Feb
5
2012
5
2012
Nationals Sign Rick Ankiel
An article by Hojo's Mojo
The Nationals have signed Rick Ankiel to a minor league contract with a spring training invite, according to Amanda Comak of the Washington Times.
Ankiel hit .236 with nine home runs and 37 RBIs in 122 appearances for the Nationals last season.
The Mets were reportedly very interested in Ankiel and according to Jon Heyman, they were trying to scrape up the $1 million dollars they’d need to sign him.
Andy Martino of the Daily News said the Mets were looking a veteran lefthanded bat for the bench last week, and that Ankiel, Kosuke Fukudome, Raul Ibanez, and Johnny Damon were the top targets.
Another solid low cost move for the Nationals.
About the Author: Rob Johnson
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Do we have other options? Adam Loewen, i suppose?
loewen is an interesting option Curious to see what he can do in ST.
baxter is also floating around. so they have a couple guys to compete for that role. Ankiel just has ML experience.
LOL….what bothers me is not the fact that we missed out on Ankiel (who has a killer arm BTW), but rather that we wait until there’s nothing but garbage left and then make a move (or in this case, knowing the Mets, NOT.)
We are the cellar team at BEST.
Let’s go Mets.
But Sandy is a genius at waiting for the market to come to him, remember? I mean how else are all these players who can help a team win going at such low prices? Oh – but they’re not going to the Mets.
A million for Ankiel. The Mets need to save their money so they can sign the players they draft in June. The team they got now is the team they got until July when they dump Wright and his 16 million. I don’t know about 2014 but I think 2012 is going to be a disaster.
LOL….’trying to scrape up a million dollars?
Thanks, Fred.
Exactly my thoughts………
Rick Ankiel? I know things are bad but… Rick Ankiel??? This is the can’t-miss rookie pitching sensation whose delicate psyche was shattered at Shea Stadium during his playoff meltdown in the Bobby Jones game. There’s no way he could have been a good fit for the Mets at any price, in any situation. At best, he’d have been a below-average fourth or fifth OF on a last-place team. At worst, he’d have been a resentful malcontent sowing trouble in an already overmatched and discouraged clubhouse. I currently happen to live near D.C. and this is probably the perfect place for him because the “fan base” is completely disengaged and undemanding.
Sandy was going to make an offer but he didn’t want to bid against himself which is SOP when there is a player your REALLY interested in having apparently!
This is something i really don’t understand, please help cus someone within the mets are trying real hard to not exceed this team. How can u say they need to scrape up money for a player, when they had all kinds of money for jose reyes. I mean common on now. Now do u people see now with open eyes , They just need to sell this team the wilpons, the longer they stay as owners, we won’t see this team be winners at all, and they just don’t care about us fans. nothning for rick ankiel. Now does this paint a perfect picture now about our so called owners.
that they realize Ankiel is a not particularly good player at this point?
And none of us know if the Mets gave him the same MiL invite offer, and he just preferred the Nats.
“The Mets were reportedly very interested in Ankiel and according to Jon Heyman, they were trying to scrape up the $1 million dollars they’d need to sign him.”
So does that mean he wouldn’t take a minor league deal from them?
(PS Go Giants!!!!!)
sounds that way, but when you are dealing with these “rumors”, who really knows what the truth is.
Giants are SuperBowl Champs!
Good pickup for Nats. Unlike Pierre who I didn’t think was a good fit for the Mets I felt would of been a good fit in my opinion. The depth at CF remains a concern that I will have to wait and see how it’s addressed and the results of it after it is addressed.
Should read “I felt Ankiel would of been a good fit in my opinion.”
I agree that Ankiel fit the need better. Not that he is particularly good, but he could fill that role you note.
I don’t see that they really have a final team though, unless you think they are willing to go with a guy that probably can’t play every inning/game, with bay and Hairston as the backups.
ST should be interesting at least.
Oh well. Would have preferred to have signed him, but it isn’t like this was Pujols or Fielder. Move on to the next…
For the MLB minimum they could’ve kept Jason Pridie who played a very good CF for us last year.
