Jarrod Washburn- Latest: Beat Reporters for both teams think they're talking

[cvmvp12]

With Seatle now 7.5 games back do we go after Washburn? Does anybody know if DM is interested in him?

[JoeHova]

I don't like it unless the Mariners are just giving him away. He's not really anything special despite the pretty ERA and his potential arbitration award is far too high (probably around $15 million) for a team to risk offering him arb. Giving up a good prospect (or Hardy) for Washburn would be disastrous.

[dadofandrew]

SEA has offered MIL a package of Morrow and Washburn per Geoff Young of the Seattle Times. Jarrod's ERA is below 3, right about where Halladay's is.

[jwill535]

Link? What were the Brewers offering?

[wibadgers23]

SEA has offered MIL a package of Morrow and Washburn per Geoff Young of the Seattle Times. Jarrod's ERA is below 3, right about where Halladay's is.

Wow, I wonder for who?

[hawing]

SEA has offered MIL a package of Morrow and Washburn per Geoff Young of the Seattle Times. Jarrod's ERA is below 3, right about where Halladay's is.

Just peeking at said Mariners Blog makes me wish the Journal Sentinel had a blogger like that (Geoff Baker).

 

Edit: Here is the blog entry that mentions the pieces cited by dadofandrew above.

[wibadgers23]

Some of you have asked me about other trade rumors, well, I don't want to throw all kinds of crazy speculation around. But I can tell you for a fact that the Brewers like Jarrod Washburn and Brandon Morrow as well. Package those two together and ship them off to Milwaukee and there are a bunch of guys -- maybe even a top prospect like shortstop Alcides Escobar -- that the Brewers might part with.

Doug wouldn't really trade Escobar for Washburn and Morrow, would he?

[paulmolitor4]

SEA has offered MIL a package of Morrow and Washburn per Geoff Young of the Seattle Times. Jarrod's ERA is below 3, right about where Halladay's is.

The blog just says that the Brewers are interested in them. It doesn't say anything about an offer being made.

[dadofandrew]

I mentioned that at Ramblings, Escobar off the table for Hallday, but on for Jarrod seems backwards. I'd guess a pair of top 10 guys and a "sleeper" like Rogers.

[naivin]

wibadgers23 wrote:

 

Doug wouldn't really trade Escobar for Washburn and Morrow, would he?

Given the lack of pitching prospect depth, I'm not sure its such a terrible idea, if not almost a necessity. They need 5 guys, and seriously how many can they say they have for next year right now, 2, maybe 3?

[jwill535]

yeah, its just idle speculation. I highly doubt they would give up both players(Washburn and Morrow) in the same deal when you could get two separate deals and get really good prospects for both in those deals. Unl;ess Jack wants to reclaim some of his pitching that he picked, go right ahead and take them Jack. I also could see Lawrie be a part of the deal, which wouldn't upset me since he is somewhat devalued in the system now that he is a 2B. I base that on the Brewers keeping Weeks over Hardy or someone like Josh Prince being able to play that position.

[Brewer Fever]

Here's hoping that Jack Z is a huge JJ fan.

[pogokat]

Brandon morrow has big time potential...i'd love a package of washburn and Morrow---I don't want to trade alcides for those guys...but if we could get both of them without trading escobar or gamel, that's a good trade..

[JoeHova]

Why is there interest in Washburn? I can see Morrow, but Washburn is just a guy. It's like getting excited for the team getting Looper or Suppan. Hard to muster much enthusiasm for a guy like that.

 

Morrow would be a good pick-up but not at the cost of Escobar. That's ridiculous, in my opinion. You don't trade a top position prospect for a pitching prospect who already has over 2 years of service time and may be a reliever.

[brewmann04]

Morrow and washburn for Escobar thanks but no thanks.

That is a reason why you don't trade for a pitcher with a past history of injuries ( Bedard)

[Oldcity]

I'm not opposed to getting Morrow either, but is he even a good bet to be an improvement in the starting rotation this season? He's definitely had his issues. He's always had problems with walks. As fluky as Washburn's season has been, he'd be a better bet to help this season. It's still legitimately his best season in a long time.

