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Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Rosenthal: Nats working hard to land Gio Gonzalez

Ibanez GIO! Oh, wait…that’s Philly.

The Nationals, continuing their quest to add a left-handed starting pitcher, are pushing hard to land the Athletics’ Gio Gonzalez, according to major-league sources.

...To acquire Gonzalez, who is under club control for four more years, the Nats likely would need to part with at least one of their young starting pitchers, perhaps right-hander Brad Peacock or lefty Ross Detwiler. The team also is deep at catcher.

The Athletics earlier this month traded right-hander Trevor Cahill and lefty reliever Craig Breslow for three young players — right-hander Jarrod Parker, outfielder Colin Cowgill and reliever Ryan Cook.

The team is entertaining offers for closer Andrew Bailey as well as Bailey, trying to collect as much young talent as possible as it prepares for a possible move to a new ballpark in San Jose.

Repoz Posted: December 20, 2011 at 02:04 AM | 23 comment(s) Login to Bookmark
Tags: athletics, nationals

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1. Xander Posted: December 20, 2011 at 02:36 AM (#4019785)

In with the first Nat Gio joke!

2. Danny Posted: December 20, 2011 at 03:14 AM (#4019819)

To acquire Gonzalez, who is under club control for four more years, the Nats likely would need to part with at least one of their young starting pitchers, perhaps right-hander Brad Peacock or lefty Ross Detwiler.

Detwiler is also under club control for four more years, but he doesn't appear to be any good.

3. /muteself 57i66135 Posted: December 20, 2011 at 03:22 AM (#4019826)

In with the first Nat Gio joke!

that's not actually a joke.

i could be wrong on this, but i don't really think gio gonzalez is good enough to actually break a sweat going after. he's a solid pitcher, but you're not going to the playoffs with him as your ace, and if you're going to have to give up real talent to get him, i just think you'd be better off going after felix hernandez or john danks.

4. TerpNats Posted: December 20, 2011 at 03:38 AM (#4019841)

i could be wrong on this, but i don't really think gio gonzalez is good enough to actually break a sweat going after. he's a solid pitcher, but you're not going to the playoffs with him as your ace

Uh, with Strasburg and Zimmermann, the Nats don't need Gonzalez to be their ace, just a solid #2 or #3 guy and a good lefty.

5. Matt Clement of Alexandria Posted: December 20, 2011 at 03:48 AM (#4019856)

Steagles wasn't talking about whether Gonzalez is "needed" as an ace, but whether one should pay a price for him that you'd pay for an ace. It's about what the return for Oakland is, not the state of the Nats rotation.

Plus, the way replacement level works in the rotation, the #1 starter and the #4 starter are both compared to replacement level. A second or third ace isn't a redundancy, he's equally valuable to the first one.

6. Zonk isn't banned, he's under review Posted: December 20, 2011 at 03:51 AM (#4019861)

Detwiler is also under club control for four more years, but he doesn't appear to be any good.

Yeah - I don't know that a package centered around Detwiler even gets you a Geo.

7. Dan The Mediocre is one of "the rest" Posted: December 20, 2011 at 04:09 AM (#4019877)

This is a tough crowd when a pitcher who has probably been in the top 20 pitchers each of the last 2 years isn't considered an "ace".

8. Matt Clement of Alexandria Posted: December 20, 2011 at 04:20 AM (#4019888)

It's not a "tough crowd" in general. It's a crowd that's specifically tough on pitchers with a .280 BABIP in their two best seasons. Gonzalez by FIP is a good pitcher, but not really any better than Hiroki Kuroda, and a good step worse than Gavin Floyd.

9. Danny Posted: December 20, 2011 at 04:47 AM (#4019902)

I think we can all agree that 4 years of cost-controlled Gio is worth a helluva lot more than one year of cost-controlled John Danks.

And I'm going to assume Detwiler was one of Rosenthal's poor attempts at being an analyst rather than him reporting via an actual source. Peacock could be the start of a good package, but I don't see the other moveable pieces.

10. The Anthony Kennedy of BBTF (Scott) Posted: December 20, 2011 at 04:57 AM (#4019913)

Strasburg, Zimmerman, Gonzalez, and Lannan is a pretty damned good top four. Gonzalez will probably not be as good as past results due to BABIP but he still strikes out a lot of guys and doesn't give up too many dingers. Walks too many, though, which could bite him on his ass.

