>>"Rizzo has stated that he wants to trade Lannan"

Rizzo hasn't actually said that. He's been carefully wording his answer to questions about trading Lannan by saying he is not looking to trade any pitchers, while leaving the door open by throwing in the comment (without naming any specific player), that he is always willing to consider any offers that will help the organization (which of course applies at all times to virtually anyone).

Good points gimmy.
I don't think they will get that much for him so may be forced to hold on to him for a while.

We shall see over next few weeks.

I can understand the thinking that Lannan will be traded before OD.

But, let us not neglect the importance of having some dry powder (backup starters) in the event that we have either JZimm/Stephen/Gio/EJackson go down to injury, wouldn't it be nice to have a hot spare in the minors such as either Wang/Gorz/Lannan ready to step in to the 5 spot in the rotation?

If we're serious about making the playoffs and will lose Stephen after some innings limit, can we afford to deal Lannan?

Just asking.

Why is it a given Lannan goes before Wang?

I bet a lot of teams would want Wang

I would love to trade Bill Ladson for Peter Gammonds but I don't think ESPN will let him go.

Because Wang cannot be traded until June 15, per the CBA rules for free agent signings.

He's relatively cheap at 5 and perhaps the Nats could help with some cash and get better prospects in return. At some point, if all our SPs are healthy a trade will have to go thru.

That's how I see it too. Getting thru ST without injuries is the key for this club.

Dave stop nitpicking. You know what I mean.

Because Wang cannot be traded until June 15, per the CBA rules for free agent signings. "

That I forgot. Hopefully because of this rule they don't get wanged

>>"Dave stop nitpicking. You know what I mean."

You were denying close to a whole month worth of starts to Strasburg, that's hardly nitpicking. :)

It takes 2 teams to make a trade. If all pitchers are healthy, then every team in the MLB will know the Nats are between a rock and a hard place. Sure, Lannan will be the pitcher being offered, it's just that there won't be many teams asking for him. As one of the other posters mentioned, Lannan is probably more valuable to the Nats in the minors ( if it comes to that ) as an insurance policy. Don't pay much attention to DJ. Of course he's going to say he sees Lannan and Detwiler as ML starters. No reason to say otherwise until after ST and the Nats see who comes thru healthy and effective. You don't make a trade just for the sake of making a trade. If Lannan goes, it will most likely be a bargain for the other team.

>>"But, let us not neglect the importance of having some dry powder (backup starters) in the event that we have either JZimm/Stephen/Gio/EJackson go down to injury, wouldn't it be nice to have a hot spare in the minors such as either Wang/Gorz/Lannan ready to step in to the 5 spot in the rotation?

>>If we're serious about making the playoffs and will lose Stephen after some innings limit, can we afford to deal Lannan?"

Yes, because the #6 starter for the rotation should be Detwiler, not Lannan. Having a #7 starter making more than all but Edwin Jackson among your starters doesn't make sense. Yes, his salary makes him tougher to deal and get much back, but he's not well-suited to the bullpen due to a long warm-up routine and the fact that he's only been used as a starter, so he's expendable. Also, pitching him out of the 'pen is risky because if doesn't perform well from there (a very real possiblity for the reasons just mentioned), then his trade value diminishes even more.

Rizzo still hasn't publicly confirmed that he's offering Lannan, and I wouldn't expect him to, but the trade rumors are increasing, and where's there's smoke... Granted, most of the rumors are being reported by Ladson, with one of his 'unnamed sources' saying the Nats are spreading the word that Lannan is available, preferably for a CF.

>>"I would love to trade Bill Ladson for Peter Gammonds but I don't think ESPN will let him go."

No one has met the current asking price of a bag of used BP baseballs, and you're hoping for Gammons? :)

Your points are all well taken and make sense Dave. Two additional thoughts to your considerations.

1. Our pitching rotation currently have 3 righties and 1 lefty (Gio).
2. If Wang in our 5man, then we have 4 righties and 1 lefty.
3. If Detweiler is our 5man, that would be a good balance, but, even though he finished strong, he, like Lannan are still not proven 'early season' pitchers (control, getting bombed in the early innings, etc.)
4. I'm suggesting that Rizzo considering sending either Detwieler or Lannan down to AAA so that we have options at the end of the season when we lose Stras.
5. Finally, I don't believe that Lannan will fetch a good CF candidate until the pennant race tightens after the All-Star game, so trading him now doesn't make sense unless we want another so-so CF.

>>"4. I'm suggesting that Rizzo considering sending either Detwieler or Lannan down to AAA"

Detwiler has no options left, he can't be sent to AAA without clearing waivers, which would be impossible.

Granted, Detwiler's final step to apparently becoming the pitcher the Nats hoped he would be when they drafted him so high didn't really didn't kick-in until mid-season last year, when a minor league coach helped him with his mental approach, but Detwiler was easily the Nats best pitcher for most of Spring Traiing last year and looks great this year so far, so I'm not sure why you think he isn't an 'early season' option.

By next season, right-handers Wang and Jackson, who are both on one year contracts, will be gone, one should be replaced by Detwiler as a full-time starter, and by some point in the season, the 5th starter should be another lefty, Matt Purke, so the Nats rotation will have 3 lefties, an important asset in the NL East, at least for the way the other teams are currently constructed.

It's not that important to have a balance of lefty/righty starters. I believe you need at least one lefty, but it's much more important to have at least 2 lefties in the bullpen. So, I don't think that will factor into the starters equation.

Detwiler is out of options, and would need to pass through waivers to leave the 40-man and go to AAA. That will not happen, so he's either on the team or gets traded. Lannan does have one option, but as a practical matter, a guy with 4+ years service time and making $5 million guaranteed is not going to the minors as an insurance plan.

As stated earlier, Wang cannot be traded until summer, but I could see him pitching out of the bullpen as a long reliever. Detwiler too, but not Lannan.

So, assuming no one gets traded and no one gets hurt in Viera, the staff could very well look like this on opening day.

Starters - Gio, Strasburg, Zimmermann, Jackson and Lannan.
Bullpen - Wang, Detwiler, Burnett, Rodriguez, Lidge, Clippard, Storen

Where's Tom Gorzellany? Well, he's probably better trade bait than Lannan, since he can start and relieve, and his contract is a lot smaller. I can easily see the Nats parting with him for a minor leaguer or two, and for more teams to be interested due to his versatility and price. Or the Nats just flat-out eat his contract.

This gives Davey his two long relievers, plus his #6 and #7 starters already on the 25-man. At AAA you stash Mathieus, Stamman, Kimball and the usual crew of AAA/AAAA guys the Nats always seem to have a surplus of.

I may be wrong but think they need to give "wang" a "shot" and he how he does. To me the most logical short-term solution is to send Lannan to Syracuse and most likely he will be needed before the end of May as it's almost a certainty one of the starters will slip-up or be injured. Then they can see what we get for Lannan as the trade dealdine gets closer if injured pitcher(s) are coming back.

I don't think they can get anything for Gorzelanny.

Strangely enough, lefty relievers can have more trade interest than a lefty starter. But again, I just do not see them sending Lannan to AAA, not with his salary.

I like your thinking Catacony. Lest we not forget that Mattheus may also be a nice compenent to that trade of Chang for minor league potentials. It will be tough to part with Chang if he is a healed as he appears to be.