jay hatfield

--Begin Excerpt--
Going over the lineups
By Gordon Edes, Boston Globe Staff
December 4, 2005

You can't always get what you want - but sometimes you get what you need.
Here is a breakdown of what teams want and what they'd like to unload, as
seen by the Globe's Gordon Edes.

Washington Nationals
Needs: Starting pitcher, leadoff man, power hitter.
Shopping: OF Brad Wilkerson, INF Junior Spivey.
Wish list: OF Wily Mo Peña, LHP Jarrod Washburn.

--End Excerpt--

Of course, "owner" is the biggest need for the team right now.

jay hatfield

Ken Rosenthal FOXSports.com

"The Cubs, pushing hard for Marlins center fielder Juan Pierre, might
be willing to part with right-handed pitching prospect Angel Guzman, but
a number of other clubs are in the Pierre mix. The Nationals' Brad
Wilkerson and Devil Rays' Aubrey Huff also are drawing interest from the
Cubs. Nationals G.M. Jim Bowden has long been intrigued by Cubs center
fielder Corey Patterson, and the Cubs have a number of young pitchers
who might appeal to the Nationals."

See: http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/5141070

cjb

What's Patterson's speed like? At least as long as the Nats are at RFK, we
really need speed.

CJB

veritas

He has some speed. In fact, he has all the tools, but needs to work
on patience at the plate. It seems to be a Cubs' strategy that
screwed him up since Dusty Baker seems to frown on walks, but
Patterson was swinging at everything, which killed his average and
OPS. He has power, a good arm, can run...if he can be straightened
out, he's a keeper.

david the nationals fan

Frown on walks? He does more than that. He benched at least one
player last season after he walked instead of swinging away. He has
been quoted in the past as saying that Walks are bad. Baker
positively hates walks from his offense (and thus doesn't really
understand how bad they are for his pitching staff...) and yet when a
walk makes perfect sense, he won't walk the other team. (Last year,
one out, runner on third, bottom of the ninth, tie score, David
Eckstein at the plate.... Baker won't walk the bases loaded, Eckstien
lays down the sac bunt... game over...)


And he has done this for quite a while and was rewarded by more playing time from Baker.

It may be too late. He has had several seasons where he has had the
wrong skills over and over emphasized. If he would bunt for basehits
when he is leading off an inning and swing for the fences when he is in
an RBI situation, he could be very good.

That being said, Wilkerson would be way overpaying for Patterson. His
welcome is so worn out in Chicago that he should be able to be had for
something far less. Dusty Baker loves veteran shortstops that cannot
hit... maybe the Cubs would take Guzman... he "fills a need" for the
Cubs. He gives them a shortstop who actually hits worse than Neffi
Perez.