THE BELTWAY BOYS

VISIT NEW BELTWAY BOYS SITE

2007-09-04T11:22:00.000-06:00

This site has had problems for some time, and so I have moved the Beltway Boys here. Same content, just a different url.

Thanks,

Farid

HOUSTON, YOU HAVE A PROBLEM

2007-08-21T22:16:00.000-06:00

[August 22nd] -- Nook Logan to Nationals' management team: "Oh yeah?"

There were two Nats' outfielders who realized their position on the team was likely to change with the addition of Wily Mo Pena to the mix. Ryan Church, who was so upset at first that he simply wouldn't talk to reporters, and Nook Logan, who was as silent as Church, but in a quiet way. This isn't the first time that Church hasn't reacted well to change. But Logan? Well, it appears that Nook Logan likes to be challenged. It wasn't too long ago, after all, that Ryan Langerhans was given the majority of Logan's starts in center. No problem; he just worked harder. And now it's Wily Mo Pena who threatens to steal Logan's thunder. Again, no problem.

Seriously. No problem.

Logan got a start in Houston last night and went 5-6 with 3 RBI's, raising his average to .287. As long as he keeps hitting like this - or close to this - he's going to force Manny Acta to keep him in the lineup. At this point the Nationals have four starting outfielders, and the one guy who's guaranteed to start every night - Austin Kearns - is the one guy of the four that probably doesn't deserve that opportunity. What's the answer? I say start Logan and Pena and platoon Church and Kearns.

Joel Hanrahan didn't pitch particularly well, but hung around long enough to win his third game of the year. His ERA ballooned from 2.95 to 3.42, but Hanrahan -0verall anyway - continues to impress. The guys at the front of the rotation are supposed to win their games, the guys at the back of the rotation are supposed to give the team a chance to win. And so far, Hanrahan has done just that.

Ryan Zimmerman has been a puzzle this year. He was very consistent last year, so consistent in fact that some scouts said that he was "slump proof." He's certainly shown that to be a fallacy this year. Twice in the last three weeks he's gotten hot and raised his batting average above .270 only to slide back to the low .260's. He's on track to hit .271-25-90, numbers similar to last year (the lower number of RBI's is more a reflection on the team's poor offense this year than Zimmerman's inability to drive his teammates in).

This 'N That: The Vermont Lake Monsters split a double header last night, though both starters pitched very well. Colton Willems lost his game, giving up no earned runs and 3 hits in 4 innings. Adrian Alaniz is now 7-1 after pitching 5 innings, allowing 2 runs and 5 hits. His ERA is now 1.94 ... Chris Marrero hit his 8th homer with Potomac and raised his average back up to .258 .... Emilano Fruto was the player-to-be-named-later in the Wily Mo Pena trade. Though the Nationals didn't give up "too much" for Pena, they did give up more than I thought they would.

I wrote on Sunday that the 1-6 homestand didn't mean anything in the long run; what mattered was how the team responded in Houston.

So far, so good.

2007-08-20T22:45:00.000-06:00

2007-03-02T23:39:00.000-07:00

NEW UNI BETTER THAN EXPECTED

2007-02-15T11:21:00.000-07:00

[February 16th] --

TEMPORARY RE-ROUTE

2006-09-06T16:59:00.001-06:00

[September 6th] -- For the time being, please click HERE to access the updated Beltway Boys website.

Blogger.com "invited" me to move my blogs to their new beta version which offers, according to them, many new features. They are right; it does. However, they haven't gotten around to installing many of the "old" features, like easily adding photos and artwork to posts!

Until they fix this, please use the alternate site -- www.tbwb.blogspot.com -- please note, it's the same site, but it won't have the last couple of years of archived information available there.

As soon as they fix this problem, you'll find the new "stuff" on the original site.

Thanks for understanding,

Farid
The Beltway Boy

NATS LOSE, I GO TO CLASS

2006-09-05T21:05:00.000-06:00

[September 5th] -- The Nationals fell to the St. Louis Cardinals on Tuesday, 2-0. Other than that, there's just not much to say, other than I'm off to be indoctrinated into the teaching profession by my friends at the College of Education. Hey, it's September, and the Nats are way out of contention, and nothing of consequence happened during the game. Sometimes you just have to be happy that the upper deck didn't fall down.

OH NO, NO NO-NO! (BUT ORTIZ CAME CLOSE)

2006-09-04T14:56:00.000-06:00

[September 4th] -- I don't understand how this happens. Last month, Pedro Astacio spun a two-hit complete game shutout after getting pummeled for most of the season. He continued getting pummeled shortly thereafter. On Sunday, Ramon Ortiz, he of the 5.36 ERA, steps to the mound and comes within three outs of throwing the first no-hitter in the Majors since Randy Johnson two years ago. I assume that he'll start getting pummeled shortly as well.

But until then, wow. What a game.

I didn't even notice that anything special was occuring until the 7th inning. As usual, I was busy doing my homework in front of the computer while keeping an eye on the game on mlb.com. I did notice that the game was moving along at a brisk pace, but I didn't notice the no-hitter possibilities until the crowd gave him a large ovation as he walked off the mound. I wasn't holding out much hope, however, until his quick and effortless 1-2-3 8th inning. Things were looking good for only the 3rd no-hitter in Washington baseball history. I said to my son, "The Nationals have to get out of the bottom of the 8th quickly and with no distractions."

It took exactly one pitch for Ramon Ortiz to be distracted. Jorge Sosa, Atlanta's rotation savior last season (and this year's bust), threw a strike that Ortiz tomahawked deep over the left field fence for his first career home run and only his third extra-base hit. Ortiz pumped his fist like Ryan Zimmerman as he rounded first. A couple more hits, another run, a pitching change and twenty minutes later, Ortiz got hit with the double-whammy, a huge distraction, and time enough to cool down. So, I wasn't surprised when Aaron Miles looped Ortiz's 0-1 pitch into right-center field for a base hit, and I was half expecting Albert Pujols' long homer to left field. Too many distractions, too much time. That said, what a wonderful performance by a man who has given relatively few this summer.

Austin Kearns kept his magic bat alive, hitting a two-run home run off of Jason Marquis, his 22nd, and drove in his 77th and 78th of the season. Kudos for Kearns. A week ago, he had a .231 average since coming to the Nationals and had Nook Logan type power numbers. He's now hitting again, and with a strong September, could end the year somewhere near .270-27-75, solid production from a teams, any teams, number five hitter. I don't think his post-trade slump was necessarily a bad thing. He obviously didn't want to leave the Reds, his home town team, and I think there was a bit of "I'm better than Washington" arrogance playing out at RFK. He was humbled by his struggles, and perhaps now will be more of a "team" player. The first five hitters in the team's lineup are as good as it gets (unless you're the Yankees or Mets), and Kearns anchors that group, being the last real chance for the team to drive in runners. A strong Kearns makes a strong Nationals' team.

Frank Robinson announced that Nook Logan would be the team's everyday centerfielder for the rest of the year. From the sounds of it, it's as much finding out what Logan can do as it is telling Ryan Church that he continues to be the last option for the Nationals in center. There is still hints of a bad attitude and poor defense (though only two errors in 153 games as a National) coming from the shadows, and Frank sounded like he's grown weary of Church when he said, "I think we all have a feel for what he's capable of doing and what he's done. I think the jury is still out on him because of the lack of consistency and we probably have a decision to make on him this winter, and all of us feel like we've seen enough to make a pretty good sound decision on him one way or the other, whether he will be a part of this ballclub, going into the spring, or no." Now, let me get this straight. Jose Guillen has a long and sordid history of being a big jerk, probably the biggest jerk on seven different teams, but because he's a true home run threat, people just mutter under their breath about him, but Church, a deeply religious man still trying to find himself, is somehow a cancer that should be jettisoned from the team in favor of a singles-hitter who has proven throughout his career that he can b-a-r-e-l-y hit major league pitching? Sadly, I have no doubt that Church will play his last game as a National when this season comes to a close. Sad, really really sad.

Good job, Ramon. You almost got your 15 minutes of fame.

COMEBACK KIDS X 4

2006-09-03T16:47:00.000-06:00

[September 3rd] -- NOTE: Just as I was about to push the "new post" button last night, I saw a little notice on the right side of the page, an invitation, if you will, to try Blogger's new "beta" version, full of all kinds of new bells and whistles, guaranteeing me a more professional looking blog. "Cool," I thought. So I pushed that magic button, and after several minutes of anticipation, all my blogs were transferred to the new beta site. So today, I find some art, cut and paste, enhance and romance, and push that magic "new post" button. "We're sorry," the computer tells me, "but not all features are available on beta yet. They will be coming soon." And, of course, I can't switch them back. So, until I can figure out how to get around this, don't look for many pictures here, at least for a while. Memo to me: read the damn fine print next time.

Okay, on to the important stuff.

1918. That was the last time it happened. The Great War, the "war to end all wars," was several months away from that "11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month" stuff. Woodrow Wilson was still the president, or rather, his wife was. That was the period when the last major league baseball team won four consecutive games that they trailed entering the 8th inning.

Are you amazed? Personally, I'm amazed that someone even knew that was a record that could be broken. That said, doing something that hasn't been accomplished in over eighty-eight years is a pretty impressive, especially for a team in last place. That said, I missed all the theatrics. Between walks to the corner with my daughter, going out to get something to eat, or even just going to the bathroom, I missed each and every comeback. Oh, I saw the lousy innings, but but missed all the history-in-the-making stuff, but I kept thinking, "no way they're going to do it again, so it's safe to step out for a minute." Wrong.

Sunday's win might not have been, however, had it not been for Nook Logan (which is difficult to admit, since I razzed Bowden for picking him up). He was on second when Felipe Lopez hit a single j-u-s-t past the outstretched glove of rookie shortstop Steven Drew. His hit drove in the first run of the inning and opened the gates for Zimmerman's single and Austin Kearn's double to the wall. I didn't think much about it until I read the D-Backs' take on the play. Pete Kerzel writes that Lopez' ball was hit to where Drew should have been stationed, resulting in a double play that should have ended the inning, securing the victory for Arizona. But he wasn't there. "I was trying to hold the runner close, and by the time I got back, I got set and ... I lost it right off the bat," Drew explained. "By the time I picked it up again, it was right at me." So, because of Logan's speed, Drew was shading towards the bag in case Brandon Webb tried to pick him off, causing him to be out of position when Lopez hit the ball.

I lived in St. Louis during the era of "Whitey Ball," when only catcher Darrell Porter and first baseman Jack Clark didn't steal at least 25 bases each year. I saw first-hand how speed changed the way the game was played. I can't count the number of times pick off throws ended up in the outfield, allowing runs to score, or routine balls hit to the infielders were hurried and thrown away because of the runner's speed. It doesn't happen much anymore, but it seems that Mr. Logan can indeed be an impact player by what he does, but also by what he could do. That said, I still vote for Ryan Church as the team's center fielder.

I won't bore you with the synopsies (synopsseses, synopsi?), for each game; rather, let's just meander for a while.

Ryan Zimmerman: Man, I love this guy so much that my wife is beginning to think our 27 year marriage was just a "front." I guess I see him as the face of the Nationals because he is our first true homegrown hero in decades. The last one, I'm thinking, would be Harmon Killebrew. All the stars on the Senators II, Howard, McMullen, etc., came from other teams in trade. Frankly, unlike Brian Schneider, I've been waiting for that "other shoe to drop." I mean, a 21 year old kid can't be that good, right? Now, I've gotten several terse comments about David Wright having a better rookie season, making him the better third baseman. Wright was a year older in his first full year, and while Zimmerman will probably end the year with roughly four less homers and a somewhat lower batting average, he'll also end up with many more RBI's. Wright made 24 errors his first full year; Zimmerman will probably have thirteen by year's end.

Nook Logan: How come everyone thinks that everyone thinks that Nook Logan is the answer in center? Logan is just a chromosome or two away from being Endy Chavez and Brandon Watson. If they didn't make it, if they weren't good enough, then why should we think Logan will? Ryan Church has shown over the past two years that if management just leaves him alone, he will produce. Add up his last two seasons, extrapolate out to a 580 at-bats, and Church has batted .275-21-90. What's wrong with that? The Washington Post suggested that the team was after a defensive "upgrade" at the position. Upgrade? He's made two errors in two years, spanning 153 games in the outfield. Sure, Church is the kind of guy who lets what people say effect his play. Great. So don't say anything!

Austin Kearns: Who would have thought that, come the beginning of September, that Felipe Lopez would be the strongest hitter that came in the trade with the Cincinnati Reds earlier this summer? Going into the weekend, Kearns was batting just .231 during his stay in Washington. His long home-run in Saturday's 8th inning, and his two-run double in Sunday's 8th, however, has helped to "jump" his batting average "up" to .263. I'm not disappointed, though. I never saw him as a high average hitter. Tons of homers and tons of RBI's. Anything else is just a bonus.

Nats webpage: Anyone else notice that Jose Guillen's face is no longer emblazoned across the top of the team's webpage? Nick Johnson has joined Chad Cordero and Ryan Zimmerman as the "faces" of the team. That's too bad. I thought that there was at least a 50-50 chance that the two sides could agree on an incentive-laden one-year contract, giving the Nationals a power bat (yes, I believe that next year will be a .285-30-100 type year for Guillen) and give Jose the chance to re-prove himself as a viable option in the outfield. I'm guessing, however, that the banner change is proof positive that Guillen's days as a National are numbered, which sucks, because Juan Rivera is batting .302-21-74 in just 368 at-bats for the Angels. Turns out that was a steal-of-a-deal, though it was the Nationals that got hosed.

NATS NOTES: Daryle Ward came through for the Braves in his first at-bat with the Atlanta Braves. With runners on 2nd and 3rd and two out, Ward slammed a single up the middle, plating both runners. Way to go Daryle! ... Alfonso Soriano hit his 44th home run over the weekend, equaling the "club record" held by Vlad Guerrero. Sorry; don't see it that way. I think his 44th puts him four behind Frank Howard's record for most home runs hit by a Washington player.

WOULDA - SHOULDA - COULDA

2006-09-01T12:10:00.000-06:00

[September 1st] -- Last December, I wrote a story that listed nine free agents that were 1) good enough to help the Nationals in 2006 and 2) cheap enough to sign. Some, like Ken Harvey and Wade Miller, were injured and were more of the "project" variety. Others, like Ramon Ortiz and Ryan Franklin, had fallen on hard times but had the potential to make a comeback.

The guy I wanted the most, however, was Eric Byrnes.

Byrnes, then 29, had a difficult 2005 season, splitting time between the Oakland A's, Colorado Rockies, and Baltimore Orioles. He played so poorly that the Orioles, themselves bereft of any depth in outfield talent, released him at the end of the season. Now, don't get me wrong; Byrnes is no all-star. His OBP is pretty low and he tends to strikeout in bunches, but he certainly falls in the "able to comeback" category. The Nationals were chocked full of outfielders at the time (Jose Guillen, Ryan Church, Marlon Anderson, Alfonso Soriano), but Jim Bowden could have signed Byrnes and traded some of the outfield surplus for more pitching (remember, as Jimbo says, "you can never have too much pitching!"). Bowden, like the rest of the league, probably believed that Byrnes best days were behind him. The only job he could find was with the Arizona Diamondbacks -- he would be given the "opportunity" to compete for a starting job.

Going into the last month of the season, Byrnes is on pace to hit .278 with 25 homers, 75 RBI's, and 23 stolen bases. Oh sure, his OBP is still kind of low, and he still strikes out in bunches, but he would have answered the team's year long problem in center field.

Hey Jim, you should have listened to me -- you gotta read The Beltway Boys more often. Of course ** cough cough **, I also demanded that you sign Ramon Ortiz.

Never mind, Jim. Forget what I said.

WHAT'S BIGGER NEWS: A NATS WIN OR WARD & ANDERSON GETTING TRADED?

2006-08-31T20:59:00.000-06:00

[August 31st] -- A Nationals win in the month of August? Darn right that's breaking news, but so is the double-trade pulled off by Jim Bowden early Friday morning.

The Nationals continue to aquire young arms in an on-going attempt to build up the talent level of their minor league system, hopefully turning the belly laughter into only giggles and guffaws. Slowly but surely, Jim Bowden is turning the league's laughing stock into an "okay" minor league system.

Just minutes after scampering home to score the winning run in the 10th inning, Bowden traded uber-utility player Marlon Anderson to the Dodgers for Jhonny (not a typo) Nunez. Before Anderson could begin to pack, Daryle Ward became part of the personnel putsch, going to the Atlanta Braves for Luis Atilano. Well, that's just fine. I mean, the bench was the ONLY part of the 2006 Nationals team that was actually doing it's job.

Nunez, 20, was a non-drafted signee out of the Dominican Republic in 2003. He had a tremendous season for the Dodger's Gulf Coast League affiliate, going 6-0 with a stellar 1.58 ERA. He struck out 56 batters in 57 innings while walking only 19. Amazingly, he held opponents to a .177 batting average. His manager loved him: "He's been dominant all season and was dominant again today. We [are] very confident with him out there." That said, my quick, late night dash through the information super-highway turned up no stats for 2003-2005, and thebaseballcube.com doesn't even know who he is. More to come here.

Atilano, 21, is a 6'3", 200 pound right-hander who appeared on a medium-fast track to Atlanta before Tommy John surgery ended his season earlier this month. It can take up to a year for a pitcher to return to form after this type of surgery (the bad news) but virtually every pitcher who has had it returned at near 100% (the good news). Atilano went 6-7, 4.50 with class 'A' Myrtle Beach, striking out 45 in 116 innings. Going into this season, he had a career minor league record of 16-12, 4.11 garnered over three seasons (2003-Gulf Coast League, 2004-Danville, 2005-Rome). He was certainly considered a prospect. From bravesscout.com: (from 2005) "How good might this guy be in two years? The control is tremendous and he continues to show why the Braves drafted him so high last year ... the Braves believed they had another Javier Vazquez when they drafted him, and they still feel that way. As he continues to mature physically, his fastball is only going to get better and more consistently in the mid 90's. When you look at his numbers, including his age, you just see a potential success story in the future." But wait: there's more. From Baseball America's 2003 draft review: "Atilano has two solid pitches and an ideal frame that could make him a solid middle-of-the-rotation starter. Atilano, 18, has an easy arm that produces a cutting fastball with excellent movement. Though skinny at 6-foot-3 and 180 pounds, he should get stronger as his body matures, which should make his fastball more effective and possibly sit in the 93-94 mph range. Atilano also throws an above-average changeup with good depth and fade. The Braves like his mound presence and competitiveness, traits that led the Major League Scouting Bureau to grade him higher than any other player this year in Puerto Rico."

Good moves, Jimbo. Atilano, if he can come back from his surgery, may crack the Nationals' rotation in three years or so. Considering the Nats gave up a player who wouldn't have re-signed with the team next year, you can make the assertion that Atilano was acquired for "nothing." Nunez looks even better, but until I find out more about him, I'll remain "hopefully" confident that he can help the team as well. In the past two months, Bowden has traded for five, count em, five minor league starting pitchers. Some will make it into the Nationals' starting rotation, some won't. The point is, it's all about the numbers. You have to have more prospects than players needed, not less.

I'll miss both Daryle Ward and Marlon Anderson, but it's not like they were going to help the Nationals have a winning September (as if that mattered). Good bench players are a dime-a-dozen; Bodes can re-stock this winter. One thing's for sure, Robert Fick should be returning to the team. Fick, having a sub-par season thanks to injuries and two stints on the disabled list, says he wants to come back next season and says his agent has had preliminary talks with Bowden already. I've always been a "Fick fan." He's hard nosed and plays like he really loves the game. I don't see that too much anymore.

Here is the post I wrote before going to bed and flipping on "Baseball Tonight" to hear Karl Ravage say, "... and there's Marlon Anderson streaking home with the winning run for the Nationals, only to be traded moments later." I'd say that demanded a re-write, wouldn't you?

To be fair, when we bloggers take "whacks" at the Nationals for their poor play, we have an obligation to give them "loves" when they play well, even if it only happens once every ten days or so.

I didn't see the comeback. I watched the game right up until the bottom of the 9th, when I walked with my daughter to the corner to buy a couple of pops (this is a decidedly regional term. When I lived in D.C., everything was a Coke, as in "I'm buying everyone cokes -- what kind do you want? I want a Pepsi." I'm guessing that's still the terminology -- yes?). I had only a few seconds to be excited over the Nationals comeback, because before I had the chance to get comfortable, the Phillies scored on what should have been the third strike of the third out of the inning. But that wasn't the strangest scoring play of the night. With Marlon Anderson on 3rd, Aaron Fultz bounced a pitched in front of the plate, a pitch that pinch-hitter Ryan Church swung at. Have you ever seen film of the British "bouncing betty" bomb, the one that was designed to bounce accross the water several times before hitting and destroying German dams? Well, that's kind of how that ball looked as it hit the plate, then the catcher, and maybe even Ryan Church before squiggling and jiggling out towards the mound. I was still trying to figure out if it was a hit ball or not when Marlon zoomed in from stage right and pirouetted around Mike Lieberthal to score the winning run.

Wow.

It was a nice win, but it seems the Nationals have fallen into a rut of winning one game in each series. That just isn't going to cut it. I've read several different stories, all saying the same thing: Other than Alfonso Soriano and Ryan Zimmerman, there is no reason to watch the Nationals play ball.

I disagree.

It's not like the Nationals are trying to stink. It's not like the Nationals are trying to suck. It's simply the way things turned out. If John Patterson remained healthy this year, Livan would never have been traded in the August putsch, and the team would have had an excellent chance of winning at least two games out of each five, with a 50-50 chance of winning a third game. With a little bit of rotational stability (and granted, a lot of luck), the Nationals might have won 75 games this year. However, injuries, bad luck, poor play, and bad managing doomed the team early in the season, and they were never able to recover. I don't think the players are purposely not doing their best, but we've all been in positions where our best wasn't really the best we could do. It was the best we could do under the circumstances. Losing has a way of doing that.

From this blogger is stupid department: I was working on some homework when I glanced up at my computer screen and saw the MASN starting lineup graphic. At second base, I saw the name "Casto." "Wow!" I thought -- "they called up the kid after all. I'll finally get the chance to watch him play." I was surprised that he was playing second base -- after talking about moving him there in spring training, he began the season at third. I kept watching for him, and finally, he was announced: "Batting 8th, the second baseman, Bernie CASTRO." I was surprised, and wondered why Castro got the start over Casto. Then -- very slowly -- I figured it out. Old eyes. Small computer screen. Even smaller graphics. I guess if I listened to Bob Carpenter and Tom Paciorek instead of Charlie and Dave, I might have figured it out sooner.

Oh yeah, Idahoans are j-u-s-t as smart as you folks inside the beltway.

Uh-huh.

NOWHERE TO RUN, NOWHERE TO HIDE

2006-08-30T22:08:00.000-06:00

[August 31st] -- Um, I'm not really sure I have anything to say about Wednesday's game against the Philadelphia Phillies. Should I write that Ramon Ortiz pitched one his better games in some time, giving up "only" three earned runs in six innings? Nah, an ERA of 4.50 doesn't rate any column inches. Maybe I should cover that "red hot" offense and "all those" hits. All four of them. No, that won't do either. I think, when you find something on the side of the road that really stinks, you cross to the other side and keep on walking.

I think I'll just keep on walking.

The two pitchers the Nationals got in the Livan Hernandez trade, Matt Chico and Garrett Mock, are doing really, really well, and really, really bad. Both have started four games, and their efforts couldn't be more divergent. Chico has a record of 2-0 with a solid (especially for the Eastern League) 3.27 ERA. He's given up 28 hits in 22 innings, striking out 13 while walking 8. Those are certainly "prospect" type numbers. Mock, however, is more like a "suspect." He is 0-4 with a 10.26 ERA, giving up a whopping 29 hits in just 16 innings. He's walked five and struck out only 9. These four starts are certainly not the "death knell" of Mock's career, but I think it's becoming evident that if there is going to be a major leaguer to come out of the Livan Hernandez trade, it's going to be Matt Chico.

Let me know if you can think of anything else to write about. Otherwise, I'm outa here.

ZIM ZAM ZOOM IN ANOTHER DUD LOSS

2006-08-29T21:56:00.000-06:00

[August 30th] -- The kid just keeps on keeping-on.

Brian Schneider, after Ryan Zimmerman's big game against the Florida Marlins a few weeks back, said that he had stopped wondering when the "other shoe" was going to drop, meaning that he no longer believed that the young third baseman would falter in the last month and a half of the season. Of course, as soon as he said it, Zimmerman's batting average took a dive, dropping from a season high of .293 to .279. He was tired, and he looked it. He was taken out early in a blow-out against the Phillies (bad move, the Nats came back and might have won had Damian Jackson not replaced him at third) and had a day off against the Marlins (good move) last week. He got a hit in his last three games, keeping his average near .280.

Then came Tuesday night.

Zimmerman went 4-5 (including his 2nd triple and 39th double), drove in three runs, and was the lone bright spot in yet another dismal performance by a Nationals starting pitcher. He raised his average back up to .283 and now has 89 RBI's for the year -- the only way he'll not reach 100 for the season would be to get hit by a bus (but considering the Nats' luck this year, I shouldn't even joke about it). Every time I think I've seen the best the kid has, that by season's end, he'll have a batting average around .250, he takes a deep breath and drives the ball to all fields.

Maybe he is the rookie-of-the-year.

Tony Armas has now joined Ramon Ortiz and Pedro Astacio as pitchers who have little to no chance of remaining with the team. With the trade of Livan, and the injury to John Patterson, all three were given ample opportunities to show that they had both the desire and the ability to be adequate major league pitchers again. All they've done is shown why they were picked up for next to nothing by Jim Bowden. There is no pitching on the major league roster, and none in the minors. The only hope of getting better pitchers is to trade hitters -- remember, no free agents of consequence will be signed -- making both the offense and defense equally bad. That said, the Nationals' offensive prowess is a mathematical myth. Going into Tuesday's game, they were ranked 23rd in the major leagues. Hmmm.... 23rd offensively, and dead last in the NL in team ERA -- no wonder they've only won 55 games this season.

Well, maybe we can move up and get the 2nd or 3rd draft pick next year. Why not? Who cares if they win 55 wins or 65 wins this season. Last place is still last place.

Right?

TIME CONSTRAINTS SUCK...

2006-08-27T22:52:00.000-06:00

[August 28th] -- I know, I know. I promised that I'd be back blogging on a regular basis last week. What I should have said was that after the next couple of days, I'd be back to blogging on a regular basis. I'm in the classroom today meeting my students -- a first for me -- and I just don't have the time. So for the two of you who stop by here regularly, hang with me.

Yes, I watched all three games over the weekend, and yes, things couldn't look worse. The Nationals now have the highest team ERA in the National League, and things are only going to get worse from here on out. Traber didn't pitch badly on Sunday, but gave up 8 runs in less than 3 innings anyway. Same with Astacio, same with Ortiz. Of all the pitchers currently starting for Washington, or who have started at some point this year, only John Patterson looks "major league." So the Nats will have a #2 starter going into the '07 season (Patterson) and a #5 starter (either Mike O'Connor or Billy traber -- not both), but on one to fill in the other three slots in the rotation. With no one in the minors ready to make the jump to the big club, Jim Bowden's only option to improve the pitching staff is to trade away some "surplus" (ha-ha-ha ... surplus!) hitting. Next season, then, the Nationals might be what they were last season -- good pitch, no hit.

And so the cycle continues.

Wish me luck with my rondezvous with 60 8th graders.

I'M BACK, BUT NATS AREN'T

2006-08-24T20:58:00.000-06:00

[August 25th] -- Tah dah! I'm officially a real-live student teacher, as my expensive-looking official teacher "name tag" indicates. I'll meet with my "cooperating teacher" on Friday and then, come Monday, I'll be officially be destroying the minds of the next generation. How cool is that? And please, none of that "Gee, I didn't know that Idaho had a university" stuff. We have three. Sort of.

Though I didn't blog this week, I certainly have been watching the games on mlb.tv (including one while sitting in a language and literacy class -- ah, the marvels of technology!) I think it's safe to say that the team has officially given up. Oh, I don't mean that they're standing around as ground balls roll into left field or that the pitchers are throwing batting practice fastballs so that they can shower early and hit the bars. No, not quitting in that sense. But haven't you ever been in a situation at some point in your life where you had been working as hard as you could to make something work, and though you seemed to be "paddling up stream," you believed that, given a bit of luck, you'd succeed? That's where the Nationals were a few weeks ago. They had won three in a row, four out of five, and it seemed that with a solid second half, the team could end the season with 75 or so wins, very respectable considering the difficult year they've had to endure.

