February 21, 2011 

What do you expect from Danny Espinosa, both in 2011 and longer-term? Jenny B. New York, NY

Danny Espinosa enters 2011 as the starting second baseman after a solid debut last September. Espinosa, a 3^rd round pick of the Washington Nationals in 2008, spent the majority of last season in AA Harrisburg, boasting an impressive .262/.334/.464 stat line in 386 at-bats. The Nationals then sent him to AAA Syracuse and in his brief time he impressed with a .295/.349/.463 in 95 at-bats. Because the minor league season ends around Labor Day, the Nationals decided to challenge Danny and brought him to the big leagues in September and handed him the second base job: he impressed with both his glove and athleticism more so than his bat, flashing a .214/.277/.477 in 103 at-bats. GM Mike Rizzo, manager Jim Riggleman, and the rest of the organization gave him a ringing endorsement this off-season, resisting the temptation to sign a bigger name free agent to fill the position and thus give Espinosa more seasoning in the minors, instead opting to sign Jerry Hairston as insurance at second base and making Danny the starter at second base.

I have been a big believer in Danny Espinosa ever since I saw him play in college at Long Beach State. Because he played the same position at the same school as Troy Tulowitzki and Evan Longoria, the comparisons were far too easy to make for scouts and were not always favorable for Espinosa, as the other two went in the top 7 picks in their respective draft classes. In a rather uncommon fashion, the attention he received, and thus the criticisms lobbed against him compared to Tulowitzki and Longoria made him somewhat underrated going into the draft. When I saw him in college, I was convinced I was looking at a major league utility player as his floor, and a league average shortstop as his ceiling. In my notes I compared him with long time Oriole shortstop Mike Bordick, as I thought Espinosa projected as a similar player (above average glove, decent to solid bat, scrappy and a winner). Since he was drafted in 2008, he has developed more power and base stealing ability and has become a more solid prospect. The Nationals decided to move him to second base in favor of Ian Desmond, an opinion that I do not share. I will continue to believe that the Nationals would be better off long-term with Espinosa at shortstop, Ian Desmond in center field, and filling second base in some other manner. In general, Espinosa is steadier at shortstop with a stronger throwing arm, whereas Desmond has more range but is also more prone to errors.

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I encourage each of you to email me your questions or any general feedback at nationalsgm@gmail.com and to follow me on Twitter @NatsGMdotcom