NATS BEGINNING TO SHOW "TRUE COLORS"
[April 13th] -- Who was pitching this afternoon .... Livan Hernandez or Cuba Gooding Jr? From this photograph, I'd say it was Gooding. Come to think about it, the stat sheet shows about the same thing.
I guess that horrible spring training record in fact was indicative of the caliber of this team. We tried to poo-poo the 9-23 record, but we can't any more; the winning percentage 10 games into the regular season is about the same as that disastrous spring effort. This is going to be a long season. The question is, what will the team do about it?
My recommendation would be, assuming the team continues down this poor-play path, to blow up the team and begin anew. There isn't enough talent in the minor leagues to make an immediate difference, and the majority of the players who could eventually help the team are at class 'A' Potomac and 'AA' Harrisburg. Those guys will be part of the big club about the time the new stadium opens.
My guess is that Alfonso Soriano will be traded before the all-star break (gee, that's going out on a limb, isn't it??). Nick Johnson and Brian Schneider, just signed to long term deals, aren't going anywhere. Jose Vidro, with several years remaining on a long term deal, is here to stay as well. Zimmerman is ensconced at third. That leaves Cristian Guzman, Brandon Watson and Jose Guillen. The Nats would love to get rid of their shortstop, but no one wants him. Watson will be likely be back in the minors in the coming days and weeks. Jose Guillen is an unknown. He said he won't negotiate during the season, and team president Tony Tavares has said that he's ending negotiations with Guillen until the new owner is on board. Livan Hernandez and John Patterson will be around for a long time, and the back of the rotation, Ramon Ortiz, Tony Armas Jr., Pedro Astacio and Ryan Drese, are all on one-year contracts, and it's doubtful that any of them will be back next year (though Armas might if he has a good year).
So, by blowing up the team, we'll lose one guy -- Soriano. The rest of them are either tethered to the team or so bad that no one else wants them.
I guess we can't blow up the team after all. We just don't have enough dynamite to do it.
*Sigh*
: 6:07 PM << Home
