Washington Post: Nationals interested in Jamey Carroll?

Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post wrote that the Nationals are interested in in improving their middle infield depth and have considered (among others) Jamey Carroll. (Link) I gotta say, I think it makes a ton of sense. Besides being a competent utility infielder/fringy starter, it gives the Nationals a decent OBP guy (their leadoff hitters have been dreadful) and gets Carroll back to the National League.

From the Twins standpoint, I wonder what they would want? It would get Carroll's contract ($3.75M) off the books for next year and get rid of any chance of that 3rd year option vesting. But it's not like middle infield is a position of depth for this team. It's also not like they would get much - I would think a "C" prospect at best. (Just to pick two names at random who I don't really know, would Taylor Jordan or Josh Smoker be available?)

Whaddya think?

Unless he is a super mentor, I would deal him for whatever I could get. This team needs starters, not expensive backups.

Package with Span for Meyer and Smoker I'd do that. Edit: after looking up Smoker or Taylor maybe find another player or 2.

Yeah. If they can get anything for Carroll that would be great plus would give Florimon some experience.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by thrylos98

Yeah. If they can get anything for Carroll that would be great plus would give Florimon some experience.

---

Personally, I think Florimon would be better served getting his experience at AAA for a bit longer. He's hardly dominating. But if a Carroll trade brings back even a mediocre arm, and it require promoting Florimon, I'm all for it.

Agreed. For the Twins, it's about getting rid of the contract. For the Nats, it's depth as both of their Middle Infielders are not at 100% Low A pitcher works for me.

Not until Plouffe gets back, and then only if we actually get something in return - getting a 'C' prospect with maybe a 1 in 5 chance of making the big league roster someday doesn't do anything to help the rebuilding process.

If they can get anything for Carroll, that'd be great. If not, they should probably move him anyway. His 2013 salary could go toward pitching.

A bag of balls would be a good return for Carroll. The main goal should be to get his inflated salary off the books for 2013. Anything else is gravy.

In a major rebuild you cant afford to waste payroll on an over the hill utility man.

If we get something real for him great. If not, I don't see his salary as a burden. He is really solid in the field (at three positions) and his OBP is average (.325 vs league average .322). There is value in those things. His current BA is thirty points below his career average and his BABIP is forty points below his career average. If that is because he is 38 and declining that is one thing. If that means he will be getting back to the mean, that is another.

Carroll and his salary won't make the Twins contenders but he is not keeping them from it either. If he goes, someone needs to replace him and do those things or make up for it in other ways. To me he seems like a pretty reasonably priced stop-gap until someone steps up to take his job. I don't see anyone in the organization forcing that issue.

I'd prefer they got some sort of prospect back, but be prepared: If we get rid of Carroll that almost insures Casilla will be back next year at only a mil or so less then Carroll would cost. I don't see anyone else in the org who looks like an answer at 2B unless the Twins give Plouffe a shot at the position.

Twins should get something back in addition to salary relief. Similar to when they traded Juan Castro a couple of years back, they got a C level arm (Zach Ward I think), probably even get a slightly better prospect for Carroll.

Also it should be noted that even with the lack of hitting Carroll has been rated very highly defensively this year, at this point he is already a 1.0 WAR player on the season and should end up close to a 2 WAR player, that and his versatility is worth the 3.75 million he is owed next year IMO. This indicates to me that the Twins or Nationals shouldn't view this as a salary dump, the Nationals def need to send back some sort of prospect. (C-, think a guy that will slot into the Twins 20-30 range)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Curt

If we get something real for him great. If not, I don't see his salary as a burden. He is really solid in the field (at three positions) and his OBP is average (.325 vs league average .322). There is value in those things. His current BA is thirty points below his career average and his BABIP is forty points below his career average. If that is because he is 38 and declining that is one thing. If that means he will be getting back to the mean, that is another.

Carroll and his salary won't make the Twins contenders but he is not keeping them from it either. If he goes, someone needs to replace him and do those things or make up for it in other ways. To me he seems like a pretty reasonably priced stop-gap until someone steps up to take his job. I don't see anyone in the organization forcing that issue.

---

Agreed. They'll just have to find another veteran FA to replace him this offseason. I can't see the Twins rolling with an infield of Casilla, Dozier, Nishioka and/or Florimon. So who is available for next year that will be cheaper or better? It sure seems like at this point most of the available money this winter will go to pitching in one fashion or another. As Curt said if you can get something worthwhile it certainly doesn't hurt the Twins but I don't think you're really saving any significant money for next year either. There is always the possibility that his batting returns to norms and he is a decent player next year.

I'd be happy if they got anything for him.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by drjim

Twins should get something back in addition to salary relief. Similar to when they traded Juan Castro a couple of years back, they got a C level arm (Zach Ward I think), probably even get a slightly better prospect for Carroll.

---

Alas, Zach Ward is all that the interim GM managed to get for Kyle Lohse. The Twins got Brandon Roberts for Juan Castro, who had more impact than Ward...

Why do they need a veteran free agent at all for a utility guy? They need to commit to rebuilding, not this going half way thing. That does not work.

I think we should give them the Japanese guy!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by mike wants wins

Why do they need a veteran free agent at all for a utility guy? They need to commit to rebuilding, not this going half way thing. That does not work.

---

How does sitting a young prospect on the bench for 1/2 the season and playing out of position another 1/3 as a utility player help the rebuilding? There are plenty of reasons to carry a veteran utility player not the least of which is risk management. The key is finding the right option. Like Jamey Carroll.

Little risk in moving him and capturing the salary. We can also see if Florimon's glove fits the utility role for next year. At 25, he is hardly a young player and at best projects in a utility role. He has been DFA'd twice this year. He is no more a prospect than Luke Hughes.

The key is to capture the salary and find a near minimum salaried player to put in the utility role next year.