Nats Enquirer

Gingrich named hitting coach for Washington Nationals AAA affiliate

5th December 2011. Presidential Candidate Newt Gingrich holds a press conference in New York City. KGC-146/starmaxinc.com ***U.S. only!***

 

In what is certainly a signal that his bid for the 2012 Republican nomination for President is unraveling, Gingrich has been named hitting coach of the Syracuse Chiefs, the AAA affiliate of the Washington Nationals.

Ahem. TROY Gingrich, that is.

While you're sitting around wondering what Mike Rizzo will cook up next on his Hot Stove (will the Mark DeRosa press conference happen before Christmas!?) please review the Nats new minor league coaching staffs and such. The new hitting coach for the Syracuse Chiefs is Troy Gingrich. There will be a quiz later this winter. Oh, and here are the nine guys who will be arriving to Viera on Minors deals.

Wake us up when Mike Rizzo does something this offseason.

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Prince Fielder can pitch, too

Just in case there's any truth to the strange rumors floating around the last few days of Prince Fielder sightings in Georgetown and a meeting at some restaurant in Washington with the Nats, now seems as good a time as any to revisit a classic 1992 McDonalds commercial. You know, the one where Prince Fielder strikes out his Dad, Cecil? See above.

Hey, the kid can pitch, too. And so, since Mike Rizzo is rumored to be pushing hard for a rotation upgrade while grappling with the question of how to determine a pitcher's value (no bid for Yu, but a 4-for-1 Gio Gonzalez deal?), why not kill two birds with one stone? One really, really, really, big stone.

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Mike Cameron is so old...

[insert your own punchline here. Or use the #MikeCameronIsSoOld hastag. We'll stick with the one about Mike Cameron and Ted Lerner attending grade school together.]

There's Mike Cameron in the video above, dumping beer on a fan's head after the Brewers clinched the Wild Card in 2008. Certainly, Nats fans felt like drinking on Monday afternoon when news of Mike Rizzo's latest offseason coup hit the wires: a minor league deal for old Mike Cameron. Pop the bubbly.

You have to hand it to Rizzo, his Hot Stove is buring white-hot at the moment. Non-tendering Doug Slaten. Trading Balester for Perry. Signing Andres Blanco, Jason Michaels, Jarrett Hoffpauir, and Waldis Joaquin to minor league deals? And now Cameron? Busy.

Oh, and don't forget supposedly wining and dining Prince Fielder Sunday night at Cafe Milano in Georgetown? Busy, busy...Rizzo may yet have the last laugh...

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Yoennis Cespedes in a Nats cap.

(Hey! That's Yoennis Cespedes in a Curly W lid during the Yeonis Cespedes Encore video.)

While you're sitting around waiting for Mike Rizzo to do something this offseason, we suggest you review the new Yoennis Cespedes Encore video. Oh, and Cespedes even appears at the 35 second mark of the video walking towards the camera wearing a red Nats Curly W cap. Looks like a perfect fit.

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Yoennis Cespedes: The Encore Video

While you're sitting around waiting for Mike Rizzo to do something this offseason, and wondering if he'll get in on the bidding for Yoennis Cespedes once Cespedes gets his Dominican residency sorted out...please, spend some time with the video above, the encore to the amazing and bizarre Yoennis Cespedes showcase video. Not nearly as bizarre and amazing as the first one, but still worth your time -- especially at the end around the 26:00 mark, when it gets really quite bizarre in a scene involving a rope and a river rescue. Cespedes is a hero!

Kevin Goldstein (Baseball Prospectus) had both videos first -- and his latest critique and overview of the Cespedes situation is must-read stuff.

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Phase Three: Do Nothing.

Washington Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo talks on his cell phone before the Nationals' game against the Chicago White Sox on June 24, 2011 at U.S. Cellular Field in Chicago. UPI/Brian Kersey

 

No bid for Yu Darvish (pfffft, not buying it). No rotation upgrades in sight. No new center fielder. Leadoff hitter? Forget about it.

But Mike Rizzo is apparently interested in 85 year old Mike Cameron. Well, he probably hit leadoff at some point since his rookie year in 1995. Matt Stairs is also available. Maybe Stairs, Cameron, and Bernadina can form a CF platoon? Oh, and Rizzo did pull off that Balester-for-Perry blockbuster with the Tigers. So there's that.

Remember the Winter of 2010/2011, when Mike Rizzo declared his grand vision for Phase Two of the Washington Nationals, then saw his best laid plans go up in smoke after trying and failing to sign or trade for just about every possible top starting pitcher available? Minus Werth, it all feels so eerily similar.

At the very least, the Nats are in pretty good shape even if Rizzo ultimately fails to deliver (again) this offseason. But sheesh. *shrug* In Rizzo we trust?

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Here's video of Yu Darvish high-fiving fans

All quiet on the Yu Darvish front. So while you're waiting for a leak from Mike Rizzo's office (nice clampdown, Mike!) about whether or not the Nats even posted a bid, enjoy the above (eerily quiet) video of Yu Darvish high-fiving fans after a Ham Fighters win back in July.

(Betcha a dollar Mike Rizzo dropped a ridiculously large bag of Ted Lerner's cash on the bid. But sadly, not as large a bag as the Blue Jays dropped?)

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Just Bryce Harper asking Robinson Cano to swing it with him on Twitter, no biggie.

When we last checked in with Bryce Harper this offseason, he was lounging by a pool in the Bahamas and rooting on the Yankees in the playoffs.

On Wednesday, Harper reached out to (future teammate?) Yankee Robinson Cano on Twitter for an offseason workout. No big deal, right? Just the Yankees and Harper, again.

Now, if ever there was a lefty hitter to emulate, it would be Robinson Cano. Got it. But could someone from the Nationals PR department please, please, get Ryan Zimmerman and/or Jayson Werth set up with Twitter accounts so Harper can ask *them* to swing it with him this offseason?

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In other Washington Nationals Hot Stove news: the Yu Darvish cheer song, revisited

Back at the end of October, it was definitely too early for Nats fans to start learning the Yu Darvish Cheer song. With the passing of Wednesday's 5PM deadline for MLB teams to post bids for the rights to negotiate a contract with Darvish, it could be time soon. See video above, just in case. Well, IF the Nats put in a bid. Nary a peep from the Nats. Maybe Rizzo's afraid of being blasted for losing another bidding war (see Chapman, Aroldis; Buehrle, Mark)?

We're told by an anonymous source who is usually right more than he is wrong about these Nats-related things that Rizzo told his staff that there needs to be confidentiality on this one. No chatter in and around the office about whether there was a bid. No leaks. Because leaking something could endanger a bid? We'll go all in: the Nats are in the mix, and hopefully as actual reporters like Mark Zuckerman have noted, a "winner" will be announced tonight or early Thursday.

Just in case, you should probably start learning that Yu Darvish cheer song...unless you're decidedly in the anti-Yu camp.

Then again, as of 7:45 PM Wednesday, Buster Olney reported that the Yankees definitely posted a bid. So forget it...

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Video of Nats minor leaguer dressed as Santa, proposing to his cheerleader girlfriend.

While the Washington Nationals Hot Stove continues to burn white-hot (when Doug Slaten news is big news, you know you're in trouble) we'd be remiss if we didn't say *something* about Nats minor leaguer Ben Graham dressing up as Santa and proposing to his girlfriend (a Tenessee Titans cheerleader) this past Sunday.

Bryce Harper approves, so we do to:

(via DC Sports Bog and @NationalsPR)

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