Nationals Sign Williams, Claussen

The Washington Nationals have signed right-hander Jerome Williams and left-hander Brandon Claussen. The deal with Williams is 1-year, $500,000; Claussen’s is a minor-league contract.

I don’t want to get anyone’s hopes up, but the Nationals have been making some pretty shrewd moves of late. Going back to their acquisition last season of Austin Kearns and Felipe Lopez, and continuing with their pickup of Chris Snelling in mid-December, Jim Bowden and company are quietly adding some nice value to that franchise.

What do we know about Williams and Claussen? Well, both once were highly regarded, both have disappointed to date, and both are still relatively young. Claussen is coming off shoulder surgery and may not be ready to start the season, but with a minor-league deal, we’re not talking about a lot of risk here.

Quick flashback to 2003, specifically the Baseball America Prospect Handbook from that year. Williams is ranked the #3 prospect in the San Francisco Giants organization (ahead of Francisco Liraino and Matt Cain), while Claussen checks in at #5 for the New York Yankees (ahead of Chien-Ming Wang). From the book:

After being rated the organization’s top prospect the previous two years, Williams still is considered a potential star, though his stock dipped slightly in 2002… Williams’ athleticism is often compared to that of a young Dwight Gooden. He throws a 90-92 mph fastball and an outstanding changeup.

Williams also drew praise for his mound presence, but lost points for a work ethic that had been called into question. Although he hasn’t been able to stick at the big-league level, the guy is just 25 years old and owns a career ERA of 4.03 in nearly 400 innings of work. Seems to me there’s some upside here. At the price the Nats paid for a year of Williams, what’s the worst that can happen? Sure, he could blow up in their faces, but show me a pitcher who isn’t described by that statement.

Low risk, high upside. That’s the name of the game.

How about Claussen? He’s a little older than Williams and he’s had a worse time with injuries. From the same book:

Signed as a draft-and-follow in 1999, Claussen emerged as one of the games top lefthanded pitching prospects by leading the minors with 220 strikeouts in 2001. He also topped the organization with 187 innings, and the workload took a toll on his arm in 2002, as he had Tommy John surgery in June.

Claussen’s best pitches at the time were his fastball and slider, while his changeup was said to be developing, and his curve was dismissed as a “show-me” pitch. He also drew praise for his work ethic and “bulldog mentality.” (I always find that phrase amusing — no disrespect to bulldogs, but presumably one would hope for a bit more intelligence in a baseball player, or is that just me?) Bearing in mind that this was written four years and two surgeries ago, he sounds like a guy who — a few months shy of his 28th birthday — is at least worth a minor-league contract.

Maybe these moves work out for Washington, maybe they don’t. At least the Nats are thinking a little and trying to add value where they can. Good for them.