Somewhere along the line, however, something went wrong. A difficult loss, an embarrassing weekend sweep, and suddenly, the players eyes and attention aren't trained on the game but rather the grass as they kick away make-believe pebbles. They are living through a nightmare and all they want is for the season to come to a merciful end.

Quickly.

I am as excited for the Nationals future as ever. This is the type of year I expected last season -- few wins and many embarrassing moments. But don't mistake my excitement for hope of a quick turnaround. Aint gonna happen. The Lerners have said, in as many ways as it could be said, that "free agency" isn't the answer. The problem is, neither is the farm system. So if free agency isn't the answer, and the farm system isn't the answer, what then is the answer?

Luck.

For the next few years, -- probably three or four -- the Nationals are going to be in a "no mans land" with inadequate players on the major league roster and the real prospects at the lowest rungs of their minor league system. Bowden could try to catch lighting-in-a-bottle one more time with another run at free agents that no one else wants (Esteban Loiaza) and trade for players that come with more baggage than just what's in their suitcase (Guillen). But, if Jim Bowden is going "young" and "building for the future," then those type of moves make no sense. Of course, if the guys he wants to "go young" with aren't major league talents, then why bother? Why play Travis Hughes and Henry Mateo if they have no chance of being successful at this level? Better to try to find another Loiaza or Hector Carrasco and cross your fingers rather than playing career minor leaguers every day. Remember, career minor leaguers are career minor leaguers for a reason.

Ryan Zimmerman has seen his batting average drop twelve points since Brian Schneider said that he was going to stop waiting for the kid to falter. Bad timing, dude. Frank Robinson made the right decision to sit him the other night, and it wouldn't be a bad thing to do it a few more times over the final month and a half of the season. The last thing anyone wants is to have Zimmerman falter in his last thirty-or-so games and carry that sour taste in his mouth into the off season. Take care of the kid, Frank. Without him, the only difference between the Nats and the Zephyrs is the color of their uniforms.

Good to be back. Sorry, Jamming Econo. Looks like you still hold the record for most consecutive days of "blog silence." And no, I'll never let you forget it. It's toooo easy.

REAL LIFE INTERVENTION FOR THE BELTWAY BOY

2006-08-18T14:51:00.000-06:00

[August 18th] -- As my regular readers know, I am a senior in the College of Education at my local university. Usually, I can make time for both my classes as well as my beloved Nationals.

That said, I'll need to take the next three or four days off. I go back to school this Monday, and begin my second round of in-class student teaching. I have much preparation to do to be ready for that first class, and, for the weekend at least, I'm just going to have to view my Nationals from afar.

If all goes well, I'll be back Monday afternoon. Thanks for understanding that this just has to get done.

Good luck Nationals!

GREAT GAME, GREAT WIN

2006-08-16T20:48:00.000-06:00

[August 16th] -- Ryan Zimmerman was beginning to fall into another slump. He's was 0-9 over his last two games and was striking out at an alarming pace. He hadn't had an RBI in ten days, and it had been a while since he'd hit a home run. He needed to shake things up.

And oh, how he did.

He struck out in his first at bat against the Braves' John Smoltz, and looked pretty bad while doing it. Then, just like "that," things changed. In the third inning, Zimmerman hit a sharp grounder past the third base bag, barely fair, but into Chipper Jones' glove. Jones jumped, twirled, and let go a strong throw to first, though it was just off the mark. First baseman Adam LaRoche had to move off the bag to get to the throw, and Zimmerman dove head first towards the bag, beating LaRoche's tag and driving in the first run of the game. Wow. Great play. A couple of innings later, Zimmerman handled a sharp grounder and threw to first, pulling Nick Johnson off the bag. Although the runner was called safe, and Zimmerman was charged with his 10th error of the season, replays show that Nick got to the bag before the runner. Wow. Bad play. His next time up, Ryan launched his 16th homer of the year, deep to left center field, giving the Nationals a 6-3 lead on Smoltz and the Braves. Wow. Great play. The next inning, John Smoltz of all people hit a line shot past the bag at third. Zimmerman dove to his right, snared the ball in foul ground, raised himself and threw a strike to first to nip Smoltz. Wow. Great play. The next inning, Billy Traber started to tire. With the Nationals up by a couple of runs and a runner on third with two out, Andruw Jones came to bat as a pinch-hitter. He hit a very hard but very playable grounder wide of third. Just as Zimmerman moved to his left to field the ball, the head of Jones' sawed-off bat landed at his feet and bounced near his head, causing the kid to flinch, allowing the ball to get past him, and the run to score. Wow. Bad play. Later in the game, Zimmerman hit a high-hopper to Chipper Jones, who fielded the ball quickly and threw to first, b-a-r-e-l-y getting the hustling Ryan Zimmerman.

That's the kind of night it was for the kid.

I'm not going to say something stupid like, "Zimmerman is slump-proof," because no baseball player is. What I will say, however, is that Ryan Zimmerman is a professional hitter, that he makes adjustments every time he comes to the plate, and those type of hitters don't often get into prolonged slumps. He doesn't rely on just the home run ball, or just balls hit into the gaps. He bunts when he needs to and hits to right field when he has to. I was thinking the other day that it's going to be a joy to watch the kid throughout his career, to watch him improve and became a super-star. He'll probably end his career somewhere around the year 2024. Then I realized that I'll be 68 years old when he calls it a career. Hmm... I HOPE I LIVE LONG ENOUGH to watch him finish his career.

NATS NOTES: I've never quite figured out what Bernie Castro has to do to win a full time job in the major leagues. He's been an all-star at virtually every minor-league level. In his first taste of the big-leagues, he hit .288 with the Orioles, and that only earned him a ticket out of town. He signed with the Nationals, a team with an "all-star" blocking his chance to play with the big club. Castro changes the game with his speed. He is competent with the glove. Sadly, my guess is that he'll never get the chance to start in the majors, at least here in Washington .... What's happened to Austin Kearns? He went 0-5 with two more strikeouts and his average is now down to .264. I'm afraid that Kearns is at best a slightly-above-average major league outfielder, a guy who is going to hit .260-20-70 or so with a low OBP .... Billy Traber certainly didn't look as sharp as he did in his last start; maybe it was the retro uniform .... Brian Schneider got two hits, one a long home run ... perhaps he won't be throwing things for awhile.

NATS GRANT BRIEF RESPITE FROM LOSING, BEAT BRAVES 5-0

2006-08-15T19:22:00.000-06:00

[August 15th] -- Well, that never happened before. Come to think of it, how'd it happen it the first place? Pedro Astacio, whose season can best be described as below average, dominated the Braves, allowing only 2 hits and no runs while striking out five in what turned out to be the Nationals first complete game of the season.

That's great, but it doesn't mean a thing. Remember, the 1962 Mets set the expansion-era record for most losses in a season, yet still managed to win 40 games that year. Even the worst baseball players succeed 18% of the time.

No, the Nationals, still free-falling down the National League standings, had a reprieve, a remission from losing if you will. It was fun, and it made us happy, but in the end, the team is still going to be bad, and they are still going to finish last in the NL East, and they are still going to be over-hauled during the off season. And it's the middle of August and there just isn't much more than that to say, at least for tonight.

NATS NOTES: (Does any of my readers recognize where I stole the "Nats Notes" from? Hint: You have to be old enough to remember the Senators and you had to read a certain magazine on a regular basis. If you remember, leave your answer in the comments section). Ryan Zimmerman went hitless for the second consecutive game, something he hasn't done since his slide that followed his first walk-off homer a few months ago. He's striking out a lot and continues to hit weak grounders to the right side. Hopefully, he'll pull out of it tomorrow .... The Nationals signed 4th round draft pick Glenn Gibson, and left-handed high school pitcher from New York. Gibson notched the 2006 Yastrzemski Award as the top player in Suffolk County (Long Island, NY) after going 8-1 with 145 strikeouts and a 0.29 ERA in 61.0 innings as a senior at Center Moriches.

FAMILY FEUD IN WASHINGTON

2006-08-15T11:23:00.000-06:00

[August 15th] -- "Name the six best reasons that the Nationals are falling apart right in front of our eyes..... survey said!:"

I had to take a couple of days off from the Nationals -- a pressure release, if you will. The guys who get paid to write about the Nationals could care less if they win or lose, of if the periphery stories start to gnaw at them. They get paid for it. We bloggers do this for the love of it, our way of being part of the action, perhaps even part of the fun. But when players who make millions of dollars a year give up, why does anyone expect us, probably the only people remotely associated with the Nationals who donate their time, not to take a deep breath and walk away?

Frank Robinson is old school and tends to bark at players, treating them more like chattel than employees. Players are now throwing to wrong bases; heck, some are forgetting where the bases are. And when someone like Ryan Zimmerman forgets how many outs there are, you know that the pressure of losing, the pressure of being a bad team, is getting to the players. The weekend attendance, nearly 35,000 per game, dropped back down to 21,000 on Monday against the once great Atlanta Braves.

The team, and the blog-o-sphere have a month and a half left in the season, and there will be many more opportunities to get mad, get hot, and walk away from our responsibilities. I'll keep writing, and I hope that the Nationals keep playing ... or keep trying at least.

It'll be a long six weeks, but I'll keep trying if they will.

REMEMBER THE MAINE!

2006-08-13T09:58:00.000-06:00

[August 13th] - A century ago, the U.S.S. Maine sailed into Havana Harbor scaring the Spanish with it's "arms." Then, unexplicably, it blew up; no more Maine.

Last night, John Maine came into RFK, and scared the Nationals with his "arm." For five innings, he did to Washington what he had done to the Phillies earlier in the week. He shut them out. Heading into the 4th inning, Maine had a 23 inning scoreless streak before Nick Johnson launched his 18th home run of the year to make the score 3-1. Two innings later, Alfonso Soriano hit his 37th homer to bring the Nats to within one of the Mets, and a single by Nick Johnson tied the game at 4, ending Washington's scoring for the night. The Mets, of course, came back with two more runs and eventually won the game 6-4.

Like I've said for months, we can't judge the Nationals on wins and losses this season; we look for silver linings with the dark clouds. For instance, Jason Bergman gave up three runs and four hits in five innings, which doesn't seem particularly impressive, but we need to look inside the numbers. He gave up all three runs in one inning, and could have given even more had he not bore down and got some difficult outs to end the inning. He struck out four Mets. He was pulled not because he was pitching poorly, but because he was at 85 innings pitched heading into the 6th inning. I'd say that was a quality start for Bergman. Nick Johnson hit his 18th homer of the year, and is on pace to hit .293-26-85, much higher power numbers than was expected. Even his uncle, Larry Bowa, didn't see Johnson has a power hitter. On an XM interview earlier this season, Bowa said of his nephew, "Nick is a great hitter with alley power to both fields. He's never going to hit 30 homers a year, but 15-18 home runs, combined with everything else he does, is good." Seems that Mr. Johnson has good power when he stays healthy.

John Maine looks like the "real deal." I've been watching major league baseball for 45 years, and cannot remember a rookie pitcher throwing a consecutive inning scoreless streak like Maine did. He came to the Mets along with Jorge Julio from the Baltimore Orioles for pitcher Kris Benson. Maine, 25, had a career 30-24, 3.24 minor league record before the deal. He and Julio were certainly better players than Garrett Mock and Matt Chico, players the Nationals received in the Livan Hernandez trade. Does that make Benson better than Hernandez? I don't think so. Just younger. I expect that if Livan was having a "typical" season this year, the Nationals would have recieved far more in trade than they ended up getting.

The Nationals are on pace to win 71 games this year, three less then I predicted in March, so I guess we can say they are playing roughly at the level that was expected. I hope that they do even worse, winning 65 games, perhaps even less. Why? The Nationals would then have one of the top five or six picks in the amateur draft next year, meaning that with a little bit of luck, they could find another Ryan Zimmerman. And don't forget, if Alfonso Soriano signs with another team, we'll get two more picks, the teams who signed him, and a pick between the first and second rounds. A few less wins will guarantee a much better draft pick. I'll make that trade, won't you?

NATS NOTES: Congratulations, Mark Lerner. After drawing 30,000 fans on Sunday, RFK was packed with 42,000 fans last night. I know that some of that comes from playing the Mets, but that said, that's a tremendous job of "bringing in the bodies."

THAT WAS GREAT, NOW DO IT AGAIN NEXT TIME

2006-08-11T20:21:00.000-06:00

[August 11th] -- Now, if Billy Traber can just do that another eight or so times this summer, the Nationals pitching woes will be lessened just a bit.

Traber, a former Mets top prospect, pitched seven strong innings on Friday, giving up just four hits and one run on a home run by the Mets' catcher. Hmmmm .... I'm betting that would be Paul LoDuca. *Ouch* Just had to get that in there. It was Traber's first solid outing this year. He gave up three runs and four walks in his first start against the Phillies, winning the game 10-4. He got shelled five days later and was back in New Orleans.

Traber pitched the way the Mets envisioned he would when they drafted him in the first round six years ago. A career-ending type injury caused both the Mets, and later the Indians to give up on him. His only option left was to sign a minor-league contract with a pitching poor team.

It seems to have worked, at least for the moment.

Felipe Lopez is without a doubt the Expos / Nationals best offensive shortstop in recent memory. He is also the worst defensively. Last year, many of the Nationals' blogs pounded Cristian Guzman for his defense lapses throughout the season. He made 15 errors. All year. Lopez has committed 21 errors this year and there is still a month and a half remaining in the season. He'll probably close in on 30 errors by mid September, thirteen more than his career high from last year. One of those "Cardinal Rules" in baseball is that you have to have a solid defensive shortstop to win a championship. I don't know about that. Lopez's defense might give up, say, five more unearned runs than Guzman's might have, but he'll end up driving in a minimum twenty-five more runs than Guzman. I'd say that is a net positive for the Nats.

NATS NOTES: The Nationals drew nearly 30,000 to RFK for Friday's game against the Mets. I think that's where Nats' crowds need to start -- last year's 2.7 million is the minimum number of fans that should turn out for major league baseball in Washington ... Ryan Zimmerman hit his 36th double and has now gotten a hit in 13 out of his last 14 games ...

NATIONALS SHINING IN WORLD OF BLOGGING

2006-08-11T15:25:00.000-06:00

[August 11th] -- It's taken the Washington Nationals nearly two years to leave behind those last vestages of the "dead-from-the-neck-up" era of the Montreal Expos. Now, finally, the team is acting like a real major league baseball franchise. It will still take a few more years for the Nationals to catch up with the rest of their division, and few more after that to surpass them, but at least we now know that it's going to happen.

That said, guess what? In the two years that the Nationals' blog-o-sphere has waited for its team to become "first class," we have been "first class" while waiting for them. Striketwo.net, a website that "summerizes, discusses and observes" news from all of baseball's "792" websites and blogs, lists the Nationals blog-o-sphere as #7 in all of Major League baseball in terms of total number of daily posts. The twenty-five Nationals blogs make up the sixth largest team blog group, and the 15 posts per day average is seventh best among the thirty major league teams. Pretty cool, huh?

The Beltway Boys, for example is currently listed as #37 out of the 792 blogs. That makes TBB in the top 3.5% of all baseball blogs. This means we're one of the top National blogs too, right? Wrong. Of those top 37 blogs, a total of six, or 16% of them, are blogs that cover the Washington Nationals. The Yankees and Mets, the top two teams in terms on total blogs, comprise only 8% of those top 37 blogs. I'm a star in the total blog-o-sphere, but only average when it comes to the Nationals blogging world. Sigh .... :)

For months, I have been apologizing here at TBB for what I perceived as the small number of blogs covering the Nationals. I couldn't have been more wrong. The Nats' blog-o-sphere is one of the best and one of the strongest, and it will only get larger as the team continues to morph into one of the league's top teams.

Way to go bloggers! We got to the top while the Nationals were still trying to play consistent baseball. For those of you who have been thinking of starting a blog, now is the perfect time to start one. Blogging is kind of like multi-level marketing: it's best to get in on the ground floor.

To Banks, Capitol, Federal, 320, Mr. Wonk and Mr. Distinguished, Just, Morning Glories, Cheap Seats and all the rest, congratulations on what you've begun. Now let's see what we can do about growing it larger, and growing it better.

YUCK

2006-08-10T21:23:00.000-06:00

[August 10th] -- It's becoming clear that wins for the Washington Nationals are going to become difficult to come by over the next couple of months. This is a team in transition, a team composed of over-the-hill veterans and youngsters showing for the first time what they can do at the major league level. August is a month that has no real intrinsic value. Like the Nationals, it's a month of transition, connecting the fun-and-sun part of summer with the exciting back-to-school "new beginnings" part of September. August, however, is dull, redundant and frustrating.

Kind of like the Nationals.

It was great that the Nationals came back to tie the game at six, but lousy that they eventually lost the game. It was wonderful that Alfonso hit yet another home run, but terrible that the Nationals loaded the bases in the first inning on three walks yet couldn't score a run. After watching Anibal Sanchez throw twelve balls and only two strikes, Nick Johnson swung at the first two pitches before popping out. Ryan Zimmerman then took a couple of pitches before grounding into a double play.

A bad game during an especially bad time in what will undoubtedly be a long season.

And that's all I have to say about that.

PICTURE THIS: ORTIZ BEATS DONTRELLE WILLIS 5-2

2006-08-09T20:34:00.000-06:00

[August 10th] -- RFK Stadium must be smack-dab in the middle of "Bizzaro World." How else can you explain a night when Ramon Ortiz not only beat Dontrelle Willis, but ended the game with nine wins, two more than the Marlins' superstar?

Incredible.

Ortiz, who is now the (I can't believe I'm saying this) "ace" of the staff, pitched like it on Wednesday, pitching what was perhaps his best game of the year. Ortiz was solid over 6.2 innings, allowing 8 hits and just one earned run while striking out 6. You have to wonder if he is still on the trading block -- if he is, this outing certainly increased his value. But exactly what would that value be? If Livan Hernandez, a major league star, brought two 'AA' pitchers in return, what would Ortiz, a "fringe" starter at best, bring? A mid-level 'AA' player perhaps? If the Nationals had no interest in re-signing Ortiz for 2007, then sure, throw him out on the waiver-wire and see what happens. But the Nationals may want him to return next season, as he certainly would be a veteran presence on a younger staff. He wouldn't cost much, either. It'll be interesting to see what Bowden does -- his value will never be higher than it is right now.

Ryan Zimmerman looked terrible Tuesday night, as he once again swung at everything down and away, either striking out or popping the ball into shallow right field. He reminds me a lot of a young Andruw Jones when he lunges at all those outside pitches. It took Jones seven years to stop striking out on those balls a foot outside. Zimmerman, on the other hand, adjusts after every game. Against the Marlins on Wednesday, Willis tried to get him to swing at those low-and-away pitches, but Ryan made the adjustment, and walked his first two times up. He ended up going 2-3, raising his average back up to .291. The kid is becoming almost slump-proof.

The Nationals are a good team when the starters pitch deep into the game. If it's Micah Bowie, Jon Rauch and Chad Cordero who come into the game, the Nationals stand a good chance of holding the lead and winning the game. Last night, those three relievers pitched 2.1 innings, allowing only one meaningless single. Unfortunately, the rest of the bullpen is either untested or just bad.

A night after drawing less than 25,000 fans, only 21,390 showed up at RFK to watch a game that featured all-star Dontrelle Willis. Stan Kasten and the Lerners have to be unhappy about that type of attendance drop from the last home stand. Some suggest that the Livan Hernandez trade had something to do with the smaller crowd, but I disagree -- all of us were expecting him to be traded, and I really haven't heard anyone suggest it was a bad deal for the Nationals. Hopefully, the weekend crowds will help the homestand's average.

NATS NOTES: Catcher Brandon Harper doubled in his first major league at-bat and was hit by Dontrelle Willis his next time up .... Matt Chico's first game as a Nationals' farmhand didn't go particularly well. The 23 year old allowed 9 hits and 3 runs in 5 innings, striking out no one .... the Nationals left 14 men on base, causing Frank Robinson to cradle his head in his hands several times throughout the night.

RAUCH READY TO JOIN ROTATION

2006-08-09T15:47:00.000-06:00

[August 9th] -- He stands nearly seven feet tall. He has a fastball that tops out close to 95 mph. His slider and curve are both solid major league pitches. Batters have difficulty picking the ball up out of his hand because his release point is so close to home plate. He is listed by most "scouting report" services as a solid middle-of-the-rotation pitcher.

Yet Jon Rauch remains in the Nationals' bullpen.

Rauch, 27, was obtained along with Gary Majewski from the Chicago White Sox in 2004 for Carl Everett. He had been a starter throughout his minor league career, compiling a 43-25 record in 106 starts. It was assumed that Rauch had an excellent chance to capture one of the team's rotation openings last spring. He started just one game in 2005, however, going 2-4, 3.60 out of the bullpen.

This year, Rauch had little hope of starting for the Nationals. Jim Bowden brought in Brian Lawrence, Pedro Astacio and Ramon Ortiz to help fill the holes in the rotation. Also, unlike 2005, the Nationals have a very mediocre bullpen, one that, in Frank Robinson's opinion, couldn't do without him. Now, however, with Livan Hernandez traded to Arizona, the Nationals need another starting pitcher. Billy Traber will be given the opportunity to start; so will others from the minor league system.

Jon Rauch, though, seems married to the bullpen.

The 'pen is usually filled with former starting pitchers who couldn't make it in the major leagues with just one or two "out" pitches.

Sooner or later, major league hitters figure them out and banish them to that bench beyond the outfield wall. But Rauch is different. His fastball is consistently in the low to mid 90's, and his curve and change are both solid when he's "on" his game. Rauch has the "stuff" and certainly the "size" to be a major league pitcher. Look at the comparison between Rauch and Livan in the chart above. Rauch has superior numbers in most catagories, though he's pitched less than a tenth of the innings that Hernandez has. The question is, then, will the Nationals give him the opportunity to prove himself?

Not this year, but probably in 2007.

Who do the Nationals have to fill the rotation next season besides John Patterson? Astacio, Ortiz and Tony Armas Jr. are likely not coming back. Mike O'Connor brings more questions than he does answers, and Shawn Hill is still hurting. It will be much easier for the Nationals to replace Jon Rauch out of the bullpen than it will to find another starting pitcher with his promise. My guess is that Rauch will leave behind the bullpen next season and join Patterson in the starting rotation.

Or, that's what should happen, anyway.

NATS NOTES: Ryan Zimmerman seems to have fallen into a small slump -- he consistently swung at pitches low and away, his "Achilles Heel" when he's not seeing the ball well. When he's doing that, he's going to do little more than strike out or pop up into shallow right-center .... Now that Alex Escobar is near 100%, will he take back center-field from Ryan Church? It's no secret that Jim Bowden thinks highly of Escobar and isn't particularly fond of Church. For Church to keep his job, he's going to have to keep hitting home runs on a regular basis .... What's with Nick Johnson these days? Although he's starting to hit the ball well again, he continues to slump in the field, commiting his 9th error of the season. I thought that defense never slumps? .... Matt LeCroy, who joined the New Orleans Zephyrs after he couldn't "hook-up" with another major league team, went hitless in his first game with the Zephyrs .... Matt Chico will make his first organizational start on Wednesday with the Harrisburg Senators .... Harrisburg's Frank Diaz was named the "best defensive outfielder" in the Eastern League by a vote of that league's managers .... Jason Bergman has dominated at New Orleans since being moved into the starting rotation since his last demotion.

VACATION DAY (I HOPE)

2006-08-08T20:32:00.000-06:00

[August 8th] -- The Nationals just lost to the Marlins 4-2 in what's becoming a typical, poorly played game. I mean, for crying out loud, you get the bases loaded with only one out and the next two batters don't even make contact with a single pitch? I'm going to try to take tomorrow off and head to Yellowstone Park for the day (one of the benefits of living in Eastern Idaho). I should be back tomorrow night.

LIVAN TRADED FOR CHICO AND THE MOCK!

2006-08-07T15:42:00.000-06:00

[August 7th] -- Just when I thought that Stan Kasten and Jim Bowden were shying away from the "build with prospects" promise, this happens.

The Nationals traded Livan Hernandez to the Arizona Diamondbacks for right-hander Garrett Mock and lefty Matt Chico. This comes as a total shock to me. GM's always say that "big" trades can be made after the trading deadline, but you never really expect it.

I think this trade for Livan came after the trade deadline because his suitors were trying to make sure that he had "something" left. I'm sure that general managers around the league felt much more comfortable trading for Livan after his last few starts.

The trade opens up nearly $8 million dollars next year to help the Nationals sign Alfonso Soriano That's a good thing. The bad thing is that, even before the trade, the Nationals were short of starting pitchers. Now what? Will Billy Traber take his place in the rotation, at least for now? That would be my guess.

Mock, 23, is a 6'4", 215 pound right-hander. Going into the 2006 season, Mock had a career record of 19-9, 3.69 including a 14-7 record at class 'A' Lancaster last year. This season, however, he's struggled. With class 'AA' Tennessee, Mock is 4-8, 4.95 with 117 strikeouts in 131 innings. Mock got the news while he was driving with his fiancé. Manager of Minor League Operations A.J. Hinch and General Manager Josh Byrnes both called Mock to tell him the news and set his mind at ease."[Hinch and Byrnes] said it's a business and the deal that they got and Washington got just seemed to work out," The right-hander commented after finding out about the trade. "This hasn't been the greatest season for me. It's been a great learning experience. It's been a humbling experience from the aspect of learning how to pitch in this league and I have made some adjustments."

Matt Chico seems headed in the opposite direction. Chico, also 23, is a 5'11", 190 pound lefty. Going into 2006, he had a 26-25 career record with a 4.09 ERA. He seems to have blossomed this season, however. He began the season at class 'A' Lancaster, where he went 3-4, 3.75 with 49 strikeouts in just 50 innings. With class 'AA' Tennessee, Chico has gone 7-2, 2.22 with 63 strikeouts in 81 innings. Chico was surprised by the trade. "I'm excited. I'm going into an organization along with Mock that is struggling pitching-wise," the [Tennessee] Smokies' southpaw said. Chico was a bit surprised that only two prospects were dealt for Hernandez. "It was shocking because he's a good pitcher. I would have thought they would have wanted more. Both of us are in a good spot."

Livan, who didn't want to go anywhere, thought he was safe after the July 31st trade deadline came and went. Not so. "It's a surprise," he said. "It happened and I have to deal with it. I found out in the morning when Bowden called me. I have to go there and work. I'm playing on a different team."

Livan wasn't the only one who thought he remaining in Washington. Earlier today, ESPN's Buster Olney reported that Livan was claimed on waivers, but that the two teams couldn't work out a deal for the veteran right-hander. ESPN's link to that story now brings up an "Error 404" message. Oops!

"Out in the Desert," a Diamondbacks blog, sees the trade this way: "Hernandez has a bloated 5.34 ERA but he does play for a fairly lousy Washington team. Is it a good trade? Time will tell but I like the move. The D-Backs give up two mid-level pitching prospects who show some promise but are far from being studs. They get a good innings-eater type pitcher who probably is the best hitting pitcher in the majors. Hernandez’s ERA is about a run higher than his career average and he has been bothered by a tender knee. He is not a power pitcher and will rely on his breaking pitches to induce ground ball outs — a D-Back specialty. I suspect Arizona will play to that strength and encourage him to keep the ball down and allow the hitters to put a lot of balls in play. Right Hernandez is giving up too many homers and issuing way too many free passes. But with some confidence in his infield he may be more inclined to pitch rather than try and strike every hitter out.

The prospects that Arizona gave up were Garrett Mock and Matt Chico. Both were drafted by Mike Rizzo, the former AZ Director of Scouting who just assumed his new post as VP of Baseball Operations for….yup, the Washington Nationals. So clearly Rizzo still admires his own work. According to Jim Callis over at Baseball America Mock is a 23-year-old righty with a solid 93 - 94 mph fastball and good stuff including a nice cutter. But despite his nice stuff he has been throwing too many strikes and therefore giving up too many hits. At Double A Mock has gone 4-8 with a 4.95 ERA in 23 starts. Chico is a 23-year-old lefty that Callis points out “flunked out of JC” and after “bombing in Double A last year, he has bounced back with a strong 2006. In 23 starts between high Class A Lancaster and Tennessee, he has gone 10-6, 2.81″. He was likely the centerpiece of the trade but do you really want a guy who flunks out of a junior college?"