Pridie was dropped in order to protect one of the slower developing prospects from the rule 5 draft and while he would have been helpful in the short term Kirk is probably going to have a better career and Den Dekker no worse at least and who knows which prospect was saved and what he may do if he makes it up here.
Short term loss of anywhere from half a year up to a full year but a potential long term gain of much more.
Had to be done.
Wait a second, where did the Mets say that Jason Pridie was cut in order to protect a slower developing prospect? You know that for sure? Or is that a GUESS? If that’s a guess then Okay. But if you’re trying to pass that off as official information using your own warped, pathological outlook on life than that’s yet another lie by t agee
And yeah, he ALWAYS refers to Mike Jacobs with me and I have no problem with that. It’s one of the only really honest things he says. He was 2 years removed from 30 HRs and IMO was worth the gamble. It didn’t work out paving the way to Ike Davis. Wow i’m really hurt by that. I’m not doing too bad compared to Sandy where much more than half the moves by this genius are gone already. Oh and he’s a shark when letting the market come to him too (sarcasm)
Ok that’s my only response because this NUT CASE will have the last word and always goes down fighting tooth and nail. He has an answer for everything
“But if you’re trying to pass that off as official information using your own warped, pathological outlook on life”
Just exactly what the hell is wrong with you? How can this site allow you to continue on here?
Jason Pridie is a nothing bench player who means nothing and is nothing.
And when you defend supporting Mike Jacobs, it is exhibit 167,987,098 of your complete ignorance and psychosis.
Jacobs is a HORRIBLE baseball player, and a classic example of the idiocy of judging a player by HR only. He cannot hit, he cannot get on base, he is slow, he is a bad fielder, and aside from the 32 HR in 2008, Jacobs never topped 25 HR at any level.
When he hit 32 HR, he also walked 36 times and struck out 119 times, in 519 total PA. He his .247 with a .299 OBP–do you know how bad a .299 OBP is? He made the 4th most errors as a 1st baseman in the NL. He stole 1 base.
Even the horrible disease of a GM known for his Reign of Error under the name Omar Minaya was smart enough to jettison the atrocious Mike Jacobs after 7 games, and he has not been seen in the majors again.
Everything you write reeks of ignorance and is redolent of a very advanced and unique form of stupidity.
To be fair. Bayonne MF isn’t the one that said anything about Pridie. I was. We all know Pridie is a fringe MLB player but if we’re looking for a guy just to play CF in a pinch,we already had him for the MLB minimum. No one was saying he would have any type of impact.That’s all,no big deal.We’re looking for a lefty that can play CF. Ankiel got 3X more than Pridie was making and isn’t much of an upgrade at this point in his career.
Starting another fight tonight, Bayonne? Basically tag is correct. I liked Pridie, but he isn’t a compelling player who is a one-of-a-kind. Pridie was pretty mediocre last season but he played solid defense at every outfield position. Supporting the Mets position on who to keep on the 40 man roster is the fact that both Pridie and Nick Evans cleared waivers.
yeah i started this right. I always do (sarcasm)
Meanwhile you can address Kingman who follows all of my posts with incendiary remarks – oh wait you agree with him
des and t agee – that’s all you need to know
“ALL” of your posts??
I have probably been here about 5 times recently, and every time I see psychotic drivel from you.
There’s not a word yet coined to describe the level of aggressive, self-satisfied, ignorant, nonsense you spew.
Des I know you like to beat up on Bayonne but please for the love of god make sense when you do!
You Say Pridea was nothing special…
Torres Is?
I get the fact that we don’t have faith in our cheap kids…
Should we instead just accept cheap nothings merely on the basis that they wore a different jersey last year?
I understand we needed the spot for the Rule 5.
DO you really mean to say there was not some Relief pitcher like Carrasco that wouldn’t have been better off left off the list to keep the cheapest CF we had who MAY even get better as opposed to Torres?
I for one would have preferred to take Carasco off and if we did he would have cleared for sure and probably accepts a minor league demotion.
