Nationals add Soriano

[texasdave]

This is looking like one formidable foe. They have just added Rafael Soriano to their bullpen.


http://mlb.si.com/2013/01/15/rafael-.../?sct=hp_t2_a4

[Red Raindog]

Originally Posted by texasdave

This is looking like one formidable foe. They have just added Rafael Soriano to their bullpen.


http://mlb.si.com/2013/01/15/rafael-.../?sct=hp_t2_a4

yikes

[UPRedsFan]

They're still short on offense though.

[40YrRedsFan]

Gonna be really tough for any NL TEAM to top Wash in 2013. We get our complete season series with the Nats in April (7 GAMES).

[texasdave]

Originally Posted by UPRedsFan

They're still short on offense though.

I am not exactly sure where you are getting this from. Playing half their games in an extreme pitcher's park (while the Reds played half of their games in GABP), they still outscored the Reds last year 731-669.

LaRoche - .853
Desmond - .845
Werth - .827
Zimmerman - .824
Harper - .817
Morse - .791

Add to that Denard Span and Wilson Ramos. 2012 team OPS+ showed Washington at 102 and Cincinnati at 90.

They have plenty of offense. I wish the Reds had that offense to be honest.

[Red Raindog]

Originally Posted by texasdave

I am not exactly sure where you are getting this from. Playing half their games in an extreme pitcher's park (while the Reds played half of their games in GABP), they still outscored the Reds last year 731-669.

LaRoche - .853
Desmond - .845
Werth - .827
Zimmerman - .824
Harper - .817
Morse - .791

Add to that Denard Span and Wilson Ramos. 2012 team OPS+ showed Washington at 102 and Cincinnati at 90.

They have plenty of offense. I wish the Reds had that offense to be honest.

I want my old Washington Senators back --- yeah I am THAT old -- they were so bad they could make the early Mets look good!

[MoneyInTheBank]

Never count on paper champions panning out...

[Red Raindog]

Originally Posted by MoneyInTheBank

Never count on paper champions panning out...

can't argue that point but the paper looks pretty good to me

[goreds2]

Originally Posted by MoneyInTheBank

Never count on paper champions panning out...

We can only hope it's on this paper:

[coachpipe]

Im not all the convinced that Soriano is better than Drew Storen. And Morse wont be in Washington by the time the season starts. He has nowhere to play. Span, Harper(hopefully goes through his sophomore slump) and Werth will control the outfield while LaRoche(hopefully goes back to his old self) controls first base

[tedies]

Originally Posted by UPRedsFan

They're still short on offense though.

This is very wrong... Span, Werth, Harper, Zimmerman, Laroche, Desmond, Espinosa... I'd venture to say that's a little better than our lineup. Zimmerman is one of the most underrated players in the league

[nheath22]

Originally Posted by tedies

This is very wrong... Span, Werth, Harper, Zimmerman, Laroche, Desmond, Espinosa... I'd venture to say that's a little better than our lineup. Zimmerman is one of the most underrated players in the league

Not to mention Desmond emerged as probably the best hitting SS in the NL last year.

The reds should be good next year, but I wouldn't say our team is better than the Nats, both look like formidable opponents from an offensive standpoint as well as a pitching standpoint for the next several years.

[alwaysawarrior]

This certainly bolsters the Nat's pen. They were already probably the best on paper team in the NL and will now be better,on paper. That doesn't necessarily mean anything, but I think teams like the nationals, reds, giants etc have positioned themselves about as well as they can. Now things have to go right for one of them during the season, and what is essentially a crapshoot, the postseason.

[smixsell]

Just a thought.........Soriano has had major injury problems throughout his career. I can easily see him blowing out again and costing the Nats major blown payroll.

[texasdave]

The Nationals had, arguably, the best team in the NL last year. To that mix they have added Denard Span, Dan Haren and Rafael Soriano. They seem to be heavily in on Javier Vasquez as well. They seem to be pushing all-in these next couple of years.
Their owner, who is worth nearly 4 billion, is Ted Lerner. He is also 87 years old. I doubt he is looking five years down the road.
As far as the Soriano signing goes he will received 7 million the next two seasons, with the remainder being spread out over the next decade. 7 million a season for Soriano is quite reasonable if you ask me.

And, like I mentioned earlier, when you are 87 years old your plans are probably skewed more towards the short-term than long-term.