Friday Night Thoughts

Before I say anything else, I'd like to point out that you don't need to watch the game to hurt after games like tonight. I may be unable to watch games anymore, but I do still follow them!

That being said, I have a few links to throw out:

Nats call up Pete Orr. Didn't see that one coming. I guess since there are only 3 more games left until September call-ups, it didn't really matter who they called up...I assume they would have called up Orr anyways. But I could probably name 10 players I would have rather seen called up than Orr. Also not exactly pleased that Orr wore Nicky J's old number.

Which current Nats player holds the record for most HR in a season without a sacrifice fly? Shouldn't be too difficult of a guess.

Which current Nats player was designated by Dave Allen at FanGraphs as "August's Best Hitter"? Also not too hard to guess.

Old friend Jon Rauch was traded to the Twins today for a PTBNL. I love Jon Rauch, but I am definitely not betting on the Twins next year after seeing the Diamondbacks turn into a pumpkin this year.

Call me crazy, but doesn't the Angels trade for Scott Kazmir make it more likely that John Lackey becomes a free agent this offseason? I'd like to see him wear a different shade of red if you know what I mean.

This is a little dated and a little off-topic, but Fantasy Sports Insurance? Really?

Wednesday Nats Roundup, Mailbag

Last night was pretty good by my standards (other than the Nats losing). I met a guy from my fantasy baseball league outside the Taco Stand (on the right side of Half Street I think it is...between the Metro and the CF Gate. Awesome Tacos!!) for the game. It's always nice to get a different perspective, and I got one from a Cubs fan who lived in New York and recently relocated to DC (and has a huge man-crush on Lastings Milledge).

The game itself was actually pretty good. It was a quick one and our pitchers were excellent. I was very impressed with Balester, Mock and Hanrahan (and, even though he came out unscathed, I remain skeptical about Charlie Manning). Too bad our offense is awful and we've got Zimmerman making excellent baserunning decisions...NOT!

I think this is interesting: Paul Lo Duca thinks his value is lower because he's not catching. That's pretty obvious I suppose, but it's also obvious that Lo Duca is the 3rd best catcher on the team and Jesus Flores should not EVER be benched again for the sake of "showcasing" a lousy player behind him (a la last week and the Johnny Estrada dealio).

And now it's mailbag time!
Right-hander Jon Rauch has been my favorite player since the Expos acquired him in 2004. Do you think it was good to trade Rauch to the Diamondbacks for second baseman Emilio Bonifacio?
-- Ben F., Suffolk, Va.

No. I tried to rationalize it for a while, but it simply wasn't a great trade for the Nats. Now that being said it could end up being a win for the team, but Rauch is worth more than Bonifacio. They should have (and definitely could have) gotten more than Emilio.

How could the Nats trade away such a valuable player in Rauch? He's clearly been their most consistent pitcher. I'm very disappointed in this trade, as I'm sure many others are, too.
-- Steve O., Montreal

Wookie had a good run in DC, but a 29-year-old closer on one of the worst teams in baseball is as useful as a cow on roller skates. We're building for the future and Rauch probably wasn't going to be part of it. But, like I said, we should have gotten more for him. Bowden's mistake.

What is going on with the Nationals' bullpen? It was advertised as the team's strength and hasn't performed as such. Is it because Chad Cordero went down with a shoulder injury?
-- Lee H., Silver Spring, Md.

The bullpen had 3 solid guys up until the Rauch trade in him, Rivera and Hanrahan. Now we're down to two. Counting on Colome to be effective was not smart, as he simply has never been an incredibly solid reliever. Last year's 3.82 ERA was a fluke. I have no idea what's up with Ayala, but unlike Colome, we didn't see that coming. His lowest ERA EVER was 3.19 last year and that was coming off of Tommy John surgery. Hopefully he'll bounce back and be a solid setup guy next year. Shell has been fine, Manning has been unpredictable, Sanches was uninspiring...and the Chief is hurt. But then again, middle relievers are the most unpredictable players in all of baseball. There's no sense putting faith into them.

Are there any middle infielders in the system who are close to being the big leagues?
-- Michael P., Minneapolis, Minn.

Bonifacio is the only one. Leonard Davis played 20 games at 2B last year in A ball, but he's really a 3B/OF type and Seth Bynum is doing damage in AA at the ripe age of 27. Desmond is in AA and COULD be up at some point next year. I doubt it, though, unless things start clicking. If the Nats sign 3rd rounder Danny Espinoza soon, the answer might be different.

