Nats Enquirer

Dodgers 2013 Opening Day payroll will be at least $7 million more than combined Washington Nationals payrolls under Stan Kasten?

Stan Kasten's post-Lerner spending binge continues: Zack Greinke will sign a 6-year, $147 Million deal with Kasten's LA Dodgers.

According to the LA Times, when the Greinke deal becomes official the Dodgers will have more than $220 million in salary commitments on the books for the 2013 season. And that's not including the freshly-inked, 6-year, $36 million deal for Korean lefty Hyun-Jin Ryu.

Here's the kicker: Amazingly, the sum total of the 2007-2010 Washington Nationals Opening Day payrolls under Kasten's "watch", when he was walking around disgruntled because he wasn't allowed to spend Ted Lerner's money: $213,061,500 (2007: $37,347,500 + 2008: $54,961,000 + 2009, $59,328,000 + 2010, $61,425,000).

And so the Opening Day payroll for the 2013 LA Dodgers will be at least $7 million more than the combined Opening Day payrolls of the 2007-2010 Washington Nationals under Stan Kasten. Good thing Stan Kasten wasn't allowed to spend Ted Lerner's money the way he wanted to?

Don't forget: one of the reasons for Kasten's departure from the Nats at the end of the 2010 season was reportedly Ted Lerner's unwillingness to spend his money:

One source said Kasten wants to take time away from the game for personal reasons. However, another person in the industry believes a "lack of commitment from ownership" to spend on upgrading the roster was a factor in Kasten's decision. (Jon Morosi, 9/26/2010)

And now Kasten, enabled by his fellow Guggenheim Baseball Management group partners, is making up for all the lost time in Washington? Financial bullying?

(Photo is by Associated Press)

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Update: Stephen Strasburg's pitching coach at SDSU was not the best man at Dan Haren's wedding.

"I did have quite a few other choices. But the Nationals just kind of fit for me."
(Dan Haren, via Nats Insider, 12/7/2012)

Welcome to D.C., Dan Haren

So Dan Haren passed his physical, Mike Rizzo gets his #5 starter, and Haren gets his $13 million Lerner dollars for 2013.

During his conference call with the media Friday night after it was all made official, Haren dropped an interesting nugget: said the best man at his wedding was Stephen Strasburg's pitching coach at SDSU (via Washington Post):

Haren already has one connection to the Nationals’ ace. Stephen Strasburg’s pitching coach at San Diego State, Haren said, was the best man at Haren’s wedding. Soon enough they’ll be sharing a rotation.

Not so, Tweeted Stephen Strasburg - Haren's best man, Eric Valenzuela, joined Tony Gwynn's staff in 2010, a year after Stras was drafted #1:

(screencap of Haren via FOXSportsLocal video on YouTube.)

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Meanwhile, Adam LaRoche bagged a big deer the other day...

And so, while you're sitting around basking in the afterglow of #BeastAppreciationDay, and wondering how Dan Haren's physical turned out, and crying over losing Sean Burnett to the Angels and  Danny Rosenbaum and Jeff Kobernus in the Rule 5 Draft, and dreaming about Spring, enjoy the photo above of the guy Davey Johnson all but guaranteed will be back at first base next year for the Washington Nationals.

Just not on a 3-year deal, right Mike Rizzo?

Oh, that photo of the deer Adam LaRoche killed with fellow Buck Commander Willie Robertson a few days ago is via @williebosshog himself ("Successful day in Kansas. #deerpic". H/T @mo_brandon).

Unrelated: don't forget to buy your tickets for NatsFest.

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Video of Davey talking Adam LaRoche: "If I have to go to Kansas and take him and all his cattle to Florida, I will"

With the market for Adam LaRoche in question, and Mike Rizzo stating publicly that he won't budge on a third year, count Davey Johnson among those who believe LaRoche will ultimately sign with the Nationals. Video above (and here), in which Davey talks about LaRoche's cattle again:

"Adam LaRoche is going to come back. I mean, if I have to go to Kansas and take him and all his cattle to Florida, I will." (Davey Johnson, via MLB.com, 12/4/2012)

Any questions? Yes. Now that Haren is in the fold for a cool $13 million, what can you get in return for Mike Morse when LaRoche signs the two year deal like Davey says he will?

Worth noting: Morse couldn't decide if his nose was itching or ears burning Tuesday night.

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Video: Davey Johnson and Mike Rizzo talk about Dan Haren signing

Nationals sign Dan Haren to 1 year, $13 Million deal.

Up above, video of Davey Johnson and Mike Rizzo talking about the Dan Haren signing, via CSNWashington.com. Video is here, also.

Davey: "I like his stuff. I like his competitiveness....I think he'll be one of the leaders on the staff"

Rizzo: "We have a good core of four young starters, and a really good 5th starter."

Make that a really good, really expensive, 5th starter, Mike!

Here's to hoping Haren passes his physical (bad hip, back) on Thursday so it can all be made official. Strasburg, Gio, Zimmermann, Detwiler, and Haren? Love it...

(Screencap via CSNWashington.com video)

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On NatsFest

And so, after an inexplicable 2-year hiatus, the Nationals will be making like a real, live, MLB team and holding a Winter fan fest this year. Good deal. Tickets will be available online starting at 10:00 AM Thursday, December 6, 2012 at nationals.com/natsfest.

A person who knows stuff and is usually right told us the Nationals may or may not be looking to bring back former players for the event (hint: 2005, not 2008, though we're not sure if any players have accepted).

Here's the official release from the Nats from earlier on Monday:

Zack to the Future

"Maybe it works out better that the deal [with Washington] didn’t go through. In two years I might be a free agent, and then they get to keep the players [who would have been] in the trade. And some of those guys could end up being key players for them."
(Zack Greinke, via Washington Post, 3/22/2011)

And so, here we are two years after Zack Greinke snubbed $100 million Lerner dollars, with the Winter Meetings upon us, and Zack Greinke is free agent. And the guys Mike Rizzo wanted to deal ended up being "key players for them".

Prescient, that Zack Greinke.

Two years later, and they're good enough. Now write the check, Mr. Lerner.

(Screencap via MLB.com video)

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Here's Davey Johnson with Bryce Harper at Davey's celebrity golf tournament

Looks like Davey borrowed Bam Bam's red contact lenses? Photo by @JustineWack on Twitter.

Missing from the photo, of course, is Adam LaRoche, who Davey invited to the first annual Davey Johnson Celebrity Invitational golf tournament in Orlando this weekend seemingly with the sole purpose of forcing LaRoche and Mike Rizzo (also in attendance) to be in the same room to expedite LaRoche signing a deal with the Nats (via Adam Kilgore/Washington Post): "I wanted him here to sign the damn contract."

Meanwhile, on an unrelated note: Farewell to John Lannan, Jesus Flores, and Tom Gorzelanny.

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