Nationals Looking At Wright?

by Eli Greenspan on Oct 27, 2007 7:14 PM EDT

The Nationals are looking for pitching and may take a chance on veteran pitcher Jaret Wright. Wright wasn't much of anything until 2004, when he went 15-8 with a 3.28 ERA and 159 K for the Braves. When the Yankees saw those numbers from a twenty-nine year old, they were all over it and signed him to a big three year deal, worth 21 million dollars. He went 16-12 with a 5.29 ERA in two years for the Yankees, and after battling injuries, he was traded to the Orioles. The Orioles were not impressed after he failed to make more than three starts, and released him. The Nationals appear to be the front-runners to land him, even though the list probably does not stretch very far. The Nationals tried very hard to land him back in 2004, and will certainly try again, but at a reduced price. If they sign him, it would be a win-win for the Nationals who would pay next to nothing for his services. Along with Wright, the Nationals will also look to go after Tom Glavine, along with Mark Prior and Joe Kennedy. They also plan to take the trade route and will try to acquire now benched center fielder Coco Crisp.

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some smart moves/ideas for them. bring in some vets in wright, kennedy glavine , try to get some athletic guys in crisp some low rish high reward in prior. mix that in with some of their young guys and they may have some success near .500 next yr. they got a good pen

by Anonymous on Oct 27, 2007 9:59 PM EDT reply actions

actually Wright had a great rookie season with the Indians Eli, and was even thought of enough to pitch in game 7 of the 1997 World Series and pitched brilliantly for them. But sadly, this is a kid who got hit with the injury bug and partied too much. I am not sure if the Nationals would be a good fot for him now, as the one place he would do well with is whatever team Leo Mazzone winds up as the pitching coach because Jaret was hurt too early in the season to see what he could do. He worked with Leo with Atlanta where he won 15 games. It's a good fit if you ask me.

by KevinGillman on Oct 27, 2007 11:55 PM EDT reply actions

The Nats do not want Coco. They already have at least one lack of hitting/defensive centerfielder. If they go with a new centerfielder, they will look offensively and in a way that would not hurt their farm system. A Hunter, Rowland or a Jones. Pitiching is another matter. Wright maybe something for them to go after, but Livan Hernandez is a better bet. He liked Washington and the fans loved him.

by Anonymous on Oct 28, 2007 3:15 PM EDT reply actions