I was so excited when the Nationals acquired Elijah Dukes from the Rays. How has he been so far?
-- J.P., Fairfax, Va.

Besides being injured, he's an absolute manchild. He's hitting .263/.367/.434 for the season, but
is hitting .302/.400/.497 since May 21, where he turned his season around after an awful 1-26 start to the year. He is a future MVP candidate and maybe even a future HOF guy. All he has to do is keep his emotions and actions in check (something I'm becoming progressively more confident in). He'll grow up eventually, and grow up into a heck of a ballplayer.

With the Nats' inability to generate offense, has there been any mention of replacing Lenny Harris as hitting coach? I believe they were better offensively under Mitchell Page.
-- Tim H., Lorton, Va.

Nope. Nobody's thought of getting rid of Lenny.

It appears to me that the team needs to change the manager. Manny Acta doesn't really appear to make tough decisions, especially at critical parts of a game. Appreciate your thoughts.
-- Phil P., Falls Church, Va.

Sometimes I question Manny's lineup making skills, but for the most part, he's a great manager. He runs the team remarkably well considering how bad they are. When it comes to starting certain guys and putting certain relievers in at key points, you often have to wonder how much pressure the FO is putting on him to play guys like Lopez, Lo Duca, etc.

I leave for 3 hours...

And the Nats go and trade their closer and sign their shortstop to an extension.

First, we'll discuss the Rauch deal:
Tim Dierkes of MLBTradeRumors.com figured Bowden would ask for more than just IF Emilio Bonifacio for Rauch.
MLB Fleece Factor thinks it is a pretty good deal for both teams.
National Fanboy Looser thanks Rauch for a job well done and asks if it's a good deal or not.
Fire Jim Bowden says "at first blush this is the kind of deal we should be doing."
We've Got Heart also figured the Nats would get more prospects for Rauch.
Bleacher Banter's intitial reaction is positive.

Something interesting I wanted to pass along (from Nationals Journal commenter "e"):

I'm going to try and be optimistic about this. I'm not thinking "another Nook Logan." I'm going to think, "another Jose Reyes."

Bonifacio's minor league stats:

6 seasons; 648 games; 2543 AB's
.283/.339/.360
12 HR; 216 RBI
209 BB; 528 K
226 SB; 65 CS (78%)

Jose Reyes' minor league stats:

4 seasons; 343 games; 1303 AB's
.285/.338/.423
13 HR; 135 RBI
101 BB; 217 K
129 SB; 44 CS (75%)

Sure, the strikeouts are a concern, but he has cut down on them some this season.

Reyes didn't start hitting homers until his second full season with the Mets.

My first reaction is that we got a decent player in a position of need. I think we could have gotten more for Rauch (perhaps another low-level prospect), but if this was Rauch's market, I'm happy. I heard rumors of Reid Brignac for Rauch, which would have made me happier, but this is fine. I'd also like to point out that the trade is with Arizona, which means Bonifacio is a Rizzo boy. I like Rizzo's guys.

I'm looking for Joel Hanrahan to become the new closer rather than Saul Rivera. Hanrahan's numbers are good enough for the role (although Rivera's are a bit better), but Hanrahan seems like a better option for the long-term (Hanrahan is 26, Rivera is 30). I'd rather see him learn into the role now (since he's got electric stuff) when we don't have many legitimate options in the back of the pen. (side note-it's amazing that this is the first time I've ever tagged Saul Rivera in an entry. He's that non-descript, I guess). Ryan Wagner is probably going to replace Rauch on the 25-man roster.

Now to Guzman-Mark Zuckerman of the Washington Times says the deal is $8 mil per year for 2 years. That seems a bit steep, considering he did basically nothing in years 1-3 of his current contract, but it does seem he has turned his career around for the most part. At this point, I don't think the price even matters, since we already know the Lerners aren't going to spend any money anyways.

And the current polls on Nationals Journal indicate that there is widespread approval (82% at this time) of Guzman's signing, but mild skepticism (58% approval) concerning the Rauch trade.

A few more quick things

I just wanted to point out some things I've read about this evening before I go to tonight's part of the "Maybe Next Year" series. (Edit-I'm going to hold off until tomorrow night to do the pitching staff and Monday night to do the bench. That way more people will see it. And I'm sleepy).