Was this a good trade? I have no idea. At first glance, the Nationals received two starting pitchers, one getting better, one struggling just a bit, neither of which will be ready for the major leagues for at least another couple of years. Neither are studs, but both could be above average major league starters. That said, ESPN.com says that Mock and Chico are now the "two best pitching prospects" in the Nationals' minor league system. I'll be doing some more research and report back as soon as I have something more.

Bottom line, though: the Nats can afford Alfonso Soriano now if they really want him.

Check back later.

22 IS THE WINNING NUMBER!

2006-08-07T11:54:00.000-06:00

[August 7th] -- Twenty-two months. That's how long it took. For almost two years, I've been Mr. Beltway Boy, writing daily about my beloved Washington Nationals, and during that time, I didn't receive a single disrespectful comment from a reader. Hundreds upon hundreds of readers have left messages, some agreeing with me, some not, but all of them were respectful and kind.

Until now, that is.

I wrote a story last night suggesting that Frank Robinson wasn't to blame for allowing both Pedro Astacio and Livan Hernandez to remain in the game one inning too long, a move which ultimately cost the Nationals wins on both Saturday and Sunday. I said that Micah Bowie was the only reliever that Frank could trust, and that's why he decided to stay with his starters, and it cost him. Then came this:

Anonymous said...
All you have to do is check the stats on Rauch and you can see with out a doubt that Rauch can and has gotten the job done, so before you come up with an half-assed conclusion check the sources. I don't know why Robinson did not bring in race, maybe it was a lefty, lefty situation, but I do know that given the opportunity Rauch might have gotten the job done, according to his past performances. Get a clue!

Gee, my feelings are hurt! What Mr. Anonymous didn't know was that Robinson said he had over-used Jon Rauch and didn't want to bring him in -- he needed the rest. I assume that those who read the blog would have understood that I left Rauch out of the equation because he wasn't part of Robinson's bullpen at that time. I guess Mr. Anonymous doesn't keep up with such things. That said, I suppose I should have mentioned it.

I don't have a problem with someone pointing out an error or an omission, heck, I screw up all the time. But this "half-assed," "get a clue," attack-the-writer stuff just doesn't fly with me. Hey, Mr. Anonymous -- you don't have to get personal to disagree with someone. Ideas win disagreements, not slanderous sound-bites that belong on the 6th grade playground.

Next time, Mr. Anonymous, how about leaving out the personal attacks and lets talk baseball. Okay?

DON'T BLAME FRANK -- HE HAD NO CHOICE

2006-08-06T21:16:00.000-06:00

[August 7th] -- What's the difference between a 1-2 record vs. the Padres this weekend and a sweep?

A bullpen that gets people out.

If Frank Robinson believed in his bullpen, if he thought that he could count on them to get anyone out, he wouldn't have left his starters in longer than he should have on both Saturday and Sunday. Pedro Astacio pitched a masterful six innings, allowing just one run. In the next two-thirds of an inning, however, when Astacio should have been showering and savoring his quality start, the 36 year old gave up another four runs, losing the game 6-3. On Sunday, Livan was near-perfect as he took a 1-0 lead into the 7th inning. After two quick outs, he tired and walked Dave Roberts, then gave up a long two-run homer to Brian Giles. The Nats lost that one in extra innings, 3-2.

A quality bullpen isn't sexy, that's for sure, but it's also a "must" for any team with hopes of winning as many games as it loses. Had Robinson had anyone other than Micah Bowie who he could trust, the Nationals would probably have left San Diego with two wins, perhaps even three.

Last year, the Nationals had a superb bullpen with a horrid offense. This year, they have a solid offense but can't hold leads late in the game. Which is better? Which is worse? Year after year, teams with the "Murderer's Row" offenses don't even make it into the playoffs because they kept losing games 11-10 and 9-8. Kinda like the Cincinnati Reds. All season, their potent offense kept building seemingly insurmountable leads, only to find out that they weren't insurmountable at all. So what do they do? They trade 25% of their starting lineup for some bullpen depth, and it seems to be working. They are a better team.

The Nationals are in a similar quandary. They can try to trade some of their offense for pitching over the winter, but they'll end up being just like they were in 2005, a below average offense with an above average pitching staff. For a team claiming to be rebuilding, that's just not going to cut it.

I don't have the answer, and I'm afraid that Jim Bowden and Stan Kasten don't either. While I'm thoroughly enjoying having Felipe Lopez and Austin Kearns on the team, having them here isn't necessarily making the Nationals a better team.

Round-and-round-and-round we go. And I'm getting dizzy.

RYAN ZIMMERMAN: A 'STUD' AT 21

2006-08-06T11:27:00.000-06:00

[August 7th] -- The season is far enough along now to begin making accurate comparisons between the NL East's reigning super-star third baseman, Chipper Jones, and the probable National League Rookie-Of-The-Year, Ryan Zimmerman.

And it's a stunning comparison at that.

Jones' rookie year was in 1995, when he was 23 years old. Take a look at his offensive production. Certainly, he had a solid rookie season and has gone on to have a probable hall-of-fame career, but his numbers pale in comparison with the Nationals' Zimmerman (his numbers have been extrapolated out to a full year). The home run totals are equal, and Jones has two more triples, but Zimmerman leads in all other categories, and he's done this at only 21, two years younger than Jones was. When Zimmerman is 23, he will be embarking on his third major league season, and will probably produce somewhere in the .300-30-120 range.

Based on offensive production alone, you'd have to give the nod to Zimmerman. But let's not stop there; let's take a look at their defensive capabilities. Sorry Chipper. Have to do it. Jones committed 25 errors while Ryan is on pace to make just 13 miscues. Jones made 81 putouts, Zimmerman 147. Jones had 254 assists while Zimmerman is on pace for 259. While Chipper's offense continued to improve throughout his career, his defense has been speculative at best, even to the point that Braves' manager Bobby Cox moved him to the outfield for two seasons so that Vinny Castilla could provide some solid defense at the "hot corner." Zimmerman, on the other hand, is a gold-glove caliber third baseman now.

If Zimmerman continues to improve, continues to get better each and every game, I believe that the Nationals' star will "run circles" around the legend of Chipper Jones. Don't get me wrong' Jones as "studly" a major leaguer as there is. Ryan Zimmerman is just better.

Now, I realize that there is another good third baseman in New York, David Wright of the Mets, a good friend of Zimmerman's. In his first full season (2005), the 22 year old hit 306-27-102, very good numbers. He also, however, committed 24 errors and had a fielding percent a full 20 points lower than Ryan's. No, Wright is more like Chipper Jones than like Ryan Zimmerman.

And he has from now to, oh, lets say, 2025 to prove it. Ryan Zimmerman, member, Hall Of Fame class of 2030.

Sounds weird, doesn't it?

NATS COULD BE A WINNER NEXT YEAR 'IF' ...

2006-08-05T10:46:00.000-06:00

[August 6th] -- Maybe we should rethink this whole "get younger" and "blow up the team" concepts that have been bandied about since the Lerner take-over. Is that really in the best interest of the team? Will forcing the fans to wait another four or five years for a winner the best solution?

It may have been the day before the Nationals - Reds' trade last month, but it certainly isn't now.

Take a look at how the Nationals' starting eight should finish the season. Does this look like a team that needs "blowing up" to you? Six of the eight are in double-figures in home runs, and five will have more than eighty RBI's (though to be fair, Church's numbers assume what he's done this year extrapolated out to 500 at-bats). Other than catcher Brian Schneider, only one player, Ryan Zimmerman, has an OBP below .362. More surprisingly, six of the eight will end the year with steals in double figures. This is a championship offense. If Soriano can be re-signed, and Vidro can remain healthy for even part of the year, this team has the offense to make it to the post-season.

The problem, of course, lies with the pitching staff.

If we assume that John Patterson is healthy, and that Livan Hernandez returns to form (both fair assumptions), the Nationals can count on thirty wins from their top two starters. The question is, where do they go from there? Tony Armas Jr. probably won't be back. Pedro Astacio likely won't either. Ramon Ortiz, however, is a solid back-of-the-rotation kinda guy, and may be re-signed for 2007. That leaves two spots in the rotation still open. If we assume that the team can fill one of those opening from within the organization, the team will then need one more starting pitcher.

This one player, one of twenty-five, will decide the direction of the 2007 Nationals.

If Jim Bowden is forced to fill this hole in the rotation from the "bargain basement," then the Nationals will probably be a .500 team next year, maybe a little better. If, however, Bowden "steps up to the plate" and brings in a gun, a Barry Zito or Jason Schmidt, then the Nationals will have the speed, the power, and the pitching to make to the post season. But they need that third pitcher badly.

And a little luck to keep all their players healthy.

I'm not holding my breath, but heading in this direction makes a lot of sense. A "just trying to survive" campaign next year will probably draw 27,000 or so fans to each game. A pennant race, however, could easily generate crowds close to 40,000 for every game. I'm not a mathematician, but I'm thinking those extra 13,000 fans per game could easily pay for a Zito or a Schmidt.

Put this one in the "could happen but probably won't" column.

VIDRO BEYOND HIS 'TWILIGHT' YEARS

2006-08-04T09:45:00.000-06:00

[August 4th] -- As The Montreal Expos' potential move to Washington became more fact than fancy, and I began to look over the team's roster, I realized that I really only knew one player on the roster: Jose Vidro. Oh sure, I'd seen the Expos play the Braves a dozen times a year on TBS, but none of the other players particularly stood out. So when the move became official in September of 2004, the player I was most excited to see was Jose Vidro. He had been one of the National League's best second baseman for several years, combining power with a high average and solid defense, something unusual for a second baseman. I got a chance to see Vidro play in person just once, but I could tell from that one look that the guy was special. He was svelte then, and deceptively quick. He was never a base stealer, but he was "sneaky" fast. Against Tom Glavine and the Atlanta Braves, Vidro went from first to third on a single that fell in front of Andruw Jones. Late in the game, Jose ranged to his right and snagged a bouncer headed into center field, jumped into the air, spun like a top, and fired a strike to first to just get the runner. That was the Jose Vidro I was expecting on opening day of 2005.

Of course, "that" Jose Vidro hasn't played a major league baseball game in several years.

Vidro injured his knee in 2001, limiting him to 124 games that year. He played a full season in 2003, but recurring knee problems forced Vidro to miss more than seventy games over the next two seasons. Last year, he was hampered first by a hamstring injury and later a "puffy" knee which ended his season in late August. He played in only eighty-seven games in 2005. He was injury free in 2006 until hamstring issues forced him to the DL in July.

It's a sad thing to say, but a healthy Jose Vidro doesn't provide much more to the Nationals than a hurt Jose Vidro on the disabled list. He fields every ball he gets to cleanly, but he doesn't get to many balls any more. His bad knee and tight hamstrings have severely limited his range. Offensively, he still hits for average, but doesn't walk as much as he used to, and as lost most of his power. Today, he's a average to below-average second baseman, but he's making "star" money.

I'm afraid the only way that Jim Bowden will be able to trade Jose Vidro this off season is if the Nationals pay off a large portion of his contract, something I don't see happening. I'm afraid we're going to have to watch a hobbled, ineffective Jose Vidro do his best for another year at RFK. Sadly, his "best" is just a modicum above bad.

And that's a shame. He was once as good as it got.

THE DEFINITIVE TAKE ON "THE TRADE THAT WASN'T"

2006-08-03T11:26:00.000-06:00

[August 3rd] -- First, the good news. I got an 87% on my biology class and I'm done for the summer. Yay! I now have two weeks of rest and relaxation before doing it all over again this fall.

Okay, on to the "Soriano" situation.

It would seem that the great majority of Nationals' fans are quite angry at Jim Bowden, saying he "painted himself into a corner" or "expected more than he could get" or "he's backtracking in order to save face" or a thousand other variations and permutations therein. A few others are very happy that Soriano stayed; in fact some even demanded it. But the consensus, I think, especially when you read the blogs and websites, is that Bowden allowed his ego to get in the way of getting this deal done.

I don't know -- Maybe. That could be a part of it, that's true. But that's not the reason that this all went down the way it did. It happened this way because it had to.

Jim Bowden has said since the day he traded for Soriano that he wouldn't move him unless he got in return what he believed to be fair value. So, when the trading frenzy began, Bowden asked for what he said he always would: two or three of that team's top prospects. Now, it became apparent very soon that players like Howie Kendrick weren't coming to Washington in any straight-up trade for Soriano. He is a rent-a-player, after all. But I don't think Bowden ever intended to go after the Kendricks of the world; I think he was after the players just beneath the studs. If Bowden, for example, was going to trade Soriano to the Nationals, he probably would have expected in return Billy Bray, Kory Casto and one of Potomac troika, Everts, Hinkley or Balestar. Those type of prospects in return for a star, albeit a two month star, would have made both teams happy were the Nats in contention. The problem was, he couldn't even get that level of player(s). Now, I've heard reports of trades that Bowden didn't make (I'm not even sure if they are true) that involved names I liked, but I have to assume that in this situation, that Bowden and Davey Johnson and Jose Rijo and Bob Boone know more about baseball than I do. If they all agreed not to "pull the trigger," then I assume they knew what they were doing.

So, Bowden kept Soriano and everyone is mad. Okay, "riddle me this?" What if, fearful that the Nationals' nation would have risen up and overthrown him, he made one of these unpalatable trades, say for three prospects, that he really didn't want. That would have placated the masses to the point that there would have been no need for cauldrons of boiling oil on the the roof at RFK. But would it have helped the team? I'm guessing that Stan Kasten reminded Bowden of a trade that his GM at Atlanta, John Sheurholtz, made at the trade deadline in 1994. The Padres, ridding themselves of star players with short-term contracts, traded Fred McGriff to the Braves for Donnie Elliot, Vince Moore and Mel Nieves. The Padres' GM got the trade done, got three prospects from a very bountiful Braves farm system, and the Padres' fans said at the time, "Well, they look like solid prospects -- if they all pan out, this will have been a good trade." Of course, none of them panned out. Nieves had a couple of borderline years at the major league level, but all three are today considered busts.

If Jim Bowden believed that the best he could get for Soriano was the 2006 version of Nieves, Elliot and Moore, then why make the deal? Soriano said that he'll give the Nats "first priority" to re-sign him if stays in Washington, and that he'd never sign here in D.C. if he was traded. Sure, it's going to be tough to re-sign him, but I believe that Soriano is an honest man, and that he will give Washington the "right-of-first-refusal," perhaps even with a bit of a home-town discount. If he doesn't re-sign, if he does sign with the Yankees or Angels or who ever, the team will then reap the benefit of a scenario where they have three first round draft picks in 2007. Let's see, two first round picks in '06 and three in '07. Why, I believe that makes a total of five first round picks over a two year period! Isn't that the right way to stock the farm system?

So who do you think would give the Nationals a stronger future in the coming years, three mid-level prospects or two first round draft picks, or perhaps even Alfonso Soriano himself? I would have loved the Nationals to have gotten a handful of "can't miss" prospects for Alfie, but it just couldn't be done; the market wasn't there. Now, we have Soriano in the outfield for the remainder of the year, which will keep the attendance high and the "natives" happy. Keeping him also sends a message to the community: "We're going to try to keep our best players."

The most important message Bowden is sending us is this: "We have a vision of where we're going from here, and making deals for the making deals isn't part of it. We don't need minor league fodder, we need major league talent. We still have Soriano, and he's as "major league" as it gets."

I'm going to give the Nationals the opportunity to do what they think best without a lot of griping. Jim Bowden bought a lot of my "good will" with that Kearns / Lopez trade. Personally, I'm happy Soriano is still here, and that the modern day version of Mel Nieves, Donnie Elliot and Vince Moore are not. I could be wrong though, we'll just have to wait and see.

But I am willing to wait.

BELTWAY BOY TO TAKE TWO-DAY SNOOOZE ....

2006-08-01T17:37:00.000-06:00

[August 1st] -- Hey y'all (don't laugh; I lived inside the southern part of the beltway). I am finishing my last of three summer classes and will be off line for the next day and a half. This was a four-week class, four long months of enzymes and zygotes condensed into four short weeks. Man, my head probably won't stop hurting until Christmas.

My final and lab presentations are tomorrow and Thursday, so I 'm thinking that a little more studying and a little less writing is in order. Fear not, however. I'm not going to pull a "Jamming Econo" on you ... I'll be back on Thursday. I'm still mad at that boy! Out of nowhere, "Banks Of The Anacostia" appears and instantly becomes one of the very best Nats' blogs available, then just *poof* disappears. I waited for months before taking his "button" off the website in hopes of his return. And, of course, I finally take it down and he's back like the next day.

Hey, J.E., keep writing. Family needs come second in the blog-o-sphere. I mean, I'd keep blogging and flunk Biology .... were it not for the .... three other times .... that I .... um. Well, never mind.

See you Thursday.

SORIANO GETS 3 HITS IN HIS "DEBUT" DEBUT

2006-07-31T23:14:00.000-06:00

[August 1st] -- It's 1:16 in the morning and I'm growing a little weary of this game against the Giants. Just when you think the Nationals have managed an unsurmountable lead, you find out very quickly that it's not. Ahead 6-1 early in the game, the Giants quickly closed it to 6-4. Later in the game, they forged ahead to a 10-4 lead, only to see the Giants score quickly to close the gap to 10-7.

Something very stranged happened in the 4th inning. After the Nationals scored five runs in the inning, Robert Fick came to the plate with no one on and one out. Fick, ever the spark-plug, tried to bunt, fouling the ball down the first base line. He endured several minutes of carping from the Giants dugout before Noah Lowery hit him with a fastball on Fick's backside. I have never understood many of baseball's unwritten rules. One of them says you can't bunt for a hit if your team is ahead by five runs or more. Well, look what happened. The Nats couldn't manufacturer any more runs (they had to magically appear, I guess), but the Giants were allowed to try to score as many runs as they could. I'd say the Nats shouldn't be allowed to bunt ahead by five run when the other team promises not to try to score runs. How 'bout that? That's fair.

To finish the story, Fick came out in his catcher's gear, waiting for the Giants' first batter, pitcher Noah Lowery. But uh-uh, no way does Felipe Alou allow him to bat when there's a fastball with his name on it just waiting for his presence. Fick didn't like Alou's strategy one bit, and gave pinch hitter Todd Linden an "earful" about the Giants "bush league" antics. It's a three game series -- A Nats pitcher wil find a way "remind" the Giants that you just don't go around whacking players because they were still trying to win.

I'm too tired to go on anymore tonight. I'll update when I get back from Biology class around 1:30 your time. Right now, it's bottom of the 9th with the "Chief" on the mound and a runner on second with no one out. I'm not going to venture a guess as to what might happen now. [Chief strikes out Todd Greene to end the game]

Yay!

BOWDEN TO ESPN: SORIANO STAYS!

2006-07-31T14:35:00.000-06:00

[July 31st] -- Jim Bowden contacted ESPN and told them just minutes after the 4:00 p.m. trade deadline that the Nattionals have decided to keep Alfonso Soriano and attempt to sign him to a long-term contract. Keith Law, being interviewed when the news came in, said that Bowden's decision was a "big mistake."

I have to believe that Bowden made this decision because he really believes the Nationals have a good chance to re-sign him to a long term contract before he becomes a free agent. Perhaps negotiations were going well enough over the past few days that the team feels comfortable that he'll become a part of the team's long-term future. Kevin Kennedy said on his XM radio program that his "sources" within the Nationals team stated "emphatically" that Soriano would be gone by 4:00 Monday. Because Bowden turned down a "significant" offer from the Angels, Soriano might be ready to sign a long term contract with the club.

Some websites are suggesting that Bowden didn't intend to keep Soriano as some "sign" that the Nationals are now emboldened and able to create a first class franchise. They are saying that Bowden kept the price too high, played one too many GM's against another, and his "house of cards" came down with a thud about half-an-hour before trade deadline. His keeping Soriano, they say, was the only option left.

I don't buy it. I think that Bowden woke up this morning ready to trade Soriano for the prospects he thought he was worth or he was going to keep his star. While the two haven't come close to an agreement for an extension or a new deal, I'm sure that both sides feel good enough about where things are heading that Bowden was willing to take this chance. He can now say to Soriano, "Okay big fella, you said you wanted to stay and I turned down two very good offers to keep you here. Show me your appreciation by finalizing a deal now so the fans know that you meant what you said." I think it'll work.

What will it cost? Four years, maybe five, at a minimum of $12 million a year (that's what he asked for in arbitration, before his "stud-ly" 2006 season. Probably, the "numbers" can be worked out -- but what about this "no trade" clause that he's demanding? Stan Kasten says he's never signed any player to a "no-trade," and doesn't see any reason to start. I do. I'd hate to see the Nationals go this far out on a limb to keep Soriano and then balk at a "no trade." My hope is that Kasten and Bowden will either give him a "partial" no trade clause or give him a "full" no trade, but for only the first two years.

For this to work, both sides have to give. Thus far, The Nationals have given Alfonso "respect" by keeping him. That's a big chance to take for the club right now. Now it's Soriano's turn. Tell the fans that your ready and willing to hammer out a contract now, in the next couple of days.

It's the right thing to do.

I've put off telling you how I feel for a reason; I'm not sure exactly how I feel. I was very much looking forward to a plethora of prospects in return for Soriano, instantly lifting the Nationals' dreary minor league farm system to the low range of respectability. That said, we all know that prospects, even the "can't miss" kind, are a crapshoot. Bottom line: With Soriano, next season's lineup will be very potent. If Livan can "come back," and if the Nationals can find a couple of servicable, inexpensive starters, this team can win 85 games next season (assuming all the DL'd broken bodies return next season).

Maybe we don't need that much tinkering after all?

WE'LL KNOW SOON ....

2006-07-30T19:58:00.000-06:00

[July 31st] -- Well, "era" might be a little "much," but you know what I mean. Was Sunday's 4-3 loss to the Dodgers Alfonso Soriano's last game in a Nationals' uniform?

Probably. Or maybe not. I just don't know.

All of the "big" names that were rumored to be on the trading block have already joined their new teams except for Soriano. Well, that's another exageration. There were only two other "names," Carlos Lee and Bobby Abreu. So why is Alfie still here? Will Jim Bowden cave and accept a trade that doesn't involve the other team's "top" prospect(s)? Where the past week has been a seller's market, the tide has turned, and the buyers are now "behind the wheel." There is only one team still seriously interested in Soriano (the Angels), and a couple of others with "some" interest. Bowden is going to have to decide in the next eighteen hours or so just how badly he wants to make this deal.

I think it's obvious that whatever he's being offered today is less than what he could have gotten last week. Gamblers need to know when to "hold" 'em and know when to "fold" 'em, and perhaps Jimbo held a little too long. If he did, and since he's painted himself into a corner regarding what he'll accept for Soriano, his only move may be one of omission -- that is, to do nothing at all, and hope he can sign Soriano in the off-season. Worst case scenario would be the two draft choices the Nats would receive should Alfonso sign somewhere else.

The guessing is all but over. All of the "what if's" are spent. It's either going to happen or its not. My only concern is if Bowden does re-sign Soriano, his salary is likely going to be 20% or more of the team's payroll, which makes no sense if the team is going to be rebuilding as they've suggested. I've given up trying to work this out where it makes any sense. I'm just going to wait and see what happens.

But what about all those "other" players that the Nationals have on the trading block as well? I haven't heard nary a rumor about Livan Hernandez and Tony Armas Jr., not to mention the beavy of backup players that could be had for low level prospects. Are these players being talked about, or is a Soriano trade the only real possibility here in these last hours?

NATS NOTES: Did you hear that the Texas Rangers offered Brad Wilkerson to the Houston Astros for Brad Lidge? That would be a trade involving two under-performing players .... Just hours after Mike O'Connor was sent back down to 'AAA' New Orleans, he complained of pain in his shoulder and was placed on the disabled list. I wonder if that allows him to keep making the $27,000/month Major League minimum as opposed to the $2,700/mo that minor leaguers get .... Ryan Wagner, acquired from the Reds in "the" trade a few weeks ago, has been called up to replace Mike O'Connor on the 25 man roster.

THE NEGATIVE ASPECT OF ALFONSO SORIANO

2006-07-29T22:24:00.000-06:00

[July 30th] -- At this point in the season, wins and losses are meaningless. You have to look within the boxscore to find the real news. So don't sweat the Nationals' 7-5 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday. Felipe Lopez, for instance, got two hits, the fifth time he's done that in his last seven games and is now batting .266. If he can only learn how to throw the ball, he'll be a stud at short for Washington for many years to come. Nick Johnson hit his 15th of the season, and I'm (finally) beginning to think that Johnson is in fact the long-term answer for the Nationals at first (as opposed to Larry Broadway, someone I've been very high on since the team moved to Washington). Mike O'Connor has been "figured out." He's getting shelled in the first inning, and then things just seem to get worse from there. He may end up becoming a specialty-lefty, a guy who comes into a game to get one left-hander out. And there is nothing wrong with that. That rainbow delivery can be problematic for southpaws. Ryan Zimmerman has looked uncomfortable at the plate the last two games -- he needed a 9th inning single to keep his batting average at .288. If history holds true, he'll break out of his funk and will get two or three hits on Sunday and drive in a couple of runs.

Alfonso Soriano keeps telling anyone who'll listen that he's 1) happy in Washington and doesn't want to leave and 2) he's unwilling to discuss a new contract until season's end. He also says that if he's traded, he's not going to re-sign with the Nationals this fall.

Now, wait a minute....

Soriano and his agent Diego Bentz understands the business side of baseball. It's really nice that he likes it here in Washington and that he wants to stay, but you can't say that AND then be unwilling to negotiate that very contract that will allow you to get your wish. Soriano knows that the team can't afford to keep him beyond the trade deadline and then risk losing him in return for only two first round draft choices. Hey, Alfonso, either you talk to Bowden about a contract or you stop saying that you want to stay. Because, if you won't talk dollars, then you really don't want to stay and you're just saying "stuff" so you can hear your lips flap. For giggles, let's say that Soriano does stay and then leaves for a mega-deal after the end of the season. The team would get a first round pick and a sandwich pick. Suppose the team ended up with a "Chad Cordero" and a "Billy Bray," both first round picks for the Nationals. Would you trade Soriano for those two? No way. An article was posted on the team's website late Saturday that indicates the Nationals are still trying to make a deal with Soriano before Monday's deadline. How? How can the team come to some agreement with him if he's not willing to discuss dollars? I think it has to be part of the negotiation process, designed to spur on the teams still interested in him to ante up even further.

If Soriano gets traded, and I think he will, it will be because he wasn't willing to forego free agency to stay in D.C. for $60 million or so. Greed will be the reason. Saying that you want to stay is one thing, while actually wanting to stay is something else entirely.

NATS NOTES: The potential trade with the Detroit Tigers is dead not because of a lack of interest between the two clubs, but rather Humberto Sanchez' "sore elbow." I thought, like everyone else, that when Sanchez was scratched from his start last Wednesday, it was because he was about to be traded. Nope. He really was hurt .... All of a sudden, out of nowhere, the "untradeable" Miguel Tejada is suddenly "tradeable." Is this a decision based on the future well-being of the Baltimore Orioles, or is Peter Angelos "sticking a finger" in Jim Bowden's eye by driving down Alfonso Soriano's value? I'll bet that Tejada really isn't on the market at all, and that the Orioles are simply trying to make it more difficult to for the Nationals to trade Alfonso. I mean, that sounds like a lawyers trick, doesn't it? .... It's been almost two weeks and Matt LeCroy still hasn't signed with another team, which surprises me greatly. I can't believe that there isn't an American League team trying to get into the playoffs who doesn't need a right-handed power bat .... Ryan Drese reported "unbearable" pain in his elbow after throwing in the bullpen and it now appears that he will undergo "Tommy John" surgery. It will be at least a year before he will return to the mound. I hate to say this, but losing Drese won't effect the team in any way. Drese is but one of many available starting pitchers who give up five runs per game. He is easily replaceable.

MOVES IN THE NL EAST

2006-07-29T08:03:00.000-06:00

[July 29th] -- Anyone want to talk about Friday's game? Didn't think so.

On to more important matters.

The face of the National League East is beginning to change. The Phillies traded David Bell to the Milwaukee Brewers for a minor league pitcher while the Atlanta Braves traded Wilson Benemit to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Danys Baez, a right-handed reliever, and utilityman Willy Aybar.

The Phillies trade is one of those "wait-and-see" type of deals. Bell is 33 and at the end of his career, and the player they traded for is a career class 'A' pitcher. Who knows how it will play out. But Wilson Benemit? Benemit, along with Andy Marte, was to have been an integral cog in the Braves' future. Benemit was batting .281-9-29 at the time of the trade, and was on a pace to hit 25 homers and drive in 90 runs had he been playing everyday. He's 25, and could easily have taken over for Rafael Furcal as the team's starting short-stop. Instead, the Braves traded Marte for Edgar Renteria, and now have traded Benemit as well.

