National Insecurity

I Only Update When He Pitches

2008-04-26T21:28:00.003-04:00

Matt Chico has been pounced upon tonight for five runs on eight hits with two walks tonight facing the Cubbies. I didn't really expect to win this one with Carlos Zoombeenie on the mound for the Cubs, but it's also Chico's third consecutive terrible start. I think it's time to send him down to AAA to work out whatever kinks might be in his system. Either that or accept that he's not real good. Tyler Clippard and Jay Bergmann have both been pitching like hot garbage in AAA, but Colin Balester is rocking a 2.66 ERA and a sub-1.00 WHIP with 19 strikeouts in 20 innings. Might be worth a shot. Then again, he's younger than me (oh god) and maybe should be left to mature a bit in the minors. In any case, Matt Chico is getting knocked around hard, and with the team as bad as it has been so far this year, changes have to be made. I'm downright shocked that no one's head has rolled yet this year.

Matt Chico's Mailbag!

2008-04-21T20:07:00.002-04:00

Matt,

Have you considered getting outs instead of getting lit up?

Rob, New York

Bend Me, Break Me, Any Way You Want Me

2008-04-13T18:02:00.005-04:00

...As long as we win, baby, it's alright. That was ugly. But there were certainly bright spots worth talking about.

Tim Redding - Tim has emerged as the presumptive ace of our staff after this start, as far as I'm concerned. Sure, his second start was weird and wonky, but his first start and this one have been very solid. Your ace is the guy you turn to when you need to stop a skid, and Tim did that today. 6IP, 3ER, and he pitched better than that through five, so I'm happy with it.

Invader Zim - Strong outing today from Zimmy. From moving Lastings Milledge over to third in the eighth to his other hits and his two RBIs, Ryan had a good day. He'll be fine, have no fear.

Lastings - Okay, first things first, he was safe. I still don't like the decision to run, but he was definitely safe at home. If he can keep getting on base like he did today, he's going to make Omar Minaya look like a real asshole.

The low lights of course made their appearances today, and they were headed chiefly by the return of the most exciting closer in baseball. Chad Cordero, who I want to succeed, I really do, went .2IP, 1H, 2BB. And then Big Jon had to come in and get a one pitch save on a flyout to right that had my heart racing. I hope Chad can get his issues worked out, but man, I hate knowing that a 1-2-3 9th just isn't going to happen.

The Nats have the day off tomorrow and then head up to the Sheadium, where I'll see them take on the Mets on Wednesday and potentially Thursday. Excitement abounds. Also, Bob Carpenter and Don Sutton pointed out today that the Nats could very well see Tim Hudson four times in a span of less than a month. Ugh, fate worse than death.

Since I'm updating this from a Mac, it of course looks funny, but I'll fix it later.

Big Jon's Got Nooooothing

2008-04-11T21:44:00.002-04:00

Wow, this is a tearjerker. Matt Chico goes on the board with the best start for the Nats this year, 8IP, 5H, 1BB, 3K. He'll get the loss.

A questionable ninth inning decision to use the struggling Jon Rauch resulted in two more runs, as Rauchie's ERA rose to 9.00. His fastball is only hitting about 86, and while he's no flamethrower, he's usually more in the 91 range, which makes me wonder if he's hiding an injury. Either the Jesus or Saul Rivera would probably have made much better choices for the ninth, but I'm not the manager.

The Nats offense has continued a proud tradition of lying down for Tim Hudson. I've got to dig up his lifetime numbers against us. The man's good, but he's not this good. Zimmy's average has dropped back under .200, which is sort of to be expected - he generally has pretty terrible starts, but it's really ugly to watch, especially with the team having lost eight in a row. They're a sorry bunch at the moment. Wish I had more to write, but damn, it's hard to get up much momentum when it's loss after loss.

Tomorrow we'll see a battle of the Johns, Lannan versus Smoltz. Also, it should be noted that a decision has to be made about the rotation pretty soon in light of Shawn Hill's impending return. It looks like Lannan will be the odd man out, because Matt Chico definitely removed himself from the chopping block with his performance tonight. Something is amiss with Jay Bergmann, too. He's now pitched four solid in two straight starts and then imploded in the fifth. It's painful to see, but hopefully he can work out whatever is causing these little collapses pronto.

OH MY FREAKING GOURD

2008-04-06T01:34:00.005-04:00

So, I'm on Staten Island this weekend, which has killed my blogging capacity. As such, I'm going to skip the last few Nats games, because they've lost, but not by a lot. If they could manage to pitch just a little better, I feel like we'd be okay. They certainly haven't been the kind of losses that have you leaving in the fourth inning that have been so common in the past. I'll pick back up with the dailies tomorrow or Monday.

BUT, oh my god, the Capitals won. The Caps have done it, they've won the Southeast division. This is seriously such a celebratory moment for a team that hasn't had a sniff of success in a long time. I can't wait until I get this same kind of rush from the Nats, but man, until then, I'm so stoked for the playoffs.

161-1?

2008-04-03T16:57:00.004-04:00

Well, teams lose games, so I'm certainly not surprised that the Nats left the ranks of the unbeaten today, but the way they did it was frustrating. After jumping out to a 5-0 first inning lead, Jay Bergmann pitched very well for five innings, but the wheels started coming off in the sixth. He gave up thee runs all by himself, was removed, and Saul Rivera was unable to keep Bergmann's additional two baserunners from crossing the plate, making Bergie's line look way worse than it was. 5.1IP, 5ER, 1BB, 6K is the ugly stepsister of 5IP, 1ER, 6K, which was his line after five.

Saul Rivera was actually unable to really do anything, as he allowed 3 hits and 2 ER without retiring a batter. Ray King came in and cleaned things up for a while, followed by a good inning from Joel Hanrahan, and Luis Ayala who was part of a walkfest, but got out of it unscathed. Jesus Colome pitched a good ninth, but was given the questionable signal to IBB both Chase Utley and Ryan Howard to load the bases. He then walked Jayson Werth in on four pitches to end the game. I wasn't able to watch the game on TV, but the pitches better have been well wide for an umpire to have the balls to call four straight balls to end a baseball game.

The IBBs today were actually just really annoying in general. Luis Ayala and Jesus Colome were both asked to IBB Chase Utley and Ryan Howard today, and certainly those two are very good hitters, but you have to imagine that putting two guys on base for free has an effect on a pitcher's mental game. Furthermore, the 10th inning walks to Utley and Howard loaded the bases to allow for the winning run to be walked in. Utley has a career .357 OBP and Howard has a career .387, but walking them for free gives them that 1.000 for free of charge. I just don't like it. Six or seven times out of ten, if you pitch to them, they get nothing.

But while the pitching was suspect, the hitting was pretty good. Fourteen hits is good to see obviously, though Ryan Zimmerman's 0-6 line wasn't pretty. The real question in my mind is why Willie Harris was trotted out to bat in the ninth inning, with the bases loaded and two outs. Dmitri Young remained planted firmly on the bench while Harris grounded out to first. That's really confusing to me, because I thought the whole idea of D-Meat on the bench was that he would get some clutch late game at bats, while I thought the idea of Willie Harris on the bench was that he could do everything, but none of it very well. I'm sure Manny has his reasons, but I had a few choice words for MLB.com when I saw who the pinch hitter was, that's for sure. Also confusing was the eighth inning decision to pinch hit Rob Mackowiak for Joel Hanrahan, and then pinch Lo Duca for Mackowiak without Mackowiak taking a pitch. I mean, I know they were going for the righty vs. lefty match up, but what a way to waste a bench player. One who could have been useful, perhaps, in place of Willie Harris in the ninth. OH WAIT THERE WAS SOMEONE READILY AVAILABLE WHO IS CONSIDERABLY MORE ADEPT AS A HITTER THAN WILLIE HARRIS.

