Late Friday afternoon, the Washington Nationals made an exchange of two relievers in desperate need of a change of scenery, shipping RHP Collin Balester to the Detroit Tigers in return for RHP Ryan Perry.  Both the Nationals and the Tigers are gambling that the switch of leagues and a new organization will allow the natural talents of each player to flourish.

Collin Balester, 25, was originally drafted by the Montreal Expos as a 4th
round pick in the 2004 draft and has spent his entire career with the organization,
but unfortunately he has struggled with consistency, posting career numbers of
5.17 ERA in 167 innings spanning four seasons.  Balester, the Nationals top prospect in 2007, struggled as a starter when he entered the majors, but was shifted to the bullpen in 2010 and found that his stuff improved as did his results.  The Nationals parted with Balester in large part because he is out of minor league options, meaning that if the Nationals wanted to send him to the minor leagues at any point next season, he would be exposed to waivers and could be claimed by any of the other major league clubs.  The Nationals have a deep relief corps returning for 2012, and Balester was going to face a difficult numbers crunch all season to stay in the majors.  Next spring, Balester will attempt to crack an impressive Detroit bullpen that already consists of Jose Valverde, Joaquin Benoit, Octavio Dotel, and Al Alburquerque.

Ryan Perry, 25 in February, was Detroit’s 1st Round Pick, 21st overall, in
the 2008 draft out of the University of Arizona.  Perry quickly broke into the majors in 2009, and pitched relatively well both in 2009 and 2010 for the Tigers, posting ERAs
of 3.79 and 3.59.  Unfortunately, something happened in 2011 and Perry imploded to an ERA of 5.35 and just 24 strikeouts against 21 walks in 37.0 innings.  Perry features closer quality stuff with an electric 93-95mph fastball that can touch 98mph, a devastating but inconsistent slider and an occasional underwhelming changeup.  Perry still possesses a minor league option, meaning he can be sent to Triple-A at any point next season without being exposed to waivers.  He will enter next spring in competition with
Ryan Mattheus, Craig Stammen and others for a place in the bullpen, with the
fallback option of being sent to Triple-A to act as the closer and attempt to
harness his control.

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fans have been craving since the off-season began, this was a nice low-risk,
high-reward trade that GM Mike Rizzo has become known for since taking over a
few seasons ago.  The most important consideration with this trade is the fact that Perry still possesses a minor league option, while Balester has exhausted his.  The Nationals bullpen next season is fairly well accounted for with Drew Storen, Tyler Clippard, Henry Rodriguez, and Sean Burnett virtually assured of their roster spots, thus the flexibility to send Perry to Triple-A Syracuse is crucial.  This trade makes the Nationals roster more talented, as Perry possesses more pure talent than does Balester and gives them additional roster flexibility next season, making this deal a solid win for GM Mike Rizzo and the Nationals.

Overall Grade…. B to B+

This “Tip of the Fedora” goes out to you, my readers.  My readership has been up rather substantially in the past few weeks as have the number of followers I now have on
Twitter.  Thank you for the support and please continue to tell your friends about NatsGM!

Follow me on Twitter @NatsGMdotcom, email me your questions and comments to
NationalsGM@gmail.com, and “Like” me on Facebook search NatsGM.

We are LIVE this Thursday morning from NatsGM headquarters, I am comfortably seated in the butterfly chair with a large coffee in my hand, ready to Live Blog the 2011 Rule 5 Draft, which begins at 10am.  I wrote an article yesterday previewing today’s draft and highlighting some likely to be selected players, which you can find by scrolling down the page.  I encourage you to send me questions about the Rule 5 draft or Winter Meetings in the comments section below, @NatsGMdotcom on Twitter, or email me at NationalsGM@gmail.com.  Thanks again for joining me today.

@NL_Beast via Twitter -> @NatsGMdotcom Who is the most likely Nationals player to be selected today in the Rule 5 draft?

Thanks @NL_Beast for the Tweet and for being such a loyal reader.  As for your question, there has been a lot of talk that Bradley Meyers will be selected this morning, as he could be a cheap addition to a team’s bullpen next season, and his ability to limit walks should be even more valuable as a reliever.  His ceiling is not particularly high, but I would say the odds are above 50% someone selects him today.