That would have been a better choice but Pridie would still be out here as soon as Kirk is back to his June 2011 production in AAA,
Metsie the Pagan trade was for Ramirez with Torres thrown in. The whole reason the Giants made the trade is for the exact reason you mention. Pagan is better, otherwise why would they do it?
Basically we had to get worse at CF in the short term in order to obtain a set up man and Torres will get us to Niuwenhauss with Den Dekker in reserve and hopefully Puello a candidate somewhere between 2013.
Upgrades if necessary will be based upon how things go with those three between now and then.
Tag I know all about that, It’s not the trade but the fact we waived a guy who plays and hits better at CF plus has WAY more upside than the guy who is going to play there now.
I do however find it absoloutly rediculous to get worse in a Regular position in the name of getting a SET UP MAN! Closer maybe but a Set up man?
And I know the following is not about anything you have said recently but it does seem to be right in line with that statement which I will take as merely flippant (from you) but is central to a lot of guys around here justification for the team dismantling!
We had to get worse at CF to fix the Pen!
We had to get worse at SS to have the money to fix the Pen!
We HAD to trade our All Star closer to be able to afford free agents which were all Kmart type relievers signed this year!
All this in the name of Fantasy of being competitive this year!
Pitching does win championships but that doesn’t extend to Relief Pitching!
Was the issue with our competitivness last season the relievers or the Starters?
Was it the Relievers who were so god awful or was it the fact our starters would barely make it past the 5th and 6th inning meaning overuse of a mediocre pen and then trading away the only consistently good pitcher in that pen for table scraps the problem there?
I fully understand there are a lot of possible CF future stars in our MiLs that it would be unwise to rush up to fill in this year. And whatever happens at CF this year is going to change maybe even as soon as this year!
But I have REAL ISSUES with replacing regular position players for weaker candidates in the name of making some part time (one or two innings every two days) reliever position stronger. Especially after we completly tore apart and rebuilt that Pen last offseason! And the Pen we hated is basically the construct of the guy who is now replacing them!!!!
We did it then in the name of CHEAP but then went and got a guy like Carrasco who got paid MORE and did LESS than Takahashi!
The only winning move regarding the Pen last year was Feliciano getting hurt making Sandy appear pretty smart.
Pagan was no great shakes with the glove last year but that is hardly his norm. Remember how well he did taking over for Beltran in 2010 and it is clear his bat was taken to the field with him not that he got worse as a fielder! It was a focus issue and that can be fixed! And as bad as we (and he) think Pagan was with the Bat he still hit .260, not .290 but not all that far off considering missed time and being thriown into a leadoff position he wasn’t comfortable with.
I just don’t get why so many people are so tunnelvisioned on the Pen and willing to dismantle the guys who play 9 in favor of the guys who pitch one a game!
And if Kids are as important as you say then you should not give up on them until such time as you are FORCED to pay them more than league minimum especially when they can be better than the guy you intend to play instead!
If Pridie has an epiphany and shines at his new location will we have to hear about this 20 years from now?
If we are determined to go with a youth movement then lets stop sending them and the all stars packing to get guys who are old and short term bandaids!
Lets take guys like Holt and Misch and all those other guys not named Harvey, Familia and Wheeler and put them in the pen!
If they fail at least they were cheap, if they succeed at least they are yours for the long term and if they are merely mediocre they at least are good trade pieces to someone else who delusionally thinks relief pitching is more important than regular position players!
I have no problems getting slightly worse in order to get far better someplace else.
I don’t think we got that with the Pagan trade and definitly did not with the Reyes fiasco!
The Pagan trade on it’s own is not the problem it’s the fact that the lesser CF is our only option at CF at this point!
And we had TWO guys who would be much better much cheaper with a ton more upside than what we got but we waived them!
If Ramirez was a Closer of any substance maybe I would feel different, But he isn’t he is a set up man which to me is just another specialized temp whose roster spot would be better served by having someone who can play more than one inning per game!
Blah Blah Blah WAlL-OF-TEXT Blah Blah Blah
Sandy Saves…he is the NEW MESSIAH…Blah Blah Blah….
He walks on Water!
He heals the Sick!
