Report: Washington Favorites for Michael Bourn

[YanksNats1987]

Forgot to post this yesterday.

Being favorites doesn't surprise me because of the need and Boras connection. What does everybody think? He would solve the CF/leadoff issue for sure. But someone will have to get traded because of it if LaRoche stays.

Baseball officials still see the Nationals as the favorites for Bourn.

Washington has long had an interest in Bourn, and while rookie phenom Bryce Harper did a very nice job in center field, they could move Harper to a corner spot, with Michael Morse moving to first base. If the Nats are able to re-sign first baseman Adam LaRoche as they hope, they could then trade Morse.

http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/blog/jo...ning-elsewhere

[J.Twiggy]

Why do we need him? we have Brian Goodwin in the minors who is gonna be ready to be our leadoff guy and centerfielder of the future so i say no to Bourn lets keep our homegrown guys.

[Carlznerson]

IMO LaRoche is going to somewhere like Boston and Morse will come back to 1B leaving an outfield spot open.

[RCarlson85]

I don't think he's necessary. I would rather keep LaRoche and Morse both. I think Werth did a fine job at the leadoff spot. We would lose a lot of power if one of LaRoche/Morse doesn't come back next year. I would rather keep Morse than LaRoche if it comes down to it though.

[YanksNats1987]

Yeah Bourn is probably not the best option at this point and the club is probably better off taking it another year to sort things out. I think if LaRoche doesn't stay than the dynamic could change, but Goodwin down the road has to be looked at and Eury Perez could see time in 2013 if needed. And in the end any Bourn money could be better spent on JZimm and/or Desi soon enough.

Honestly, to me DC is really just a rumored "favorite" but I don't see Bourn signing here.

[RCarlson85]

I would really like to see us stay with our same lineup this year. It was a very good lineup even though we had injuries throughout the year. Morse and Werth both missed a couple of months, Ramos missed the whole season, Desmond missed a few weeks, and Zim missed a few weeks. Then you factor in that we had Flores at catcher for a good chunk of the season instead of Suzuki. We need another starting pitcher. In my opinion, It would be awesome to keep the lineup that we have, spend money to bring back LaRoche, and get a better starting pitcher. Why change what worked so well last season?

[Carlznerson]

Well we didn't extend a QO to Jackson so I believe that indicates we want another starter. He wasn't worth the 13 million on the offer but he might come back on another 1 year deal worth 7-8.

[YanksNats1987]

Well we didn't extend a QO to Jackson so I believe that indicates we want another starter. He wasn't worth the 13 million on the offer but he might come back on another 1 year deal worth 7-8.

Sounds like he wants multi-year deal which the Nats won't do. I think his time in DC is done and settling for a $7-8M seems out of the question with E-Jax.

Rizzo should be able to find a quality arm to fill the 5 spot. Worst comes to worst that's about how much Lannan would be making in '13.

[Carlznerson]

There's also plenty of guys I'd love to have fill a spot. Of course there is the big prize Greinke but I'd love Kyle Lohse or Ryan Dempster.

[RCarlson85]

There's also plenty of guys I'd love to have fill a spot. Of course there is the big prize Greinke but I'd love Kyle Lohse or Ryan Dempster.

One of those 3 would be really nice. Our rotation would be even better. Plus we will have Strasburg without restriction too. That would be scary.

[Carlznerson]

But hey with Rizzo at the helm who the hell knows what will happen. We could have John Hamilton or simply sign a reliever or two. His unpredictability makes him so good.

[RCarlson85]

I don't think LaRoche is coming back. It sounded so good toward the end of the season. Both sides seemed to want a deal. Now it sounds like they aren't close to making a deal. I could see him testing the market now. That may open the door for Morse going back to 1B and bringing in anther OF (like Bourn). They could also go with Morse and Moore at 1B/LF. I also saw on Nationals.com that they aren't sure what to do at 2B with Espinosa and Lombardozzi. I personally like Espinosa better, but my opinion doesn't matter. The off-season may have just gotten a little more interesting with these couple developments.

[NatSkinCapWiz]

Just say no to Michael Bourn. The guy strikes out 140+ times per season. Not ideal for a leadoff man. Plus, at 30 years old, his speed is on the decline. Wait for Goodwin!

[trevhipp7]

Twins fan here, obviously you guys are really high on Goodwin. I'm not all that familiar with him so I guess I dont know how close he is to helping you. With that being said, would Denard Span for Storen and Lombardozzi be of interest to the Nats? Span is a good defensive centerfielder and a good leadoff hitter. Both of which the Nats are in need of. This could also allow the Nats to maybe go out and sign Zack Grienke who you guys tried to trade for when he was with the Royals. The only problem would be that you would likely need to let LaRoche walk as well, though Morse could play 1st in that case. Span leading off in front of guys like Desmond, Zimmerman, Harper, Werth, Morse, Ramos, Espinosa would be very dangerous, especiall with Strasburg, Gio, Grienke, Zimmermann, Detwiler.

[Carlznerson]

If Rizzo wanted Span he would have traded for him when he could of at the past 2 deadlines.