Did I mention that I didn't like that move?

Today's lineup also managed to generate a good amount of hitting without being the A-team. Three starters were given the day off today, as a Boone (probably Bob) played first, Jesus Flores caught, and Felipe Lopez made his debut in left. Felipe didn't seem to be too awful from what the internet has told me, he didn't make any errors or anything, as he went 1-5. Jesus was trying desperately not to get sent to AA as he singled, stroked a pair of doubles, and walked, driving in a run in the process. He also notably didn't strike out, which has been one of his problems. His performance today once again raises the questions of why Paul Lo Douchebag (oh my god, do you see what I did there?) is playing every day. I think maybe I have an idea for an answer. While I wouldn't be able to tell even if I watched the game, it's possible that Flores' game calling ability was what hurt Bergie and Saul today. I really don't know if that's true, and certainly Lo Duca allowed the pitchers to get six runs tacked on them a couple of days ago, but it's one of the few explanations I can come up with that would make sense.

Ah well. O-Diesel Perez will make his second start of the season tomorrow against Braden Looper as the Nats (3-1) head out to St. Louis (2-1).

And while one season is just beginning, another is nearing its end. If the Caps can beat the Florida Panthers on Saturday, and the Flyers split their last two games of the season, the Caps will make the playoffs for the first time in seven years. How glorious that would be.

Oh, What The Hell?

2008-04-03T15:05:00.003-04:00

Nothing like watching a five run lead evaporate. I want to cry.

Wow, Ray King actually got the job done. Still, going from 6-1 to 7-6, that's depressing. Hopefully they can come back, but this kind of collapse reminds me too much of years past to be confident about it.

Pedo Beards = Good Pitching

2008-04-02T21:07:00.004-04:00

Wow, Tim Redding was apparently not lying when he said that his back feeling better meant he was fine. His arm seems just ducky, going 7IP, 1H, 2BB, 2K against the Phils. Let's see if the bullpen can finish it.

Update, 9:25PM - Wow, and when the bats don't show up, the pitching holds out. The Nationals are 3-0, beating the Phils 1-0. Tim Redding out dueled Cole Hamels, which is ridiculous, and Luis Ayala and Jon Rauch both pitched scoreless innings to put the Phillies to bed. Good start so far. It's really encouraging to see the pitching look strong. It'd be nice to see Redding actually achieve the level of talent the Astros saw a little peep of a few years ago. Tomorrow we'll get to see Jay Bergmann's first start of the year against Jamie Moyer.

162-0, here we come.

Let Me Be Clear About Something...

2008-04-02T13:26:00.002-04:00

If the Nats sell even temporary rights to Nationals Park to PETA, which proposes to rent the rights and call it GoVeg.com Field, I will eat NOTHING but meat in protest. Depending on the length of their tenure as sponsor, I may also begin to kill animals if it is deemed necessary.

Don't fucking push me, PETA. I may die long before vegetarians, but damn you, I'll die happy.

What?

2008-03-31T18:05:00.003-04:00

Alright, who are these guys, and what have they done with my baseball team? The Nats put up 11 runs on 12 hits to beat the Phillies 11-6 on opening day. At 2-0, the Nationals are currently the winningest team in baseball. Suck on that, sirs!

Matt Chico pitched alright, giving up 3 runs in 5.1 innings, but didn't look bad. Considering I still think of him as being our fifth starter, I don't have any real complaints about his performance. Joel Hanrahan struck out two but gave up two runs in .2 innings, and Ray King gave up a two run shot, on which one of the runs was Hanrahan's, in an inning of work. Saul Rivera picked up the win with a scoreless inning, and Jesus Colome pitched a scoreless ninth.

Lastings Milledge went 3/4 with a HR and two RBI, and everyone and their mother hit at least one double, I think. Invader Zim picked up a RBI but went hitless, Austin Kearns picked up a pair of RBI, while Nick Johnson, Ron Belliard, Paul LoDuca, and Dmitri Young each had one.

A good start indeed, if not for some real lackluster bullpen work, I'd be peeing myself with joy. But that offense was absolutely glorious.

On an only sort of related note, Ray King looked terrible today, as previously mentioned. If he continues to struggle, is there a chance we'll see Lannan up as the lefty out of the bullpen any time soon? I really don't know whether the team's issue with him is that they feel he needs more experience, period, or whether they just don't think there's any room for him. Well, we'll see.

Pearls of Wisdom from Bob Carpenter

2008-03-31T16:23:00.003-04:00

"Isn't it interesting that the 3, 4, and 5 hitters, Zimmerman, Johnson, and Kearns, have all of the Nationals RBIs this season?"

No Bob, it's not. The team has four total RBIs. We're a game and a half into the season.

Update: Make it six total RBIs. Byaaah!

Opening Night!

2008-03-31T01:15:00.004-04:00

Took that picture right off mlb.com, but what the hell do you people want from me?

That's a hell of a way to open a new stadium. O-Diesel Perez pitched five good frames, which should have been good enough to get him the first win of 2008, but for Paul LoDuca's godawful defense. Zimmy with the walk off shot in the ninth made it all okay for now, however. Jon Rauch, the Nats pitcher with the most wins in 2007 (with 9, ugh) gets the first curly W of 2008. Beautiful stuff. Matt Chico will face Brett Myers tomorrow in Philly.

In the meantime, Elijah Dukes is headed to the 15 day DL with a nagging hammy injury. It's not supposed to be too bad, but he wants to give it some time to heal up. And Chad Cordero had a cortisone shot following some pain in his right arm during warm ups and in the 'pen. He's not going on the DL, but he'll take a few days. Rauch will close in his absence.

Okay, stuff I missed:
John Patterson gets released. This was like a late installment of Christmas for me. That much should be apparent from any of my other entries. I don't like John Patterson. My only question mark was whether or not he was hiding another injury, because I found it funny we didn't even trade him for a bag of balls, just an outright release. Whatever, it makes me happy to see that the team will cut dead weight when necessary. But let's hope...

Shawn Hill can bounce back from his phantom injury and prove he's not dead weight. He's becoming our Carl Pavano. Should have started opening day, but if he can't stay healthy, he's going to get overtaken by plenty of other guys in the organization like...

John Lannan, who was optioned to AAA after having a phenomenal spring training. He'll be on the roster in no time, especially if Hill can't get healthy. I understand why the club went with Chico for the rotation, the kid was a horse last year, but Lannan is truly an exciting prospect, unlike...

Paul LoDuca, who, if I need to say it again, sucks. I love how the team is determined to start anyone except Jesus Flores. You know where Jesus could pick up some experience? In Nationals Park. He's the presumptive catcher of the future, so let him be the catcher of the present, too. I don't need to point out that Paul Lo Duca, one of whose most attractive characteristics is supposed to be his bat. Well, his OBP last year was .311. Jesus Flores, whose bat isn't ready for the Majors, put up an OBP last year of .310. Now, to be fair, Lo Duca struck out every 13 or so at bats last year, and Flores struck out every four, but Lo Duca hits nothing but singles and doesn't walk, while Flores hits singles and walks. I mean, it's not a big gap. But I'm just whining at this point, the team has made it very clear they're going to start that asshole for this year, so I suppose I'll just have to accept it. But I won't have to like it.

Well, that's it for tonight. The Washington Nationals are on top of the NL East, baby. More tomorrow after the Philly game.

Glass Houses and Whatnot

2008-03-08T14:30:00.003-05:00

I've been railing about the stupidity of giving these young players small renewals for a couple of weeks now, arguing that these guys are the exact people you don't want to piss off. The idea of giving Prince Fielder $600,000 when he'd be thrilled by $1m is complete idiocy in my eyes. Ditto for Papelbon, Cole Hamels, all those guys. Young, proven players are not the kinds of guys you want to plant the seed of discontent within, especially when they fit squarely into your idea of where your franchise is going. Penny wise and pound stupid is the classic expression, and I think it really fits in most of these cases.