11. Fancy Pants Handle struck out swinging Posted: December 20, 2011 at 04:58 AM (#4019916)

This is a tough crowd when a pitcher who has probably been in the top 20 pitchers each of the last 2 years isn't considered an "ace".

I have already mathematically proven that with 30 teams, there are 11 aces in MLB at any given point of time. Do try and keep up.

12. JJ1986 Posted: December 20, 2011 at 05:01 AM (#4019921)

I think we can all agree that 4 years of cost-controlled Gio is worth a helluva lot more than one year of cost-controlled John Danks.

Gio for 4 Jose Lopezes?

13. The Anthony Kennedy of BBTF (Scott) Posted: December 20, 2011 at 05:01 AM (#4019922)

Do try and keep up.

No no no, you're supposed to say "QED, Mother-######\" and then drop the chalk and walk away.

14. Fancy Pants Handle struck out swinging Posted: December 20, 2011 at 05:05 AM (#4019923)

Strasburg, Zimmerman, Gonzalez, and Lannan is a pretty damned good top four.

Also, can we please refer to to their pitcher as Jordan, so I can distinguish him from their 3B? I only have room in my brain for one association with the name Zimmerman.
Or failing that, can we at least spell his name with 2 n's, like it's supposed to be?

No no no, you're supposed to say "QED, Mother-######\" and then drop the chalk and walk away.

Chalk? What is this, 1998?

15. Xander Posted: December 20, 2011 at 05:09 AM (#4019925)

Also, can we please refer to to their pitcher as Jordan, so I can distinguish him from their 3B? I only have room in my brain for one association with the name Zimmerman.

And spell his name correctly; he has two N's at the end.

Also, Brad Peacock will be very good next season, better than Lannan.

16. Fancy Pants Handle struck out swinging Posted: December 20, 2011 at 05:13 AM (#4019932)

And spell his name correctly; he has two N's at the end.

My post had like 3 sentences, you couldn't read them all?

17. Squash Posted: December 20, 2011 at 05:15 AM (#4019936)

As an A's fan I'm biased, but I think some of you guys are out of tune with the market. Gonzalez isn't the best pitcher in the world by any measure, but a young cost-controlled lefty with four years left who's coming off 127 and 130 ERA+ years is going to cost a lot. That's just the state of the game these days. Gavin Floyd? I see you read the Fangraphs article, but I'd take Gonzalez over him easy. Actually I think they're more or less even, but a good step worse is crazy.

18. Xander Posted: December 20, 2011 at 05:27 AM (#4019945)

My post had like 3 sentences, you couldn't read them all?

Mind blown.

19. Dock Ellis

Posted: December 20, 2011 at 06:16 AM (#4019964)

It's not a "tough crowd" in general. It's a crowd that's specifically tough on pitchers with a .280 BABIP in their two best seasons.

Also, he walks half the damn ballpark. Gio is exciting to watch, but he makes me nervous, like he may go all Ollie Perez on you. But I do think a team with designs on contention and filling out their rotation would do well to explore trading for him.

20. Dock Ellis

Posted: December 20, 2011 at 06:17 AM (#4019963)

21. Benji Posted: December 20, 2011 at 03:12 PM (#4020037)

I like Gio and he's been a mainstay of many of my fantasy teams. So let the Nats get him. Otherwise he may somehow get to the Mets and destroy my "wins" total.

22. Guapo Posted: December 20, 2011 at 03:28 PM (#4020053)

Don't forget Wang.

23. Matt Clement of Alexandria Posted: December 20, 2011 at 03:40 PM (#4020060)

Squash -

I didn't say Gio is worse than Floyd, I said that by FIP, he is. I'm not saying Gio has no ability to prevent his on balls in play - the skill very clearly exists and is valuable - but I'm not sold he has the ability to the degree it's shown in his first two seasons. And if a lot of that is luck / defense, then he isn't much better than Floyd.

24. Jose is an Absurd Sultan Posted: December 20, 2011 at 04:22 PM (#4020096)

Gonzalez is a good pitcher but there are some reasons to be a bit skeptical. I understand why the A's are asking what they are asking for him but before I paid that price I'd be checking with Edwin Jackson who only costs money, not players. The lack of chatter about him surprises me frankly.

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Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Rosenthal: Nats working hard to land Gio Gonzalez

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