Thomas B. Shea - Getty Images
"The People's Champion" Michael Morse hasJohn Lannan #31 of the Washington Nationals show him where Morse's home run landed above the Crawford Boxes in the fifth inning against the Houston Astros on July 18, 2011 at Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Thomas B. Shea/Getty Images)
The Washington Nationals announced today that they'd avoided arbitration by agreeing on deals with three Nats, starter Jordan Zimmermann and relievers Tom Gorzelanny and Tyler Clippard. The Nationals had previously signed catcher Jesus Flores to a one-year deal and inked Gio Gonzalez to a contract extension. That took care of five of the seven arbitration-eligible Nationals, leaving OF/1B Michael Morse and left-hander John Lannan as the only unsigned Nats. According to CBSSports.com's Jon Heyman (@JonHeymanCBS), who was Tweeting the numbers filed before today's deadline to do so, the Nationals offered Morse, who's coming off a .303/.360/.550 breakout campaign, $3.5M while the player's side filed at $5.0M dollars. Lannan, 27, finished the 2011 campaign (10-13) with a 3.70 ERA, 4.28 FIP, 5.17 K/9 and 3.70 BB/9 in 33 games and 184.2 IP. The lefty filed at $5.7M according to CBSSports.com's Mr. Heyman, while the Nationals filed at $5.0M even.
(ed. note - "We'll change the poll later, up first it's LANNAN vs THE NATS!! Who wins the arbitration battle!?!?! VOTE BELOW... Feel free to argue in the comments...")
Lannan, an '05 11th Round pick by the Nationals in their inaugural draft class, saw his salary jump from $458,000 to $2.75M dollars in his fifth MLB season in 2011 after he avoided arbitration by agreeing on a deal on January 17th. Morse, in his seventh campaign with Washington, played more games in 2011 than he had previously in any year at the major league level, appearing in 146 games and making 575 plate appearances. Morse signed a day after Lannan last winter, agreeing to a 1-year/$1.05 million dollar deal after having made $410,000 in 2010.
Does Lannan get the $5.7 he's looking for? $3.5 for Morse? Or $5.0 million? The Nationals haven't had an arbitration case since the winter of 2010 when they came out on the winning-end of hearings with both left-hander Sean Burnett and right-hander Brian Bruney. Will the Nationals' two-case winning-streak be challenged, or will both players agree on deals before heading into arbitration?
0 recs | 32 comments
Zow...I was cringing over the projected $4 million for Bambi...
and now it’s up to $5 million.
And now Lannan thinks he’s worth more than $5 million? He must think he’s still an OD SP!
HAHAHAhahaha…..
MissB - January 17, 2012 via mobile
He'll be better this year and worth it, you'll see....
cat daddy3000 - January 17, 2012
Lannan = Bambi, who's Thumper? Harper?
RoscoeNats - January 17, 2012
How the hell d'ye load pics?
Need some tutorial up in here
Whupass - January 18, 2012
Okay.
When you post a reply, or a post in general, look where the bold/italic buttons are. The one on the far right is the “Image” button. If you click it, it’ll have a little pop-up that asks you for the URL of the image you’re trying to post.
If you got the picture by Google Images, you can right-click (Option-click?) the image and choose “Copy Image Location” before pasting it into the URL-requesting pop-up.
Jorgath - January 19, 2012
Opening Day Payroll at least $69 million
using averages for Morse and Lannan, and minimum salaries for players whose contracts are totally under team control. This does NOT include the $6 million spent on players not on the major league roster (Maya, Harper, Rendon, Purke)
Also, still no word on what DeRosa is being paid.. I penciled in $1M, but it likely is much more (he made $6M last year).
dc Roach - January 17, 2012
Salaries
Mark DeRosa, 1b, an $800,000, one-year contract. I did a google news search.
There is only a 40 Man roster at this point. You should include players on the 40 man roster because they are MLB level and the Nats got to pay them. Maya, Harper, Rendon, Purke are all on the 40 Man.
HG_VA - January 17, 2012
thanks.. couldn't find him anywhere
I’m focusing on players with major league contracts, so the 25 man roster and the four minor leaguers with major league contracts. I’ll put up a post when these negotiations are finished, like I did last year (except with more years of info this time).
dc Roach - January 17, 2012
Isn't that Morse in that picture, not Ramos?
Anyways – I think Nats win both. The Lannan is a no-brainer – if only the arbirtators could tell the Nats you could have gone $4M and won. I could maybe see Morse in between, but closer to the Nats number.
dugjxn - January 17, 2012
I apparently should have edited Getty's copy, dang...