Ken Rosenthal (via MLBTradeRumors.com) had some interesting things to say tonight in his "Full Count" video: The first thing that jumps out in the video is the headline "Matt a Nat?" At first glance, I was like...Matt Morris? Matt LeCroy? (I certainly hope not) Nope, Matt Holliday. I know your first reaction is probably "WHAT?" I'll leave it to MLBTR to explain:

Rosenthal names the Nationals as an "intriguing dark horse," saying they've been checking up on Holliday. They like the idea of having him for '09, and could even entertain signing him long-term.

It's interesting to see the Nats' name pop up here. I'd certainly like Holliday as a National if he could be aquired at a reasonable price. His home/road splits are pretty drastic over his career, although less drastic over 2007-08 (and I certainly hope Bowden notices that...although my faith is low because of his expectations that guys that come from the Reds and the GAP will hit better in DC), but he's still put up decent numbers on the road over his career. In a quick search, the only semi-asking price I've found for Holliday was David Price of the Rays. We certainly don't have any pitching prospects of his calibur (yet), but I would be interested to see what else we would have to include with Milledge/Dukes/Kearns (because one of them would have to move in return). FireJimBowden put up an interesting top 10 Nationals trade values list tonight-I'm guessing (since we lack true superstar prospects) that we would have to move at least 2 off of the list for Holliday (plus another prospect). Would something like Milledge+Martis+Rhinehart/Montz be enough? I doubt it. Would it even be worth it? I doubt it. I'm still not sold Milledge will cut it as a starting ML outfielder (has the bat for center, but not the glove and has the glove for the corners but not the bat), so I wouldn't be reluctant to dealing him. But are the prospects worth giving up for a guy whose numbers may or may not be totally inflated by Coors Field (we know they're somewhat inflated, but do we know how much)? All are interesting questions. I'd like to see what you guys think in the comments.

The other rumor was one we've heard similar stuff about before, but with a bit more in terms of being specific. We all know Jon Rauch has been gathering interest around the league, but Rosenthal finally named some names. Again, I'll leave it to MLBTR to wrap it up:

Jon Rauch is a hot commodity, drawing interest from the Rays, Red Sox, and Diamondbacks. His price will exceed that of Brian Fuentes, since he's under team control through 2010.

As usual, I'm wondering how much the Nats could get for Rauch. He's signed incredibly cheap for a good closer (or even an established reliever). Makes me wonder whether it's worth it or not to deal him...but I guess being the worst team in baseball with a good closer is like being a cow with a tuxedo...might look good, but still pointless. Wait till a team gets desparate and milk the top prospects out of them. Stick Hanrahan at closer. He's got the stuff to close in the Majors.


In other news, Manny Acta is reshuffling the pitching rotation to the following:
1) Tim Redding
2) John Lannan
3) Odalis Perez
4) Jason Bergmann
5) Collin Balester

Works for me

Zimmerman starts his rehab stint Monday for the P-Nats (against the Salem Avalanche) and continue there Tuesday. Then he's off to join Columbus in a 4-game home series against the Indianapolis Indians.

Buried inside this article on the Columbus Clippers' official website:

While some minor league players are anxiously awaiting to see if they will get the opportunity to play for the US, other players are turning to their native countries for the chance to represent their homeland in the Olympics. Rumor has it that Yurendell de Caster will play for the Netherlands and might be joined by Clippers’ teammate Shairon Martis.

Canadian Pete Orr was planning on heading back to Canada to help his country in the race for the gold. He had already gotten permission by the Washington Nationals and was ready to go, but due to some injuries at the major league level received a call-up on July 8th.

“This trip to the major leagues could affect Orr’s eligibility for team Canada,” said Scott Leo, play by play announcer for the Clippers. “It was pretty much a sure thing that he would be on their roster, but now it will be interesting to see what happens. I think Canada is supposed to release their final roster this Saturday, so we will all be curious to see if Orr’s name is on it."

I'm not sure how I feel about de Caster and Martis playing in the Olympics. Sure, they deserve the chance to represent their country (well, sorta), but these are two guys that need to be in the Majors come August. Orr really only needs to be around if the Nats dump Fail-ipe or trade Guzman or Belliard (which is entirely possible). If both Orr and de Caster are gone, the Nats would be seriously shorthanded in case of an injury. And Martis has to be a favorite for Odalis Perez's starting spot when he gets traded (not if, but when). It just doesn't make sense from a personnel standpoint go let these guys play, no matter how bad we are or how much they want to play for the Netherlands.

April and May Awards

I'm going to retroactively name Nationals' team awards for the months of April and May and then name them for every month for the rest of the year.