 

FIPs:

 

Washburn 3.73

Morrow 5.65 (in limited innings)

Suppan 5.59

Looper 5.64

 

Washburn is a pretty clear upgrade over at least the back end of the Brewers' rotation.

[JoeHova]

Jarrod Washburn is almost 35 and his FIPs from the previous 6 seasons are: 4.97, 4.52, 4.35, 4.78, 4.77, and 4.72. I strongly suspect that the way he's pitched this year so far is a fluke and he is much more likely to put up 4.7ish FIP going forward than he is to keep his FIP below 4, or his ERA below 3.

 

If the Brewers are going to throw prospects/assets away, I hope they get a guy who is actually good and/or somebody who will be around for awhile. Washburn won't even bring compensatory picks back, all he'll bring is 2 months of average-ish performance. That has value, but I don't think that it is worth a year of Hardy or 6 years of Escobar (not even with Morrow thrown in, in the latter case).

[trwi7]

The main reason that Washburn is so good this year has been the outfield defense. They have/had the best in the game with Gutierrez/Ichiro/Chavez. I know Chavez is hurt now, but that's still a fantastic outfield defense which is great for an extreme flyball pitcher like Washburn. We have Cameron, who's really good and a couple of average defenders flanking him. I think there would definitely be some regression there. Balls that Ichiro, Gutierrez and Chavez could get to, Hart, Cameron and Braun wouldn't be able to. That leads to more hits and more runs.

 

Morrow is just meh to me. Between the game do you want to start or be a closer and the fact that he's not particularly good and the whole idea of getting them is just a very blah move to me. I wouldn't mind it, as long as we wouldn't give up much, but Jack Z. isn't going to just give them away, so I really don't see a match.

[Oldcity]

The outfield defense is a good point, but that still doesn't explain everything, and that's why I used FIP. Washburn's K rate is the best it's been since 2002. His walk rate is the best it's ever been in his career, and the same with his home run rate. The defense has helped him, but he's still pitching better than he has in a long time.

[Invader3K]

It's not like Braun/Cameron/Hart is exactly a chopped liver defense right now, either.

 

I could see trading for Washburn, but I sure wouldn't want to give up much to get him.

[BrewCrewForever]

I would not include Escobar in deal for Washburn. I would include Hardy though, perhaps like said above that Jack Z is a big JJ fan.

[Invader3K]

I think trading Hardy for Washburn straight up would be ridiculous. I realize again that Washburn is having a good season, but I can't see trading an All-Star caliber shortstop on a down year for a two and a half month rental of an aging starter with unspectacular stuff.

[trwi7]

It's not like Braun/Cameron/Hart is exactly a chopped liver defense right now, either.

 

I could see trading for Washburn, but I sure wouldn't want to give up much to get him.

Cameron is really good. Braun and Hart are average. We have a worse outfield defense by a pretty big margin. Washburn's BABIP is .251, the second best number of his career, the best was in 2000 when it was .203 and he only threw 84 innings. He's also giving up the least amount of HR/9 in his career and has the lowest HR/FB% of his career since 2002. He's also pitching in a very good pitchers park.

 

I'm not saying we shouldn't trade for him, I'm just saying that we shouldn't give up very much and we shouldn't expect him to be as good as he's looked this year.

[jjfanec]

Washburn would be a nice upgrade but I would not give up much for him. He seems like he is really getting lucky this year. I would love to add an arm like Morrow though. He needs to learn to cut down his walks but a young pitcher who is under our control for a while would be a nice addition. I would not give up Escobar for him but I would like to see the Brewers make a trade that can help out this year and down the line.

[dadofandrew]

Washburn just might be pitching better this year...his secondary stats indicate he is, and his ERA in the AL is under 3. That's a solid arm for the stretch drive, supposedly, he's the Yankees top target.