Also, there were rumors swirling late last night that the Pittsburgh Pirates were heavily interesting in Nationals LHP Josh Smoker.  I would be more surprised if Smoker was chosen however, as with his control problems and lack of experience above High-A makes it difficult to believe he could stick in the majors the entire season next year.  That said, however, left-handed arms like his are difficult to find, and perhaps the Pirates or another team decides to take a gamble with him.  I will put his odds closer to 30% to be selected this morning.  Thanks again for writing.

@FelixMarsden via Twitter -> @NatsGMdotcom What player would you most like to see the Nationals select in the Rule 5 this morning?

Thanks Felix for always supporting NatsGM, I appreciate it.  He may not have the ceiling of some others available today, but if he is available, I hope the Nationals select Chicago Cubs IF/OF Ryan Flaherty – I have watched Flaherty for a long time as I used to scout him at Vanderbilt on the same teams as David Price and Pedro Alvarez, and while they were both much better pro prospects, there were many games where I came away with the feeling that Flaherty was the Vandy’s best player.  I have long been a believer in his bat, tools, and skills and convinced he would find a way to carve out a productive major league career.  Hopefully he is still available when the Nationals turn arrives.

Rule 5 Draft Major League Phase Results

1) Houston Astros – RHP Reiner Cruz from NY Mets

2) Minnesota Twins- RHP Terry Doyle from Chicago White Sox

3) Seattle Mariners – LHP Lucas Luetge from Milwaukee Brewers

4) Baltimore Orioles – IF/OF Ryan Flaherty from Chicago Cubs

5) Kansas City – LHP Cesar Cabral from Boston Red Sox

6) Chicago Cubs – RHP Lendy Castillo from Philadelphia Phillies

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8) Atlanta Braves – LHP Robert Fish from Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

9) St. Louis Cardinals – OF Erik Komatsu from Washington Nationals

10) Boston Red Sox – IF Marwin Gonzalez from Chicago Cubs

11) Arizona Diamondbacks – RHP Brett Lorin from Pittsburgh Pirates

12) New York Yankees – RHP Bradley Meyers from Washington Nationals

There you have it, as quickly as I could type the results the entire draft was over, with only 12 total selections, eight pitchers and four batters.  The Nationals lost two players, OF Erik Komatsu who was selected by the St. Louis Cardinals and RHP Bradley Meyers selected by the New York Yankees.  Komatsu, acquired from Milwaukee this summer in the Jerry Hairston Jr. trade, has some on-base skills and can adequately play any of the three defensive positions, but I would be somewhat surprised if he sticks with the Cardinals all season with his lack of power.  I expected Meyers to be selected today, though I do not necessarily see the fit with the Yankees organization, as his lack of power stuff could be exposed in the AL East.  But his ability to throw strikes should make him a future major leaguer, whether it be with the Yankees or another organization.

In the minor league portion of the Rule 5 draft, the Nationals did not lose any players, but did select Catcher Beau Seabury from the Colorado Rockies in the Triple-A phase and  selected RHP Matthew Buschmann from the San Diego Padres organization and a former Vanderbilt Commodore in the Double-A phase of this draft.  Both players will look to take advantage of a fresh opportunity with a new organization and should serve as depth for the Syracuse and Harrisburg rosters.

@extremegm1 via Twitter -> @NatsGMdotcom Overall thoughts on today’s Rule 5 draft for the Nationals?

Thanks for writing and a nice way to wrap up today’s Live Blog: after Ryan Flaherty was selected by the Orioles and Cesar Cabral was selected by the Royals, I expected the Nationals wou pass on selecting a player.  I was a little surprised that Erik Komatsu was selected, as I think he will struggle to remain in the majors all next season, but he does have a unique ability to get on-base and many scouts think he can stay in center field.  I will be surprised if he remains with the Angels all season, but I think he is a decent gamble for Anaheim.

As for Bradley Meyers, he is a nice pitcher and should carve out a solid career, but he was rather far down on the depth chart in Washington, and he likely will be better served heading to another team.  Now, I do not think the Yankees are the ideal fit for Meyers, but I would not be surprised if he stuck with New York in 2012.  He is a loss for the organization in terms of depth, but he was not going to get the proper opportunity with Washington.  Overall, I am not surprised the Nationals were quiet today; here’s hoping that they move rather quickly to find another starting pitcher and a leadoff hitting center fielder.  Thanks for writing!

With that, I will wrap up today’s Live Blog of the 2011 Rule 5 Draft.  Thank you for joining me, and I encourage you to continue to send your questions to me via Twitter @NatsGMdotcom, email me at NationalsGM@gmail.com and on Facebook search NatsGM.  Thank you for reading!