Although the Braves are still run by John Scherholtz, his style has certainly changed. Could you imagine the Braves trading away a young Javy Lopez, or Ryan Klesko, or even Chipper Jones, to remain in a pennant race? Sure, he made trades for established players, but he never gave up a real prospect, a future starter, for any of those veterans he brought in. I'll bet that Marte and Benemit combine for 45-55 home runs next season, while Chipper Jones keeps getting older and Edgar Renteria keeps sucking the team's checkbook dry. I just don't get it.

ANOTHER GOOD TRADE FOR THE NATS

2006-07-28T16:55:00.000-06:00

[July 28th] -- Well, it wasn't the trade we were expecting, but it's a good trade nonetheless. The Nationals announced that they traded aging Mike Stanton to the San Francisco Giants for 19 year old Shairon Martis.

Martis, born in Curacao, is a citizen of the Netherlands and pitched in this spring's World Baseball Classic, throwing a no-hitter against team Panama.

And we got this guy for Mike Stanton?

He pitched for the Giant's Arizona Fall League team in 2005, crafting a 2-1 record with a 1.85 ERA. Impressed? Hey, that's only the beginning. He struck out FIFTY in 34 innings while walking only nine. That's almost 14 strikeouts per 9 innings. He allowed only seven hits per 9 innings. This year, playing for Augusta of the South Atlantic League, Martis has gone 6-4, 3.64, with 66 strikeouts in 76 innings. He's walked just 21.

Here is a scouting report listing Martis as the Giants' #8 prospect: "8. Shairon Martis (RHP). Born: March 30th 1987 --- 6'1", 175 lbs --- 2005 record:2-1, 1.85, 34 IP, 50 K, 9 BB!! for AZL Giants. --- Mid 90's fastball with advanced secondary stuff and command. Barring injury, this kid is going to move up fast. Since we have a paucity of "sure thing" prospects, I see no reason not to get out in front of a kid with this upside."

He's certainly not a "can't miss" prospect -- we got him for 39 year old Mike Stanton after all -- but he was listed as one of the Giants "top 30" prospects, and without question has the potential to make it to the big-leagues as a starting pitcher.

That said, once again, fans on the other end of a Nationals' trade are carping and crying. Fans on a Giants message board are using words like "raped," saying that this is one of Brian Sabean's "worst trades." One even likened Martis to Francisco Liriano. I think that's all a bit much, but it is another trade (like the Kearns deal) that makes you scratch your head and try to understand just how Bowden did it.

Good job, Jimbo. Maybe we won't firebomb your house after all.

LEE LEAVES FOR LONE STAR STATE, MENCH HEADS TO MILWAUKEE

2006-07-28T10:40:00.000-06:00

[July 28th] -- "Hey look, I can always call the Brewers and work out a deal for Carlos Lee.": Response by any number of general managers in response to Jim Bowden's trade demands.

Not any more.

The Brewers sent Lee and top outfield prospect Nelson Cruz on Friday to the Texas Rangers for reliever Francisco Cordero, outfielders Kevin Mench and Laynce Nix and Minor League left-hander Julian Cordero.

I'm not going to dissect the trade except as how it relates to the Washington Nationals. And it relates very, very well.

First and foremost, Carlos Lee is no longer available, which instantly increases Alfonso Soriano's value. If a club wants to trade for a "game changer," then they're going to have to deal with Jim Bowden. That Lee went to a club that wasn't pursuing Soriano also helps the Nationals. The number of teams who were "very" interested the Nats' outfielder on Thursday will still be interested on Friday, especially those teams in the AL West. What is Bill Stoneman thinking right now in the Angels' front office? The division championship was up-for-grabs as of last night, but now the Rangers have a leg-up on both the Angels and Athletics, the two teams ahead of them in the standings. As it is, Texas is only two games out of first place. And even if the Rangers aren't helped by the trade, even if Carlos Lee pulls a "Preston Wilson" on Texas, the move nonetheless forces the hand of Bill Stoneman and Billy Beane to do "something," "anything" to keep up with the Rangers.

Personally, I don't think the trade helps the Rangers all that much. Mench has averaged 25 homers per year the past two seasons, and is on pace to hit .284-20-90 this year. Lee has only averaged five more homers a year than has Mench since 2004. If the two players are "similar" in terms of offense, then why the trade? Simple. Carlos Lee, like Alfonso Soriano, has the talent and ability to put a team on his back and carry them for two weeks at a time. When he's playing "typical" Carlos Lee baseball, he's no better than Kevin Mench. When he dons his cape and and blue leotards, however, he can help his team win twelve games in two weeks. If Lee gets hot, then it's a good trade. If he doesn't, then the Rangers won't be any better with Lee in the outfield.

Something else that Nationals' fans need to consider. The Brewers traded a rent-a-player with a real prospect in order to get value for their soon-to-be free agent. I think the Nationals will have to do the same. No matter how badly a team wants to win now, they cannot justify to their fans the trading away of a future all-star for someone who's going to be around for just two months. I think that Bowden is going to have to trade another player, a prospect, perhaps a young major leaguer, in order to get the talent level he's after in a trade. Soriano and Kory Casto? Soriano and Ryan Church? I'm afraid that's the only way this trade is going to happen.

Regardless, this trade helps the Nationals. Now let's see if Jim Bowden can use it to his advantage.

bitter - SWEET!

2006-07-27T14:30:00.000-06:00

[July 26th] -- Two of the Nationals' best players said their good-byes at RFK Stadium on Thursday afternoon.

Throughout the team's sweep of the Chicago Cubs and San Francisco Giants, the wins and the game's drama have taken a back seat to what is going on behind the scenes in Jim Bowden's office and on Jim Bowden's blackberry. When will Alfonso Soriano be traded? Where will Livan Hernandez go?

And when will it happen?

The Nationals, as constructed, are a pretty good team. We all know, however, that the team is just days, perhaps hours away from being sliced and diced by baseball's version of the veg-o-matic. Where once stood Dr. Evil will soon be "Mini Me." The "good" will soon be replaced by both the "bad" and the "ugly." It's going to be hard to watch. So let us enjoy the good while we can.

The good: Once again, young Ryan Zimmerman showed that he is one of the best third baseman in the National League today. Zimmerman walked and hit a long home run off the back wall in left-center field. His batting average is back above .290, and, more importantly, his on-base percentage is .357, excellent for a rookie. He may develop into a power hitting third baseman like Chipper Jones, or he may develop into a high average third baseman like Wade Boggs. If the planets align just "so," he might develop into both.

Alfonso Soriano, in what must have been his last at-bat as a National at RFK, homered in his first at bat for the 30th time in his career. Of course, I don't know anything that you don't, and this is pure conjecture, but I'm afraid that Soriano's high-water mark in terms of value returned in a trade passed over the weekend. Until now, it was the suitors who were frantic that they were going to be out-bid, now it's Bowden who is worried that if he doesn't "adjust" his asking price, he might be forced to trade his star player for a couple of nobodies and a suitcase full of cash, or worse still, keep him in Washington for the rest of the season. Bowden had better pull the trigger in the next 48 hours or run the risk of having Nationals' fans think the Kearns-Lopez trade was more the ineptness of the other team's GM rather than any brilliance on Bowden's part (Bowden and "brilliance" in the same sentence? When's the last time that happened?)

Livan Hernandez did exactly what he had to do to continue to whet the appetites of baseball's pennant contenders. Over his last three outings, Livan has averaged 6+ innings, allowing three runs and six hits while striking out four. Other general manager's will now forget all the flotsom and jetsom floating around from earlier this year and concentrate on the fact that Livan has proven that he is capable of keeping any team in any game against any pitcher. That's all they needed to know. The Nationals are now assured of a solid prospect, maybe two for Hernandez. That helps greatly since Jose Guillen and Jose Vidro, both injured and both now past their prime, will bring us nothing this year.

What a wonderful home-stand this was. Six games played, six games won. The team broke their consecutive 30,000 + attendance mark at five this afternoon, but only by less than 300. The team now heads to Los Angeles to play the Dodgers, owners of one of the worst post-all star game records in the National League. Who knows, the winning streak might continue. More than likely, however, the Nationals will begin to look like a minor league team as it begins to lose player after player, night after night. Once the trades are all finished, they might be a minor league team. But it has to happen, and I understand the motives for the moves. That said, this is a good team, and could have been a great one with another pitcher or two.

Sadly, we'll never know.

Nats Notes: Former Nats' president Tony Taveres has been sued for allegedly slapping a former employee. Nice ... Austin Kearns got three hits in Thursday's game and is now batting .271 ... Micah Bowie pitched a ho-hum 1-2-3 8th inning and lowered his ERA to 1.35 ... Ryan Church went hitless for the first time since returning to the lineup last weekend ... Felipe Lopez stole his 26th base of the season.

Fox Sports Lists Nats - Angels As Trade that "Has To Happen"

As if you wanted to read more about Alfonso Soriano. Foxsports.com has an article that lists trades that need to happen. Number four is Alfonso Soriano to the Los Angeles Angels:

4. Alfonso Soriano To The Angels

"If recent rumors are any guide, Nats outfielder Alfonso Soriano may soon be on his way to the White Sox. However, Chicago (who ranks first in the AL in runs scored but only ninth in bullpen ERA) instead needs to be focusing on bringing in a Roberto Hernandez or similarly skilled middleman. The offense is fine.

Alfonso Soriano has recently stated that he'd prefer to stay in Washington. As for the Angels, despite a number of injuries, disappointing performances and tactical missteps, they're only a game out in the eminently winnable AL West. If the Halos are to make strides, then they'll need to improve the lineup. Presently, they rank 11th in the 14-team AL in runs scored and 12th in slugging percentage. In specific terms, they need power.

In left field, they've got organizational stalwart Garret Anderson. Anderson has a productive history, and he's as likeable and intelligent a player as there is in the game today. However, Anderson (2006 batting line: .259 AVG/.305 OBP/.398 SLG) has been all kinds of awful this season at the plate, and in the field he's no longer the defender he once was. If the Angels are to take the West, they need to make the difficult call and bench Anderson in favor of someone who can hit. Someone who can hit, thy name is Alfonso Soriano.

Soriano is slugging .594 on the year and ranks second in the NL with 31 bombs despite playing half his games in pitcher-friendly RFK. That's power and lots of it. Soriano, who has the Yankees, Tigers, White Sox, Dodgers and others in the derby for his services, will probably cost quite a bit on trade market. However, the Angels have a rich farm system and can assemble the necessary package without parting with top talents like Brandon Wood and Howie Kendrick. Soriano's a better fit in Anaheim than he is on the South Side of Chicago."

I still think that Soriano is going to end up in the AL Central, with the White Sox, Tigers, perhaps even the Twins now that they are hot-hot-hot.

CLUTCH!

2006-07-26T21:13:00.000-06:00

[July 26th] -- There aren't any "automatic" outs in the Nationals' lineup anymore, and it's starting to show in the standings. With their 4-3, come-from-behind win on Wednesday, The Nats have now won five in a row and are 8-2 over their last ten games. Several seemingly un-related circumstances over the past three weeks have created an energized and multi-talented lineup. In short, they are "winners."

First, Jose Guillen got hurt. The three longest "hot streaks" of 2006 have all come with Guillen either out of the lineup or out of the clubhouse entirely. Second, Jim Bowden made "the trade." It took a week for Felipe Lopez and Austin Kearns to feel comfortable in a Nationals' uniform, but the moment they began to hit, the team began to win. Finally, center-field is no longer an "issue." First Alex Escobar, and now Ryan Church, are playing solid, fundamental baseball. When you have a one-through-eight lineup that can flat-out hit, all of the team's other problems just seem to take care of themselves. That's what's happened with the Nationals.

For the former Reds, the hits just keep on coming. Felipe Lopez got another two hits, the fourth straight game he's done that, and Austin Kearns got a hit and two RBI's, including the game winning sacrifice fly. Hey, it's not as sexy as a homer, but the win counts just the same. It was a good trade; both teams keep winning with their new players, which means that no one got robbed. It was a win-win transaction.

I'm afraid that Ryan Church is playing too good. He got another two hits against the Giants and has raised that early season .215 batting average all the way to .250 in just a few games. He's a great hitter; all he needed was the opportunity to (again) show he was a major leaguer. Barry Svulgara (I'm too tired to see if I got his name right) said in a recent chat that Bowden might be show-casing Church in hopes of "sweetening" a deal. The sweetest of all possible deals would be the one that keeps Church in Washington. Keep him, Jim. Keep him.

It's become obvious that Ryan Zimmerman is out of his slump. No more 1-27's for this guy. He went 0-8 over parts of three games, popping everything up to shallow right-center, his sure sign of struggling at the plate. Zimmerman, however, made the adjustment before things went too sour, and has now gotten six hits in the three games that followed his "mini ofer." Zimmerman also drove in two runs, and now has 66 RBI's for the season, still on pace for 100+ RBI's. He hasn't hit a homer since July 4th. So what? The power will come. For now, let him batter the opposition with line-drives off the outfield wall.

Pedro Astacio pitched better than his linescore would indicate. Six innings, six hits and three runs. Fact is, he only gave up two earned runs, and they came as a result of a bloop single that dropped in between three Nationals' defenders. He was brilliant. Hopefully, scouts were watching and Astacio will find himself in a pennant race somewhere while the Nationals are the beneficiaries of a couple of youngsters. Right now, the Nats have three pitchers, Astacio, Ramon Ortiz and Livan Hernandez, who should be able to bring some decent talent in a trade.

Micah Bowie continues to impress. He was the "real deal" when he was with the Braves, then just fell of the radar screen. Washington is happy to have him. Bowie has crafted a fine 1.46 ERA during his stay with the Nationals. He, and Luis Ayala, could become mainstays in the team's bullpen next season. That's why the Reds-Nats trade still makes little sense from a talent-for-talent perspective. Middle relievers are a dime-a-dozen. You just keep rooting through the pitching scrap heap until you find a couple of guys who are hot and ride them for as long as you can.

For the fifth straight game, the Nationals topped 30,000 in attendance. More than anything, this is the most positive sign that I can see coming out of this winning streak. Oh sure, the Cubs draw well, and it was the "re-grand opening," but now it's the Giants, and the Nats continue to draw. Normally, I'd agree if you said it was Barry Bonds drawing the fans, but this is the older, less talented, almost-prosecuted version several homers away from Babe Ruth and many homers away from Hank Aaron. No, fans are coming because they want to watch Washington baseball again.

How cool is that?

NATS HANG ON FOR 8-6 WIN

2006-07-25T21:13:00.000-06:00

[
[July 26th] -- They have won four in a row, and five out of six. The Nationals should be buyers, not sellers. What would it cost us to get Carlos Lee?

Nah, just kidding.

A few thoughts that are hanging on the periphery of Tuesday's 8-6 win over the San Francisco Giants:

1. Jim Bowden has said several times since demoting Ryan Church for the second time that he was, in essence, out of both chances and opportunities with the Washington Nationals. He hits a Bonds-eque upper deck two-run home run on Sunday, and follows up that performance with a two hit, three RBI effort against the Giants on Tuesday. That places Bowden in a conundrum. He's already said that Church is persona non grata around RFK and it's very likely that he's only playing now so he can be showcased and traded. If he is traded, how will Bowden explain to the Nationals' fans that he wouldn't keep the team's 3rd best outfielder (assuming Soriano is since traded) simply because he didn't like him? An outfield of Church, Austin Kearns and Alex Escobar / Luis Matos is very solid. I say keep him. He's Grady Sizemore with a bible.

2. Ramon Ortiz is consistent. He consistently gives up five runs per game. He has no real trade value and won't be back next year, so why keep throwing him out there? I'm guessing that at every level of the Nationals' minor league system are any number of pitchers, young pitchers, who are able to give up five runs per game fairly easily. Don't get me wrong. Signing Ortiz was a good try on Bowden's part. Of the affordable pitchers on the scrap heap last spring, I thought Ortiz and Josh Fogg were the two best gambles to be the next Esteban Loiaza. So he wasn't. Heck, Esteban Loiaza wasn't the next Esteban Loiaza this year.

3. Felipe Lopez got two more hits, his third straight two-hit game, and now has a batting average higher than the one he came with two weeks ago. That's good. What's bad was his throw in the 9th inning. It was obvious by his foot placement that the ball was going to be wild before he started to make his throw. Reds' fans warned us about his defense. He get's to every ball, but only gets 95% of them to first. That said, it was Nick Johnson who was charged with the error. The point it, a good throw would have made the bad catch moot.

4. The Nationals' offense continues to gel, which makes the team's pitching woes seem that much worse. With last year's pitching staff, and this year's offense, this is a 93 win team. Just thought I'd make you feel bad. Did it work?

So, the Soriano sweepstakes continues. Remember all that "extremely close" stuff we heard on Monday? Yeah, right. That's one thing I've learned over the years: the more "certain" the trade, the less likely it'll happen. Last year's Soriano-Wilkerson trade rumors hit the internet about two hours before it actually happened. I don't recall many trades that really happened being bandied about in the press for days or weeks before hand. Nope, we'll wake up one of these mornings and Soriano will be a Royal or a Pirate, and we'll never have seen it coming.

But then, we wouldn't have had anything to talk about, right?

[
Second baseman Jose Vidro has joined Jose Guillen on the disabled list, and, just like Guillen, has no trade value whatsoever. Both players could have each brought a couple of "decent" prospects, but no more. Guillen is gone, and Vidro remains, and both scenarios are equally bad.

Since last fall when the Nationals signed Bernie Castro to a minor league contract, I've been saying that he has the ability to play second base in the major leagues on an every-day basis. He immediately becomes the fastest player on the team. He's hit at every level of the minor leagues, and has a career .288 batting average in both the major and minor leagues. He got a September call-up with the Orioles last year and batted .288 with 6 stolen bases.

I really think he'll show that he can play at this level, and who knows, perhaps next year, it'll be Castro at second and not Vidro.

YEAH, I'VE HEARD IT TOO ...

2006-07-24T16:14:00.001-06:00

[July 24th] -- I've heard the same rumors, Soriano to the Sox for Brandon McCarthy et. al. Maybe, maybe not. I'd be surprised if Jim Bowden pulls the trigger a week before the trading deadline, and that he wouldn't give the Tigers one last chance to sweeten the pot. So, remembering the dozens of "done deal" Nationals' trades that haven't happened since October of 2004 (remember the Terrmel Sledge to San Diego for Dave Roberts, the "it's all finalized but the announcement" trade last fall?), I'm going to wait and watch. No way I'm going to waste a couple thousand words on a trade that might not happen. That said, Kenny Williams was just on XM and said he wasn't trading any of his young pitchers, and specifically mentioned McCarthy, so pardon me if I just wait and see how things pan out. And while we're waiting to here about this whole "White Sox" thing, word out of Toledo is that Humberto Sanchez, who would be the centerpiece of a Tigers - Nationals deal, was held out of his start tonight. Seems he wasn't feeling well. Or might it be that something is about to break with Detroit and, as all teams do, they are protecting their soon-to-be traded players from injury before the deal is done? If I had to guess, I still think it's going to be a Tigers - Nats scenario.

Didn't I just write that I wasn't going to speculate about any of this??

One thing is for sure, though. Jose Guillen is done for the year. Fox Sports is announcing that Guillen will have to undergo "Tommy John" surgery, sidelining him for the next 9 - 18 months. Thus ends the Nationals' career of Mr. Guillen. Don't cry; the draft pick, we might have gotten wouldn't have been more than a "uniform filler" anyway. Also, I'm sure you noticed just as I that the last two "hot streaks" by the Nationals came when Guillen was unable to play / away from the team. Addition by subtraction, I'd say.

NATS SWEEP CUBS, LERNERS NOW 3-0

2006-07-23T13:56:00.000-06:00

[July 23rd] -- Two long home runs were the difference in the Nationals' 7-1 drubbing of the Chicago Cubs on Sunday. One, by Ryan Church, was his first in almost three months, and the other, by Alfonso Soriano, was his first in about three days.

But both players could have had a much better day. Soriano, who went 2-5, missed hitting two more home runs by a total of six feet. Now that would have been a good day. No complaints, though. Soriano still leads the Majors in total bases by a wide margin. Ryan Church, after popping out in the 2nd, hit perhaps the longest ball to right-center field that RFK has seen by a player not named Barry Bonds. Carlos Marmol laid a 91 mph fastball waist high, and Church turned on the ball and hit the pitch as hard has a baseball can be hit. Maybe harder. That was good. What was bad was the next three at-bats, when Church tried to duplicate his Ruthian blast. He struck out twice on pitches that my 14 year old son wouldn't have swung at and popped out his last time up. In the back of my mind, there was something about Ryan Church (one of my favorite players) that I didn't like, and today's game made me remember what that was. After hitting a homer, his next 3-5 at bats are automatic outs. Nevertheless, Ryan Church is back and (for the moment, anyway) helping the team. What a great platoon we'd have in center if Alex Escobar can somehow regain his health.

I am sure that Nats' GM Jim Bowden was on the phone from the second inning on, telling pitching-poor contenders, "Tony Armas is blowing away the Cubs, you better make a deal now before he goes somewhere else." That's the way it works this close to the trading deadline. One quality start is all it takes to embolden a team to take a chance on an "iffy" pitcher. Were I Jim Bowden (which I can't be because I don't drink), I'd move both Armas and Livan before they have the chance to pitch the team out of a meaningful trade.

After going 3-7 last night, Austin Kearns and Felipe Lopez went 3-8 on Sunday. Lopez drove in two more runs and Kearns, for the first time in his career, laid down a sacrifice bunt. While there was initially some question about the "trade" based upon early returns, all precincts are now reporting and we have a winner. And it aint Royce Clayton, Billy Bray and Gary Majewski, that's for darn sure.

It's nice to see that even when Ryan Zimmerman is in a slump, he still produces. You can tell when Zimmerman isn't "seeing" the ball well because he either pops the ball up or hits choppers to the middle infielders. On Sunday, Zimmerman walked and singled and got his batting average back up to .289, four points below his season high.

The Nationals are now 3-0 under their new owners. Can you trace this to the team feeling some stability for the first time in five years, or was it the fact that they played the Chicago Cubs? I'm guessing it was a little bit of both. One thing is for sure, though, and that is when there's 30,000 or more in the stands at RFK, the Nationals play at a higher level.

Nice job, boys. Enjoy the rest of your Sunday. I know I will.

Oh, by the way, you might want to do what I did earlier today. I emailed the Nationals and said:

"Dear Stan, There has been a change on our end. Please wire the $450 million to this new account number: 39483957309. The old one doesn't work any more. Oh, another thing, make the wire payable to "Farid Rushdi." It's still pronounced "Major League Baseball," just spelled differently."

Hey, you never know, right?

FROM THE SICK BED OF THE BELTWAY BOY

2006-07-23T08:50:00.000-06:00

[July 23rd] -- So, I'm fifty years old, which means that, sometimes, stuff just doesn't work right. I have a couple of broken teeth way in the back that don't bother me most of the time. I also have a nasty little arthritic condition in my spine that usually remains silent. My heart, 400 million beats later, has a saggy valve that only causes me discomfort now and then. I awoke this morning at 4:00 a.m. with all three flaring at their worst. Not wanting to wake my wife, I brought my pillow out to the couch and tried to go back to sleep.

No dice.

When I'm sick, I tend to think of baseball. I don't know why. I guess it's because I always tended to get "sick" during Senators' day games **cough cough** so I could stay home and catch the broadcast. I was watching ESPN News and I began to notice what everyone believes is true, that the American League is the superior league. You don't have to look at the recent all-star and World Series games to figure this out; just check out any slate of games on any given night. The American League is superior.

That figures.

The Washington Senators was, as we all know, an American League team. Year in and year out, the American League would get the stuffing knocked out of them at the All-Star game. The National League at one point won, what was it, fifteen out of sixteen games? Long after the Senators left town, I remained an "American League" guy. Even when I became a Braves' fan in the late 1980's, I still rooted for the American League to win the mid-summer classic. I didn't know the players, yet I rooted for them anyway. Some things are hard to change.

Ah, but I finally did. With baseball back in Washington, I finally became a "National League" guy, just in time to find out that once again, my league, was the inferior of the two. Crap. Oh, I know; it's cyclical. The NL was the best league for decades, and now it's the AL's turn. I understand that. I'm just wondering if they'll come a time when all the stars align and the league my team is in is the best. It hasn't happened yet.

Oh well, maybe one day.

Go Nats -- kill the Cubbies. Hopefully, I won't croak before the end of the game, which, at this moment at least, seems to be a 50-50 proposition. And to top it off, it's 9:00 a.m. and it's gotta be well over 90 already, and it's supposed to beat yesterday's high of 108. One of the few drawbacks of living in Idaho is the fact that it seldom gets this hot, so few houses have air-conditioners. Typically, a summer day reaches the low 90's and by mid afternoon and cools to the low 50's at night. Perfect weather. Except for a couple of weeks in July, that is, when the temperatures close in on 110. No matter what you do, no matter how many fans you put in the house, you die. You just die. Combine that with an aging body and .....

...well, you get the idea.

NATS WIN AGAIN, CUBS SEEING RED

2006-07-22T16:33:00.000-06:00

[July 22nd] -- Alex Escobar is something special, and apparently has been for quite some time. But if you're not healthy and can't play, no one is going to notice.

They're noticing now. And how.

Less than 24 hours after injuring his hamstring again, Escobar hit a pinch hit, two-run homer that turned a close game into easy 7-3 Nationals' win. It was obvious by the limp as he rounded the bases that he's nowhere near 100%. That said, I assumed he was out for the year after watching him being helped off the field last night. My guess is he'll have problems with the injury for the rest of the year but should be able to play fairly regularly.

If Alfonso Soriano is "going," at least he's going out with a "bang." Soriano got four hits on Saturday, three doubles and a triple, and drove in a run. I can only imagine what this guy is going to bring in a trade when the deal finally happens. I'm going to miss him soooo much. Some fans one the message boards are hoping that, as Soriano has noted more than once, he'll return as a free-agent signee next year. Two things. First, no way does the Nationals come close to paying Soriano "fair market value." That's probably going to be somewhere near 5 years/$75 million. Second, for a team wanting to build up it's shabby farm system, I can't see Stan Kasten signing off on a deal that's going to lose them their first round draft pick (of course, if the Nats end the season poorly, they may notllose that pick -- that's not a given).

The newbies, Austin Kearns and Felipe Lopez look like they are finally starting to feel comfortable in a Washington uniform. They combined to go 3-7 with Kearns getting his first homer for the Nationals. Ryan Zimmerman "only" went 1-5, but that one hit, a double, drove in two runs and is now up to 63 for the year. He's still on pace to drive in 100 runs for the season.

Livan Hernandez pitched his second straight "quality" start, allowing three runs in six innings. He's not pitching as well as we expected, but he is pitching well enough to get him traded for prospects. Speaking of trades, The Blue Jays sent Shea Hillebrandt to the San Francisco Giants, which kills any chance of the Giants trading for Vidro and playing him at first. It's now Hillebrandt's position and Vidro, unless Mets' GM Omar Minaya has a brain cramp, will remain in Washington.

More later ... out enjoying my Saturday.

NEW ERA BEGINS WITH NICE WIN

2006-07-21T20:49:00.000-06:00

[July 22nd] -- The Washington Nationals gave up three runs in the 7th inning in Friday night's game against the Chicago Cubs and trailed 6-4 in a game they once led 4-1. Of course, that was while the team was still owned by Major League Baseball. The curse of the commissioner, as it were. In the 8th inning, with Alex Escobar batting, incoming team president Stan Kasten announced that the deal was complete, the papers were signed, hands were shaken, and (once the $450 million was transferred on Monday) the Lerner family was now at the helm. Moments later, Alex Escobar lined a ball down the left-field line off of reliever Bob Howryto give the Nationals a 7-6 lead and eventually the win. An omen of things to come? Now that the Lerners are in charge, are good things now going to happen? And if it was an omen, what then does Alex Escobar's injury on the same play mean?

That Escobar is injury prone.