So when I saw today that the Nationals had renewed Ryan Zimmerman for $465,000 this year, I almost shit a brick. Ryan, because he's a true class act, hasn't been whining about wanting more money the way some of the other young players have, but this gets my dander up. The persistent discussions about renewing him long term are this same brand of idiocy, with the front office vowing not to "break the bank" on Zimmerman. Zimmerman wants more than Troy Tulowitzki's 6 years and $31 million, and personally I feel like he should get it. Zimmerman's offense has been solid, his defense is exceptional, his leadership appears to be growing, and the most important factor, Ryan Zimmerman IS the Washington Nationals.

I know I'm spending the Lerners' money here, but give Zimmerman 6 years and $40 million if that's what it takes. I am absolutely convinced that without Ryan Zimmerman, this franchise is the same sad sack Expos who played half their home games in Puerto Rico. There are no other hallmark players on this team yet. There are guys you want to get behind, guys like Shawn Hill and Jay Bergmann who've had some impact on the team, and you'd like to see that continue, but you're not attached in the same way. Dmitri Young is a great story, but he's old and slow. He's a veteran presence for sure, and he'll be good for Elijah and Lastings Milledge, but he's not the kind of guy you build a franchise around. Chad Cordero has inexplicably good numbers when you look at what he throws, and part of me thinks without Schneider's excellent game calling, he'll fall apart this year. Additionally, the Chef (see what I did there? Because he serves up meatballs!) has been responsible for most of the heartbreaking single moments so far in the Nationals history. He too, while he may remain a perfectly good Closer for years to come, is not the kind of guy you build a team around.

When you look at the Nationals, there is really only one person who fits that bill, and the front office just decided to low ball him. Since Ryan is too much of a class act to complain, I'll do it for him.

Man Down!

2008-03-02T02:08:00.003-05:00

Oh, what a shock! Sean Hill has been shut down because of arm pain! I love Sean Hill, I really do, but you had to see this coming.

The Nats lost their third game of Spring Training to the Marlins 4-1. Dennis Tankersley got beaten up, and because he's Dennis Tankersley, no one cares. Patterson gave up one run in his two innings, John Lannan (editor's note: Joel Hanrahan is not John Lannan. I will probably continue to confuse these two) looked strong, and both the Chief and the Wookie got to kick the tires, and both did fine.

On the batting side, Jesus Flores went 2/2 with a triple, and Elijah went 2/3 with a pair of singles. Bret Boone recorded his first hit since 2005.

Also, Humberto Cota is in camp with the Nats? Was he on Steroids? I think he was, but I don't remember, and I'm too lazy to check. One thing is for sure: Jesus Flores isn't our every day catcher, but any number of people could be! Old Humbie went 2/2 as well today, in an attempt to make himself look anything other than useless, a task with which the rest of the Catching staff has struggled so far in camp.

Nationals 15, Hoyas 0

2008-02-28T20:48:00.004-05:00

Man, when I first read that the Nats would be facing the Georgetown Hoyas in their second, though unofficial, game of Spring Training, I had tragic visions of the Hoyas taking the Nats down, or keeping the game close, or doing something generally embarrassing. But they didn't, and now I feel bad, as the Red, White, and Blue Bombers put up 15 runs on 17 hits in what was, apparently, a video game set on Rookie.

The highlights included all the Nationals pitchers doing well, and most of the batters getting a hit, as the Nats batted around in the first inning. The Hoyas committed 8 errors.

Well, as my grandmother would say, there you have it. The Nationals are considerably better than a college team.

Nationals 3, Marlins 3

2008-02-27T23:11:00.003-05:00

In the first game of Spring Training, our beautiful Natties tied the Marlins in a contest that I didn't see, but I can read a box score, so I can tell you what happened!

Here's the highlight reel: Matt Chico went 2 innings, 1 walk, 2 Ks, and no ER. Garrett Mock went 2 innings, 2 Ks, and one unearned run, which is very good news indeed. Rob Bell got eaten alive, which is completely unimportant. Joel Hanrahan struck out two of three batters in his inning, as well.

Chad Moeller and Wil Nieves split the catching duty. Thank god we picked up Estrada and Lo Duca. One assumes Flores wasn't in because he just got to camp.

L-Millz had a 1b, a 2b, and 2 SB, Wily Mo and Elijah each contributed a double as well.

Spring training doesn't matter, but it's nice to see the new guys getting extra base hits.

But He's a Monster!

2008-02-25T19:22:00.002-05:00

The Post put up a cool video of Elijah Dukes at the driving range today, and he seemed strangely human. Obviously four minutes in front of a camera doesn't vindicate him at all, but it's a fun watch if you're bored.

In other Nats news, Matt Chico will start the Spring Training opener, and he's said that he wants to cut down on his walks, which is kinda obvious, because those were his achilles heel last year. And Ryan Wagner threw a few pitches in BP today, which is good news, though not super exciting. Wagner, you may remember, came over in the infamous Austin Kearns/FLop trade, and has been fine when he's been healthy, but hasn't been healthy much. A Nationals pitcher who's injury prone? No! Tell me more!

Additionally, Jesus Flores is in camp, and is the only healthy catcher at the moment. Yes, I see the logic with sending him down to the minors to play every day for a year, but if Lo Duca and Estrada prove to be sub par, which would surprise no one, the organization needs to be quick to pull the plug on that particular experiment. And if Flores plays exceptionally during Spring Training, they need to consider letting him start regardless.

Odalis Perez Signs

2008-02-19T17:40:00.001-05:00

Well, apparently the Nats don't even want Josh Fogg, because when they want something, they seem to get it. Odalis Perez signed a minor league deal with the Nats today, which will give him a shot at making the rotation.

I like this move. He was an All Star not that long ago, and if he makes the rotation, he gets less than a million dollars. There's really no downside, so even if he's washed up, we've lost nothing, and gained some depth, in case of injuries, which, looking at our rotation, seem likely.

I'm Having Trouble Really Caring

2008-02-19T10:55:00.003-05:00

As Pokey pointed out in the comments of my last entry, the Nationals have assembled the Boone Triumvirate. Bret Boone, at age 38, has come out of retirement to come to camp with the Nats this year. The tone of Ladson's article about it is a bit more laudatory than I really feel like Bret Boone deserves, but perhaps the two brothers and their father can form some sort of Voltron-esque creature that'll be an absolute beast coming off the bench in late game situations? I don't know. But I guess if you're a Boone, you've got a shot in DC.

In other news, Paulie Dukes finally talked. Sorta. He apologized for "mistakes in judgment" and read a statement which included his assertion that he really supports what the Mitchell report is doing, and admires the cleansing of baseball. So if he was going to own up to it and support the report, why did it take this long? I don't know, I still don't feel good about it, but at least he said something. He was asked why he waited so long to talk about it, and remarked that he had other things he wanted to focus on. Uh huh.

Also, the Nats have made an offer to Odalis Perez. The 31 year old lefty has been up, down, and everywhere in between since coming into the league. An All Star in 2002 and largely ineffective in his most recent year and change in Kansas City, Perez could be a decent addition to the rotation if going back to the NL would drop his ERA down into the 4.x range again. I still like Fogg better, but I wouldn't mind seeing Perez in red and white.

Groundhog Day: Part 2

2008-02-15T21:19:00.002-05:00

Lo Duca Watch 2008: Holy crap, Paulie Dukes may actually talk on Saturday! But it's been so long, I kinda don't care what he says. I thought he was a waste of time when we signed him, and he's going to have to pull a Churchillian performance on that podium to convince me otherwise. But I'll keep you posted.