He can do no Wrong!
Blah Blah Blah!
See you just got your point across in on sentence instead of 20 paragraphs and everyone now know what you are talking about. Who is going to take the time to read that crap above when you just say the same thing over and over again.
Sorry Gary but I don’t make posts for ingestion by the incredibly feeble minded and stupid!
If my posts are above your head I invite you to skip over reading and commenting on them!
I wouldn’t want you to get a migrane dealing with MEANINGFUL conversation!
Something you have showed time and time again you are incapable of having!
saltyballs is the latest here to waste everybody’s time with one sentence retorts that have nothing to do with the subject and now he’s copying and pasting artwork.
It’s funny how saltyballs and any (or was it srt, i don’t know i confuse the two cuz they both post the same things – anyway it’s funny how they remarked how long Metsie’s post is but yet we all know who the guy here is creates more than one manifiesto on a daily basis but they say nothing about that.
It all depends on what side your on.
I’ve typed more but you just ignore it and paint a incorrect picture of my beliefs. So if you are not going to listen to what people say and just accuse them of believing something else, why should people continue to engage with you? Nothing constructive comes out of any of your comments.
Yes bayonne but then again I am not an Ordained Minister in the Churh of Moneyball!
Sandy Saves you know!
ROFLMAO!
And he criticizes posters who actually have something to say!
Gary we ignored your more because Quanitiy doesn’t seem to increase your QUALITY!
Just about the only meaningful thing you have ever said was Sandy Saves!
And it was meaningful because it basically told everyone how full of shit you are when you say your not a Cheerleader!
Yup you are so right. You just keep spitting the same drivel and people keep boxing you in the corner and you have no ability to give a clear and coherent answer so you just run away every time. IF you have ever read one of my comments you would no I am not a Sandy fanboy. But because you cannot intelligently back up your argument you revert to calling people something they aren’t. That’s all you have and it’s nothing.
Hope you enjoy the cute little bunny:
( ) ( )
(* .*)
(”__”)
Dude you haven’t boxed ANYONE in ANY corner!
You are the one who exposed himself after whining and whining about being called a Sandy Cheerleader and then posting at least on 4 occasions that Sandy Saves!
The only one you have made look foolish since you got here is YOU!
Then why do you keep running away from me? A couple times you’ve demanded answers from me and even gave me a timeline to abide by and I’ve always gave you what you wanted. In the end you never reply, probably never read it and then accuse me of believing the complete opposite of what ever I have said. I get further bantering with my 2 year old. Maybe you just need to chill out and have a juice box.
Running Away?
Oh Please…IGNORING AN IDIOT is much more accurate!
Sandy Saves!
Salty LOVES HIM!
a fact YOU tried to run away from when I CORRECTLY identified you as a Cheerleader the first time we had a discussion!
So whose really RUNNING AWAY here Slappy?
And from whose own statements is he running away from?
Please provide me with one instance where I made a statement that I am a Sandy Cheerleader.
How many posts of “Sandy Saves” has there been in the las three days?
Four or Five?
Metsie I like Pagan as a player. Lot’s of line drives, speed, kid plays hard, fantastic defense, low strikeouts. I have no explanation for last year but his defense in 2009 and 2010 was great and that doesn’t go away overnight. The all too common brain cramps are annoying but yeah I definitely was in the Pagan camp for at least another year but his 2011 was pretty poor overall and it may have been his illness or maybe his head, who knows.
The reality is he was sacrificed rightly or wrongly in order to stop bleeding games away in the 8th or 9th. Whether that will work out or not is a legitimate question but that was the intent behind the trade and was made necessary because once again, as always we have no one that we developed to slip into the pen other than Parnell (and Joe Smith who went in the Putz deal)
Holt’s not getting anyone out in AA how can you expect him to get anyone out in the bigs? Misch isn’t even with the Mets anymore and you just can’t devote spots on the 40 man roster to guys like him and Pridie in the hopes that they have an ephiney at age 29 or so because then you cannot protect your slower developing prospects.
