter of 2005 to a five-year, $55 million deal. What did the Blue Jays get for their money? A pitcher barely above .500 — he’s 18-15 since he signed — with an ERA near 4.00.
And the plan means the Nationals won’t be as nuts as the New York Yankees, who signed Carl Pavano to a four-year, $40 million contract in 2004. The Yankees so far have gotten only 19 starts over three years for their money.
These are dinosaurs, these big contracts for free agent pitchers.
The pendulum has swung back from free agency to player development, particularly with pitching. If you are going to give a pitcher a big contract, it is likely to be a pitcher of your own, one you raised and nurtured and know everything about. Such was the case with the Chicago Cubs, who recently signed ace Carlos Zambrano to a five-year, $90 million extension.
Huge free agent contracts still will be handed out but almost exclusively to position players, for whom past performance is a more reliable indicator of future results.
So, ladies and gentlemen, your Washington Nationals starting rotation for Opening Day 2008 likely will be drawn from this talent pool: Shawn Hill, John Lannan, Joel Hanrahan, Jason Bergmann, Tim Redding and Matt Chico, with youngsters like Collin Balester also in the mix.
If you salivate at the notion of first-round draft pick Ross Detwiler joining that group, you’re juiced up a little too soon. The Nats likely would not let Detwiler jump from Class A to the major league rotation. If he continues to succeed in the minors, though, he will be on the mound at RFK Stadium sometime next season.
Bowden maintains the Nats will not hold guys back out of fear. If minor league pitching guru Spin Williams says Detwiler is ready, he will be on the major league roster.
Hill has shown that if healthy he can be a dominant starter.
Lannan shows command and poise — he’s no fluke.
Hanrahan may be Bowden’s greatest steal, a second-round pick by the Los Angeles Dodgers who in D.C. finally might reach the potential that organization saw in him.
Redding shows enough consistency to justify faith that he can compete for the rotation next season. Likewise for Bergmann, though a strong finish in September would help his chances as he returns from the disabled list.
Chico was sent down to Class AAA Columbus, but his performance in his return against the Giants on Sunday — seven innings, four hits, one walk and one run — put him right back in the mix.
Spring training in February won’t look like the version of summer camp tryouts from Florida six months ago.
That collection of has-beens, never-beens and wanna-bes from Viera eventually turned into a respectable group of starters, as impressive a transformation as any in recent baseball history.
In baseball today, as always, respectable pitching is a valuable commodity.
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