I Love Optimism Too, But...

2008-02-15T18:19:00.004-05:00

Let's just try to keep it under control, alright fellas? Ladson reported from the first day of Spring Training today, and from most of what he shared with us, I have good news: the Nats are going to win like 120 games this season. In reality, the team keeps saying it expects to hit .500, which would be excellent progress, but the reports coming from camp are all sunshine and roses. One of Ladson's big points of excitement is that we don't have to worry about auditioning pitchers for the rotation this spring. What? Time for a rundown of just how solid our rotation is!

RHP Shawn Hill - Injury plagued, but when he's healthy, he's great.
RHP Jason Bergmann - Struggled some with injury, pretty good when he's healthy.
RHP John Patterson - This is broken. Did we keep the receipt? I don't care that he says he's healthy, I've heard that before, and you know how it ended? Surgery. In Canada, because it's not approved here.
LHP John Lannan - He was excellent in limited time last year, but he's completely unproven.
LHP Matt Chico - 150+ IP, 4.X ERA, I'm happy with this one. No one expects him to be the ace.

But this is it? This is our "set" rotation? I'm not unhappy with four of the guys on it, don't get me wrong, but these fellas don't exactly have the stalwart durability of Mount Rushmore. "If they can just stay healthy" is a huge "if" for this bunch. And John Patterson, well, I've said my bit about John Patterson. The fact that he's back this year, and the fact that his name was listed by Bill Ladson at the front of the list, with some implication that he's the presumptive ace? I don't like that AT ALL. Patterson has had one good season, in a Nationals uniform or otherwise. It's time to move on. We'll be seeing Garrett Mock and Tyler Clippard before too long, mark my angrily written words!

Also, Nick the Stick is apparently 100% ready to play. This is very good news, if it's true. There's a lot of speculation that Nick will be traded if he's actually healthy. I don't like this, because I love Nick and I don't like Dmitri Young especially, though I have nothing against him. Dmitri is apparently a big part of the "Keep Elijah From Killing Anyone" strategy, though, so it'd be surprising to see him go.

Felipe Lopez lost his arbitration hearing. Good. I don't know why he thought he deserved that much of a raise. He didn't deserve a raise at all, but that's how arbitration works, so whatever. Felipe could be traded, too, if there's any value to be gained from him. He's not in the starting infield this year, and I'm unconvinced that he's really worth it to keep around on the bench.

Lo Duca Watch 2008: Paulie Dukes isn't at camp yet, though he's expected to take a physical this weekend. Also, he still hasn't said a damn thing about the Mitchell report. I don't know why we, as the fans, or they, as the team are accepting this so readily. It's pretty much bullshit at this point. He did it, I think we all know he did it, but I feel like he's also losing his last chance to save any face by not talking about it. Pull an Andy Pettite, a Jason Giambi, or any of the other guys who've acknowledged it and come out and say "Yep, I did it. It wasn't illegal, and I was trying to win." Everyone seems to have accepted that just fine, and you know, we can all understand that on some level. But this Groundhog Day shit has got to go.

Livo to the Twins

2008-02-12T16:29:00.000-05:00

Livan Hernandez is officially a Minnesota Twin. I really don't care much about this, because I hadn't been warming to Livan over these past few days, and while you want a guy pushing to get on your club, I felt like he was pushing to be a National again so that he could go back to being the presumptive ace, which he addressed by saying that he'd love to start on Opening Day in the new park. And I think some of the other guys deserve a shot, whether it's Bergmann or Hill.

I'd still be keen on the Nats picking up Kyle Lohse or Josh Fogg, but it's looking less and less like they're going to do that, which isn't a catastrophe, but having a veteran in the rotation might be of some use.

The Wookie, John Rauch, also got signed up through 2009, or 2010 with a club option last week. It's impossible to argue with this, because his top salary, as of 2010 will be $2.9m. He's way better than that. While not necessarily spectacular, Rauchie has been one of the most stable setup men/relievers in the league for a couple of seasons now, and it's good to lock him up.

Johnny Estrada Signs, Paul Lo Duca Hurts Himself

2008-01-29T11:48:00.000-05:00

Alright, I haven't been posting much. You know why? Because there's nothing to post. The Nats aren't doing anything. But here are a couple of little tidbits for you.

Paul Lo Duca had knee surgery. He hurt his knee while working out last week, and is supposed to be out only four to six weeks which won't take him out of the regular seasons, but...

Johnny Estrada will sign with the Nats for 1yr/$1.5m. Sources close to the Nats are saying that this is in no way a reaction to Lo Duca's injury, well, we'll see. Lo Duca's current injury, while it's only supposed to keep him out four to six weeks, could, and I'm just spitballing here, be symptomatic of what happens when you're not on steroids. If Paulie Dukes all of a sudden appears somewhat injury prone, well, I won't exactly be standing by with a look of shock on my face.

The real reason for the Estrada signing is obviously that with Robert Fick gone, we need someone to keep wearing the real stirrups. No team is complete without them.

Tim Redding loves reading. Stories like this are why I haven't been posting. This is a nice thing, but if it's all the official site can muster up, well, I think the evidence speaks for itself. Literacy is not a #1 priority of this particular blog.

More to come, whenever there is more to write about.

Luis Ayala Hacked To Pieces By Fourteen Elephants With Machetes

2008-01-05T11:32:00.000-05:00

No, not really. But from all of these titles on the articles about Luis Ayala's recent hunting trip accident, you could be forgiven to panic just a little bit. My favorite is "Nats pitcher hit by shotgun pellet on hunting trip." Accurate, but just enough to tighten your sphincter. But the pellet went into his left arm, and he's a righty, so that doesn't look like it's going to be a problem.

Also, this is a shit post, but I haven't given up on you, my four faithful readers, it's just that the Nationals haven't done anything, and haven't even been rumored to do anything for a while yet. If anything happens, I'll be sure to write up something about it.

Silence Means...?

2007-12-18T10:34:00.001-05:00

Since the Mitchell report became available to the public, naming a few former Nats as well as our brand new shiny starting catcher, who was fingered as a user and distributor, the front office has said approximately nothing until last night. In a press release which was reported by MLB.com's Bill Ladson, Stan Kasten effectively said nothing in a whole lot of words.

Kasten claimed that he couldn't discuss Lo Duca or Logan for legal and club reasons, so he basically gave us nothing, saying that he was sad to have seen the breadth of the report, and that there were many names that they didn't have enough evidence to include. Everyone's concerns about the report itself are out there, so I'm just going to ignore that, but what does this mean for the Nats, specifically?

There have been a number of guys, former Nat Gary Bennett included, who have come out and said that yes, they did it, and it was a big mistake. I can't support those fellas enough. Not being strictly illegal by MLB's rules, it would have been a hard decision to make for anyone, and I don't really blame the guys who made it, as long as they admit it and recognize it is and was a problem.

Lo Duca's camp, on the other hand, has said absolutely nothing. Ladson is sad because they won't return his calls, and the team won't give us even a morsel of gossip. Is Lo Duca still the team's starting catcher next year? Certainly it's too late for any kind of punishment, so any decision to basically bench him would be a moral decision by the team and its management.

I can't see that the team will do this, rather, they'll probably say something about bygones being bygones, and have him start anyway, so as to put the best (though that's debatable, too) team on the field. It will be interesting to see which direction they go with this. At least we know Nick Johnson can't be on HGH, considering the rate at which he heals.

Oh, and I didn't update just for this, but the Nats signed utility man Pete Orr and lefty reliever (and serious advocate of snack time) Ray King to minor league deals.

Oh Thank The Lord, More Outfielders

2007-12-13T16:54:00.000-05:00

It would appear that the Nats have signed Rob Mackowiak and Willie Harris, both lefty outfielders. I can't find the Press Release that Tim is referring to, but MLBTR is rarely wrong about stuff like this.