We already lost a guy in this years rule 5 draft named Rhyner Cruz who throws 100 MPH, not that that’s everything and while there is no guarantee that prospects we did shield from the rule 5 like Armando Rodriguez, Wilmer Flores and Juan Lagares may not ever do anything the reality is that IF they do something up here it is almost a certainity that it will be much more than what Misch, Pridie or Evans would have given us this year and if anything Evans and Pridie should have been given a shot to platoon in LF instead of signing Bay if you just wanted to give them a shot.
We did spend a supplemental round pick, two 2nd round picks and two 3rd round picks on college relief pitchers in 2006 and 2007 (Smith, Kunz, Rustich, Nissen, Clyne) instead of drafting for LF, CF, RF and C and if any of them had come through we wouldn’t have had to get worse at CF this year for a set up man plus we lost a decent RH relief pitcher in Smith along with another reliever, back up CFer, back up 1B/LF and Endy in the trade for a set up man in (Putz) 2009.
Roster management is a tricky part of a GM’s job and sometimes you can’t keep everyone who could possibly help this year because the job requires taking into consideration subsequent years as well. If there had been more emphasis placed on subsequent years before we would have a decent situation at catcher between Thole and Flores. Darren O’Day and Smith in the bull pen and perhaps not had to go outside for relievers.
Carrasco got 2.5 over 2 years, Taka got 8 M over the same. How does that translate to Carrasco getting more?
All these things are interrelated and I for one (probably the only one) liked Pagan, a lot. I think he’s going to have a good season and I hope he does. Torres I’m not very sure about and I don’t know that Alderson et al are either. The two big questions about Kirk were whether he could defend CF and whether his LH power would play elsewhere if he couldn’t. That was the largest part of the decision to bring in the fences. Kirk is the only player/prospect who benefits both offensively and even more so defensively from making the yard smaller. On offense Duda and Davis didn’t have any “just enoughs” or lose a lot on the warning track. Wright might be helped for as long as he’s here offensively a little and Bay had as many HR’s at Citi as he did on the road and he won’t be here more than two years anyway and he’s soon to be platooned or have his time cut into anyway so it’s not like anyone’s counting on Torres for 3-4 years. In addition we have Den Dekker (a Pridie clone) for backup CF in a year and Puello 2-3 years down the road if things break well.
We really cannot continue to lose solutions going forward to fix defficiencies on the 25 this year, every year or we’ll never have a fully complete 25 man roster with depth.
Since 1998 we’ve been forking over solutions left and right (Izzy, Mora, Everett, Cruz, Bay, Burnett, Dotel, Dan Wheeler, Bell, Vargas, Flores, Smith, O’Day, and stripping ourselves of draft picks on top of it. This is more or less the price that’s paid for looking only at this year, every year.
I’m not happy about it. I thought Reyes was reasonably priced. I don’t think we made a full scale effort but i also don’t think he would necessarily have signed for the same over here either. The writings on the wall, this team doesn’t have the resources or the prospects likely to make a huge difference in the next two years and Reyes would have known that if he signed, Wright would defintely be gone soon afterward and while that imo would have been the way to go it still would have left us shorthanded offensively. He’s not stupid. Thole, Davis, Tejada, Reyes, Murphy, Bay, Pagan/Torres/ Duda is an everyday lineup of more guys that have holes in parts of their game than not plus the ace is a huge question mark and everyone after him (other than 37 year old Dickey) too. The pen and bench as well and again no money for real upgrades elsewhere plus the owner’s comments about him certainly depressed his value and after being such a bargain for his first 8 1/2 years has every right to feel he deserved better. The medical staff’s diagnosis and FO office pressure to come back before he was ready. Hey where’s the loyalty?
Pagan’s biggest problem was staying healthy enough to maintain his position there!
There is no denying his fielding sucked last year.
His bat wasn’t much better it was an all around bad year for him.
But I agree with you it was an issue of the head and those can be easily corrected!
He’s gone, Spilt milk just hope we don’t live to regret it later on…
50/50 we will or not.
