Black Monday Watch: 'Alfonso? Sorry, ah, No.'
Or so said Trader Jim to his many suitors today.
Now, you just know that Charles Foster Steinbrenner is going to offer Fonzie something like $100 million for five years to come back to the Yankees. And if he doesn't, someone will overpay for Soriano's talent, and despite his nice-guy talk Fonzie doesn't seem likely to take a pay cut to stay with the Nationals. He may be Vidro's new best pal, but he's no Vidro. Remember this spring's arbitration, and look at Fonzie's numbers, and you've gotta figure his minimum is going to be $15 per year on a long-term contract. $75 mil and five years is probably his opening bid, and since we're not a young second-place team looking to take over the division, even that's probably too rich for Washington's blood.
Which leaves Nationals fans having to hope either that Fonzie suffers a late-season slump that lowers his price into the range we can afford or that the Yankees and other potential free-agent bidders suffer late-season collapses so that the first-round draft pick we get for losing Fonzie is a good one.
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What a deadline disaster. All that talk about "reloading the farm system," number one priority," blah, blah, blah... and they couldn't even get one stinkin' prospect for Sori, Livan, Armas or Ortiz? Not even one? And then they try to spin it like they're happy? I'm beginning to feel that Kasten and Bowden are much better at PR than this whole baseball thing.
Bowden can no longer be Trader Jim, not after this debacale. What's his new name, Jim Gillick?
I'm not sure that $75 million is out of the Nats price range. Even if everything in the plan worked perfectly and we were to develop a hungry young team as good as the '27 Yankees, unless Lerner and company are willing and able to sign this young talent to long-term contracts, we will be no better than this franchise was in Montréal when it kept on developing talented players who moved on to greener pastures after a couple of years.
BW, take a good look around the Natsosphere. Remember when you said that while Nat fans only wanted Boz to write bad things about Bowden while Commie fans wanted to break out the wood and nails? If Bowden was able to get the moon and the stars for Alphonso Soriano, a majority of Nationals fans would be unhappy. If he traded him for less, most Nats fans would be breaking out the wood and nails.
We should be happy that $75+ Mill is out of the Nats price range. Tying that much money into a leadoff hitter, instead of into pitching, right now would be a freaking disaster... which I believe is Bowden's specialty.
Hi Ball-wonk. First comment here, noobie, check my sight. Anyway I agree the Nats should have traded him. By the time those 18 years we get for sori, make it to the bigs, who will be here???? I don't lnow, Zim yes, but other then that we'll be out of time and we will always suck. Oh well. FIRE BOWDEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
BallWonk would like to keep Fonzie forever, too. He just doubts that the market will allow that to happen without it becoming the kind of franchise-destroying-albatross contract that Trader Jim has a known predisposition for signing. (And that Stan W. Kasten is known for avoiding.)
Speaking of, Trader Jim is the guy who moved heaven and earth to bring Junior Griffey to Cincy on the theory that one big superstar is all you need to turn a mediocre team into a world champion. Thing is, that kind of thing only works in games that rhyme with "gasketball." And in the event, the Griffey deal turned the mediocre team Trader Jim inherited into the mediocre team he left behind. Which is why BallWonk habitually doubts the man's judgment and competence, no matter how many great draft picks he makes.
I agree with BW. This is an opportunity lost.
Call me naive, but I still think we have a chance to sign Soriano to a long-term deal. If nobody was willing to offer significant prospects to get Soriano, then I think Bowden did the right thing. Most Nat fans at this point want to keep him. If the Lerners show they are going to fight to keep talented players---even if they lose---they will win the respect of fans.
Distinguished Carrie,
Were Baker, Kubel, and a you-pick-em single-A player really on offer? BallWonk would totally have made that deal. Good for Scott Baker that he wasn't traded here, though. He'd have lost his throwing arm to gangrene within six months, if our coaching staff's record of keeping our pitchers healthy holds up.
Now it looks like we'll have traded Wilkie et al for a pair of draft picks. Um, yay?
BW
I really can't believe Bowden didn't move. Terry Ryan was offering Scott Baker, Jason Kubel, and probably another pitching prospect. To not go for that, when the chances of keeping Soriano are so slim... wow.
I almost died in the build up to this trade deadline......and nothing happened???? Ok, I'm kinda glad Alfonso stayed, but I thought Livo, Ortiz and Armas we all gone...what happened to the rebuilding the farm system with prospects crap they've been spittin out since day 1.