Well, thank heavens. If all three starting OFs go down in one game, I think we have twenty six outfielders on our forty man roster now.

Okay, but really, lefty pop off the bench. Uneventful, but fine. And Svrluga reports that we haven't talked to Mark Prior. I don't know if there should be a 'yet' there, or if the team has no interest, but nothing yet. You get the feeling that the team has made its big moves, and we're just adding pieces now.

Okay, I'll Stop Picking on Lo Duca

2007-12-13T14:01:00.000-05:00

ESPN's reporter at the Mitchell Report meeting just mentioned Paul Lo Duca, your new Nationals Starting Catcher, as one of the names in the report, from a photocopied check in one of the appendices. More to come as the details become available.

Update, 2:23 PM - Nook Logan, Jose Guillen, Mike Stanton, and Gary Bennett were also named.

Nook Logan? Really? Wow, HGH totally works. Ye Gods, imagine him if he hadn't been juicing.

Interesting Non-Tendered Names

2007-12-13T10:31:00.000-05:00

So, on MLB.com's official list of the non-tendered free agents, there are a few pretty interesting names who the Nats might be tempted to take a look at.

Pitchers
The two who stick out as possibilities here are former Blue Jay Josh Towers and former Cub Mark Prior. Towers has immaculate control, but tends to get hit pretty hard as a result. Of course, he's also spent the last several years in the AL East. I'm told they have a few decent batters there. Maybe in a weakened NL East, he'd be able to produce better. Prior's rap is well known: he's got stuff, but he can't stay healthy at all. At all. Not even a little bit. So he could be pretty good, but he's another "if he can stay healthy..." candidate, and we've already got lots of those. Still, might be worth a shot.

Catchers
Miguel Olivo and Johnny Estrada are both on there. Estrada is probably a better hitter, though his numbers dropped off some with Milwaukee last year. Olivo is way better defensively, and might make more sense as a backup for Lo Duca if Flores is to be sent to AAA.

Fielding
The Astros, just having acquired Miguel Tejada, felt themselves no longer in need of Adam Everett's services, which is interesting to me, because of what Chris over at Capitol Punishment was talking about last week. Take a look at his article, and yeah, this might make sense.

That's all for now, sorry about the sparsity of posts recently - finals are trying to murder me where I stand.

Updated, 1:01 PM -
There goes Adam Everett. That's the fastest I've gotten something wrong yet!

Goodbye Nookiepuss

2007-12-12T20:21:00.000-05:00

Oh God, say it ain't so, Nook Logan has been non-tendered! This is, behind the Milledge trade, my favorite move of the off season. Does that seem too harsh? Well, it probably is, but I see Nook's departure as something of a signifier of the end to the legacy of the horrible, horrible Washington Nationals. That's not to say that I believe the Nationals are anywhere near ready to compete, but Nook was, to me, the personification of the fact that we didn't have a Minor League system. He was toolsy as hell, sure, but the problem was that he couldn't bat his way out of a cardboard box, and he made a litany of bonehead decisions. But he was always a contender to start, because there was simply no one better.

As for O'Connor, he had some moments during the 2006 season, and he's a local kid, so you had to root for him, but with the 2007 draft and now the Clippard trade, he wasn't on anyone's radar to get anywhere near the rotation in the not too distant future.

What? No! Why?

2007-12-10T19:31:00.000-05:00

God knows he's a lot more excited than I am.

This just in: The Toronto Blue Jays are smarter than we thought they were. Paul Lo Duca has signed with the Nationals for one year, and $5m. Okay, it's one year, and that's fine. But he sucks. You thought Brian Schneider was crap with a bat? Guess what, Paul Lo Duca isn't any better. His average is certainly higher, but let's look at their lines from last year, shall we?

Lo Duca: .272/.311/.689
Schneider: .235/.326/.662

So Schneider wins in OBP, while losing in BA by a lot, and OPS by just a little. They're about even, which is to say they both suck. They also drove in the same number of runs last year, 54. Lo Duca doesn't do anything but single, Schneider singles and walks. That's the gist of it. Schneider's defense is a little better, .992 vs Lo Duca's .989, but Schneider threw out 31% of his base runners while Lo Duca threw out only 23%. Not to mention that Schneider had an off year (in 2005, Schneider threw out 50%, in 2004, in 2003, almost 55%.) What we can garner here is that Lo Duca isn't an upgrade. At all. He's a place holder, and as long as we're clear on that, fine.

Also, Lo Duca is a scumbag, as I've mentioned before. He's not even a young scumbag who could change. Nor is he a young scumbag with a lot of upside who could change. So where's the uproar here? Oh no, I forgot, he's Italian, so it's expected. Zing!

Furthermore, he was one of the guys fingered with making Milledge look like some kind of villain. If there's any persisting drama between the two of them, Milledge must be a higher priority. There's no future in Paul Lo Duca.

But whatever, as long as he is very clearly just holding the door for Flores, I'm alright with it, I guess. And as long as nobody assumes that he should hit anywhere but eighth or ninth in the lineup, because hey, he's a career .288 hitter, then whatever. But there's no reason to be anything better than mildly bemused by this signing.

Editastic: I still really wouldn't be shocked to see the Nationals sign Damian Miller or Johnny Estrada as a backup or platoon with Lo Duca. Flores needs to see a lot of ABs to develop, which I have to assume means he'll be in AAA this year. It would seem grossly inappropriate to expect him to develop as a backup on the major league roster.

Seriously?

2007-12-09T03:02:00.000-05:00

Big shoutout to the Nationals Bandwagon over at Something Awful for pointing this out, but if you needed any further proof that FOX is out of its damn mind, well, have I got a special treasure for you. Here's the part that most interests me. In the Winter's Losers section, we dig up a little gem about the Washington Nationals.

"General manager Jim Bowden is never hesitant to take on problem children from other organizations. So one day he is acquiring OF Lasting Milledge from the Mets and the next day it's OF Elijah Dukes from Tampa Bay. Good luck to manager Manny Acta and his staff. The odds are they will spend more time babysitting than actually running the game."

Are you serious? No, hold on, really? You know, I expected these trades to bring on some controversy, of course they would, but I didn't really expect them to become lessons on social commentary in the media. This has gotten past the point of outrageous. For now, let's push Elijah Dukes aside. He's got a whole host of problems that I can't begin to address, but for everyone flipping their lids because of this business with his ex wife and kids, I'd like to point you towards a fella known as Ice-T.

Ice-T, who got famous for his rap, after having been a Crip, thief, and pimp, wrote and performed a song called Cop Killer in 1992. In it, he described killing policemen. But there's a solid chance you know Ice-T from something besides his band, Body Count. Instead, you probably know him from the very popular TV show "Law and Order: Special Victims Unit," on which he plays - wait for it - a cop. Yet Joe Average isn't wailing and shooting his gun into the air in protest of this hypocrisy, or perhaps even this... maturation? The point I'm trying to make here is that people say stupid shit, and big surprise, they don't always mean it. So while I doubt that in fifteen years Elijah Dukes will be playing his Wife and Kids on Law and Order: Special Families Unit, he might just be playing the part of a baseball player, and doing it pretty convincingly. Might not even be a sociopathic one. But we don't know, and my point is, neither does Schmucky the Clown (alias Tracy Ringolsby) over at FOX.

Okay, on to Lastings Milledge. First of all, as for the infamous "Know your role, rook," note left for Milledge when he wasn't showing up early enough for games, maybe someone should have, I don't know, told him his role? There's an unexplored angle. But basically, it's not a big deal. Could have been handled better by every party, but seriously, that counts as a personality defect? Also, while we're on personality defects, know your fidelity, Paul.

