Oh I Get It

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.