It was without a doubt one of those "weird" games. Marlon Anderson got a three run, two out double because the Cubs' outfield was playing too far in. The ball went well over left-fielder Matt Murton's head and bounced in front of the warning track. If any other player was at the plate, that was a semi-routine fly out. Ryan Zimmerman hit a ball in the third that apparently fooled everyone connected with the MASN broadcast. Zimmerman took a mighty swing, and Bob Carpenter followed with "Ryan Zimmerman! Deep to left! .... [insert video of the upper deck in left-field here]... way back! .... caught at the wall?" Suddenly, the cameraman panned down as Murton made the catch, about four feet in front of the wall, and about seven feet deeper than Anderson's double. When they came back from their commercial break. Carpenter and Tom Paciorek kept replaying and replaying the out, as if they were sure that if they replayed it often enough, the ball would in fact make it to the upper deck.

Zimmerman again showed why he's a "professional" hitter. He hasn't gotten a hit in his last eight at bats, and hasn't looked very comfortable at the plate. So he bunted for a hit. He's been averaging a bunt hit a week, which over the course of the season will add about 20 points to his average. That's a professional hitter.

Marlon Anderson did a nice job once again filling in for Jose Vidro. If the Nationals can move him before the trade deadline (something I'm not sure of at all), Anderson should be able to do a credible job there for the rest of the season. He's nothing special, but he's nothing bad either. Certainly, he's not much of a dropoff when compared to the current, older, Jose Vidro. Pedro Astascio pitched well enough to win, but not well enough to entice another team to take a chance on him in a trade.

Even though the Nationals won Friday, they are still playing like a hoge-poge of players coming and going, which of course, they are. Until Bowden finishes remaking the team, things aren't going to look particularly pretty. Here's hoping that whatever Jimbo does, he does fast.

NATS NOTES: Kevin Grybosky, who gave up a run in three of his four outings since being recalled from New Orleans, his been optioned back to New Orleans. The Nationals, now full of wisdom under their new ownership, has recalled outfielder Ryan Church from New Orleans. Church started the year off very slowly, probably because of the way he was treated by the Nationals (which was either perceived or real - I'm not taking sides) but has hit .347 this month. I never thought the Nats would give Church a another chance.

This was a guy who was on his way to a .300-20-85 2005 season before injuries (he ran into a wall in Pittsburgh saving Chad Cordero's butt last June) took their toll. He is the same guy with the same talents. Put him in the outfield next year, and he's probably going to hit .300-20-80.

I doubt this callup has anything to do with the future, however. My guess is that, because the Nationals' tradeable players keep getting hurt, Jim Bowden wants to showcase Church for a week and then try to get him as far away from Washington as he can. And that's a crying shame. The Nats want to go young, they want to go cheap and they want to win. Ryan Church could help them do all three.

NATS SHOULD SIGN GUILLEN FOR 2007

2006-07-20T22:24:00.000-06:00

[July 21st] -- I worked for a very remarkable man In West Palm Beach Florida some years back. I ran his camera store, the largest on the East coast of the state. One of my first acts as manager was to try to "clearance" a bunch of old lenses that fit the old Pentax "universal" mount camera, which hadn't been made in ten years. He stopped me dead in my tracks. "We don't do that here," he said. Instead of selling a dozen lenses purchased at $50 for $40, Larry ordered in some bodies for those zoom lenses. Because he bought all Pentax had left of that type of body, they game him a "sweet deal." I then made a "sun and fun" Florida-type display, and instead of losing $10 per lens, we sold each package for about $60 more than cost. "That's how we do it here" Larry said with a smile.

And that's just exactly how the Washington Nationals should do it too.

Now that Jose Guillen is on the disabled list with a sore elbow, there is no way that any team, even the most desperate, is going to take a chance on the volatile outfielder. The Washington Post suggested that, while the team won't be able to make a deal prior to the trading deadline, they "might" be able to work a deal in August.

No way that's going to happen.

After July 31st, Guillen would have to clear waivers, and there will be multiple teams willing to pick up the remaining portion of his modest contract. No, Jose Guillen is going to finish the year with the Nationals, and then he'll be gone, on to his next "duty station," and the Nats won't get a red-cent for him. What makes that possibility even less palatable is the fact that the two players that Jim Bowden traded to the Angels for Guillen, Macir Isturis and Juan Rivera are having outstanding years for Los Angeles. Rivera will hit 20 home runs this year, and Jose Guillen can't make a throw from the outfield. It just can't end like this.

Jim Bowden should take a page from my old boss Larry's book, and re-sign Guillen to a one-year contract for the same dollar amount as he's making this year (my guess is that Guillen would jump at the chance). When healthy, Guillen is one of the premier defensive right-fielders in the National League. When healthy, Guillen (based on past performance), will hit .285-30-100. I know, I know, the Nationals are "going young," but the addition of Felipe Lopez and Austin Kearns has slowed that process down just a bit. Why not keep Guillen, then? Soriano will surely be traded by July 31st, opening left-field for Austin Kearns and center-field for Alex Escobar. That's a pretty potent outfield. Next year (hopefully), Guillen will remain healthy, and have some pretty impressive numbers right about this time. I mean, .280-23-55 aren't out of line, are they? So, I'm wondering how many prospects the Nationals could get for the Jose Guillen of 2007? Two? Three?

If the Nationals just let Jose Guillen play out his contract, he's gone and all we have left from his two years in Washington are the memories of his tantrums. If we keep him just one more year, he can not only bring us that one prospect we were hoping for this year, but more because he'll be healthy.

Having, or not having, Jose Guillen next season won't slow down the rebuilding process or increase the payroll to any great extent. Guillen is like a stock that's down right now. We know he's going to be worth a lot more next year, but we have to concede that we may lose a little more value before we make our killing.

I say we wait and make our killing next year.

I sure don't want to keep seeing Juan Rivera hitting home runs on SportsCenter year in and year out and not be able to point to someone we still have that was part of that trade, be it Guillen or someone we traded Guillen for.

In the words of "Pistachio Disguisey," The Master of Disguise, "Yes, it's crazy ... it's so crazy that it JUST ... MIGHT .... WORK!"

LETS GIVE KEARNS A LITTLE SYMPATHY

2006-07-20T11:51:00.000-06:00

[July 20th] -- It's been obvious since their arrival that neither Felipe Lopez nor Austin Kearns particularly want to be here. With Lopez, it manifests in his poor performance both at the plate and in the field. Three errors in six days sucks no matter how you slice it. With Austin Kearns, it's a little different. Sure, he's done less offensively than has Lopez, but he'll come around; If Ryan Zimmerman can go through a 1-25 slump, then so can Austin Kearns. It's his demeaner that's worrisome. His shoulders always droop, his eyes stare silently at the ground as goes about his buisness on the diamond.

Why would a trade seem to bother him so much? After all, as every player in the big league says, "It's a business." Sure, it's a business, but for Austin Kearns, it's much more than that.

Read this article I found from the June 3rd 1998 Cincinnati Enquirer. It's title says it all: Reds draft longtime fan - No. 1 pick went to Reds' games as boy.

BY JOHN FAY The Cincinnati Enquirer
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Austin Kearns of Lafayette High School in Lexington, Ky., used to watch the Reds at Riverfront Stadium.Dan Kearns may have been the happiest man in Lexington, Ky., when the phone rang Tuesday afternoon. It was the Reds and they had drafted his son, Austin, with the seventh pick in the draft.

"It just tickled me to death," Dan said.

Dan grew up in Cynthiana, Ky., and used to make the drive up U.S. 27 to games at Crosley Field. Later, he and Austin would come up for games at Riverfront Stadium. "We were hoping," Dan said. "It made my heart thump when they called." Austin is a big kid -- 6-foot-3, 215 pounds -- with a big bat and powerful arm. He was a top pitching prospect before his fastball lost its pop before this season. The Reds will start Kearns in right field, most likely at rookie ball in Billings, Montana.

Kearns has signed a letter-of-intent with the University of Florida, but he is ready to sign with the Reds. "Seventh pick in the draft . . . it would be hard to pass that up," he said. His father answered those questions before. "They've tried to corner me with that," Dan said. "He's excited to be drafted. He wants to play at the highest level. We only want what's fair." Kearns is being advised by Alan Hendricks, one of baseball's best known agents. Nothing will happen in the next few days.

"We're not going to do anything until my high school season is over," Kearns said. Kearns' Lexington Lafayette team is still alive in the Kentucky state playoffs. Lafayette plays South Laurel at home Thursday at 5:30 p.m. in the sectional semifinals. Kearns was rated as the 27th best prospect in the country by Baseball America. The Reds obviously disagreed. "We felt he was the best player available at our selection," scouting director De Jon Watson said.

The Reds were worried when Minnesota, which had the sixth pick, flew Kearns in over the weekend. "We were very concerned," Watson said. "I held my breath when I heard that." Kearns has been playing varsity baseball since the eighth grade. He hit .356 as a freshman, .417 as a sophomore and .452 as a junior. This year he is hitting .577 with 11 home runs and 48 RBI. "He can do a lot of things," said Thomas Wilson, the Reds' scouting cross checker for the area. "He's got a strong arm. He's put up good numbers in average and power. He can steal a base." Kearns is 6-3 as a pitcher and has thrown a no-hitter this year. He was a bigger prospect as a pitcher before this year. But his fastball suddenly went from the mid-90s to the low 80s. That prompted teams to shift their interest to him as a hitter.

"There's nothing wrong with my arm," he said. "It's mechanics or something. But my arm's OK. The Reds will tell you that." Kearns has played every position this year except second base. The Reds brought 10 people, including General Manager Jim Bowden, to a game to watch Kearns play. That's when he had an idea the Reds may be picking him.

"Their interest seemed genuine," Dan Kearns said. "But they'll never tell you they're going to pick you. We just knew they had a great deal of interest. We're thankful they picked him." Signability is always a factor in the baseball draft, especially in the Scott Boras - J.D. Drew era.
A source said the Reds have budgeted a total of $2.5 million for signing bonuses. Kearns will get the bulk of that. But as a high school player, he's in a position to go to college and try his luck in the draft three years from now.

But Tuesday, Kearns sounded like someone ready to sign. "I love the game," he said. "It's what I want to do. I want to be the best I can."

Although Kearns is still a professional baseball player, and shouldn't allow trades, demotions, etc., to upset his timing, it must be extremely difficult to get traded from your home town and your favorite team growing up to a still unsettled situation that surrounds the Nationals. Hang in there, Austin. We're with you.

NATS NOTES: Just a few hours after John Patterson was lost for the season due to exploratory surgery on his right forearm, Jose Guillen was placed on the 15 day disabled list. He hurt his repaired elbow throwing from right-field to third base early in Monday night's game against the Marlins. Without a doubt, any trade value that Guillen might have had is now gone. There is a chance that the Nationals could still make a deal in August, but Guillen would have to clear waivers, something I don't think would happen. His salary is low enough that several teams might be willing to take a chance on him. My, how things have changed. This time last year, we were all singing the praises of Jim Bowden for his Juan Rivera and Maicer Izturis for Jose Guillen trade, Then, it looked like an absolute steal. Now? Well, now it still does, but with the tables turned. Maicer Izturis is batting .281 with 8 stolen bases and Rivera is on his way to a .286-20-70 season. And it looks like the Nats won't get a thing for Guillen now that he's injured. Boy oh boy.

MORE HAPPENING THAN JUST A LOSS

2006-07-19T18:19:00.000-06:00

[July 20th] -- There are many stories about the Washington Nationals clogging up the information super-highway this evening. First, to Wednesday's 1-0 to the Marlins. Ramon Ortiz greatly enhanced his trade value with a seven inning, six hit outing, allowing only one run while striking out two. My guess is that GM Jim Bowden will be trying to move Ortiz right now, before he has an opportunity to pitch again and revert back to "Mr. five-runs-per-game." Ryan Zimmerman's 17-game hitting streak is over as he went 0-4 on Thursday. Other than Alex Escobar getting one of the team's two hits, there is nothing else worth telling from the Nationals' perspective.

I've taken some flack about pushing for Bowden to "blow up" the Nationals and start anew. I understand that watching something akin to a triple-A team isn't exactly joyful, but look what happens when those kids start to figure things out. The Marlins, literally a minor league team this past opening day, is far ahead of the Nationals in the standings right now, and, it seems anyway, that they come up with a new star every day. Today it was Anibal Sanchez, a 21 year-old who came to the Marlins in the Mike Lowell trade that also sent Hanley Ramirez to Florida. After besting Roger Clemens his last time out, the kid pitched one-hit ball over seven innings, striking out five. That's why I was all for blowing up the team a month ago. Watching kids mature is cool. However, with Felipe Lopez and Austin Kearns now on the team, the whole "blow it up" time-table just wouldn't work. I know we lost, but man, you just have to love all the Marlins' rookies.

What we've all feared came true this afternoon. The team announced that John Patterson will undergo exploratory surgery and, according to Frank Robinson, is likely done for the year. I really think this is a good thing for all concerned. This will open up his roster spot for a kid-pitcher, someone who can be better observed and evaluated in Washington and not New Orleans. Hopefully, Patterson will have ten months to cure all of his ailments, and will come back 100% in 2007. My only concern is that Patterson is becoming the Nick Johnson of the pitching staff.

Vinny Castilla was waived by the San Diego Padres this afternoon. That's too bad. Not that he didn't deserve it, however, as his .260 OBP will attest, but he's a great guy and well loved in the clubhouse and I'm afraid he's done playing major league baseball. He'd make a great coach, if he had the inclination, and I hope he does.

More out of San Franciso. Several sources say that the Giants are interested in Jose Vidro. As a first baseman. Holy Nomar Garciaparra! Actually, that's a good place for Vidro, at least for this year. Ray Durham is a free agent after this season, so if the Giants make the deal, they'll probably put Vidro back at second in 2007. Because of the $15 million or so still owed to him, the Nationals will do well to be rid of the contract; don't look for any "real" prospects to come our way.

More later.

MARINERS AND TIGERS AND ANGELS, OH MY!

2006-07-18T21:45:00.000-06:00

[July 18th] -- Man, I love Alfonso Soriano, and I'm going to miss him. With every monster home run, with every runner he throws out at home plate, with every base he steals, he proves to me that he's one of just a handful of select players with "game-changing" talent. I am resigned to the fact that Soriano is going to be traded now. Last week, when he said that he wanted to remain in Washington, I thought that maybe, just maybe, something could be worked out. I really didn't believe that Soriano, no more than a two-month rental player, would bring enough in trade to warrant making the deal. However, after seeing what the Tigers et. al. are offering for the 30 year old, I don't see any way that Jim Bowden can justify hanging on to him. Speaking on ESPN News, Jayston Stark said that there are two groups of teams after Soriano's services. In the first group, there are six teams, all waiting for Bowden's asking price to go down, and in the second group, there is the Detroit Tigers. The Tigers, shut out of the post season for so many years, and the laughing-stock of baseball for almost as long, has the opportunity without Soriano to have one of those once-in-a-decade special seasons. With Soriano, the Tigers would have to be the team to beat in the World Series derby. Stark said that he's sure a deal can be worked out that would feature Tiger's pitching phenom Humberto Sanchez. Sanchez, 23, is 6'6" and 230 pounds. Prior to this season, his career minor league numbers were a very so-so 20-25, 4.73. This season, however, he has blossomed. Splitting time between 'AA' Erie and 'AAA' Toledo, Sanchez has a 10-5 record with 121 strikeouts in 113 innings. He had a dominating 1.76 ERA at Erie, and a still solid 3.19 ERA at Toledo. Some Detroit bloggers were blaming the jump in the ERA due a too-soon call up.

It'll be interesting to see how much more the Tigers will offer other than Sanchez. There are dozens of names being mentioned, some minor leaguers, and some currently on the Tigers. I've seen Craig Monroe's name (good), but never with Sanchez (bad). The worst "rumor" I've seen was Craig Monroe, Dmitri Young and a low-level minor leaguer for Soriano. Blah! Now, if it's Monroe, Young and Sanchez, pull the trigger Jimbo! Monroe is becoming a .280-20-80 outfielder, and he could replace Soriano nicely while Sanchez continues to get seasoning at New Orleans. Dmitri Young? No thanks. While several Tigers' blogs love Soriano, many are pleading with Detroit not to make the deal. Why? Because they are afraid that Sanchez is going to be the next "John Smoltz." From what I hear, he just may be. But, Tiger fans, I can guarantee you that Soriano won't be the next Doyle Alexander. He's a young 30, and will give you 30-30 numbers for another five or six years assuming you resign him. Hey, Tiger fans, listen up: You are where we were last December. We knew the name, we saw the stats. But to love Alfonso, you have to watch him play. He's amazing.

Don't you just love Ryan Zimmerman? I thought that double he hit in the 9th inning was gone (and probably would have been in a "real" baseball park), but that's not why I'm loving him so right now. He erased Endy Chavez' name from the team's record book. With that two-bagger, Zimmerman now holds the team record for longest rookie hitting streak at seventeen. I watched the Marlins' feed on MLB.tv tonight, and they were lamenting that, while they believed the Rookie-Of-The-Year award winner for 2006 was playing at Dolphin Stadium last night, it would probably be Zimmerman taking the award because "all of the Marlins rookies will split the vote," giving the Washington 3rd baseman the prize. I agree 100% How can you choose just one Marlin as their top rookie? Prince Fielder is still playing well, but I think his inconsistency could make for a long second-half.

Any chance that Alex Escobar is really this good? Any chance that Jim Bowden really did know what he was doing when he traded Jerry Owens to Chicago for Escobar in the fall of 2004? Zimmerman began the rally in the 9th with that double, but it was Escobar, batting because Nick Johnson was intentionally walked, drove in the winning run with a single up the middle. If he's really this good (not .480 good, just "not .240 bad"), then the Nats have yet another piece of the puzzle in place right now.

It was nice that the Nationals won, but I'd be a hypocrite if I said that this game mattered when yesterday's loss didn't.

NATS NOTES: We saw history last night. Both team's leadoff hitters hit first inning home runs for only the 28th team in major league history .... Nick Johnson got three more hits and is now batting .303 .... Jose Guillen threw one of the worst balls from the outfield I've ever seen last night. He was removed from the game shortly thereafter with a sore elbow. Wow, that's going to help move him in the next two weeks ... Austin Kearns got one hit and is now 1-27 with the Nationals. Don't sweat it; Zimmerman was 1-25 before his hitting streak began ... Robert Fick is beginning to prove himself a valuable reserve catcher. He got two hits (one a game tying homer) and blocked a ball with the bases loaded that could easily have allowed the go-ahead run to score ... Poor Mike O'Connor. It looks like the NL has figured out that weird motion of his. Too bad; I like the guy ... I thought long and hard about the "little league" home run the Nationals gave up last night, and whether I wanted to cover it. Nah. I don't ....

MARLINS 4, MARLINS-WANT-TO-BE'S 2

2006-07-17T20:45:00.000-06:00

[July 18th] -- When I add a new player's photo to my hard drive, I label it a specific way. The player's first initial is followed by the first three letters of his last name, and then I end with a number that represents how many of that player's picture I have. For example, I added a new picture of Ryan Zimmerman last night, and I labeled it RZIM44. So I went to add this first picture of Felipe Lopez in a Nationals' uniform, and I type: FLOP. Man, I hope that's just one of those things that makes you go "huh."

One of the nice things about not expecting the Nationals to win very many games for the remainder of the year is that losses don't seem to matter much. I mean, I just chalk it up to "a team in transition" and forget about it. Remember the losses at this time last year? They were soooo painful. By the time the Nationals fell out of first place, I was hardly able to speak. This year? No problem. A loss is just one more opportunity to say, "We'll get 'em tomorrow!" Just looking for some improvement. Like Billy Murray kept saying in "What About Bob," baby-steps, baby-steps, baby-steps.

Baby steps. That's not too much to ask for, right?

Two months ago, Tony Armas Jr. was leading the club with six wins and and a solid ERA. Today, he still has those six wins but his losses and ERA continue to balloon. Each season, Armas pitches like a star for a month or two, then he gets hurt and returns to his role as a pitcher who has never reached his potential. I don't think there much of a chance that Armas will be allowed to return next season as he was in 2006. I don't think that the 28 year old, regardless of his potential, will bring much in trade this close to the end of his free-agent year. I'm afraid he'll only be of value as a throw-in within a larger package.

Ryan Zimmerman hit safely in his 16th consecutive game, an unbelievable accomplishment for a 21 year old rookie. Rookies do many things well. They can hit for average, they can hit for power. Sometimes, they can even steal a few bases. A precious few can do all of those things at the same time. But one thing rookies never, never do is be consistent. To be consistent, a player much have a broad working knowledge of baseball. Rookies just don't have that.

Ryan Zimmerman does. I'll turn on the Nats' game on MLB.TV and keep an eye on it while I study for my biology class. When Zimmerman comes to the plate, however, I stop what I'm doing and watch him hit. Look at his face after each pitch. You can almost see the wheels turning as he adds that pitch to his mental database. He seldom loops balls into play. Virtually every hit is a line drive. I truly believe that Zimmerman has the capacity to hit in the .320's once he matures. That should be sometime next week.

I was sorry to hear that Jose Vidro strained his hamstring and had to be replaced by Marlon Anderson early in the game. I say "I'm sorry" because when he was yanked from the game by Frank Robinson, I thought he had been traded. I've seen that happen many times. A guy gets traded during a game and the moment the deal is finalized, he's pulled from the game to protect him. I remember watching a Mariner's game in the late 90's with Randy Johnson on the mound for Seattle. He walked off the mound and into the dugout and sat down for a moment. A team official ran up the from the locker room and whispered something in his ear. Johnson turned white. He was traded to the Astros in mid-inning. As if trading Vidro could get any harder, now he's limping. Great.

So, where was Austin Kearns tonight? I haven't heard anything from Robinson yet, but it'll be interesting to hear his reasoning. Did he need a "night off?" Was he "fatigued?" Was it because he sucked over the weekend? At least Felipe Lopez showed some life with a home run to tie the game. That was nice. What wasn't nice was his second error in four games. The Reds' bloggers warned us that he got to the ball just fine; it was his arm that was bad. Man, he showed it on Monday. If Nick Johnson can't dig a ball out of the dirt, it just can't be dug out.

Micah Bowie and Jon Rauch were certainly positives. The relievers combined to shut out the Marlins on just two hits over the game's final three innings. The bullpen needed that. I think that Bowie and Kevin Gryboski, both former Braves, have shown enough major league ability to at least for the moment replace Billy Bray and Gary Majewski. Sure, they're spare tires, but at least their tubes are inflated.

The trade clock is ticking down to "midnight" and you have to wonder how many trades are in the works. My guess is that we'll see one block-buster (probably Soriano) and two block-benders (Guillen, Livan, etc.). I dont' see Jose Vidro getting traded now, especially now that he's hobbling.

LECROY SENT PACKING

2006-07-17T13:55:00.000-06:00

[July 17th] -- Needing a roster spot for Tony Armas Jr., The Washington Nationals designated Matt LeCroy for assignment.

This is a very unfortunate situation. Matt LeCroy, one of the most amiable, most well liked players in the team's clubhouse, was in essence thrown into the "Twilight Zone," as the team now has ten days to trade him or release him. LeCroy could, if he chooses, accept assignment to New Orleans.

Bill Ladson wrote: According to LeCroy, Robinson told him that the Nationals are looking to trade him to an American League team, where he could be used as a designated hitter. LeCroy would not fit on a National League club because of his limited defensive skills.

"Frank told me what Jim was trying to do for me. That would be nice to get back over there, so I could help out another team," LeCroy said. "There are no bitter feelings. This organization gave me a job. It just so happens that Nick Johnson stayed healthy and the at-bats were not there. Frank told me how much he respected me and that meant a lot from coming from him."

Matt LeCroy proved long ago that that he wasn't a major league catcher, something he never denied. He's an adequate first baseman, but the Nationals have Nick Johnson playing there, one of the better first baseman in the National League. In fact, LeCroy is a top-notch platoon-designated hitter. Given 300 at bats against lefties, LeCroy would be expected to hit .270-20-60. When a right-hander was pitching, LeCroy would then become a potent bat off the bench. Of course, LeCroy could do none of this in a National League city with a solid first baseman. I was hoping that the Nationals would trade him to an American League team and allow him to do what he does best, driving the ball against left-handers.

It is my hope that Jim Bowden will use the next week to find LeCroy a good home (not that he's a puppy dog or anything). First, he's earned the opportunity to play semi-regularly at the major league level, and second, LeCroy, especially if he's part of a larger package, could bring prospects in return.

I don't know what the Nats have in store for this fine man, but none of this was fair. None of it.

And it's a darn shame.

WHILE STILL WAITING FOR 'OTHER SHOE TO DROP,' NATS BEAT BUCS 8-4

2006-07-16T11:50:00.000-06:00

[July 15th] -- Sunday's game against the Pirates looked too much like Saturday's game. Game tied. Nationals edge ahead. Pirates tie the score. This time, however, the Pirates ran out of luck and the Nationals finally got some, winning 8-4 as the Nats scored four in 11th to finally beat the worst team in the Major Leagues.

As I've said many times, the wins and losses don't matter any more. All I'm concerned with is daily improvement somewhere within the team. On Sunday, Alfonso Soriano got three hits including his 29th homer, and both Alfie and Nick Johnson got three hits a piece. Ryan Zimmerman got two more hits and is now batting a season-best .292. Livan Hernandez, after looking horrid in the first inning, settled down and was perfect for the rest of the day. It was a good game, especially considering the outcome of the previous two nights.

But forget the weekend series against the Pirates. What we watched were the Pittsburgh Pirates playing a team in transition -- a team replete with players who in hours, days, perhaps a week, will no longer be there. It would be like having in your living room 5 televisions and four radios but nothing to sit on. It's not an excuse, but it is the reality of the situation.

We all know that many other shoes are about to drop; we just don't when and where and how many. We keep hearing talk of "rebuilding" and "blowing up" and "getting younger" and the like, but really, the Nationals aren't that far from contending now.

Let's assume for a moment that Jim Bowden will be able to re-sign Alfonso Soriano, and that he doesn't trade any of the team's current starting offensive personnel, and those eight players are in the opening day lineup in 2007. That, my friends, is a division-winning lineup. Take a look at the table above. None of those predictions are excessive; in fact, I "toned down" the numbers for a few of the players. Look at their ages. It's a moderately-young team with the experience needed to win now. How many teams today would have a better 1-6 lineup than the Nationals? Four of those players have 30+ home run ability, and a 5th has 20+ power. Sure, there's a bunch of guys who will strike out a lot, but those guys can also hit a ton of home runs.

It's a solid lineup.

The problem, of course, is the pitching staff. There is only a handful of pitchers, perhaps three or four, who have the talent to support that offensive lineup. Where does the team get the additional pitchers? Stan Kasten has already said that the team is not going to sign any free agents, so any new talent is going to have to come from either the minor leagues or through trades. The pitchers counted on to have "breakout" years in the minors, Clint Everts, Mike Hinkley and Colin Balestar, are all giving up more than five runs per game at 'A' Potomac. There really isn't anyone at the higher levels able to make a difference either. As of today, you can pencil in the names of John Patterson and Mike O'Connor in the starting lineup, and that's it. Ryan Drese? Tony Armas Jr? Don't count on them. Brian Lawrence? He's a solid pitcher, but he has a $5.5 million dollar option for 2007 -- no way Bowden brings him back at that price with his arm still such a question mark. Zach Day? He's an enigma for sure. He has all the talent to be a solid starter but hasn't yet lived up to that potential.

Basically, the Nationals have Livan Hernandez, Ramon Ortiz and Pedro Astacio as tradeable commodities. Jose Guillen, Daryle Ward, Marlon Anderson and Matt LeCroy will also be available for the right price. Among these seven players, then, the Nationals could possibly get in return two .500 or better pitchers. Not great ones, mind you, but good enough to keep the team close enough to allow the potent offense to "do their thing."

Bottom line: If the Nationals keep this lineup intact, and then have a starting lineup of Patterson, O'Connor and three other pitchers who could provide an Esteban Loaiza like effort (from 2005), the Nationals could easily win 90+ games (assuming Patterson wins 16 and O'Connor 13 and the other three starters are each 2-3 games over .500). For all this to happen, however, the Nationals have to, have to re-sign Alfonso Soriano. He is one of perhaps a dozen players in the National League who can carry his team for two weeks at a time, providing that long winning streak that each team needs to win the division.

To create this type of team, they'd need to ante up for a $75 million dollar payroll. There is no question that Washington is easily a market that will support that much payroll. The question is, how badly does Stan Kasten want to build with youth? If the Nats can sign three Esteban Loiaza's next year, they can get into the playoffs.

But will they? Probably not. Probably, Soriano, Guillen and Livan will be long gone in the next week. And that's too bad. It would have been a great team.

