david the nationals fan

The rumor has started in Chicago that the Nationals may be interested in
acquiring Joe Borchard from the White Sox. Apparently the Nationals are
impressed with his physical tools and are willing to be patient and see if
the mind grows to enable him to be a productive player.

The two questions are:

1. Is this a wise move for the Nationals; and
2. What player(s) do the Nationals have that would be of interest to the
White Sox.

As for the former... Borchard has very impressive physical gifts. He can
hit the ball a long long way. While he appears to have Kingman's disease,
it may not be too late to correct this problem. Since the Nationals
clearly aren't going to be competitive, I would probably take the gamble.

As for the later, in light of the injury to Mark Burhele, perhaps the
Nationals would be willing to trade a starter, perhaps Armas. It would
fill the short to medium terms needs of the White Sox and would be "fair"
value for Borchard.

tom benton

I don't see the Sox giving him a chance. Armas could be a nice addition.

fsogol

Never heard of him.


I disagree with this statement. While the Nats won't win the pennant,
they should have a winning season. I'd avoid trades and wait for the
new owners. Hopefully the new owners can make some bigger trades (than
Bowden was able to work out) and make some free agent additions.

--
FSogol

david the nationals fan

He was a first round draft pick of the White Sox out of Stanford. He is a
switch hitting outfielder with a great deal of power but some real problems
with strikeouts and contact. He's 26 and had 9 HR in 201 AB last season.
He's considered to be a "natural" athlete. (I believe he was the starting
QB on the Stanford Football team...)

drcrawdad

You're right, when Borchard connects he can mash LONG homeruns. Joe
hit what the Sox are saying was the longest HR at The Cell. It was an
impressive drive. Unfortunately Joe didn't connect often enough last
season when he replaced Maggs in RF.

No doubt all along the Sox plan was for Borchard to take over for
Magglio. When Joe hit under .200 last year the Sox were forced to sign
Dye to be the regular in RF.

Joe has four HR this spring and seems to be hitting fairly well.

I don't know much about Armas. And I don't know the validity of this
trade rumor.

I wasn't keen on the Sox trading Jeremy Reed, I'd have preferred the
Sox shipping Borchard to Seattle. But alas that wasn't the deal.
Contrary to popular opinion the Sox do have quite a few outfield
prospects. So, it may be in the best interests of Borchard and the
White Sox to deal Borchard. On the other hand I can imagine that the
Sox are hesitant to trade Joe because they gave him such a large
signing bonus. They may hold on to Joe to see if he can develop in the
hope of getting return on their investment. That's a risk for the Sox
because Borchard will be out of options after this season. So they may
risk losing him and getting nothing in return, or holding on to him
till his trade value is abolutely nil, which it may be now.

john oreilly

I cannot see how the Nationals could have a winning season...

Here's why:

1) Tough competition in the division. They will play almost half the
schedule against their division, and that's Atlanta, Philly, Florida,
and the improved Mets. One of those teams may finish under .500, but
I'm guessing anybody playing that schedule would be tested.

2) Lack of resources. Each of the teams in the division other than the
Nats has payroll flexibility to get help at midseason if they're in the
hunt. While MLB owns the Nats, that won't be the case. It's in the
individual and collective interest of the other teams in the division
for Washington to finish fifth. The sale of the team won't be done
before Christmas, I would argue.

3) Lack of talent. The pitching rotation, under the best of
cir***stances, is full of question marks. Two of them have had good
seasons in the past and the rest are possibilities. Day, Patterson,
Rauch could all be good, but it's doubtful that all of them will be
useful in 2005. I have some high hopes for Armas, but he's yet to log a
full season. The bullpen is good up front but not deep, and you would
expect from a minimal payroll franchise owned by the other 29 teams.

4) Weak infield. Vinny Castilla? Please. Cristian Guzman? Last year
in 600 ABs on a good team he was 8 HR, 46 RBI, 10 SB, and an
unbelievably bad .309 On-Base. And his defense is poor. Worst contract
I've seen years, to lock this guy up for 4 years. They could've gotten
any backup SS from any roster in the league at the major league minimum
and gotten equivalent production. And they'll have a hell of a time
trying to unload the contract, too. It's not like he's 24 and
developing; he's 27 and already declining. Vidro is a quality player
who outhit Guzman (14 HR, 60 RBI) in only 110 games; that's a problem,
though, since he had knee surgery in August. And Nick Johnson, who's
got a *sweet* swing, has also yet to play 130 games in a season, and
broken 100 games only once in three full seasons. But he's 26 and worth
being optimistic over. His skills, unlike Guzman's, are likely to
continue to develop.

They're also weak offensively at catcher. In the AL Central I could see
80-83 wins, but this is a tough schedule, and playing the AL West in
interleague play won't help.

I've got my season tickets, but I don't have big expectations. I say:
get rid of Endy Chavez and Castilla; OF of Chruch, Sledge, and Wilkerson
is fine by me; trade Guillen for a young 3B and AA pitching prospect;
find somebody desperate for a SS and unload Guzman; and finally sell the
team to someone who will build a winner.

Rant over!

:-)

John

fsogol

I don't disagree with anything you've said, but still maintain they can
have a winning season.

1. The Expos always did well against the rest of the NL east.
2. Vidro, Wilkerson, and others did well despite trying conditions the
last few years. They should bloom playing in front of a sell out home
crowd. The will have good seasons.
3. The Mets will collapse and Pedro's arm will fall off.
4. The Phillies are destined for last place and can no longer blame Bowa.

Anyway the uncertainty is why they play the games.
--
FSogol

jobu

Is their any reality to this rumor? Has it been mostly talk in DC?
If so do you have a link where I could read more?

TIA.
Good luck in 05 Nationals!


On 21 Mar 2005 18:44:49 -0800, "DrCrawdad" <drcrawdad@gmail.com>

drcrawdad

So far at least the only place I've seen talk of this so-called rumor
is here and internet discussion pages. Occasionally these "rumors"
turn out to have some basis in reality, most often they don't. We'll see.

the


the

Sox

may

justforfun

If Armas is healthy I'd take him for Borchard in a minute.