I understand why they waived him but he was the only guy that could play CF for us and play it extremely well. Sandy should’ve but the bullet with Carrasco or even Hairston. They could’ve used Satin as the RH bat off the bench.If Torres gets hurt,we’re screwed in CF unless Niewenhuis is fully recovered from shoulder surgery.
Hairston wasn’t on the roster while the rule 5 draft was in play.
If the rumor was true it shows the difference between the Nats and the Mets. Washington would only take Ankiel if he agreed to a minor league contract while the Mets tried to come up with a million so he could have a spot on the big club.
And even if the rumor wasn’t true, we can see the difference between the two anyway.
Well anyone surprised by this just ask yourself…
If you were Rick Ankiel…where would YOU rather play?
Sandy is in year two of a team deconstruction, he will probably get another season before the Media gets on him. And that will happen if the Wilpons win thier case against Picard. Sooner if he trades David Wright!
The questions about what is the REAL REASON for our financial problems will start to be asked! If Madoff didn’t take away any money then why are they broke?
Not Payroll because they eviscerated that!
Sandy might get by with another losing season but after this year the honeymoon will be over and looking at the moves to rebuild so far you would have to say it hardly ever started!
Wheeler is about all we have to show for it! No one will get excited (Well no reasonable person will anyway the Cheerleaders will ALWAYS jump for joy on ANY move) about whatever it is we get with our Reyes Compensation (two 2nd round types at best!)
Unless someone spikes the NYC Water Supply with whatever it is the cheerleaders have been drinking, Attendance is going to drop like a brick in a helium atmosphere!
And then the Press is going to stop talking about Madoff and start talking about why the team doesn’t draw!
And Sandy will be firmly in the crosshairs!
‘The questions about what is the REAL REASON for our financial problems will start to be asked! If Madoff didn’t take away any money then why are they broke?’
Could have something to do with down revenues – as in est. 70 MIL – last year.
When you’re spending more than you’re making, you either stop spending or start dipping into your own pocket/own savings – to pay the bills. That’s pretty basic.
Revenues just are not where they need to be to pay the bills due.
“When you’re spending more than you’re making, you either stop spending or start dipping into your own pocket/own savings – to pay the bills. That’s pretty basic.”
Oh it didn’t occurr to you to INCREASE REVENUE?
To FIND a way to put people back in the seats? to Buy Tickets? To want to see this team again?
Not an option in YOUR book?
Let me ask you this scenario…
You are having financial difficulty and can’t get a raise…You need to cut.
Do you get rid of the CAR you can’t make payments on because it is the biggest expense despite the fact you now can’t get to work?
Do you get rid of the house because you can’t make the mortgage payments and instead pay 75% (savings of 25%) to rent something you won’t own when your done?
There are SMART CUTS and then there are BAD cuts!
The cuts we made only made the attendance revenue issues WORSE not better!
Sure we will only lose 20 Mil instead of 70 if we keep the same exact attendance after the cuts we made.
Whats are your plans for next year when there is no 20 Mil player to cut to meet the bills?
And even if you find one, how much will that cost you in attendance?
If Sandy had just let K-Rod and Beltran (with the added savings from Perez and castillo) go he had a good shot at keeping the attendance he had last year!
But only if he kept Reyes!
Reyes took a pay cut for the next two years with no notrade clause but now because we wouldn’t extend him we were left with two lowly 2nd rounder and a reduction in our attendance!
Whatever you think you saved by cutting is now lost because the revenues went down with the expenditure!
Good managers look for ways to INCREASE revenue not just cut for the sake of cutting ignoring the revenue consequences of doing that!
We cut 50-60 Mil of expense and lost about 20 Mil in revenue in the proccess!
Total savings maybe 20-30 Mil in losses!
But your STILL losing money!
You solved NOTHING! Because you treated a symptom not the CAUSE of the financial issues!
Full disclosure just so you know….
I generally skip over most of your response. Take way too long to come to a point that could have been said in a couple of sentences. That and the need capitalize at least one word every sentence as if you’re constantly yelling is just too annoying.
But carry on……
You mean The Mets were looking for Lunch money the Yankee’s dropped on the floor to sign him. The news just keeps getting more pathetic by the day.