NATS NOTES: Has anyone else noticed the pattern to Ryan Zimmerman's hitting style? He lines shot after shot within 10 feet of either side of the second base bag. His doubles find the gaps and seldom hug the lines. His homers are almost all in dead left-center field .... Rotoworld is suggesting that John Patterson is "done for the year," which doesn't bother me in the least. He is a known quanity, and he can return next season 100% healthy. The Nationals can then test out another young pitcher in his spot in the rotation .... With Tony Armas Jr. and Mike O'Connor returning to the pitching staff sometime tomorrow, the team has to designate-for-assignment two guys. With the team having five starting outfield types, the assumption is that at least one of them, probably Alex Escobar, will be gone. No way. He hit a two-run, pinch hit homer on Sunday and is finally showing that 5-tool talent that Jim Bowden has always seen in him. I hope that once Guillen is traded, Kearns moves to right and Escobar returns to center. He reminds me of Soriano; he's very fluid when he swings at the ball.

TRADES ARE LIKE THE LOTTERY ... YOU NEVER KNOW WHAT YOU'RE GOING TO END UP WITH

2006-07-15T12:07:00.000-06:00

[July 15th] -- The Nationals pulled out their lotto-ticket Friday night and scratched away the ticket's dull gray covering. They found below 0-7, an error, nine left on base, an error, and a mishandled flyball.

The Reds pulled out their lotto-ticket Friday night and scratched away the ticket's dull gray covering. The found a hit, an RBI and a run and two hits given up in 2/3 rds of an inning.

Overall, the Nats' lost their dollar and the Reds won back fifty cents. Not much of a return on an eight-player trade.

From Washington's perspective, Austin Kearns and Felipe Lopez looked tired, uncomfortable and bewildered -- perhaps even a bit upset. They had less than 24 hours to report to Pittsburgh and put on a Nationals' uniform. They looked as if they were unready to play baseball. Although Felipe Lopez said he wasn't surprised by the trade (it's a business .... blah blah), Austin Kearns was devastated. He and fellow outfielder Adam Dunn had been roomates since their early days in the Reds' organization and are the best of friends. Compound that with the fact that the players were traded from a team with both their new owner and new stadium in place as well as an excellent chance to win the wild-card, and it's understandable why neither player seems particularly interested in becoming part of the body-politic that is Washington D.C.

Royce Clayton, Billy Bray and Gary Majewski, on the other hand, are elated to be leaving Washington for the pennant race in Cincinnati. The players boarded a "puddle jumper" for the trip to Cincinnati, arriving shortly before the team took the field at the Great America Ballpark. Clayton said he was "delighted" about the trade. "A big part of the reason I'm still playing is chasing that dream of playing in the World Series," Clayton said. "Hopefully, I'll be that piece that fits into this puzzle that has already been built here and help win a championship." I'm happy for the three of them. They gave the Nationals their very best.

The more I think about the trade, the more I am of the opinion that, while the Nationals certainly got more talent than it gave up, it wasn't a "steal" for Washington. A steal is when one team is inherently better than the other after the trade. Certainly, the Nationals are much better than they were, but so are the Reds. Unlike Washington, Cincinnati has a fairly deep minor league system and can replace Kearns with enough quality that his bat won't be missed. Having watched Felipe Lopez play one game, it's obvious that Royce Clayton was just as capable of going 0-4 with an error. Sure, Clayton doesn't have Lopez' range but he is more sure-handed with his throws and will give up fewers unearned runs that will Lopez. With a stronger bullpen (especially with the addition of Seattle's Eddie Guardado), Cincinnati is a stronger team than it was 48 hours ago.

And so are the Nationals. Ergo, the trade was good for both teams, and not a steal for the Nationals as it was initially described.

Short term, the troika of Majewski, Bray and Clayton are much happier than are Kearns and Lopez. Long term, however, the newest Nationals will be the happiest. Because of Cincinnati's mid-market status, they will always have payroll and player retention problems to deal with. If Stan Kasten and Jim Bowden "do it right," the Nationals will have more money, meaning more chances for success in October.

Here's hoping, anyway.

KEARNS & LOPEZ LEAD NATS TO 7-4 LOSS. IS THAT WHAT THEY WERE SUPPOSED TO DO?

2006-07-14T20:22:00.000-06:00

[July 15th] -- The euphoria lasted all of 24 hours. Less then a day after "the trade," the Washington Nationals took the field against the Pittsburgh Pirates, winners of just 30 games during the first half of the season. They promptly lost 7-4.

Friday wasn't about the game, however. The game was just a stage that would allow the next act of the Nationals season to play out. How would the "new guys" do? Would they start off their careers in Washington with a *bang* like Aubrey Huff did in Houston?

No *bang* this time around.

Felipe Lopez went 0-4 and left six runners on base. Some of his swings were Guzman-esque they were so bad. He also let a bouncer bounce right by him, through him, and around him for an error. He looked almost bewildered at times. Austin Kearns played much better. He was only 0-3 (he walked once and was hit by a pitch) and left only four runners on base. Basically, they both sucked. One of the great things about baseball, however, is that no one will remember this one game in the middle of July. They're both studs. They'll be fine. Royce Clayton, playing his first game for Cincinnati, went 1-3 and drove in a run. Gary Majewski got a hold by allowing one run on two hits in just two-thirds of an inning. Go figure.

Ramon Ortiz was his usual "run-an-inning" self on Friday. Five innings, five runs. And he's been our mot consistent pitcher in 2006. Any questions why the team has such a poor record? Nick Johnson, Alfonso Soriano and Ryan Zimmerman each had two hits, and Jose Vidro hit his 6th homer of the year.

John Patterson was placed on the 15 day disabled list before the game.

This is getting serious. During his minor league career, Patterson missed large "chunks" of several seasons. Since 2005, he has now been on the disabled list for 118 out of 251 games. Like so many of the Nationals' key players, he's a star when he's healthy, but he's never healthy. I've been counting on him to anchor the rotation for the next decade, but I'm beginning to question if he has any real career to look forward to. I don't say this because I'm a blogger and it's my job to say stupid things. I say this because Alex Escobar, Luis Matos, Nick Johnson and many others tell me that once injuries become commonplace, once a trip to the disabled list isn't a surprise, it's difficult, almost impossible to rise from the broken bones and strained forearms like the Phoenix rising from its own ashes. I'm not predicting. I'm not hoping; heck, I'm praying that I'm wrong. Once John completes a season injury-free, I'll apologize, though I doubt I'll ever have to.

Hope you had a fun Friday night. Me? I stayed home and watched the Nats game on the computer. Technology is amazing, as is the change in the marketing of professional sports. Back in the day of the expansion Senators, we typically got to see 20 games a year on WTOP channel 9. If the weather was "just right," we could pick up a few Senators - Orioles games on WJZ 13 out of Baltimore. But that was it. In the late 1960's, television was used to "whet the appetite" of a team's fan base. Why would fans want to pay to watch their team in person when they could watch them for free on TV? That was the concept back then. In fact, Bob Short's Senators was the first Major League baseball team to broadcast only their away games to ensure that those lazy fans would have to actually come to the ballpark to see the team in action. And it worked, didn't it? I mean, if those games had all been broadcast on TV, how many of those 6,000 fans that regularly attended Senators' games would have stayed at home?

You still stink, Bob.

MORE COMING AND GOINGS: BOOKER RETURNS, WATSON LEAVES, BYRD MOVES

2006-07-14T14:53:00.000-06:00

[July 14th] -- More comings and goings in and around the Nationals this afternoon.

Chris Booker, (age 29, RHP) was reacquired by the Nationals. He was signed last fall by Jim Bowden as a minor league free-agent, but was plucked from the team's roster by the Philadelphia Phillies in the Rule V draft. He was then claimed off the waiver wire by the Royals this spring. After playing in just one game, however, Kansas City tried to remove him from their 40-man roster. The Rule V draft requires that if that happens, the player must be offered back to the original team for half of the original cost. The Nationals took Booker back and assigned him to New Orleans. If the Royals have no use for a pitcher, no one does. My guess is he will do little more than fill out a Zephyrs' uniform for the rest of the season.

Marlon Byrd cleared waivers (which really surprised me - I thought some team would take a chance) and agreed to report to 'AAA' New Orleans. I still think that, if Byrd can play baseball without "thinking" about his mechanics all the time, he could be an asset to the Nationals.

Brandon Watson was claimed off the waiver wire by the Cincinnati Reds. Yesterday, the Reds send us all-stars for middle relievers and today they take out our trash? Memo to Jim Bowden: we owe the Reds big-time.

SECOND MOVE: MATOS COMES, BYRD GOES

2006-07-14T10:48:00.000-06:00

[
[July 14th] -- Jim Bowden didn't waste much time in making his second post-All Star game roster move. So far, so good.

Luis Matos, rumored to be coming to Washington as early as Wednesday, signed with the team late Thursday and will be a reserve outfielder for the remainder of the season. Marlon Byrd, given every chance to win a starting position in the Nationals' outfield, has been designated for assignment. Because he is out of options, he will have to go through waivers -- if he clears them, he'll likely accept assignment to 'AAA' New Orleans.

What happened to Marlon Byrd? Did anything "happen" to him? He had a wonderful rookie season with the Philadelphia Phillies in 2003, batting .303-7-45 with a solid .366 on-base-percentage. That was his last good year in the major leagues. He hit .228 in 2004 with an abysmal .287 OBP. A few games into 2005, Byrd was traded to the Nationals for Endy Chavez in one of those "change-of-scenery" trades. He was red-hot in his first month in D.C., hitting in the high .350's for most of May and June. It was Byrd's bat, as much as anyone's, that helped propel the Nationals to that twelve game winning streak and a 51-30 first half record. He hit a wall, however, and was back in the minors just a month or so later. After working with batting coach Mitchell Paige in New Orleans, he returned in September and showed real power for the first time in his career. "If he gets to play reguarly, Marlon Byrd has the ability to hit 20-25 homers one day" said Jim Bowden at the end of last season. This year, however, he's only hitting .223 with a .317 OBP. Frank Robinson said that Byrd was having "mechanical issues" that he needs to work on over the winter. I can accept that. I googled "Marlon Byrd" and "Phillies" and found an article where the Phillies GM was quoted as saying that Byrd is a pure hitter when he's "on," but he tends to get in a "funk" and doesn't swing the bat properly at times. Translation: "Marlon Byrd is having "mechanical issues" with his swing. Last year, Byrd was the team's best hitter the first couple of months of the year, then suddenly couldn't hit the ball off a tee and was demoted to New Orleans. How can a player go from being a solid hitter to a very bad one in just a game or two? "Mechanical issues." Marlon Byrd, like so many players, will develop bad habits at the plate. When that happens, he simply can't hit. Even guys like Albert Pujols can develop bad habits during the year. So why doesn't Pujols get sent down when his mechanics get mushy? Because of his talent level. When guys like Albert Pujols gets into a funk, when his swing isn't just right or when he dips his shoulder or when he doesn't set his feet properly, his immense talent takes over and can, in many cases, mask his poor mechanics. Guys like Marlon Byrd, however, have relatively low-level skills, and rely on their mechanics for their success. Time and time again, Byrd's manager and GM has made it clear: he will only be a successful major league player if every part of his game is working properly. And that's too bad, because I've always liked him. My guess is that he won't clear waivers. Another hitting coach on another team will say, "Hey skip, I can fix that swing" and he'll be claimed by somebody.

Luis Matos is an intriguing signing to say the least. Dare I say that he is a "toolsy" player? The Orioles selected him in the 10th round of the 1996 draft. He hails from the same town in Puerto Rico as the just acquired Felipe Lopez. Perhaps that figured into the deal. In six major league seasons, Matos has a career .260 batting average and a .316 OBP. At first glance, there isn't much of an improvement over Marlon Byrd. But Matos does have more power, and has the ability to drive in more runs. He has had two acceptable seasons, in 2003 (.303-13-45) and 2005 (.280-4-32). This year, he was hitting .207 with a .278 OBP when he was designated for assignment. His real downside is his that he makes Nick Johnson look downright healthy. He's missed significant time in five of his last six seasons, and they aren't "chronic" issues; "stuff" just seems to happen to him.

In the end, it's a slight positive for the Nationals. When comparing Matos to the "mechanically sound" Marlon Byrd, Byrd wins hands down because of his overall health. But if you compare the "problematic" Byrd, then Matos is the clear winner.

In the end, I'm not sure this deal matters. Matos is simply another Alex Escobar with all the talent in the world who, through injuries and missed opportunities, has yet to show he belongs in the major leagues.

And probably never will.

NATS NOTES: Many Nationals' fans are concerned that the team's once thin pitching staff is now downright thread-bare. Well, that's true, for the moment at least. Remember though, the Nats have no less than eight pitchers on the disabled list who will be / can be brought back for 2007. Luis Ayala, every bit as talented and reliable as Gary Majewski, will be ready for the start of next year. Joey Eischen and Felix Rodriquez can be brought back too. Zach Day, Shawn Hill and Tony Armas Jr. are on the DL as well. I think the team can cull from that group enough players to join the bullpen to easily make up for the loss of Bray and Majewski ..... I wonder if there is any chance that Brian Lawrence will have his $5.5 million dollar option excercised for next season? Probably not, but the two sides might work out some kind of "mutually benificial" deal. Lawrence isn't worth $5.5 million, but he is worth another look, at least at the right price.

SO I'VE BEEN THINKING ....

2006-07-13T23:24:00.000-06:00

[July 14th] -- The sun went down, and the sun came back up, and Felipe Lopez and Austin Kearns are still members of the Washington Nationals.

Cool.

While I'm happy, no I'm elated -- happy is how I feel when my son cleans his room while elated is how I feel when I realize how close I am to graduating from college -- about the deal, I'm feeling a little disoriented right now. For the past couple of months, we've all known that Stan Kasten and Jim Bowden were going to trade away all the stars come the middle of July and the team would then begin a rebuilding process that would last several years.

How exactly is this rebuilding?

The Nationals now have five players who should be in the starting lineup when the new stadium opens. Brian Schneider, Nick Johnson, Felipe Lopez, Ryan Zimmerman and Austin Kearns are slam-dunk guarantees to around for the next several years. If Alfonso Soriano re-signs, something that is becoming more and more possible with each passing day, the Nationals will have six starters in place. If John Patterson and Mike O'Connor remain in the starting rotation, the Nats will need, what, two position players and three starting pitchers to flesh out the team. The Nationals have a few players, like Kory Casto, who will be ready in 2008 as well.

So, where's the rebuilding?

Perhaps Jim Bowden will trade away another three or four starters in the next week and things will begin to play out as we'd all imagined, but what if -- what if Bowden and Stan Kasten looks at the team's starting lineup tonight in Pittsburgh and says, "Wow, I like that!" What then? Might the Lerners dip into their pockets and buy a pitcher or two on the free-agent market and tell Bowden to "go for it" in 2007? Rotoworld was so impressed with the trade that they said they would "take back everything we've said about Jim Bowden," ending by saying that the Nationals could make a "playoff run" with the team as assembled this year.

So if the Nationals are suddenly "close" to being a "plus" team again, why blow it up after making what the pundits at ESPN called the "steal of the century?" Wouldn't it make more sense to, say, trade Livan Hernandez, Ramon Ortiz, Jose Vidro and Jose Guillen for prospects, (pitching, pitching, pitching), use Marlon Anderson and/or Damian Jackson at second, and resign Alfonso Soriano to a long term deal and then "call it good?"

Suddenly, I'm no longer a proponent of "blowing it all up and starting over." Finally, I like the texture of this team. Let's see what Bowden does next. I wiped his slate clean after this remarkable trade. For the first time, I think the guy has a "vision," a workable idea that, with a little bit of patience and a lot of Mr. Lerner's dollars, can work.

I'm willing to wait and see. I don't want to, mind you; I'm to excited. But I will. Jim Bowden has earned it.

NATS NOTES: I scanned all the blogs and articles written yesterday for the best line or remark regarding the trade. My favorite comes from Bucs Dugout with a story entitled "At least we're not the Reds Today." How priceless is that? Here is a Pirates blogger, suffering through one of his team's worst seasons ever, and he's telling his readers, "Hey! It could be worse ... we could be the Reds." Too funny.

AND SO IT BEGINS ....

2006-07-13T14:54:00.000-06:00

[July 13th] -- I've been saying for a month that Royce Clayton was going to get traded. I just didn't think this was how it was going to go down.

The Nationals announced on Thursday afternoon that they traded half of their team (well, sort of: Gary Majewski, Billy Bray, Clayton, Brendan Harris and Daryl Thompson) to the Cincinnati Reds for Austin Kearns, shortstop Felipe Lopez and pitcher Ryan Wagner.

This was an important trade for the Nationals. Oh sure, the players coming to Washington are fairly big names, and the Nationals are now a much better team offensively, but that's not what I'm talking about. The fact that this trade was even made says a lot about the team's seemingly bright future. Did you notice that the team took on more payroll than it cut? Certainly, this is but the first move among many, but Bowden has begun to lay the foundation for this team as he envisions it. This trade would never have been made last year, or the year before that, or the year before that .... well, you get the idea. For the first time, Jim Bowden was sitting at the trade table with the "big boys" without a high-chair. He's now in charge of a real team, with real money, and, apparently, lots of it.

Many bloggers are curious if Kearns and Lopez are going to remain with the club, or are they going to be traded away as part of some other package that Bowden is creating. Forget about it. During an interview on WTEM earlier this afternoon, Bowden said that one of his first priorities this off season will be to sign Kearns and Lopez to multi-year contracts. No, he believes that these two players are now part of the nucleus of the team's next incarnation.

I took a couple of hours to think about the "talent" side of the trade. Initially, it looked like a steal. I kept waiting for the "but" to show itself, but so far, the trade is "but-less." The general consensus around the Nats blog-o-sphere is that it was a heck-of-a-deal. What are other people saying? Keith Law, ESPN: "Do you think Jim Bowden took a little pleasure in thoroughly robbing the organization that fired him in 2003?

If not, perhaps he should, because he just pushed the Reds to the back of the NL playoff queue, and in the process picked up three players who entered the Reds' organization while he was their GM." Redleg Nation: "This is the worst trade ever. Okay, that's an exaggeration. But it's not an exaggeration by much. The Cincinnati Reds and Washington Nationals swapped 8 players today." From another Reds' blog: "Nationals GM Jim Bowden should have a warrant out for his arrest at this hour, because he just committed highway robbery." Jimmy left this comment at Redleg Nation: "Shouldn't Bowden have bought us dinner before screwing us like this?" So, based on the immediate reaction to the trade, I think it's pretty obvious that the Reds got hosed.

But wait! There's more! What did Reds' GM Larry Krivisky say about the deal? "We paid a steep price. I'm sure this will be a controversial trade. I know a lot of people will be leaving nasty messages on my voicemail, and I'll have some who think it's great." From what I can tell, big guy, they're mostly of the "nasty" variety.

But how? How could Jim Bowden, a GM that the Reds were leery of to begin with, plunder the Reds by stealing 25% of the team's starting lineup? My guess is that the Reds GM Wayne Krivsky was tired of reading headlines like the one that appeared on his own team's website: "Bullpen slows Reds in first half." The Reds, full of lumbering power-hitters, is about to be transformed into a club that is solid both defensively as well as in the bullpen. Remember, Krivsky traded for Seattle's Eddie Guardado just last week. He acknowledged that the bullpen was in dire need of new blood. No more 13-10 games for the Reds. At least, that's what Krivsky is hoping.

Many are comparing Austin Kearns with former National Brad Wilkerson. Well, if you're just looking at low batting average and high strikeouts, then sure, they're similar. But Kearns has shown more power in the past and without a doubt will hit many more homers than Wilkerson over the next half-decade or so. Kearns, unlike Wilkerson, has a "plus" arm and is a "plus" defender. And plueease, let's not do the "he played in a pitcher's park" scenario; Alfonso Soriano pretty much dispelled that myth.

Now, I've got to admit something here. When I heard of the trade, and saw the names of the players coming to Washington, I thought that Felipe Lopez was some 5th outfielder type -- a throw in. And even then, I thought it was a good trade for the Nationals. Once I looked up his stats, I was stunned. TSN's scouting report says of Lopez, "A naturally gifted athlete, Lopez also shows remarkable poise at the plate. He's got impressive power for a middle infielder and has a solid swing from both sides of the plate. He boasts a terrific arm and quick feet." On the downside, they say, is his high strikeout rate and questionable baserunning skills. That said, the 26 year old is on the way to a .268-17-56 season with 43 stolen bases and a .355 OBP.

So, I'm thinking, this guy is an ideal leadoff hitter; maybe he'll bat first in our lineup. "Oh wait," I thought, "we've got Alfonso Sorinao leading off." Well, not for much longer. We know that Soriano doesn't hit well unless he's leading off, something he's proven again this year. I have to believe that Kearns' bat replaces Soriano in the outfield, and Lopez' speed replaces Soriano at the top of the order. It makes too much sense not to happen that way.

Now, what to make of the whole "rebuilding with youth" scenario that we've been waiting for since, oh, I don't know, May maybe? This isn't building for the future. Keith Law at ESPN.com said that the Nationals starting eight, as they are now constitutedued, is a playoff contending unit. Of course, he's not taking into account that the pitching sucks, or that some/many of the team's position players are on there way out. Nonetheless, I was surprised that the newest Nationals are veterans, and not rookies.

One thing to consider, however, when saying that the Nationals "took" the Reds. Reports out of Cincinnati are suggesting that Gary Majewski will be the closer next year (Guardado will remain the closer through the remainder of 2006). So if you look at Majewski at a "closer," then the trade seems to make a little more sense.

It was a good day for the Washington Nationals. If this is the Jim Bowden who'll be running the Nats, and not the one who signed Cristian Guzman, then I'm happy. Very happy, indeed.

(forgive any typos -- I tried to get this on the site as quickly as I could)

WILL THE NATS BE REMODELED OR RAZED?

2006-07-12T20:09:00.000-06:00

[
[July 13th] -- So, the time is about here. Will Jim Bowden and Stan Kasten give the old girl a cosmetic makeover, or will they, in the words of Ronald Reagan, "tear down those walls?" Oh sure, RFK will still be around for a couple of more years. I'm talking about the team. Will just a few veterans get traded for minor leaguers who will probably never make it to the major leagues, or will the Nationals make the decision to make available pretty much anyone and everyone except Ryan Zimmerman? I used to say "Ryan Zimmerman and John Patterson," but I'm beginning to question Patterson's status as an anchor in the team's rotation. His health has become just too fragile.

Typically, "majors for minors" deals bring kids from the 'A' or 'AA' level, guys who could become solid major leaguers, but haven't yet. These are the best type of trades for the team trading away the young talent. At that level, the players have pretty much proven what they are capable of, but are not yet well known to that team's fan base. If the Nationals had traded Ryan Zimmerman last year for a veteran, for example, the beltway would have buckled under the anger of the fans. But Kory Casto? Last year, we knew the name, but we would have loved for him to be dealt for Aubrey Huff, or someone like him.

The problem with this type of trade is that the Nationals don't have the personnel to make it work. When they trade a Soriano, or a Johnson, or a Vidro, they really don't have anyone at the 'AAA' level who can take over the very next day (with the exception of Brendan Harris). So the team has to get young players who are ready to play in the big leagues today. To get those kind of kids, kids who are close, you either pay more for them or receive less

So the team has even less options that we'd feared. The four or five "premium" players that will likely be traded will now, for the most part, have to be dealt for their own replacements. The team really has no one to take Soriano's place with the possible exception of Kory Casto, so wouldn't it make sense to get someone to take his place? Hopefully, Bowden can work out several two-for-one deals, that player's replacement and a starting pitcher too.

Let's see how creative Jimbo can be.

WITH NATS OFF, I DIGRESS

2006-07-11T21:56:00.000-06:00

[July 11th] -- After watching the just completed 2006 All-Star game, and seeing Alfonso Soriano doing what he does best (singling, stealing, and getting thrown out at home), it reminded me of the 1969 All-Star game that was played in RFK Stadium, and it made me realize (again) how much I've missed the Senators all these years. I've always loved this picture, especially the banner in the backgorund.

I couldn't have said it better myself.

This photograph pretty well summed up the feelings of all Senators' fans that September evening, the last game the team would ever play in Washington. The next day, movers showed up at the team's Spartan offices [Bob Short was cheap on and off the field] and packed the team for its trip to Dallas-Ft.Worth. Although we all saw it coming, we were still stunned by this move.

Robert Short had done this sort of thing before. He overborrowed to purchase the Minneapolis Lakers, signed Hot Rod Hundley to bring in the fans, and then left for "greener pastures" when the creditors started making noise [What? You thought the Lakers began in L.A.? Lakers -- Minnesota -- 10,000 lakes? Aah. Beginning to make sense now, huh? :)

Fast forward eleven years to 1968. Bob Short buys the team for [if I remember] Nine million dollars, too high a price for the moribund Nats. Again, he borrowed heavily to come up with the down payment, leaving little cash reserves to run the team. To create a cashflow, the Senators had the highest ticket prices during Short's three year run in D.C. Any wonder why the Senators had an attendance problem?

Following that magical 86-76 1969 season, Bob Short appeared on a WTOP-9 baseball special a few days before spring training began in Pompano Beach the next year. I'll never forget what he said: "I see no reason why the Senators can't have a Mets type season here in Washington in 1970" [the Mets had come from nowhere to win the series in '69]. That sounded a lot like a GM saying "the manager's job is safe." Short traded Kenny McMullen to the Angels very early in the season and it was all down hill from there.

Denny McLain was the top pitcher in the American League during the latter half of the 1960s. He was the first pitcher to win 30 games since Dizzy Dean, and won the Cy Young award in 1968, and shared it with Baltimore's Mike Cuellar in 1969. He was a twenty game winner the next year, but by 1970, he became a latter day Milton Bradley. He was suspended during the 1970 season. There were whispers about gamblers and alcoholism. The Tigers tried to trade him to anyone who would have him, but no one was willing to take a chance. No one, that is, except Bob Short.

Bob Short traded the entire left side of his infield, one of his best pitchers and a good pitcher for McLain and a bunch of guys named Joe. Just after the trade, Johnny Holiday interviewed him, and the issue of his mental health came up. McLain said, "Johnny, I've been given a certificate from two different shrinks that says I'm not crazy. Do you have a certificate like that Johnny?" I knew we were in trouble. 1971 had that same feel of all of those early 1960 teams: no wins and no hope. Our best players were in Detroit. Joe Coleman won 20 games for the Tigers, 10 more than Denny McLain won for the Senators

I still think that Bob Short made that trade to gut his team so fans wouldn't come to RFK, so he could whine to Bowie Kuhn that he had to, he just had to move to Turnpike Stadium [later enlarged and renamed] and become the Rangers. So arrogant was Short that the new Rangers logo had the first letter "R" and the last letter "S" capitalized, his initials. Typical. See a picture of Bob Short moving his team here.Today, baseball fans watch the movie "Major League," a story of a greedy owner that gets rid of all of her good players so she could move her team, and everyone probably says, "Man, that could never happen."

Truth is stranger than fiction.

I HATE BLOGGER

2006-07-10T22:35:00.000-06:00

[July 11th] -- I had just spent 45 minutes writing a story about the "re-renovation" of RFK stadium, and, once satisfied with the effort, I moused over and pushed "publish."

Except I missed and pushed the "discard" button instead. Blogger doesn't give you one of those "Hey idiot, you're going to lose all your work, do you really want to do this?" boxes. It just goes bye-bye.

I just started a four-week biology class (five hours a day, four days a week), and I just don't have time (or the inclination) to re-write it. So enjoy this art I found about Washington's best expansion third-baseman, Kenny McMullen. Next to Frank Howard, he's my favorite Senator.

I'll catch you mid-afternoon, that is, if the biology class doesn't freak me out. They promised me no dead frogs, but you just never know ....

ON BEING RYAN CHURCH

2006-07-09T20:27:00.000-06:00

[July 10th] -- So, the Washington Post has suggested that Alex Escobar is the "answer" to the Nationals' center-field problem. Of course, it goes without saying that Damian Jackson and Marlon Anderson were never more than a stop-gap out there, and Marlon Byrd had every opportunity to prove that he was an every-day player in the Major Leagues, but his poor first half all but ended any hope that he'll be more than a fourth outfielder for the remainder of his major league career. I guess that's it then. I mean, there isn't anyone else capable of playing center for the Nationals. (Note: it took a comment from a reader to remind me that Brandon Watson was the team's starting center-fielder this year. How is it possible that a guy who has run a Nats' website since the day they moved to Washington forget the 2006 starting center-fielder? Well, it was Brandon Watson, afterall.)

