My fifth edition of the Bill Ladson inbox. At this point the hardest part isn't finding absurdness in the inboxes, it's finding a picture of Bill Ladson on the internet. When you google him, there are like three pictures of him. The rest are stuff like this and this and this. The picture I found is from the nerdiest Christmas Party ever.
Anyway, everyone should be feeling good in Washington. The Nats are 4-2, the Caps are in the playoffs, RG3 is on his way, and Bill Ladson wrote another inbox. It's a great time for DC sports.
The questions from the "readers" are in bold, my opinions are in red italics, and Bill's answers are in the regular font. Enjoy:
What was your reaction when the Nationals optioned John Lannan to Triple-A Syracuse and kept Ross Detwiler on the 25-man roster?
-- George H., Washington
-- George H., Washington
I was not surprised at all. I made a prediction on Twitter two weeks ago that Detwiler would be in the rotation. Two days after the Nationals traded for Gio Gonzalez, I received a call from a baseball source telling me that the Nationals were looking to trade Lannan. The team felt, I was told, that Detwiler was ready to become a star pitcher. After all that time invested in Detwiler -- changing his delivery, among other things -- I thought the Nationals made the right decision in putting him in the rotation.
In a previous inbox he did say that Lannan had the job, but he wouldn't be surprised id Detwiler was given a chance to be the fifth starter. It was the same general statement everyone had on the situation. As for th twitter prediction, I couldn't find it. I did find where he said the Nats would start the season 6-0. This is the only Detwiler "prediction" I found. Notice the time stamps.
His prediction lasted almost 50 minutes before he reported that Detwiler would be the 5th starter.
I can totally understand why Lannan was upset to be demoted, but the front office has been high on Detwiler for quite some time. He really impressed the front office during the second half of last season.
Detwiler has better stuff. Simple as that. The reason they put Lannan in AAA is because they want to keep him streched out as a starter and he had the team option which allowed him to be sent to the minors. Having too much pitching is a good thing. When Wang comes back it gets a little more complicated. Does Wang move into the rotation, the bullpen, get released, stink, or get injured?
The Nationals have added some good names, including Mark DeRosa and Xavier Nady. However, why are they trying to get rid of Lannan while keeping Tom Gorzelanny? Gorzelanny is a liability and has never done his job.
-- Michael B., Epsom, N.H.
I agree DeRosa, Xavier. Good names. What's that? You were talking about their baseball playing abilities? You've stretched the definition of "good" to it's limits.
I get a lot of questions about Gorzelanny, and people seem to forget that he had a good year as a long reliever in 2011. Don't go by what you saw in Spring Training. I'm expecting him to be a contributor this season.
Again, the team wanted to keep Lannan in the starters roll. Also, you're splitting hairs with the two.They are both pretty average players. By the way, Gorzelanny has done his job twice. Once as a dishwasher at a pierogi stand in high school and the other was last year when he pitched pretty good out of the pen. But I agree, the rest of his life he's been a drain on society.
How about DeRosa? He has really looked impressive. He has been what the Nats were missing last year -- a guy who shows great patience, works the count and puts the ball in play. I think the Nats would be foolish not to find a place for him in the lineup on a regular basis.
-- Thomas M., Washington
-- Thomas M., Washington
I agree. Bench Morse when he comes back. No? Ok, bench Zimmerman. Yeah, that's dumb. Who should we bench? Let me think.....LaRoche? Werth? Ok, maybe he should just be a spot starter since he isn't better than our starters.
DeRosa is my wild card. I believe he will have a nice comeback season. Manager Davey Johnson wanted him on the team the moment he found out that Chris Marrero was going to miss the first half of the season because of a hamstring injury. It would not surprise me if DeRosa ended up with 10 homers on a part-time basis.
DeRosa has hit 10 or more homeruns 4 times in his career. He's played 15 years and in 1,109 games. I'm not saying he won't, but I'd be surprised if he did. I know it's early, but his OPS+ is -2. 100 is league average. He is quite the wild card.
Everyone seems to believe that first baseman Adam LaRoche will not be with the Nationals in 2013. He's a plus defender, and if he puts up 30 home runs and drives in 90 runs, wouldn't the team want him back?
-- Bill D., Springfield, Va.
-- Bill D., Springfield, Va.
Yes Bill D, if LaRoche has one of his best seasons of his career, the Nats and LaRoche may exercise his mutual option if he stupidly decides not to become a free agent after a career year. You got us.
It's too early to think about LaRoche's future with the Nationals. I'm expecting him to have a comeback season with the bat. He already is the best defensive first baseman in Nationals history.
Bill Ladson only predicts things less than 50 minutes before they happen. Also, the best defensive first baseman is ridiculous. LaRoche is good defensively, but we've had Nick Johnson, Dmitri Young, Aaron Boone, Adam Dunn, and Michael Morse. Not exactly the greatest group defensively. A bucket on it's side could have been the best defensive first baseman for the Nats.
If he doesn't have a good year with the bat, there is no question in my mind that LaRoche will not return to the Nationals in 2013. It would not surprise me if Tyler Moore was given a chance to become the first baseman.
If LaRoche is terrible he won't come back? Get off that limb Bill! It looks dangerous!
I know that it is already established that Bryce Harper will play center field at some point this year. But could he possibly be moved to left field in the future, so Eury Perez or Brian Goodwin could play center field at some point?
-- Kevin L. Olney, Md.
-- Kevin L. Olney, Md.
That is a possibility. Perez and Goodwin are highly touted prospects. It's too early to tell at this point. Let's watch Harper play the next few months before making that assessment.
I'd put Bryce Harper in right field since the corpse of Jayson Werth will have to play somewhere. There is a guy named Michael Taylor who's hat should be thrown in the ring as the future center fielder of the Nationals. Of course Bill wouldn't mention him because that would mean you would learn something in one of these inboxes.
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