APRIL AWARDS
Cy Young Award
With a 2.64 ERA in his 5 starts, John Lannan takes the cake here. Lannan went 2-2 over those 5 starts and allowed a .239 batting average against. He had quality starts in 4 of his 5 games. The runner up is Tim Redding, who went 3-2 over the month with a 3.55 ERA in 6 starts.

Rolaids Relief Award
Sadly, I have to give this to Luis Ayala, as he is one of the two relievers (who threw more than like 4 innings) to have an ERA under 4. When your best reliever has an ERA of 3, it obviously was a rough month. Ayala's peripherals were actually pretty awful (8 K/7 BB over 15 IP, .268 batting average against), so it wasn't too difficult to imagine his implosion of late. The Tums Relief Award (aka the runner up) goes to Jon Rauch. While Colome and Hanrahan had better ERA's (3.68 and 4.30, respecitvely, to Rauch's 4.38), Rauch had a better WHIP (1.38 to both Colome and Hanrahan's 1.64) and a better K/BB ratio (11 K/2 BB to Colome's 17/12 and Hanrahan's 19/11).

Hank Aaron Award
It's gotta be Cristian Guzman. It's sad that over a month's time, the best hitter on your team hit .294/.322/.450. Guz led the team in hits with 32 (6 more than the next best, Zimmerman) and triples (2), was second to Lastings Milledge in doubles (8 to 7) and was tied for second on the team in HR (2), behind Nick Johnson's sadly pace setting 4. He led the team in runs (13) and was 4th in RBI (8). Nick Johnson gets the runner up, because he had a higher OPS. Too bad Johnson only had a .218 batting average.

Rookie of the Year
Lannan takes the cake again. No others to consider.

Gold Glove
Nick Johnson gets the win. Month-by-month fielding stats are impossible to find, but April is the month he played in most and he has a 1.000 fld% on the year. He saved a ton (thank you BRN for permanently removing the word "numerous" from my vocabulary) of errant throws from Flop, Zimmerman and Guz as well. No runner up, because it's impossible to find April fielding stats.

Most Valuable Player
I'll give it to Nick Johnson becuase he got the runner up for the Hank Aaron and won the Gold Glove. The runner up goes to Cristian Guzman.

Least Valuable Player
It's a tossup between Jason Bergmann (11.68 ERA in 12 and 1/3 innings pitched) and Austin Kearns (.161/.278/.247 in 93 AB's). We'll give it to Kearns because he had a more sustained period of suckiness.

MAY AWARDS
Cy Young Award
Jon Rauch and Jason Bergmann compete for this award for May, as Rauch was spectacular (0.63 ERA in 14 and 1/3 innings, 7/7 saves), and Bergmann rebounded from his runner up in May's LVP award with a 1.30 ERA in 4 starts. Since Rauch's success was over a longer period of time (Bergmann was in the minors for part of the month), We'll give Rauch the win and Bergmann the runner up.

Rolaids Relief Award
Rauch runs away with it, with Joel Hanrahan getting the runner up, with a 2.66 ERA and 21 strikeouts in 20 and 2/3 innings pitched.

Hank Aaron Award
It's down to Ryan Zimmerman and Cristian Guzman. I'll give it to Guzman again because his numbers have less holes in them. Zim did hit .289/.319/.511, while Guzman hit .316/.339/.487. Zim's K/BB ratio was pretty bad (15 K to 3 BB) whereas Guzman's was even (4 K to 4 BB).

Rookie of the Year
Goes to John Lannan again by default, although Kory Casto gets the runner up.
Gold Glove
It has to go to Elijah Dukes. He has only 1 error for the year, and he's been very impressive in RF over the last month or so. Jesus Flores gets the runner up.

Most Valuable Player
Has to be Guzman. He hit well and fielded well enough. Runner up goes to Zimmerman again. Jesus Flores would be in the running if he had more at bats.

Least Valuable Player
Give it to Luis Ayala (6.19 ERA in 16 innings), Jesus Colome (10.13 ERA in 8 innings) AND Felipe Lopez (.234/.297/.318)! YUCK!

The most pointless email ever, plus Odalis is burning!

This email just popped into my inbox. "Send your Nats to New York." We can choose between the injured Paul Lo Duca, the injured Nick Johnson (they should have figured he would get hurt), the injured Ronnie Belliard, the above average Cristian Guzman, the injured Ryan Zimmerman, the awful Wily Mo Pena, the injured (and especially awful) Austin Kearns and the average Lastings Milledge. All I'm going to say: It's a great time to be a Nationals fan!!! Nottttttt. I'd say the odds are definitely pointing toward Jon Rauch getting the nod. He certainly deserves it, with a 2.20 ERA, 12/14 SV, 0.942 WHIP, 6.25:1 K:BB ratio, etc. He's really the guy that sticks out. Sorry, Guz, but Rauch deserves it a little more than you.