Right?

Well, that might be the case today, but a year ago, the center-field was one of the team's few bright spots. Ryan Church, who batted .343 For 'AAA' Edmonton the year before, was on pace for a .300-20-80 season before he ran into PNC Park's left-field wall ensuring a win for the Nats and a save for Chad Cordero. He saved the game but injured his shoulder. He ended the year with a .287-9-42 in just 268 at-bats. He was set for a strong sophomore season in 2006.

Somehow, however, in the space of just seven months, Ryan Church lost his "groove." A career .295 minor league hitter, he his floundering at 'AAA' New Orleans just like he floundered at 'AA' Harrisburg earlier this year. A few days before opening day, Church was sent down, because, Jim Bowden said, he didn't seem serious about his craft, that he didn't like the way he was "carrying" himself. Since that moment, with the exception of one magic week in mid April, he's been playing the worst baseball of his career.

Why?

I think you have to go back to last year to understand why this year has been so difficult for Church. After injuring himself in Pittsburgh in mid June, he was dogged by several "minor" injuries, injuries that Frank Robinson and Jim Bowden thought he should have been able to play through them. Now, this past spring, Church wasn't "carrying himself" in a manner acceptable to the team's management. Now he's languishing in the minors, and probably will not get another chance in the "show," at least not in Washington. More than likely, he'll be traded in the next few weeks in one of those "change of scenery" deals.

Simply put, Ryan Church lost his confidence.

I have a theory (writers always have theories). Ryan Church is a deeply religious man. Remember, Church got into a lot of trouble last summer for things he said about Jews. Being a religious man (I didn't find God until my mid 20's, and it turned out to be a pretty good deal. God forgave me for all those horrid things I did as a teenager but I still have those wonderful memories :), and knowing many religious people, I believe that people of faith tend to have thinner skin then those of the secular world. Typically (and sure, there is always exceptions), people of God tend not to speak ill of others, so when they are talked about, it can really hurt. I think Church limped into the off-season in pain, partly because of what Robinson and Bowden said, and partly because of the attacks he had to endure because of what he said regarding his religion. He came into spring training this year believing (as most of us did) that he was the starting center fielder. All he was trying to do was get ready for the season. He wasn't trying to impress anyone -- he was just making sure he could hit the other way, bunt, and run the bases reliably. When he was sent down this spring, it was the "last straw" and he began to doubt both himself and his abilities. He probably began to believe that since he was playing in the minors, he was a minor leaguer. He perhaps began to think that, "Hey, if they don't notice when I give 100%, why do it?" As I said, a career .295 hitter in the minors, Church batted .211 at Harrisburg and isn't much above that at New Orleans.

How can a guy who batted .287 at the major league level hit below .220 in the minors? Confidence. He's lost his confidence. And the only way he'll regain it is to be traded to another team, making him feel like he's wanted again.

Look, I don't know that I'm right about all of this, but it makes sense, doesn't it? I mean, how else can a major league hitter suddenly become inept? A loss of confidence is the only viable explanation. I'd love for Church, one of my favorite players last year, to regain his stroke here in Washington, but that's not gong to happen now that Bowden is "the guy." No, he's going to get traded, and next year, perhaps the year after, he's going to have a Grady Sizemore type year, and I will email Bowden and say, "I told you so."

But I won't enjoy it one bit. This time, being right sucks.

UM, MIKE PIAZZA CAN STILL SWING THE BAT

2006-07-09T15:19:00.000-06:00

[July 9th] -- That wasn't quite the way d that the Washington Nationals hoped to end the first half of the 2006 season. With the next four days off, the team wanted a "positive" to build on, something to give them hope that the second half of the season would be more fruitful than the first.

Not quite.

Chad Cordero, who was forced to enter the game in the 8th inning because of a depleted bullpen, gave up one run in the 8th and four more in the 9th, including pinch-hitter Mike Piazza's long, long (long) home run off the facade of the upper deck to give the Padres a 10-9 lead, and ultimately, the win. Did this 9th give you a sense of "deja-vu?" It felt a lot like last year's game against the Padres in San Diego, when Cordero gave up a grand-slam in the bottom of the 9th to allow San Diego to tie the score. The Nats eventually lost that game in the 12th inning. I think Robert Fick was the culprit in that one.

Was this game a defining moment? After all, the Nationals were leading the Padres 7-1 as late as the 6th inning before things went awry. The answer is an unequivocable no. This edition of the Washington Nationals aren't a contending team. Heck, they aren't even a good team. But they are our team, and that's all that matters. Losses are expected and wins come as unexpected surprises. So losing a game like this doesn't do much more than add another loss in the "L" column.

Right now, especially with the "sell-off" about to happen (remember, the Preston Wilson deal last year happened right at the all-star break), we need to look within the boxscore and look for trends, trends that might suggest how the Nationals could look when the team emerges from its last place doldrums and begins to improve.

Like taking a closer look at Alex Escobar, for example. Escobar, still just 27, is one of those "toolsy" players that GM Jim Bowden brought in by the truckload during his first few months in office. He was drafted by the New York Mets, and was on a superstar path until an injury in 2002 robbed him of some of his athleticism and most of his health. He was traded to the Indians in the Roberto Alomar trade in 2001, and was eventually waived and picked up by the Chicago White Sox. In Bowden's first bad trade, the Nationals sent Jerry Owens (the heir apparent for the White Sox in center) to Chicago for Escobar. He didn't play at all last year (more injuries) and is only now getting healthy. So what does he do? He goes 4-4 with a 3-run home run and is now batting .435 for the season. TSN.com calls Escobar a player with "all the tools," indicating he has power, speed, hits for average and has a canon-arm in the outfield. The only real negative is his health.

Is Escobar the "answer" in center? I don't know, but at least, for the moment anyway, he is going to be given every opportunity to show that the job should be his.

It was pretty obvious that John Patterson was still having problems with his forearm strain early in the first inning. I don't know why the Nationals keep sending him out to pitch every 5th day if he is running the risk of serious injury. Why not shut him down until he's 100%? It's not like another five or seven wins this year will make any difference, either for the team or for Patterson. He proved to all of us last year that, when healthy, he is about as good as it gets. Let him rest for as long as he needs.

Brian Schneider looks like he has finally gotten his timing down. He got three more hits including that (what we thought would be) insurance home run in the bottom of the 8th inning. Ryan Zimmerman got two more hits, one a double, and another RBI (he now has 59) and raised his batting average to a season-high .287. I think he's very comfortable in the number three hole in the lineup, and (hopefully), Frank Robinson will leave him there for the rest of the year. That should just about guarantee him 100 RBI's in his rookie season. Amazing.

Cordero looked horrible, didn't he? I think we're learning for certain what we thought last year, that Chad Cordero is a solid closer, but needs to be "on" to get the opposition out. If he isn't controlling his pitches well, his 91 mph fastball tends to go very, very far. Like today. Is he the long-term answer for the Nationals as the team's closer? Well, he sure could be, and a cheap answer for a couple more years at that. But I'm certain that his trade value will never be higher than it is right now. I mean, can you imagine what the Nationals might be able to get from the Atlanta Braves for Cordero today? How long will any team, especially the Braves, accept a success rate of 50% by their closer before doing something about it? I'm not suggesting that the team should trade him, but I am saying that bad teams don't need good closers. Perhaps Chad might be of more value to the Nationals in a trade, and they could then allow Billy Bray the opportunity to show if he is a major league closer. Without question, Bray has more "stuff" than Cordero does, but Cordero has more "guile" and "guts" (and his hat is funnier too).

More later ....

KASTEN, LERNERS GUFFAW AT LATEST GARAGE NEWS

2006-07-08T11:17:00.000-06:00

[July 8th] -- Curiouser and curiouser, no doubt about it. Although Major League Baseball and the D.C. City Council aren't directly involved any more, the fighting continues. On Thursday, the Zoning Commission approved Mayor Anthony Williams' concept of having the stadium parking garages partially underground and surrounded by a veneer of retail and residential complexes. Developer Herb Miller says, if given the go-ahead by the City Council this Tuesday, he can get the structure completed by opening day 2008. Stan Kasten and the Lerner's, however, don't believe it.

Kasten issued a statement on Saturday indicating that the new ownership group will go apoplectic if the City Council approves the Zoning Commission's version of the parking garages. Kasten says that this could push back the stadium completion timetable far enough that the team will lose tens of millions of dollars. No no no no! says the Lerners. @?!!$$%&** says the fans.

It's now even more apparent that Nationals' fans will be provided a basic structure but will be asked to pay premium pricing to visit it. The Lerner's of all people should understand the concept of "value added" in the world of customer service. You can charge $20 for a "nice" environment, but for a "top-of-the-line" facility, you can get another $5 or $10 for that same ticket, with additional costs eating up less than 50% of the additional cost. This isn't a new or "secret" concept. It's how companies remain in business. When I ran my camera store, I sold a particular camera for $175 while Wal-Mart sold the same on for $135. I couldn't keep it in stock because sales were so good. How? I gave the customer a free bag, free film and batteries, a five year warranty, a class on how to use the camera, and the guarantee of a loaner camera if theirs ever needed to be returned to the manufacturer for repair. All of that cost me about $20, but I got an extra $40 from the customer, and he/she was happy to give it to me. That's the whole concept of the new stadium in the first place. Fans are willing to pay more per ticket for better food and a better stadium. So why then won't the Lerners add back the limestone exterior, the partially sunken parking garages, and the rest of the amenities that were removed because of the City Council's cost constraints? I don't know.

My home reflects the kind of person I am. The Nationals' home will reflect the kind of franchise they will become. From what I can tell, that' s going to be good, but not quite good enough.

And that is really, really sad.

NATS FALL DOWN 3-2

2006-07-07T22:07:00.000-06:00

[July 7th] -- I'm not going to say too much about Friday's game, mainly because it was pretty "blah" and also because I left in the third inning to take my wife to go see "Click," a very funny movie (but why, why does Adam Sandler always have to throw in the gratuitous sex in his movies? I mean, I can't take my kids to go see it. Oh well.

Allow me this whimsy before taking a look at Friday's game. I was looking at the standings in the National League East, and sitting at the top is the New York Mets with a 51-35 record. I guess when you have Billy Wagner, Carlos Delgado, Carlos Belran and a handful of all-stars, you're going to be the top team in the division. Of course, just a year ago, the Washington Nationals, with the third lowest payroll in the National League, had that same 51-35 record, and that was after the team had lost four out of five. My, those were heady days.

The only important storyline to come out of this game was Frank Robinson being forced by a worn-out bullpen to bat Ramon Ortiz in the 5th inning with the bases loaded with only one out. Had either Mike O'Connor or Livan Hernandez been able to go deep(er) into the game, Frank would have been able to pinch-hit for Ortiz, and who knows what might have happened. That said, remember that the team sent down a pitcher on Thursday (O'Connor) and replaced him with a position player (Escobar) so perhaps there is more blame to go around then Frank is willing to admit.

I don't understand how this team is six games over .500 and the Nationals are hovering around ten games below that mark. Of their starting eight position players, only shortstop Khalil Greene, centerfielder Mike Cameron and rightfielder Brian Giles would start on the Nationals. Their starting pitching staff of Jake Peavy (4-8, 4.46), Chris Young (7-4, 3.13), Clay Hensely (5-6, 4.16) Chan Ho Park (6-4, 4.29) and Woody Williams (4-1, 2.98) is better than the Nationals', but not by that much. Remember, last year the Padres had about the same record as Washington, but won their division. Strange, huh?

Do you remember the trade that almost was last December between the Padres and Nationals? Jim Bowden pulled the trigger on a deal that would have sent Terrmel Sledge and a minor leaguer to San Diego for outfielder Dave Roberts. I wrote then that, although I liked Sledge very much, Roberts would certainly fix the team's "top of the lineup" problem. We should have made the deal. Roberts is batting .291 with a .364 on-base percentage and 21 stolen bases. Who said that the best deals are the ones you don't make? On the positive side, our friend Ryan Zimmerman got a hit for the 8th consecutive game.

Oh well, win some, lose some. The Nats face Chris Young, another "former" franchise member on Saturday. Omar Minaya traded him to Texas for ..... Einar Diaz. Diaz was released after the 2004 season because, in Robinson's words, "he just wasn't a major league catcher." Young, on the other hand, won 13 games for Texas last year and is 7-4 this year with the Padres. I guess the best trades ARE the ones you don't make.

Hey, wait a minute: I said that the best deals being the ones you don't make. I should have known that.

Good night Phil Dunn, where ever you are.....

NATS CENTER OF DISCUSSION ON BASEBALL TONIGHT

2006-07-06T22:25:00.000-06:00

[July 7th] -- Well, they weren't the "center" of discussion, exactly. But they were talked about, and some interesting theories regarding these last twenty-three days before the trading deadline came to light. After almost every highlight, the three-member panel talked about possible trades that each team might make. When it came time to discuss the Pittsburgh Pirates, things got a little interesting. "There are really only a couple of teams who are going to be sellers," began analyst Tim Kurkjian. "The Pirates have three players to trade, Jeromy Bernitz, Sean Casey and Craig Wilson. They and the Washington Nationals will be the two busiest teams between now and July 31st."

A few minutes later, "Baseball Tonight" showed the Nats' highlights with the obligatory Ryan Zimmerman walk-0ff hit. The three men cooed over Zimmerman's ability, adding that Frank Robinson calls Zimmerman a "special player," something that Robinson knows "all about," they said. Then came the trade talk. When asked if the Nationals will be active in the next three weeks, Kurkjian responded by saying, "Yes, in fact, the Washington Nationals will be in the center of all trade activity over the next three weeks. I mean, how can the Mets, in need of starting pitching, not call Jim Bowden and inquire about Livan Hernandez. The Yankees are of course still very interested in Alfonso Soriano. [graphic of many Nationals' players now cover the screen] The Nationals are looking to trade Hernandez, perhaps Soriano, Tony Armas, Jose Guillen, maybe even Jose Vidro. There will be lots of activity in D.C. in the coming weeks." (I didn't record this, but it's a pretty accurate representation)

Kurkjian also said that Bowden was an easy general manager to deal with. Duh.

I agree completely with Kurkjian. All roads, at least for the next few weeks, lead through Washington. Although not specifically mentioned, Nick Johnson has to be available for the right price. If you were hunting for a playoff spot, and could afford one acquisition, would you go get Sean Casey (.300 with three home runs) or Nick Johnson and his near-golden glove? With few exceptions, other team's general managers will give Bowden a call first before making deals elsewhere. Guys like Livan Hernandez and Jose Guillen are judged in these hectic pre-deadline days not by what they're doing this year, but rather what they've done in the past, so their, off-years will have a negligible effect. Don't believe me? Jeff Weaver, he of the 6.49 ERA, was traded to the Cardinals for a guy who was hitting .309-22-65 with a 1.009 OPS at the 'AA' level. He's barely 23. And he got traded for a guy with a 6-10 record making somewhere around $8 million a year. Kory Casto, also at the 'AA' level, and who Stan Kasten said is the team's top position player, is hitting .289-13-57. So, if Weaver can bring Terry Evans to the Cardinals, what might Livan Hernandez bring? Interesting thought, isn't it?

That's the great thing about this time in the season. You can trade every player on your team 100 times and still send them out there every night to do their thing.

Cool.

ZIMMERMAN WEAVING AMAZING FIRST YEAR STORY

2006-07-06T16:00:00.000-06:00

[
[July 6th] -- I'm really surprised that when Ryan Zimmerman hit his 11th inning, walk-off single to centerfield, he didn't call time and ask for a "do-over." After all, it would have surprised no one if he had launched Jason Vargas' next pitch over the left field wall.

After all, that's what Ryan Zimmerman does.

How good has this young man gotten? When he came to the plate in the 9th inning with the winning run in scoring position and two men out, the almost 30,000 fans at RFK began to cheer their team's walk-off victory before it happened. He popped out, however, and the game went to extra innings. I guess he figured that an 11th inning walk-off hit would look better on the ol' resume than one in the 9th. Seriously, Zimmerman got two more hits on Thursday, walked once and is now batting .285, just one point away from his season high of .286 that he achieved after beating the Yankees on Fathers' Day with his first blast of superhuman heroics. A 1-27 post-hero slump, however, took that average all the way down to .261, and he needed an eight game hitting streak to make that slump "go away" on his stats line. Frank Robinson, not wanting to screw up a good thing, said on Thursday that he doesn't give the kid much advice; he just lets him go out and play. Talk about confidence.

So, what's the deal with Livan? As usual, I forgot that this was a day game until the 2nd inning, and by the time I fired up the MLB video feed, I saw the 7-5 second inning score and a picture of Micah Bowie in the pitcher's "box." I figured he started the game and got bombed, but had to "take one for the team" and pitch into the 5th inning to save the bullpen. It wasn't until I checked the box score to write this story that I realized that Livan got creamed. Man, he was horrid. This makes two straight games that the starting pitcher couldn't get out of the 2nd inning, the first time that's happened since 1997. Just when you think that Livan is "back," he gets whacked big-time. How is all this effecting his trade value? Well, the Angels' just traded Jeff Weaver to the Cardinals for a 'AA' prospect, Terry Evans. Evans, 24, was hitting .311 with seven homers and 20 RBIs in 21 games with Double-A Springfield. He began this season with Class A Palm Beach, hitting .307 with 15 homers and 45 RBIs in 60 games. So he's a legit prospect that the Cardinals gave up to obtain the disappointing Weaver, who had a 6-10, 6.29 ERA in 16 starts with the Angels this season. Livan has a better ERA, is a better pitcher (though not by much any more), and is signed to a "decent" contract that still has a couple of years to run. My guess is that the Nationals should be able to get a prospect similar to Evans. And that would be just fine with me.

A day after refusing to muse about the Nationals' bullpen, I can't think of enough positive adjectives to describe their work. Gritty. superb. Remarkable. Amazing. How's that for a start? Oh, there's one I missed: lucky. Billy Bray almost gave away the game in the top of the 9th by throwing an easy grounder so far down the right-field line that Reggie Abercrombie made it all the way to third. With no outs. Bray, however, buckled down and didn't allow the run to score, a tough thing to accomplish when a runner is a third with no outs. Good for you Billy boy.

Frank Robinson is a tough guy. After making an error in center and then misplaying the throw, Marlon Anderson was pulled from the game and was replaced by Alex Escobar, who replaced Mike O'Connor on the 25 man roster. It was initially thought that Anderson's rib cage ailment had flared, but it seems that it was Robinson's temper that did the flaring.

So the Nats won three of four against the Marlins and now take on Woody Williams and the San Diego Padres on Friday at RFK. Hopefully, the Nationals will give the "Boys in brown" a tough weekend in Washington

NATS NOTES: Will Mike O'Connor be back from New Orelans anytime soon, or was the past 2 1/2 months his "15 minutes of fame?" Some bloggers are suggesting we've seen the best that O'Connor has to offer, while some over at BPG think he'll work out some kinks and return later this summer. I wondered what the team would do regarding their sudden glut of starting pitchers, and I was afraid that this would happen. How does starting Pedro Astacio and Tony Armas Jr. and (pretty soon) Ryan Drese help this team learn about its future? They need to play the kids. Hopefully, Jim Bowden is only showcasing Astacio et. al. and then bring back O'Connor and Hill (when he's healthy) for the last two months of the year .... Felix Rodriguez, a guy I was certain would regain his status as a top setup man, was transferred to the 60 day disabled list and that, I'm guessing, is the end of Mr. Rodriguez' tenure in D.C. .... Chad Cordero was called out of the bullpen in the 9th inning to replace Billy Bray with a runner on third and two out. The only problem was that Robinson didn't call for him. Umpire Tim McClennan saw Robinson move his hand has he walked to the mound, and assumed that he was make a bullpen move. Nope. He just wanted to have the entire infield meet him at the mound. Weird .... Livan went 1-1 and upped his average to .257; maybe they should move him to the outfield? .... I'm beginning to think I like that red-topped "DC" logo uniform a lot, almost to the point of making it "the" home uniform, with the white one worn on Sunday's and holidays.

MOMMA SAID THERE'D BE DAYS LIKE THIS ...

2006-07-05T21:39:00.000-06:00

[
[July 5th] -- Look, there are going to be games like this, and there isn't a thing we can do about it. You chalk it up to "get-eveness;" you know, we've had three walk-off home runs in 2 1/2 weeks, so things evened out tonight. It's just a loss, and a lot less painful than a 1-0 setback.

Mike O'Connor was pulled from the game in the second inning after allowing two more runners to reach base without retiring a batter. In one "official" inning, O'Connor gave up five runs on four hits, two of them long home runs. So, did Frank Robinson pull O'Connor so early because it was readily apparent that the kid just "didn't have it," or did he pull him so quickly because he didn't want to damage his psyche any further? At this stage of the season, one more loss (especially after four straight wins) won't change anything. My guess is that Robinson still has high hopes for O'Connor and didn't want him to impale on his own statistics.

Should Robinson still have confidence in his young pitcher? I don't know. His motion is herky-jerky, and his stuff is slow and slobbery, so it might have taken a while for the league to get a "fix" on his repetoir. Maybe National Leaguers now know what to expect, and the tide has turned. O'Connor had back-to-back bad outings for the first time this year (though to be fair, he's only had three bad starts all year). That said, he's now 3-6 and his ERA has ballooned to 4.32. Now that Pedro Astacio is back, and Tony Armas will be back later this week, and with Ryan Drese about to begin pitching his rehab assignments, will Robinson and GM Jim Bowden stay the course with the kids, or will they restock the rotation with wheezers and geezers? An interesting dilemma to be sure.

I was going to write something about the bullpen's effort, but, NAH .... I'll pass

With Ryan Zimmerman having slumped after his last two 9th inning home runs (vs Billy Wagner and Jay Seo), I was curious to see how he'd do tonight. No worries. Zimmerman got three hits and raised his average to .283. Soriano and Vidro also got three hits and Royce Clayton got two, upping his average over .270 for the first time this year. I'm telling you, Clayton is going to be in big demand in another week or so -- there aren't many veteran shortstops on the market who are hitting .270 and are playing with a near-minimum contract. He could bring a decent prospect. A few years ago, when I was still a Braves fan, John Scheurholtz traded for shortstop Jose Hernandez, then playing with the Brewers. They Braves gave up three mid-level draft picks. While none of them became stars, they all at least got to the major leagues. Why can't Jim Bowden do that?

What? Because he's not John Scheurholtz you say? Wicked, man. Wicked.

And now this: The Washington Post is reporting that our friend Alfonso Soriano wants to stay in Washington after all. He says he likes the youth of the team and the direction of the new owners. In a couple of years, he says, he'll like the new stadium too. And if the Nats keep him but don't sign him before the season is over? Well, says Soriano, "If they don't do nothing now, in three months, they would be the first team that I want to come to because I feel comfortable here." It seems that his being chosen a starting all-star "outfielder" has made him feel much more comfortable about remaining in left-field.

Amazing. Some "insiders" said that there would be ZERO chance of retaining the mecurial outfielder (I have no idea what that means, but the word seems to fit, doesn't it?), if Jim Bowden was handed the long-term GM job. I guess those "insiders" aren't very bright, huh? A five year, $50 million dollar deal earlier this year didn't entice the guy, so what would it take now? Five year, $60 million? Probably. But does the team want to tie up that much money in one player? I mean, that's three Brian Schneiders or two Nick Johnson's and a bunch of bench players. I don't know if he's worth those many Washington National dollars, especially if they take away from the other players to sign him. Now, if the signing of Soriano had no effect on the rest of the team, then sure, go for it. It'll be interesting to see what happens ....

ZIMMERMAN BANGS AND ZOOMS WAY INTO HEARTS OF NATIONALS FANS

2006-07-04T17:12:00.000-06:00

[July 4th] -- The 4th of July fireworks started a few hours early on Tuesday as Ryan Zimmerman hit his second walk-off home run in a little more than two weeks.

Now, you're probably not going to believe me, but when Jose Vidro came to the plate with two on and one out, I yelled at the television set, "Don't hit into another double play, Zimmerman need's another walk-off!" Vidro then flied out deep to left, giving the rookie the opportunity to repeat his heroics of just two Sunday's ago. With the count 2-1, Marlins' reliever Joe Borowski threw a hanging slider up and in, and even before the ball came near home plate, I shouted, "Hit it Ryan, hit it!" He took it for a strike. You could see it in his eyes, and the eyes of Frank Robinson when the TV camera cut to the dugout, that if in fact Zimmerman was to re-create his once-in-a-season heroics, that was the pitch to do it. Then, Bowrowski did something strange. He threw a second hanging slider, this time more towards the middle of the plate. Swing. Swat. Seeya. Just like that, Zimmerman hit yet another walk-off home run, and just like the last time, he threw his helmet in the air as he rounded third base and jumped into the waiting hands of his adoring teammates. In all the years growing up rooting for the Washington Senators, I don't remember Frank Howard hitting a single walk-off home run. Heck; I don't remember any Senator hitting a walk-off home run. It's a very difficult thing to do and yet Zimmerman's done it twice in sixteen days.

Certainly, he looks like a rookie at times. After hitting his first home run of his career, against Billy Wagner at Shea Stadium earlier this year, he promptly went 1-18. Then, after his game winner against Jay Seo, he went 1-27. But he always comes back. He hit in ten out of eleven games after that first slump, and has now hit in seven straight games following his second slump. He's on pace to hit .277-23-107 with 45 doubles and 80 runs scored. He's on pace to strike out 133 times, but just six weeks ago, he was headed for 170+ strikeouts, so even the rough areas of his game are improving. MASN showed a graphic in his third at-bat indicating that Zimmerman has the most hits in the National League with runners in scoring position. His high number of doubles is typical for a budding slugger. He'll likely be a 35 double a year guy, so he's likely to transform those ten extra doubles into homers, giving him 33-35 homer-per-year power. I guess all those things that Jim Bowden said about Zimmerman two draft-days ago were right. Who woulda thunk'd it.

NATS NOTES: John Patterson pitched well enough, but hasn't yet shown that sharp curve ball that made him almost unhittable last year. Hopefully, he'll continue to get better and revert to his 2005 form .... Harold Reynolds mentioned that Endy Chavez was one of the Expos "top" prospects a few years ago, and that he is finally showing his "stuff" with the Mets this year. He is hitting .272 this year in 160+ at bats, that's true, but he only has a .314 OBP. In essence then, nothing has changed, and the Mets are welcome to him .... Reynolds also said that the Los Angeles Dodgers are the team most likely to get Alfonso Soriano, and have "several" prospects they would be willing to trade for him. I'd love to get three players for Soriano, a "can't miss," a "4th outfielder" type and a third guy who should have made it but hasn't .... Tuesday's crowd of under 22,000 was about half of what the team drew last year on the 4th. Now that things are finally settling down in and around the Nationals, we'll begin to see if the damage caused by the D.C. City Council and Major League Baseball is temporary or permanent. The Nationals will probably draw about 1.7 million fans in 2006, on the low end of acceptable for a large market team. No matter how bad things might get, however, I don't see the team drawing much less then they are now .... Royce Clayton, after hitting tremendously well in the number two spot in the lineup, has been moved to sixth. You would think that manager Frank Robinson would ride Clayton at #2 until he cooled off, which he hasn't yet .... Juan Rivera, one of two players traded to the Angels for Jose Guillen, hit his seventh and eighth home runs of 2006 on Tuesday. His 8 homers have come in part-time duty, and is only one less than Guillen's total of 9 .

HAVE A HAPPY AND SAFE 4TH OF JULY

2006-07-03T22:19:00.000-06:00

[
[July 4th] -- Happy 4th of July.

What a special day this is. It is a spectacular reminder of the freedom and independence that we Americans take for granted. I grew up in the Middle East, a place where words like freedom and independence have no meaning. Hate. Now, there's a word that everyone understood there. I was told to hate Jews, but no one told me why. I was told to hate Sunni's, but no one told me why. Some Jews hated me, but I had never done anything to them. Or to the Sunni's, but they hated me too. Some said my neighbors were too Muslim, some said they weren't Muslim enough. To be liked, we had to dress in a certain way, talk in a certain way, and profess to views publicly that we eschewed privately.

