Nats - Signed Claussen, Williams

Washington Nationals - Signed P Jerome Williams to a 1-year contract; signed P Pickles Claussen to a minor-league contract.

The Nats have an awful farm system and without any impact pitchers coming through (Chico and Mock could be bottom-of-the-rotation guys, but there’s no star potential), these are the types of risks the team should be taking.  They could be going for .500 in a couple of years if they can keep the offensive core together (and if they can identify exactly who the offensive core is, which I’m not too sure about) and get lucky on a couple of these pitchers.

Claussen’s would certainly be the better pitcher (and, in fact, would probably still be a Red) if not for the fact that he’s coming off surgery to repair a partially torn rotator cuff.  Williams is healthy, but he really was awful in the minors last season, but it’s not like he’s going to block anyone good.

2007 ZiPS Projections 
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Player      W   L   G  GS   IP    H   ER  HR  BB  SO   ERA
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Claussen    9  10  26  26  147  147   77  20  55 110  4.71

Williams    6  10  31  24  150  164   88  22  58  71  5.28
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