I got a phone call at 6:15 last night asking if I wanted to come to the game with a friend. We drove (and had to pick up 2 others), so we didn't get there until 7:30 or so thanks to traffic on 395 and the search for parking (and the long walk from the car to the stadium, as we didn't have a permit). So I was in the car for the first inning meltdown and already gone by the time Lohse had his RBI single (was dragged out by my ride just after the second rain delay began). There were only 2 mildly amusing plays while I was there: Boone's diving stop and force-out at second and the "double steal" (where I think Lopez, but maybe Guz...whoever was covering the throw at second, should have just tagged Ankiel).

One word definition of last night's game: Meh.

And to top it all off, the injury bug bites again. Mock better get the call if someone needs to be summoned from Columbus to replace Odalis in the rotation. Unfortunately for Perez, the burning sensation means it's NOT working.

To prove that none of us know anything about baseball

The Nats beat the Diamondbacks 7-4 tonight. Among the oddities:
--Willie Harris hit the game-winning 3 run home run. Watch the video here. Fast forward to 0:28 if you want an inappropriate Elijah Dukes soundbite.
--This lineup started: 1. Harris (2B), 2. Guzman (SS), 3. Boone (3B), 4. Young (1B), 5. Milledge (CF), 6. Langerhans (RF), 7. Flores (C), 8. Mackowiak (LF), 9. Redding (P).
--Arizona starter Micah Owings has a better batting average coming in than 5 Diamondbacks starters. Washington starter Tim Redding had a better batting average coming in than 3 Nationals starters. The difference? Owings has a .297 batting average. Redding's was .188 at the beginning of the day and .167 at the end of it.
--Any lineup featuring three players the terrible trifecta of Harris (.172), Langerhans (.111) and Mackowiak (.137) should not win. Funny how 2 of those 3 (Harris and K-angerhans) batted higher in the lineup than Jesus Flores (.344). For those math majors out there, .172*2=.344. So Flores is hitting twice is well than Harris, plus 3+ times more than Langerhans. And he's still hitting 7th. He was one of 3 starters (the other being Guzman and Boone) with an average above .241 and he's batting 7th. Great lineup tonight, Manny. But you got the W so I guess nobody will doubt you.
--After 7 straight appearances without allowing a run, Ayala served up a solo shot to Chad Tracy in the 8th.
--Redding was solid, giving up 3 runs in 5 and 2/3 (1 of them was let in by Hanrahan), but he couldn't make it to the 6th yet again. He's only pitched 6 innings in 50% of his starts. If he's going to be the Nats all-star representative (highly unlikely, IMO, as Jon Rauch has it all but locked up right now), he needs to string together some quality starts, pronto.

Other news: Maxwell has an injured wrist (which is why K-angerhans got called up instead). He's out at least a month. Hope he didn't catch the injury plague from Escobar or Nicky J.

Who is the manliest player on the Nationals?

I spent much of today contemplating my personal manliness after shaving off my beloved red beard. I then started thinking about how a beard isn't necessary to be manly. You can have huge muscles, a deep voice, man-machines (such as tractors, vintage cars, pickup trucks, etc) and other things of the variety. This led me to look at the Nats, and see who of the team is at least mildly manly. On the surface, you're looking at the big guys (Rauch, Pena, Kearns to some degree, Hanrahan, Johnson etc.) and the guys with beards (Redding). A few other guys could possibly qualify are Aaron Boone, Odalis Perez and John Lannan (for no particular reason, really). Ryan Zimmerman does not qualify for any manliness award, as he attended UVA (the "University of Suck"), likely drank Zima and wore pastel-colored polos. No matter what he does on the field, he is too far in the negative to ever recover from UVA-level negative Man Points.

Some quick rules about my accounting: I give batters +1.5 Man Points for a walk and -1 Man Point for a strikeout. Pitchers receive +1 Man Point for a strikeout and -2/3 Man Points for each walk. Batters receive +2 Man Points for every home run, while Pitchers lose 3 Man Points for every home run allowed. Everyone recieves 1 Man Point for each inch above 6'2" they are and 1 Man Point for each 10 pounds above 220 they are.