Pressing forward on to the whole rap bit, are we actually going to get up in arms over a foul rap song? Have you turned on the radio lately? Oh, or better still, been to a baseball game? You know those songs they play, when batters walk up to the box? They maybe you've noticed they're as often as not, rap! And songs like Gasolina, Get Low, and Riding Dirty are all popular, and all of (at best) questionable moral fiber.

Seriously, rap pisses a lot of people off, and I understand that. Lots of people, and I count myself among that group, don't really like it, don't really understand it, and disagree with a lot of the messages it puts out. Just as my parents weren't especially pleased when I thought Limp Bizkit was totally rad, as their parents didn't like all this hullabaloo about Dee Snyder and Twisted Sister, and their parents didn't like that new fangled dinosaur music, or whatever they played back then, lots of people are wary of rap. But rap is here to stay, and raking some 22 year old kid over the coals because he recorded a rap song is pretty ridiculous. But saying that he's got some sort of defective personality and will need constant attention or he's liable to get out of hand, well, that's just offensive.

From a young white man to a whole host of old white men, please, please, just shut the hell up and give the kids a chance. Maybe even two. You're just being really embarassing, and at times, overtly and upsettingly racist.

You know, I got through almost this whole entry without really going right into race, but it probably needs to be said. I don't want to divide this debate into White Folk vs. Black Folk, but there's obviously an element of that which needs to be addressed. I don't want to play the race card or the white guilt card, I just want to be up front about what's going on, and why a bunch of people, most of whom are (relatively) old white men, are reacting to a culture that they don't understand with an arrogance and close-mindedness that they should be really ashamed of, and I'm really embarassed by. (Sidenote: I don't have anything against old white men as a group, I hope to be one someday, but there are just a few who keep on sucking on behalf of the whole lot.)

Sunday Morning Mini-News: So I didn't mention this a couple of days ago when it happened, but I feel the need to acknowledge it anyhow. The Nationals also re-signed Ryan Langerhans to a minor league deal when they extended Wily Mo and signed Aaron Boone. Whatever. Langerhans seems like a nice kid, but he might as well go up to the plate swinging a teddy bear. Actually, that's not a bad idea. If it was big enough, people might just walk him, so as to not have to hit a teddy bear with a baseball. Could be traumatizing for all the kiddies in the crowd, you know? I just figured this post out to include something other than my ranting and raving about social commentary.

Oh I Get It

2007-12-08T10:42:00.000-05:00

Something hasn't been sitting well with me about this whole business of having Jesus Flores 'learn his craft' in AAA, and I hadn't been able to figure out what it was until this morning. But what I realized this morning is that since baseball moved back to Washington, AAA has been seen as purgatory, almost as a punishment. Anyone with even a glimmer of talent was on the Major League roster, and any real prospects tended to be in A or AA. Think about it, when Ryan Church was deemed to be struggling by the organization, he was sent down to AAA, as if to just think about what he had done. And when the 40-man call-ups went through in September, there has rarely been a sense of excitement about getting to see some of those kids come up from AAA and get a chance. In fact, even Ryan Zimmerman never played above AA before he was called up, and hasn't been sent down since.

Yes, for three years, AAA has seemed like that place where people wait who will never be fixtures on the Major League roster, and if they get a shot, probably won't do too well with it. Not that I don't have hope for some of these guys, I think there are better things to come from Kory Casto that we've seen, but he may not get a chance with the Nats, looking at our surplus of outfielders.

So it would appear that the thing which hasn't been sitting right with me is actually a good sign: This should be the first year that the Nationals have some Major League ready talent sitting in AAA waiting for a chance to claim their chances. Between Flores (who I'm still not convinced won't spend the bulk of the year with the big league club,) and the starters, possibly guys like Lannan, Detwiler and Clippard, and maybe one of these Rule 5 guys, if the Nationals do a claim and trade maneuver, there might actually be surplus talent somewhere in the organization. This isn't to say that the Nationals are anywhere near ready to compete for anything other than 4th place in the NL East, but at least it's a sign that The Plan (tm) is actually in motion.

I know you're as surprised as I am.

Rotation Roulette

2007-12-06T21:03:00.000-05:00

So the Winter Meetings are all but over, and it seems like as good a time as any to begin looking at the team that we might see on the field next year. I expect we'll pick up a catcher in the not too distant future, and it still wouldn't surprise me to see Rauch/Cordero/Lopez moved at some point. For now, though, I'll take a look at the guys who are fighting for rotation spots next year.

RHP Shawn Hill - Hill is my tentative candidate for Opening Day starter. He started the 2007 campaign looking like the team's unquestionable ace, until he went down with some injuries, from a sore elbow to his left shoulder, which he injured sliding into third base. Hill went 4-5 with a 3.42 ERA and a 1.14 WHIP in sixteen starts last year. If he can find a way to stay healthy, Hill should put up good numbers in 2008, and at 26 years old, he could become a fixture in DC. But the key for him is staying healthy.

RHP Jason Bergmann - Bergmann was another one of the pitchers with whom Washington fans became more familiar in 2007. Bergmann started the season strong, going 1-3, but posting a 2.70 ERA until May 14th, when he went down with an injury. Bergmann came back in late June, but wasn't as electric as he had been before he was hurt. Bergmann finished the season going 4-1 in September to close the year at 6-6 with a 4.45 ERA and a WHIP of 1.22. Bergmann is also 26 years old, and also needs to keep himself healthy. If he can do that, he and Hill could combine for a better 1-2 punch than the Nationals have been able to put out there to date.

LHP Matt Chico - Matt Chico was 23 when the 2007 season began, and arguably one of the pitchers of whom least was expected on the Nationals staff. Chico will overpower approximately no one, but he showed a lot of guts on the mound this past year, and was the only member of the rotation to make every one of his scheduled starts posting a 7-9/4.63/1.40 season in 31 starts. Chico was briefly sent down to AAA Columbus in August, but was brought back up to consistently lower his ERA through the month of September.

RHP Tim Redding - So far the old man of the rotation, Redding, 29, was one of those prospects that never quite panned out. He posted his best season for Houston in 2003, going 10-14 with a 3.68 ERA. Redding wasn't able to replicate the success, however, and soon found himself spending time with the Padres, Yankees, and White Sox before making a successful return to a major league roster in 2007 with the Nats. In about half a season with the club, Redding went 3-6 with a 3.64 ERA and a 1.45 WHIP. Redding at times showed glimpses of what Houston had seen in him, and if he can harness that next year, Redding could be a pleasant surprise. Special Bonus: Tim Redding has a total pedo-beard, guaranteed to frighten any rookies batting for the opposing team. Yes!

LHP John Lannan - Lannan, 23, was Washington's shooting star last season, starting the season at High A Potomac, and ending it with the big league club, until he was shut down in late August after putting 150+ innings in his very young arm. He showed a lot of guile during his time in DC last year, especially in back to back 7 inning 1 run performances at San Francisco and Arizona. I had him down to be the one who gave up the homer with which Barry Bonds later graced Mike Bacsik, but Lannan was fearless against the roid loving Bonds, rendering him ineffective. Lannan went 2-2/4.15/1.53 in six starts in DC, and it wouldn't surprise me to see him rounding out the rotation next year.

The Others!

I gave Lannan the nod for the fifth spot in the rotation over newly acquired RHP Tyler Clippard, who seems to be a favorite in a lot of peoples' eyes, partially because Lannan is a lefty, but significantly because his minor and major league stats were better than Clippard's last year. LHP Ross Detwiler has also been mentioned frequently when talking about next year's rotation. Detwiler was Washington's first round pick in the 2007 draft, and was impressive in Rookie League and High A ball last year, but it's a little too early to be hurling him into the rotation, according to me. The guy certainly does project as our ace of the future, however. Finally, RHP Joel Hanrahan will round out my list. Hanrahan made 11 starts with the Nationals last year, getting knocked around pretty hard, but going 5-3 with an even 6.00 ERA and a WHIP of almost 2. Hanrahan is still young, though, and could definitely get some time in the rotation if Hill, Bergmann, and company spend some time on the DL.

