Fouled-Off Bunts: Even More Transactions Edition

The Nationals ended up offering arbitration to Joey Eischen, and, surprisingly, Tony Armas. They declined to offer it to Preston Wilson and Carlos Baerga.

Eischen is reportedly close to a one-year $1.2 million deal. A bit pricey, but given the relief market, it's not a killer. Armas is expected to decline arbitration (wink, wink) and sign an low-cost, incentive-laden contract for next season. That one certainly came out of nowhere, and will set off a scramble for those last three pitching spots next year. Could Armas be a reliever? He doesn't have much endurance. If he didn't have to pace himself, could he put more on his fastball to actually get it by hitters and be the power pitcher that he was unable to be last year?

The Rule 5 Draft was today. The Nationals didn't claim anyone in the major league portion, and they won't be saddled with a Tony Blanco-sized deadspot on the roster. They did lose a non-entity named Chris Booker, whom they picked up in the offseason for nothing. The $50K we're getting makes that a good loss.

In the minor league portion, they picked up three players: Brandon Powell, Jose Sanchez, and Josh Perrault. These players aren't bound by the same roster restrictions as those selected in the minor league portion. Basically, it's a way of picking up some depth for the minors. Perault's numbers look the most interesting, but he's old for his league.

Other teams had to make arbitration decisions, too. Of the players we're interested in, Jarrod Washburn, Todd Pratt, and Juan Encarnacion weren't offered arbitration. They wouldn't cost a pick to sign.

Javier Vazquez for Church, Carroll, and Hinckley (preferably not Balister) made the rounds yesterday. If AZ passed along the Vazquez money that they're getting from the Yankees, wouldn't you jump at that trade? Vazquez for 2-years, $18 million?