For your amusement, here are the 5 Nationals I think are the most manly:

5. Joel Hanrahan (6'4" 250 lbs. Des Moines, Iowa)
While doing my preliminary list, I remembered Hanrahan for 3 manly things: He's huge, he's from Iowa and he throws 95-98 mph (which leads to a very high amount of strikeouts, which are manly). Capitol Punishment awarded him his "favorite book," Where the Wild Things Are, for Christmas. Youngsters who read Where the Wild Things Are are scientifically proven to grow facial hair and win bar fights at a much younger age than kids who don't.

The Stats
24 strikeouts (24 Man Points)
13 walks (-9 Man Points)
1 home run allowed (-3 Man Points)
6'4" (2 Man Points)
250 lbs (3 Man Points)
From Iowa (1 Man Point)
Total: 18 Man Points


4. Nick Johnson (6'3" 235 lbs. Sacramento, CA)
Johnson, as we know, is Larry Bowa's nephew. He takes walks, can rake, fields well, recovered from a broken leg, shaved lightning bolts into his hair...what a man! But then when you look at his Wikipedia page and his injury history, it takes away from his man points. I mean seriously, Nick: if you want to win this competition, you simply can't tell me that you would be a software engineer (coined engi-nerds at Virginia Tech). Being an Engineer is not manly, minus this kind.

The Stats
26 walks (39 Man Points)
21 strikeouts (-21 Man Points)
5 home runs (10 Man Points)
6'3" (1 Man Point)
235 lbs (1.5 Man Points)
Long injury history (-5 Man Points)
Larry Bowa's nephew (5 Man Points)
Oh wait...it's this Larry Bowa (previously awarded 5 Man Points revoked)
From Northern California (-5 Man Points)
Buzzed a lightning bolt into hair (10 Man Points)
Had a mullet/rat tail before buzzing a lightning bolt into hair (-10 Man Points)

Total: 20.5 Man Points

3. Wily Mo Pena (6'3" 270 lbs. Laguna Salada, DR)
"The Weapon" has a great nickname and more power than your local electric company. Unfortunately, he strikes out more than I did in Little League (even in the year where I had 4 hits the entire season) and moves more like a 6'3" 270 defensive tackle than a 6'3" 270 linebacker.

The Stats
4 walks (6 Man Points)
17 strikeouts (-17 Man Points)
0 home runs (0 Man Points...wait what? Wily Mo has 0 home runs?)
6'3" (1 Man Point)
270 lbs (5 Man Points)
From the Dominican Republic!!! (10 Man Points)
Nicknames: The Weapon, Weapon of Mass Production (10 Man Points each)
Total: 25 Man Points

2. Austin Kearns (6'3" 240 lbs. Lexington, KY)
Kearns is the league's premier good ol' country boy. He wears John Deere apparel and I presume drives heavy machinery around everywhere. That being said, whoever his coaches were in Kentucky sure taught him how to field.

The Stats
16 walks (24 Man Points)
19 strikeouts (-19 Man Points)
3 home runs (6 Man Points)
6'3" (1 Man Point)
240 lbs (2 Man Points)
From KENTUCKY!! (10 Man Points)
Wears a John Deere hat (5 Man Points)
Names of two sons: Aubrey (Maybe Kearns' wife loves Aubrey Hepburn so much that she convinced him to name their first child, regardless of gender, Aubrey) and Brady (loses man points because Brady is in Tom Brady's name!) (-5 Man Points)
Nickname: Country (5 Man Points)
Total: 29 Man Points

And the winner is...
1. Jon Rauch (6'11" 290 lbs. Louisville, KY)
The tallest player in the world (of baseball's history that is) has more manliness than some third world countries. In addition to his huge, superhero/professional wrestler build, he can somehow muster the strength to lift Wil Nieves about eleven hundred feet off the ground. One last note: Rauch is almost twice as tall as the shortest player of all time, Eddie Gaedel, who stood at 3'7".

The Stats
11 strikeouts (11 Man Points)
3 walks (-2 Man Points)
2 home runs allowed (-6 Man Points)
6'11" (9 Man Points)
290 lbs (7 Man Points)
From KENTUCKY!! (10 Man Points)
Won an Olympic Gold Medal (2000 Olympic Games) (10 Man Points)
Played at Morehead State (5 Man Points)
Has a ton of tatoos (10 Man Points)
Daughter's name: Aubree (-2.5 Man Points-got the baby's gender right, but spelled it wrong)
Awesome MLB.com picture (5 Man Points)
Total: 56.5 Man Points


What are your thoughts? Leave them in comments!