January 21, 2015

Scherzer News Conference

The Washington Post covers Max Scherzer‘s news conference after he signed with the Nationals today:

Williams, who managed Scherzer in Class AA Montgomery, held his Nationals cap while Rizzo helped him put on the No. 31 jersey he expects to wear for much of the next decade. Jayson Werth was on hand, too, and watched as his new teammate explained the reasons he chose to sign with Washington.

“It’s pretty easy and it’s one [reason for signing]: winning,” he explained. “I think this team is capable of winning and winning a lot. So when you look at the near term and long term, this is an organization you want to be a part of.”

In addition, general manager Mike Rizzo likes the way the team stands right now:

“Nothing has changed in regards to any other player on the roster,” he added, briefly addressing the explosion of speculation that the Scherzer signing will beget moves involving other Nationals’ starters. “We make good baseball decisions based on baseball evaluations and money does not come into play. We love the team we have right now. We feel that it’s a really good, capable ballclub. And we’re looking to better ourselves each and every day.”

Right. The Nationals strike me as a team that’s not married to one particular player. If the right deal comes along that can improve the club, they likely make the deal. In addition, I think that people worry too much about who goes to the bullpen. It’s a rare team that gets through the season without losing a starting pitcher to injury. It’s quite possible that Tanner Roark, for example, could make 20 starts while never being officially part of the rotation. It’s not out of the question for the starting five to lose a total of ten weeks to the disabled list.

On a side note, the author of the piece, Chelsea Janes, graduated from high school with my daughter. Unfortunately, she followed that with a degree from Yale, but reporting on baseball for the Post more than makes up for that. 🙂

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