Washington Nationals sign Mark DeRosa
The Washington Nationals have signed Mark DeRosa to a one-year deal, and DeRosa is the second veteran, former 4 WAR player that the Nats have signed recently. The team also handed a minor league contract and a spring training invite to former star center fielder Mike Cameron. DeRosa will be a utility backup for the team and owns a career .341 OBP. DeRosa has played at nearly every position in his career, and he has spent time at the hot corner and in the corner outfield positions in recent years. However, he has lost a step defensively and should be considered mediocre with the glove at this point, but his defensive prowess varies at different positions. He, not surprisingly, plays his best defense in left but holds the most overall value at the hot corner. He won’t be playing at either position for the Nats as a starter, but look for him to spell the incumbents when needed.
Right now, Mark DeRosa needs to get healthy again, as he hasn’t played in a full season since 2009. From 2006-2008, DeRosa had a string of three straight seasons of at least 3 WAR, matching that total in the first two seasons and exploding for a career-high 4.3 WAR in ’08 while with the Chicago Cubs. He’s a fan favorite, but it should be noted that those three seasons were the only times in his career in which he was worth over 1 WAR, had 400 plate appearances, or had an above-average wRC+. DeRosa is really just a utility player at this point, albeit an exotic one who possesses some above-average pop. He did hit 21 dingers in ’07 and topped out with 23 the season after, but he’s only hit one home run since the 2008 season.
The reason for this poor run of play is an unsuccessful wrist surgery in 2009, and DeRosa’s wrists are so bad that his comeback has been quite remarkable; lesser players would have retired at this point. Credit to DeRosa for sticking with it and not calling it quits. His left wrist is almost completely damaged at this point, and his power has been almost entirely sapped. DeRosa has changed his approach and is getting it on the ground more to become more of a singles hitter, but that’s not the most productive approach. It’s his only option right now, and a one-year deal is where the former Brave is now; he’s a little bit above a replacement-level player. Mark DeRosa is about a 0.5 WAR player right now, and it’s always sad to see a solid player’s career crumble due to an injury; especially this kind of an injury.
Be sure to check out all of Call to the Pen’s transaction breakdowns for the 2011-12 offseason.