Wait... you must have missed...

No. I didn't miss RHP John Patterson. It's time to give up on Patterson, who had a very strong 2005 campaign that got people thinking maybe he wasn't the injury prone washout that Arizona gave up on, Patterson has made fifteen starts in two years, posting a delectable 7.47 ERA and a 1-5 record in 2007. It's time to put this old boy out to pasture. I hope he makes me eat my words, but if Patterson makes more than ten starts in 2008, I'll be absolutely taken aback.

So there's a rundown of the rotation, I'll follow this up with breakdowns of the 'pen, the starters, and the bench players in the next few days.

Zimmerman Notes

2007-12-06T13:46:00.000-05:00

I'm off to class, but I've heard some rumblings about the Boone/Whitney/Zimmerman question at 3B, whether Zimmerman is hurt worse than anyone's letting on, and why Boone and Whitney were both signed today. I'll let Barry Svrluga do the talking on this one, since he can do things like pick up the phone and talk to Jim Bowden. Said Bowden:

"Zimmerman is our third baseman until my kids graduate college, including my two twins [9 years old]. Let's not misunderstand what that is all about. Certainly Whitney gives us some protection if Nick's not ready. Certainly he gives us some protection if there's a trade at some point. It's protection."

Pena Extended, Boone Signed

2007-12-06T12:27:00.000-05:00

The Wily Mo Patience extension has gone through, with a mutual option for 2009. We'll pay him $2m for 2008, and then have a $5m option for 2009. If we decline, he can decide to stay for another $2m. Good structure, better than was announced yesterday, so I'm still definitely happy with it. It's basically an arbitration avoidance deal, and if he has a breakout year, we actually get him on the cheap.

Aaron Boone was also signed to a 1yr/$1m deal, which is low risk low reward, so whatever. Boone hit .286/.388/.811 in limited time with the Marlins last year, playing some 3b and some 1b. He was a middle infielder earlier in his career, but he hasn't played anything but first or third in a few years. Also, he's Assistant GM Bob Boone's son, which is nice. Again, if he can provide a little bit of hitting off the bench, it's a good signing. If he's 34 years old and washed up, it's only $1m.

Rule 5 Treasures

2007-12-06T11:06:00.000-05:00

The Nats snagged up two players in this year's Rule 5 draft. For anyone unfamiliar with the Rule 5 draft, basically anyone acquired through it has to stay on their new team's major league roster for the whole season, or be offered back to their original team. These guys tend to be very hit or miss, mostly miss. Last year's Rule 5 picks were a perfect example. Jesus Flores flourished in the majors, while Levale Speigner got eaten alive, and given back to Minnesota. Though we did then purchase him for cash considerations, and he's still in our minor league system.

This year, the Nats selected Matt Whitney with their first pick. Whitney, a right handed 3b/1b hit .299/.364/.909 between Cleveland's A and high A teams, with 32 HR and 113 RBI. Pretty ridiculous numbers, but it was also A ball. If he can provide some right handed pop off the bench, that'll be just fine, but I can't see him getting any real playing time if he can't play in the middle infield spots. Zimm played at 3b for 161 games last year, it would shock me if he needed to be spelled too much this year either. There may be some room at first if Nick Johnson stays injured, but if not, Dmitri/Nick should squeeze this youngster out of too much time in the field.

With their second pick, the Nats picked up Garrett Guzman, pictured, who they feel might be closer to MLB ready. Guzman, a left handed OF, hit .312/.359/.812 with 14 HR and 88 RBI for Minnesota's AA affiliate last year. Bodes has said that he'll compete with Ryan Langerhans for the fifth outfielder spot, and it's really hard to suck worse than Ryan Langerhans, so that's probably an upside for Guzman. Sure, we already have four outfielders, but at least Guzman is a lefty.

Baby Steps

2007-12-06T02:05:00.000-05:00

Fourteen hours and six entries into this glorious experiment, and I realize I haven't said boo about who I am or why I'm doing this, so I guess I'll take a minute to explain myself. I'm a 21 year old college student from Northern Virginia, though I'm currently finishing up my Senior year at a New York City school, where I'm enjoying the reactions of Met fans to the Milledge deal.

Baseball and I have a very short history together. I played little league of course, and we used to go to a good number of Orioles games when I was a kid, but that trip always sucked, so we eventually gave up our tickets. And then I stopped caring about that slow, boring game of baseball. When it was announced that the Expos would be moving to DC, however, I decided to take an interest, and quickly found myself totally engrossed in the world of baseball; screaming, cheering, and then crying through that inaugural season. My first favorite player, when I returned to baseball was Esteban Loaiza, because he started out as a Free Agent in all the baseball video games and I could sign him to my team. Imagine my delight when I realized he was actually on it in reality, too. After the 2005 season, I learned my first hard baseball lesson: the players you love don't always stick around as long as you'd like them to. I learned that again when Ryan Church, who had taken the crown after Loaiza went to Oakland, was traded last week.

But since 2005, I've come to live, breathe, and think baseball. When forced to make the decision between eating and buying a season ticket plan on a college student's budget, I have had to hesitate, and I'm still not sure I made the right choice, but the new $5-10 seats in Nationals Park are cheering me up. I started blogging because I feel like, as a new fan, I've got some different ideas than a lot of the bloggers and writers out there, and I might as well write them down. I'm not a big fan of the Joe Morgan style of yelling about intangibles, but I've also read Moneyball with enough perspective to realize that for all of the theorizing and number crunching, Jeremy Brown still sucks. A lot.

No, he's not selling jeans. But he's buying them at Dave's Discount Big and Tall.

I'm also not as concerned with the personalities of our players as many others in the blogosphere. Don't get me wrong, I'm not going to condone any of the reprehensible actions that some of these guys have taken part in, but on the other hand, some of the legends of baseball were huge assholes, and if Lastings Milledge's asking price to ensure that I'm wearing a Washington Nationals: World Series Champions shirt in several years is that he's got to cut a really vulgar rap album along the way, well, I hope it's on iTunes. If Elijah Dukes' price is that he has to threaten some more of his kids, then I hope he gets hit by a meteor.

So there's me, and this is my blog.

Infielder Hunt 2007 Continues

2007-12-06T00:49:00.001-05:00

Oh, why hello there Jamey Carroll. An old fan favorite, the scrappy Carroll was traded to Colorado for, as far as I can remember, a couple of hats and an XL Rockies Hoodie for Frank Robinson to wear around the office. Carroll had a great 2006 there, but then had a 2007 that matched up better with expectations, going .225/.316/.617 in 268 at bats, when he was dubbed expendable by Troy Tulowitzki's emergence. However, in the manic hunt for someone who can play between first and third base, his name has come up once again. While Carroll is unspectacular offensively, his defense is more than passable, and would be a traditional utility bench guy.

Problematically, the Rockies asked for an elite reliever, and he's not worth that. Perhaps they'll be inclined to check themselves before they wreck themselves. Ladson's article also mentions Clint Barmes, but he is also a Rockie, and as such, the previously mentioned problem changes not at all.

In unrelated news, Andruw Jones is a Dodger. Good. Get him out of the NL East. If David Wright gets hit by a bus, three of our greatest nemeses... nemesi... nemesises... will have departed from the division. As it stands, with Jones and Cabrera having backed their bags, I'm getting much less wary of teams south of DC.

Idea Time!