I have enough trouble with my own mistakes.
Patrick Reddington - January 17, 2012 via mobile
re: Lannan
I think Lannan would score a pretty good contract on the open market, probably more than what he asked for.
That’s the difficulty of assigning value to a player in arbitration – it’s not a free market, just the opinion of a third party.
illlwill - January 18, 2012
and i dont believe they value lannan's intangibles as much as his supporters do
TJL - January 18, 2012
influences
I wonder if the fact that the nats are constantly ripped on for having a low payroll already would have any impact on decisions about arbitration. Personally I would rather see the team enter into a good deal with Mike nothing too long, but maybe four years going from 4 million this year to 10 million in year 4, and increasing by 2 million a year each season.
I think it would make this team look good to reward players who are in the system and perform, not just reward guys they grab from other teams.
Alex35332 - January 18, 2012
lately theyve rewarded players they draft more than anybody else
so its not only those they grab from other teams
TJL - January 18, 2012
You know what bugs me about Lannan?
He never seems to have great starts. They’re pretty much always the 5-6 inning variety, allowing 2-3 runs, and he always seems to have that one mid-game inning which teeters on the brink of disaster. It’s like clockwork with him. In 128 career starts over five seasons, he’s only managed to reach the eighth inning ten times. All this makes him an “OK” pitcher, but not one who merits 200,000 dollars per start.
RobBobS - January 18, 2012
You are SO preaching to the choir!
Five-inning Lannan puts extra stress on the bullpen, has the worst ABs of all the SPs and couldn’t lay down a bunt if his life depended upon it = Not helpful to the team
Five million seems a lot for a pitcher who’s mostly vamping until Detwiler or Purke takes his job.
MissB - January 18, 2012 via mobile
That is certainly the simplistic view
As we ARE paying him per start, but obviously there is everything else that comes with just being a professional.
It seems like alot but I think Lannan has a pretty good case. I don’t think arbiters are that in tune with the times, heres a guy with a sub 4 ERA in 3 of the last 4 years, and has led the Nats in win 2 of the last 3 years. (COUGH)
Bsullivan - January 18, 2012
Led the Nats in wins?
Is that really an argument?
RobBobS - January 18, 2012
It is in this type of case.
They use statistical analysis such as ERA Whip and Wins. They could say he only had 10 wins, but he could follow up with, “Well, I led the team”.
There is an argument to be had there, if they were any good, how many wins would he have? Unknown really. Cant imagine he’d have too many more. But with that said, he only gave up more than 3 runs 7 times. I know we talk about his lack of innings prowess, but it can lead to wins with a shutdown bullpen.
Bsullivan - January 18, 2012
In the mediator's eyes,
yes.
jbg2772 - January 18, 2012
If I were representing the Nats' management in the arbitration
I’d tear that argument to shreds.
It’s not personal, John; it’s just business.
RobBobS - January 18, 2012
And the arbiters would then dismiss your argument
Because you’d be using dem newfangled sabermetrics
Jorgath - January 19, 2012
Why are people worried about paying PF?
The before last paragraph in this piece says we paid Morse $410 million last year alone.
I knew the Lerners had money, but that seems a little excessive, IMHO.
DC20 - January 18, 2012
HA!
Bsullivan - January 18, 2012
Well, he DID have a pretty good year...
RobBobS - January 18, 2012
This article says he was paid $410 million in 2010, but...
ONLY $1+million last year when he was in Beast Mode.
At that rate, they should pay him half his 2011 salary for an even bigger Beast Mode year in 2012!
Heh.
;-)
MissB - January 18, 2012 via mobile
Appreciate the subtle correction.
Patrick Reddington - January 18, 2012
Saw my opportunity for a joke, had to take it.
Keep up the good work though. Love the material and banter you have here.
DC20 - January 18, 2012
I should've added a ;) at the end...
Appreciate edits so the next 100 people who read something after you don’t have to see the same mistake. I blame that one on Cot’s baseball contracts and the way they list the salaries $0.41M…it’s either that or blame it on my iPhone.
Patrick Reddington - January 18, 2012
Future FOF? Here's Cecil Fielder pushing 40. Can a 300 lb apple fall far from the tree?
Whupass - January 19, 2012
Sigh
I fear a monster has been unleashed.
RobBobS - January 19, 2012 via mobile
LOL yes indeed, and thankee Jorgath
T’aint Dr. Frankenstein’s creation, but it’ll do
Whupass - January 19, 2012
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