Quote Originally Posted by sporthenry View Post
Nats pick up Span from Minny for a top pitching prospect (although I'm sure the few, the recently proud Nats fans can enlighten us on Alex Meyer). Overall, a very solid move that will probably be under the radar with all the money going to Upton/Hamilton but will probably go further to deciding the division. True lead off hitter and solidifies center field. Bryce will probably move over to a corner position (for good) along with Werth.

This makes Laroche more of a luxury. Not sure if they even want him back. As much as I like Morse and his ability to play first and the OF, it will be tough to keep up Laroche's slugging although Morse brings a better average.

These two moves certainly put the pressure on the Phillies. Lot of agents/scouts are speculating that Philly will just go out and sign Hamilton. Not sure that is the prudent move but the Phillies might not have much time left. I'd probably prefer Bourn/Pagan who will be cheaper/require less years and I'd love Youkilis at 3rd but if they don't get Hamilton, I'd suspect they go out and make a splash in the trade market in some capacity (Span would have been a great addition).
As one of the resident Nats fans, I like the trade. Meyer was a good prospect - tall, strong, big arm - very good fastball, a couple of other decent pitches - but probably two years away from contributing at the Major League level. I think he projects as anything from a #2/#3 starter to a bullpen asset. But getting a top notch leadoff man/defensive center fielder with a WAR potential of 2-4 right now and who is also on a nice contract for 2-3 years and puts a lefty at the top of the order seems like a smart move by Rizzo. Plus, the Nats have several other pitching prospects that look just as promising as Meyer and are on about the same timeline, if not ahead of it.

I wasn't sold on either Upton or Bourn, and I wasn't thrilled about having to shell out a huge contract for either. Span seems to exactly fit the Nats' needs, and he's apparently a high character guy and a great teammate as well. The Nats have a couple of years of Span now to determine if Perez and/or Goodwin are going to grow up into a starting CF. If not, and if Span produces like I expect he will, they have the option of resigning him in a couple of years.

I agree this probably means LaRoche is gone. I was prepared for this anyway, as I hear Boston and/or Texas are pretty interested, and they're going to throw more money at Adam than the Nats want to or should, IMO. LaRoche was great for the Nats this year, and I will miss his defense and his steady left-handed power bat, but with Morse able to produce similar power numbers, play adequate 1B defense, and under club control for another year, I don't see LaRoche in our future.