2007-12-05T22:25:00.001-05:00

Updated 11:14 PM, 12/5/2007 - Iguchi is apparently looking for something more along the lines of Kaz Matsui's deal, which was 3yrs/$16.5m. Gross. The Matsui signing is an early candidate for worst idea of the Winter, and while Iguchi doesn't project as badly, that's still a nice lump of cash. Maybe 2yrs/$10m would do the trick? Really not much more than we're paying Guzman, and Guzman/Iguchi wouldn't be a shameful double play combination.

From 10:25 PM, 12/5/2007 - Nothing pressing at the moment, but some of the stuff I've been reading has given me an idea or two. I mentioned earlier that the Nats may be shopping Rauch or Cordero for a middle infielder, but I didn't address free agents, except for David Eckstein. What about Tadahito Iguchi? The 32 year old Second Baseman didn't play especially well with the White Sox last year, but upon being dealt to the Phillies finished out the season hitting .304 in 138 at bats. His Major League line is .276/.347/.768, which is certainly better than the .245/.308/.660 that we got out of Felipe Lopez last year, and would free Ronnie Belliard up to be our utility man. Iguchi made just over $3m last year, and I can't see him costing too much more on a new contract. 2yrs/$8-9m wouldn't hurt the Nationals much, and might shore up the middle of the infield while we wait for some prospects to come along.

Do we even have any infield prospects? The Magic 8 Ball points to "Not Really." Josh Whitesell put up good numbers at AA Harrisburg last year, hitting at a .284/.427/.937 clip, but there's one little problem: He's a first baseman. That doesn't help the middle infield problem at all. Kory Casto's name pops up, and he plays all over the field, but he really failed to produce last year at the big league level, as well as in AAA. Melvin Dorta is another unfulfilling option.

What I'm saying here is that we need to find us some middle infielders.

Wily Mo Extension

2007-12-05T21:42:00.000-05:00

Updated 11:25 PM, 12/5/2007 - Apparently not quite yet. Enrique Rojas, you have toyed with my heart for the very last time. But Svrluga seems to believe that the extension will get done sooner rather than later.

From 9:42 PM, 12/5/2007 - Wily Mo and the Nationals have reportedly reached an agreement for a 2yr/$7m extension, effectively buying him out of one year of free agency for $5m. Hard to argue with that, as long as he gets enough at bats to see if he'll actually work out in our outfield.

Worst case scenario is he continues to hit .260 with 25 dingers and a delicious .320 OBP, best case is that he actually hits his theorized potential. Hey, this is an outfield in which Nook Logan and Ryan Langerhans combined to have 487 at bats last year, so let's not get picky about who we trot out there just yet.

No Lo Duca

2007-12-05T20:11:00.000-05:00

It's looking like Paul Lo Duca is not bound for Washington, which is just fine by me. It'll probably take $5m+ to bring him in for a year, and the litany of reasons for not doing so is a pretty long one. I'm all for a trade that would bring in someone like Miguel Montero or Ronnie Paulino, but Lo Duca is clearly not in a position to contribute to the future of the franchise, and his contributions even to next year are questionable, probably no more than someone (like Damian Miller) who would come much cheaper.

This dapper gentleman is Katsuhiko Maekawa, the other guy mentioned in Svrluga's post. He's a 27 year old lefty who is a lifetime 19-36 with a 5.08 ERA in 9 seasons in Japan. He starts some, he relieves some, and he's posted a career WHIP of 1.60. But apparently Jimbo and company see something there, so we'll just have to see if the negotiations with him go anywhere but AA. One potential upside is that it might allow the Nationals to get their foot in the door in the Japanese market, but who knows what the payoff there would be?

Milledge and Dukes

2007-12-05T13:30:00.000-05:00

Alright, everyone has something to say about these two acquisitions, so I guess I do too. On a simple talent for talent basis, I think it would be hard to deny that the Nationals won big time. Don't get me wrong, Ryan Church is absolutely one of my favorite players in baseball, but for whatever reason, the Nationals organization doesn't like him. Whether it's for his lack of perceived effort, or the fact that he lets the game get in his head, or he can be very streaky, the front office has no faith in him, so it was inevitable that he would go. He had a good year last year (.272/.349/.813) with 43 doubles, which is quite a lot. But he was a goner. And Schneider has intangibles out the wahoo, throws out a lot of baserunners, and can't hit to save his life. I thought he would be gone after 2008, but again, I felt like it was inevitable that he would go, so it was unsurprising when it happened.

Milledge's numbers in 350 major league at bats are less, (.257/.326/.740) but importantly, he's six years younger than Ryan Church, and up until his personality problems, which I'll get to in a minute, was one of the Mets' prized prospects, who they refused to deal for less than a King's ransom. Worst case scenario, talent wise, is that he ends up being Church as a righty. Best case? The lower part of the sky is the limit. As for Dukes, he is again one of those guys for whom the lower part of the sky is the limit, probably won't ever be a superstar, but could be real good. Boswell's analysis is typical Boswell nonsense, and Harper over at Oleanders and Morning Glories (henceforth OMG) will be glad to tell you why.

So onto the personality side of the argument. I feel like Milledge and Dukes are in two very different camps on this. Milledge's escapades have been blown way out of proportion, though his rap song is, ahem, very descriptive. But can you really, really blame him? A 21 year old kid faced with fame in the New York, and everything that comes with it? If A-Rod catches shit for being shirtless in Central Park with his family, the pitfalls before these unestablished kids on whom we pin our hopes for our franchises must be ridiculously numerous. Get Lastings out of New York, and sit him down with Manny and the Meat Hook, I feel like calming him down won't really be a big deal.

Dukes, on the other hand, appears to be something of a sociopath, from everything we've been able to read. His actions are indefensible, but people can change and be changed, and he himself has said he needed to get out of Tampa Bay. Let's not pigeonhole him as some kind of crazed killer before we get to know him, shall we? All this crying on the interwebs that I'm seeing really does nothing except to set people up to believe he's already a problem in DC. Give it a rest, and let's see how it pans out.

Ready! Set! Go!

2007-12-05T12:52:00.000-05:00

Let's get right into the thick of things, shall we? Here's what's going on right now in the world of the Nationals at the Winter Meetings.

On the Pitching Front:
As far as Tyler Clippard is concerned, the deal is expected to go through today, once Jonathan Albaladejo passes his physical.

We should expect to see either Rauch or Cordero go this week, but not both. As it stands, it's looking like one of them will be dealt for a SS/2B, which makes sense, that's probably where our lineup is weakest.

As for Position Players:
I wouldn't be surprised to see Felipe Lopez moved for some pitching. I've heard murmurs of Mike Pelfrey or Kevin Slowey, but why the Mets would give up one of their bigger trade chips to get Felipe Lopez, I can't figure out. Slowey might make more sense, but Slowey also isn't Pelfrey. (Edit: That's not to say that Slowey's bad, his Minor League numbers are very good, in fact, and if we can snag him for Lopez, hooray.)

Free Agency Derby!
The Nationals are basically looking to address two real needs through Free Agency, catching and pitching. Capitol Punishment has a very good breakdown of why Paul Lo Duca wouldn't be a great signing, and beyond him, the market is even uglier. If Damian Miller or Johnny Estrada are signed, it seems to me they should be backing up Flores, not the other way around, which would be fine by me. Michael Barrett is a bit better offensively, but calls a mediocre game. My prediction is still Miller.

As far as pitching goes, the Nats seem to be offering only one year deals to several veteran pitchers, which these guys are unlikely to be really enticed by. It wouldn't really bother the heck out of me if we didn't manage to snag some old veteran for a year to hold hands with the multitude of kids we trust on the mound, but I'd imagine someone who feels left out will take the bait, and then be wholly ineffective. Is Brian Lawrence still around?

More later, including my thoughts on the Dukes and Milledge acquisitions.