Although I will never forget were I came from, I consider myself an American. Not an Arab-American, just a plain old American. I have had the opportunity to live in more than two dozen countries over the years, and have visited another thirty. Each country has it's own uniqueness that makes it special, but I saw no country as great as America. Certainly, we disagree, we fight, we yell, we scream, we even tell on each other. Just like brothers and sisters. In America, Democrats and Republicans argue. In some countries where I have lived, the opposing parties killed each other. I am a conservative, and a religious conservative at that. I giggle at those on the left who call me a "Neanderthal," because thirty years ago, I was on their side; I was one of them. In America, you end up being many different people during you life, you change and adapt, you discard things about you that you dislike and incorporate things that make you feel more comfortable. Americans believe that this ability to change yourself at any time is part of what makes us so great. Where I grew up, you died the person you were born as, your beliefs, your pocket book, your home all remained stagnant and unchanging. America doesn't understand words like "caste," words that force human beings to live a life that was preordained for them. In America, your success, or failure, is entirely up to you.

To appreciate this great country, you have to experience the rest of the world. I have had that opportunity multiple times over the years. One of my most prized possessions is my Naturalization Certificate. That little piece of paper changed my life. I was no longer scared, I was no longer hungry, and I was no longer unimportant to my government.

Happy 4th of July.

GOOD NEWS FROM THE STREETS OF SANTO DOMINGO

2006-07-02T14:28:00.000-06:00

[July 2nd] -- The Nationals announced on Sunday that they have signed someone that none of us have ever heard of, paid him a $1.4 million dollar signing bonus, and I couldn't be happier.

Bill Ladson is reporting over at the team's official website that Dominican Esmailyn "Smiley" Gonzalez has signed with the team. Because he just 16, he won't be able to begin playing in the Nationals' organization until next year, after he turns 17.

GM Jim Bowden is suggesting that the youngster very well might begin his professional career somewhere above the Gulf Coast League's "rookie" level.

The team is comparing his glove to that of Ozzie Smith and his bat, once he matures, could be similar to Miguel Tejada's. That seems more praise than a 16 year old deserves, but considering that all of Ryan Zimmerman's praise turned out to be reality, I'm not going to question it just because it sounds too good to be true.

But none of that is important. Sure, it'd be nice if the kid turns out to be a Smith/Tejada clone as the team is suggesting, but more of those "can't miss" kids turn out to be car salesmen or managers of sporting good stores than hall-of-famers. What is important, however, is the fact that the Washington Nationals, once the cheapest team in the Major Leagues, just spent $1.4 million dollars (the same amount paid to first round pick Colton Willems) on a player with the knowledge that, even if he does make the team one day, it won't be for another five or six years. Further, several other teams were after him (including the Yankees) and he chose to sign with Washington.

It's a big step forward for the club. Stan Kasten promised us two things. One, he wasn't going to dabble in free agency for the forseeable future, and two, that money the team would have paid to those free agents would be pumped into the farm system. Thus far, he's been true to his word. In the past couple of weeks, the Nationals have paid nearly $5 million dollars to three young baseball players, none of whom will help the team for many years. The Nationals are indeed building for the future.

When I was a Braves fan (Dale Murphy was a member of my church so I rooted for Atlanta from the early 80's until 2004), I got such a kick watching the team's young players blossom with the Braves. Chipper Jones' rookie year was good, but Ryan Zimmerman is on pace to have a much better one. Just a day or two after being called up from Richmond, Ryan Klesko hit a home run in the 9th inning that bounced off the top of the left field wall and over the fence for a game winning home run. Javy Lopez was the first "real" catcher the Braves had in all the years I watched the team. Andruw Jones, Marcus Giles, Johnny Estrada, David Justice, Adam LaRoche, Ryan Langerhans, Jeff Francoeur, and many others, at first turned the Braves into winners, and then kept them there. Some, like John Smoltz and Estrada, came from other organizations. Others were Braves born-and-bread. Wouldn't it be great if the Nationals were able to bring up as many players as they needed from the minors to help solidify the major league roster? Slowly, it's starting to happen.

Today, Larry Broadway and Kory Casto seem like sure things. There are few others who "could" make a difference at some point, but most of the team's minor league system is "filler," guys wearing uniforms because one of the rules in baseball is that you have to field nine players at a time.

Help's on the way. Thank goodness.

NATIONALS BEAT TAMPA BAY 6-2: It was a nice Sunday afternoon at RFK Stadium as the Washington Nationals did what was expected; beat a team that they should have beat (though to be sure they some fine players on their team). Ramon Ortiz pitched very well again, allowing just four hits and one run in seven strong innings. He also struck out four. With each solid outing, Ortiz increases the chances of his being dealt before the July 31st deadline. I think he'd be a great 5th starter for a team trying to win a pennant. Ryan Zimmerman continues to make that 1-27 slump a distant memory. Zimmerman hit a line-drive home run that reminded me a lot of Frank Howard's homers, never getting very high and able to take someone's head off if they didn't get out of the way. Jose Guillen got two more hits as well, and may get hot enough to allow the Nationals to get some decent offers for him before the trade deadline at the end of the month.

SEEMS LIKE OLD TIMES

2006-07-01T21:32:00.000-06:00

[July 2nd] -- Thank you, Brian Meadows. Sooner or later, the opposition had to make an error, or get picked off of first base, or serve up a game winning home run. As usual, however, it was the Nats who made the error, and it was the Nats who had a player picked off of first. I'm surprised that Nick Johnson didn't realize that the script called for Aubrey Huff to hit the game winner. Well, sometimes, by not paying attention, good things can happen. Way to go Nick!

It's not that the Nationals played particularly well. Ryan Zimmerman got picked off of first base, on a bad throw no less. In the 9th inning, with Rocco Baldelli on first, Aubrey Huff hit a sharp one-hopper directly at Royce Clayton. For some reason, Clayton went down to his knees to snare the tailor-made double play ball only to have it bounce off his glove and roll towards deep short. E-6. E-6, for the fourth time in eight games. Luckily no one scored in the inning.

Livan Hernandez pitched well enough, I guess, allowing three runs in seven innings. The ten hits and four walks did put a damper on the outing, however. His starts have little to do with winning and losing these days. All that's important is that he shows the Mets and Yankees and Dodgers and Angels that he has enough left in the tank to warrant trading for him. And he did just that last night. The tank isn't full, mind you, but neither is it on fumes.

Speaking of having something left in the tank, Jose Guillen's long bomb was easily his longest home run at RFK Stadium. Even with that home run, however, he's still hitting only .205, not well enough to retain his starting right-field job and certainly not well enough to garner any interest from a contending team. His situation is really very sad. Just a few short months ago, he was offered the stability he's been craving throughout his career when Jim Bowden tried to get him to sign a four year, (I think) $28 million dollar contract. He was stubborn and demanded a 5 year, $50 million dollar deal. Now, especially if he doesn't begin to hit, the only teams that will show any interest will be the Royals and Pirates. And considering that he burned his bridges in Pittsburgh a long time ago, he might not do any better than winding up as a 4th outfielder somewhere. Were I Jim Bowden (though I couldn't be because I don't drink), I would offer Jose Guillen a two year extension, perhaps for a little more money than he's receiving now, and give him the opportunity to work his way back to that big payday that he's frittered away. He's going to hit around .280, and he's going to hit around 30 homers and he's going to drive in nearly 90 runs next year; might as well be with the Nationals. This has just been "one of those" years. I'd love to keep him if he'd be willing to sign a 2 year/$13 million dollar contract.

Ryan Zimmerman said that he was having no mechanical problems during that 1-27 slump. I might be way off base here (don't you love how the language of baseball is intertwined with the English language?), but the only other prolonged slump the rookie has gone through came immediately after his dramatic home run off of Billy Wagner that tied the game in the 9th inning at Shea Stadium earlier this year. Maybe the kid doesn't deal well with success.

Enjoy your Sunday. I'm still trying to decide if God will hate me if I bring my cell phone into the chapel and keep an eye on the game. My guess is that God will love me, but my wife will threaten me with bodily harm. So no, I'm not going to do it. Now, if they were playing the Mets .....

NOTE: Pedro Astacio has been added to the 40 man roster and will start Monday against the Florida Marlins. Now, this is a very interesting situation. Everyone, everyone is in agreement that this is a team that needs a "dose of youngin'" real quick. So a youngin' (Shawn Hill) goes on the disabled list and is replaced by a grizzled veteran (I say "grizzled veteran" because I'm too lazy to look up his age -- 36 I think) in the rotation. There is no conceivable situation that I can come up with where Astacio will remain with the team for any length of time. I'm guessing that Jim Bowden is hoping that the old man can show "enough" to trade him for a mid-level prospect sometime this month. Chance of Livan being traded before July 31st: 75% ... chance of Ramon Ortiz being traded: 85% ... chance of Tony Armas Jr being traded: 50% ... chance of Astacio being traded: 100% [unless he can't come back from his injury].

SO, NOW WHAT?

2006-07-01T12:35:00.000-06:00

[July 1st] -- It was April Fools Day in June. It had to be. I mean, how else could something like this happen? That said, and much to the chagrin of the fans of the Washington Nationals, Stan Kasten announced that Jim Bowden, the team's "temporary" general manager, isn't "temporary" any more. It doesn't matter that we disagree with Kasten's decision any longer; we have to live with it now. We have to come to the realization that as we scan the morning Nationals' news on the internet, the name "Jim Bowden" and term "general manager" will co-exist for some time to come. We need to focus less on "that it happened" and more on "what's next." So, what's next?

I see two potential scenarios growing out of Kasten's decision. First, Kasten is leaving Bowden in place because he can control Bowden, that Jimbo is so excited to keep his job that he is willing to report to the team president before he goes wee-wee. Some mentioned this relationship has Kasten having a "short leash" on Bowden. I see it more as a taser baton. Screw up, Jim baby, and you'll get 12,000 volts of "oooooooooooooooooooooooowwww" right between your butt cheeks. I don't think this is what's happening. Kasten did his best to stay in the background during his time in Atlanta, and consulted with GM John Scheurholtz as to only the money that was available for contracts the team might acquire in a potential trade. I'm sure that when Tony Tarasco was traded to San Diego for Fred McGriff, Kasten wasn't consulted. No, I don't think Kasten wants to work that way.

The second scenario is that Stan Kasten is an honest man and he truly believes what he says. He was reported as saying that he has told those close to him "from day one" that he wanted to retain Bowden, and that he feels that Bowden's stewardship of the Nationals during this "difficult time" has been excellent. If he believes these things, then he would have no reason to keep Bowden on a leash. In the few articles I could find about his hiring of Scheurholtz in Atlanta, Kasten's flowery prose regarding Scheurholtz was eerily similar to what he said about Bowden.

It's easy for us on the "outside" to mock the decisions of those on the "inside." Perhaps Bowden's poor player personnel choices occurred because his hands have been tied and was not able to do his job properly, both in Cincinnati and here in Washington. Of course that's possible, and I'm willing to give him a "fresh look" in the coming months. But two things worry me. His treatment of Ryan Church had nothing to do with limited funds. He broke the guy, he publicly questioned his commitment and ability. Now, for some players, that kind of public ridicule causes them to work harder and become successes. Others, however, begin to have self doubts and say, "Gee, if the boss thinks I suck, I must really suck." A good GM needs to know which players to kick in the pants and which players to kiss on the forehead. The other concern was the Soriano trade. Trading three players, all of whom were under club control for quite some time, for one guy, in his free agent year, then demanding him to play another position, something he has refused to do twice in his career, well, that's not about having one's hands tied either. His "Soriano" decision was stupid. His "Church" decision was spiteful. I can forget the Soriano debacle, but I can't forgive him about Ryan Church. At least, not yet.

I hope Stan Kasten understands the message he just sent Nationals fans. Instead of staring new and removing every remaining vestage of those dark "owned by Major League Baseball" days, he has in essence validated baseball's choices by retaining those people who ran the team for Bud Selig. Bowden is forever entwined with the D.C. City Council, Cristian Guzman, Selig, Marion Barry, et. al. Not a wise move, at least at this juncture.

BOWDEN TO STAY

2006-06-30T22:23:00.000-06:00

[July 1st] -- Bill Ladson reported on Friday that Stan Kasten has signed Jim Bowden to a multi-year deal. Kasten will not divulge how long the deal will last, but Ladson hinted that Bowden will be around long enough to see Chris Marrero and the rest of this year's draft to make it to the big leagues.

Sigh.

I can think of no words that will properly describe how I am feeling at this moment. We, the loyal fans of the Washington Nationals, see with clarity that Bowden, while a decent enough guy, isn't the long-term answer for this team.

Several bloggers have broken down Bowden's trades over the years. A few months ago, I tracked every deal he made with the Cincinnati Reds. The conclusion reached was that the great majority of his transactions were meaningless (minor leaguer for minor leaguer, for example), and the big ones usually back-fired on the team. The Ken Griffey trade with the Mariners comes to mind, as does the Roberto Kelly for Paul O'Neill fiasco a few seasons earlier. The Cristian Guzman signing wasn't the best way to start the Bowden era in Washington. Even disinterested fans knew that a great part of Cristian Guzman's batting average came from the fast Astroturf at the Metrodome. And while the Soriano trade still tilts Washington's way at this point (Galaraga is getting hit pretty hard at the 'AA' level and Termel Sledge, since traded to San Diego, played poorly and was optioned to the team's 'AAA' affiliate), the Rangers will have Brad Wilkerson's rights after this year. In essence, it was a three-for-one trade for a guy who would be, at best, a one-year rental.

And all of this makes Bowden the "best man for the job?"

So, what's worse: Bowden staying as the team's general manager for the foreseeable future, or Stan Kasten somehow thinking that his staying is a good thing? The only way this makes sense is if Kasten and the Lerners are ready to slash and burn the team, and figure that Bowden can't possibily screw the team up any worse.

And that couldn't be happening. Could it?

YOU ARE ABOUT TO ENTER THE "OUTER LIMITS" (OF YOUR PATIENCE)

2006-06-30T21:40:00.000-06:00

[June 30th] -- "There is nothing wrong with your computer. Do not attempt to adjust the picture; we are controlling transmission. If we wish to make it louder, we will bring up the volume. If we wish to make it softer, we will tune it to a whisper. We will control the horizontal; we will control the vertical. We can roll the image…make it flutter. We can change the focus to a soft blur, or sharpen it to crystal clarity. For the next few minutes, sit quietly and we will control all that you see and hear. We repeat; there is nothing wrong with your computer. You are about to participate in a great adventure. You are about to experience the awe and mystery which reaches from the inner mind to…the outer limits."

When I watched the "Outer Limits" as a kid growing up in Falls Church, I never once considered that the introduction of the program might be referring to Nationals general manager Jim Bowden. He controls all we see. Sometimes, things seem fairly clear, but mostly, the way the Nationals play is mostly a blur. It's almost as if as once we begin to get a clear fix on the team, Bowden turns his magic dial and things go haywire again. We all end up with headaches and then Bowden blames our televisions.

Jerk.

The Tampa Bay Devil Rays, since their inception a decade ago, have amassed the fewest number of wins in all of baseball. Were it not for the Devil Rays, the Nationals would be playing in the worst stadium in the league. And those uniforms! By far the worst in the league. Maybe ever (and that includes those gosh-awful White Sox "short-shorts" from the mid 1970's). So Tampa is the worst team in the league with the worst uniforms playing in the worst stadium.

And they're better than the Nationals.

Usually, a baseball team is saddened when less than 22,000 fans take in one of their games. But when a great majority of them are booing the home team, it's a downright positive situation. Such was Friday night at RFK. The Nationals got six hits, The Devil Rays had seventeen. Tampa scored nine times, Washington once. On the positive side, the Nationals did leave more runners on base than did the D-Rays.

The Nationals have reached a point that happens at some point to all bad teams. They stop trying, and they wait for "bad stuff" to happen. In their minds, they've lost the game before the first pitch is thrown. It's only a matter of time before some guy with no power hits a home run, or some pitcher who lobs the ball towards home strikes out ten. Then, when it happens, they say, "See? I knew it was going to happen."

When "real" teams give up, the manager gets fired. Sometimes, the general manager goes too. It will be very interesting to find out, when Mr. Kasten takes over, if this is indeed a real baseball team. Will Frank Robinson get axed? Will Jim Bowden become "former general manager Jim Bowden" once again?

Something big is going to happen. Soon. With the exception of the Kansas City Royals, every other team playing this poorly gets blown up, or restructured, or demoted, or something. A team just can't keep saying to it's fans, "Things will get better" when everyone knows it won't.

Yep. Big changes are in the offing. You can't be worse than the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and expect to remain intact.

COOLING OFF IN CANADA

2006-06-29T21:18:00.000-06:00

[June 29th] -- I love the Washington Nationals. Oh, I love my family more, but in term of hobbies, there is nothing that gives me more pleasure than watching Washington's baseball team play. Win or lose. But tonight ...

Let's be clear, none of this is the players' fault. Certainly, some of them aren't performing as they should, but that's because they've been asked to do things beyond their capabilities. We weren't angry when the Houston Astros stole all those bases against Matt LeCroy a month or so ago. Designated Hitters aren't supposed to have a canon for an arm. Tonight, it was Robert Fick's turn to fail in a position he shouldn't be playing. Fick, who came up as a catcher in the Tigers' organization, was moved to the outfield, then to first base, because of his shortcomings behind the plate. And yet, there he was, catching John Patterson at the Rogers Centre. Brian Schneider would have probably held on to that ball during the collision and saved a run. And Schneider wouldn't have forgotten what pitch he called and allowed that fastball to roll to the backstop. And the three stolen bases, well, Schneider would have at least had a chance to gun them down. Fick could have played almost anywhere on Thursday and helped the team; anywhere but catcher that is.

The Nationals keep losing in part because of players playing out of position. Daryle Ward, playing right field, ran to the wall and caught a ball a foot in front of the fence. Then dropped it. He also failed to cut-off a slow rolling ball that found the gap in right-center field. I could have cut that ball off, and I'm 5o years old. But that's no slight against Ward; he's a first baseman, he's a pinch hitter. He's not an outfielder. Over in left is Alfonso Soriano, who's not an outfielder either. It's not his fault when he fails to come up with routine fly balls. So, if it's not Robert Fick's fault, and it's not Matt LeCroy's fault, and it's not Daryle Ward's fault, and it's not Alfonso Soriano's fault, then who's to blame?

I don't have to actually write his name here, do I?

Now John Patterson is being affected by all this weirdness. He was pulled from the game because he had a "tired" arm? Manager Frank Robinson said he didn't look "quite right." Tired arm? Wasn't this like Patterson's 10th start of the year? How could his arm be "tired?" Maybe he just didn't "feel" like pitching because of all the crap that he's had to endure this year. And if that's the case, do we blame Patterson? No. We blame the "other guy." Without a healthy Patterson, or even a happy one, the Nats have no chance. Heck, they have less than no chance.

So, The Nationals have gone 4-14 after their 17-7 spurt. Three game sweeps are becoming the norm, and winning one game per series seems to be the team's "ceiling." But the guy whose fault all of this is will probably start carping about the team's effort in the press any time now. I have to assume that the silver lining in all of this is the fact that Stan Kasten and the Lerners won't be able to retain Jim Bowden under any circumstance.

I guess that's worth a few bad losses, right?

LOOK DEEP INTO THE LOSSES AND WHAT DO YOU SEE? LOSSES. NOTHING MORE.

2006-06-28T21:31:00.000-06:00

[June 29th] -- There is no need to write another story about Wednesday night's game. Just go back to Tuesday's entry and change the 6-0 score to 6-1, and change the part about Ryan Zimmerman being in a 1-25 funk to to his getting two hits. Other than that, it's the same old story.

It's not like Washington baseball fans have some special understanding with the baseball Gods. Just because we went without baseball for thirty-three years doesn't give us some special dispensation that guarantees that the Nationals are going to have winning seasons forever. We're not even guaranteed that the Nationals will have a winning season ever. Just look at the history of baseball in D.C. "First in war, first in peace, last in the American League" wasn't just created out of thin air. Three pennants in seventy years, with none in the last thirty-seven. Other than 1924, '25 and '33, baseball in D.C. was just something to do in between the Cherry Blossom Festival and the start of the Redskins season.

Losing is meaningless. How you lose means something. There is nothing like watching your team lose as they get better, as the individuals on the roster begin to coalesce. Their uncertainty is slowly replaced by confidence with just a hint of arrogance. In Vince Lombardi's only season as head coach of the Redskins, they lost about as often as they won. But those losses were fun to watch because, for the first time since the days of Eddie LeBaron, the Redskins were playing solid fundamental football. Two years later, George Allen took the helm and turned the team "into the wind," beginning a twenty-year run as one perhaps the premier team in the NFL. The Bullets were a bad team when they moved from Baltimore to D.C. Then Jack Marin was traded for Elvin Hayes, and slowly, guys like Mike Riordan and Phil Chenier joined the squad. They looked so good that last year they were bad; you could see within the losses hints of a very bright future. If the Nationals were losing like that, being a last-place, dead-from-the-neck up team (I stole that from "The Natural") wouldn't bother me. But the team isn't showing signs of a sudden turn around. The kids that are allowed to play are playing well enough. The veterans who are asked to play are doing the best they can. But unlike the Phillies, who have a Ryan Howard behind each Jim Thome, the Nats' minor league system offers less hope than does the major league roster.

I hate to say this, but last year's 81-81 finish might have done far more harm than good for the team's future. Instead of making decisions for the long-term good of the team, the Nationals were "buyers," buying players that no one else wanted. Preston Wilson and Junior Spivey kind of players. Wilson was terrible. Had we begun the "rebirth" of the team last year, we'd be one year closer to being able to smile as we discussed the team's losses.

We're not their yet, however. So, in the words of Forrest Gump, "That's all I have to say about that." At least for now.

DON'T SCREW THIS UP, JIM

2006-06-28T16:10:00.000-06:00

[June 28th] -- Washington Nationals' fans are ready for the veteran exodus to begin. That three week, 17-7 run not withstanding, it has been clear since the Alfonso Soriano trade last fall that this wasn't going to be a team that would, or could, contend. One day soon, we'll be greeted with a headline at reads something like "NATS TRADE SORIANO FOR XXXXXX. Now, XXXXXX will likely be the name of a player that few of us have ever heard of. And even if we know the name, we won't know for some time, perhaps years, if it was a good trade for the Nationals.

It wasn't too long ago that then Nationals' (Expos) general manager Omar Minaya made perhaps the worst "prospects for rent-a-veteran player" ever. Pretending he was in a pennant race, Minaya traded first baseman Lee Stevens, second baseman Brandon Phillips, pitcher Cliff Lee and outfielder Grady Sizemore to the Indians for Bartolo Colon. Minaya traded Colon to the White Sox seven months later for Orlando Hernandez, Jeff Leifer and Rocky Biddle; none of them had any real impact for the Expos/Nationals. Minaya also traded Jason Bay, listed by Baseball America as being one of the club's top prospects at the time, to the New York Mets for journeyman Lou Collier.

How would the Nationals look today had Minaya not made those trades? Take a look at this lineup, projected for the entire season:
1. Brandon Phillips [SS] ........308-16-90 ............33 steals, .354 OBP
2. Jose Vidro [2B]...............310-12-64 ............ .363 OBP
3. Grady Sizemore [CF]........300-33-85 .............375 OBP, 27 steals
4. Jason Bay [RF]................286-44-110 ............402 OBP, 15 steals
5. Alfonso Soriano [LF].........274-50-105 ...........40 steals
6. Nick Johnson [1B]...........308-25-75............. .438 OBP
7. Ryan Zimmerman [3B].......265-23-100
8. Brian Schneider [C]...........230-2-27

Add in Cliff Lee (on pace to go 16-11, 4.61 and Chris Young (16-7, 2.97), who was traded to the Rangers for Einar Diaz, and the Nationals would be a young, athletic, fast, powerful team with a rotation of Lee, Young, Mike O'Connor, John Patterson and Livan. The team would hit more than 200 home runs and steal more than 150 bases. They would easily be the second best team in the NL East, perhaps even better (the only caveat is that I'm playing Phillips at short, a position he first played in the minors. He's at second in Cincinnati).

The Nationals are going to win about 70 games in 2006, but they could have won 95. The difference? Poor "veteran for prospect" trades by Omar Minaya. If Jim Bowden goes the way of his predecessor, he'll bury the team for a decade. If he "chooses wisely," he could very possibly bring back to D.C. those very types of players that Minaya allowed to get away.

That said, who should go and who should stay? My take: 1] Players that must go: Alfonso Soriano, Livan Hernandez, Jose Vidro, Royce Clayton (he's worth a prospect if the Nats' act fast), Jose Guillen, Ramon Oritz, and Tony Armas Jr. 2] Players who might bring more than they are worth: Brian Schneider and Nick Johnson. 3] Guys who must stay: Ryan Zimmerman and John Patterson.

YUCK

2006-06-27T20:46:00.000-06:00

[June 28th] -- I don't want to complain about the Nationals' latest loss, a 6-0 drubbing at the hands of "Canada's team," the Toronto Blue Jays. Because the losses are becoming more regular, lashing out at the team's play, or desire, or even their uniforms, won't matter very much. You know the changes are coming, and they're probably coming soon.

My father, who would have celebrated his 89th birthday today, used to say to me, "you have to act while the iron is hot!" It must have made sense in the 1930's, because I never understood what he was trying to tell me growing up. But I understand now. When you need to make a choice, you do it at a time that's most advantageous to you, and not the other guy. Sigh. I wish my dad had talked to Jim Bowden. A month ago, Alfonso Soriano, Tony Armas Jr., Ramon Ortiz and a Livan Hernandez would have brought the Nationals a bevy of prospects in trades. They were all playing very well then. Today, Soriano continues to look confused at the plate. Armas is on the disabled list, and no one is exactly sure what to expect when Hernandez takes the mound. Ortiz isn't pitching poorly right now, but neither is he winning. I'm afraid that Bowden waited too long before unloading his veterans. Soriano and Armas couldn't remain that hot. Even though Livan was pitching poorly, no one would have thought that we were seeing the beginning of the "downside" of his career. Bowden said he would wait until another team "really needed" one of his players, before making a deal. By waiting, the Nationals have shown their hand to the other team's general managers. Instead of having all face cards, are deck is full of two's and three's.

6-0. NO runs. SIX hits. THREE errors. Zimmerman continues to slump. Will the Nationals be able to pull themselves out of this nosedive, or will it take a reshuffling of the team's deck? If they play another game like Tuesday's, we won't have to wait long to find out.

Nats Notes: Jose Vidro got two hits against the Blue Jays and has raised his average back up to .310. We're not seeing a lot of power out of the portly second sacker, but it is almost July and he's still healthy. That's an amazing thing. I'd say the chance of Vidro finishing the season in Washington is less than 10%. The Yankees Robert Cano was placed on the DL on Tuesday .... might the Yankees be willing to take a gamble? .... Ryan Zimmerman is 1-25 since his walk-off homer two Sundays ago against New York. Did that hit affect him? Would it have affected you? It's a bump in the road, no more (though I wasn't thrilled with that throwing error) .... Clayton batted third again, though this time Robinson's gamble failed his shortstop went hitless.

RIOS IS BECOMING A POWER HITTER SUPREME

2006-06-27T15:20:00.000-06:00

[June 27th] -- Keep an eye on the Blue Jays' Alex Rios during the Nats' series in Toronto. There was talk about a possible trade with Toronto last season involving Rios (I can't remember who was the Nationals' player involved), but the deal never materialized. Rios, 25 is 6'5" and 200 lbs, and the Blue Jays had always projected him as a slugger. When the Nats visited Toronto last season, about this time as I remember, he had one of the lowest slugging averages on the team and had exactly one home run. I figured that he was just another big guy who was never going to find his power. He began to hit with authority the second half of 2005, however, and ended the year with 10 homers in 481 atbats. He batted .262 with 10 home runs and a pretty lousy .307 on base percentage.

Times have changed for Alex Rios.

Going into tonight's game against Washington, Rios is batting .323 with 15 homers and 51 RBI's. He's raised his OBP to .376 and he sports a .553 SLG average. He even has 9 stolen bases, all tremendous numbers for late June.

It's always a great story when a player all of a sudden "gets it" and turns into a star. It would have been an even better story if the Nationals had made that trade last season, regardless of who they would have had to give up.

MARRERO SIGNS, NATS HAPPY (ME TOO)

2006-06-26T23:39:00.000-06:00

[June 27th] -- So far, so good. The Nationals announced on Monday that they have come to terms with Chris Marrero, their first first round draft pick in 2006, and will sign him when he visits RFK next week. After some batting practice with the "big boys," Marrero will report to the Nationals' Gulf Coast rookie team. In an interview earlier today, he said he'd probably play one of the corner outfield positions this summer. Scouts and "people in the know" are comparing him to Miguel Cabrera of the Marlins, and Carlos Lee of the Brewers. "If he fills out," says one scout, "he could be the next Pat Burrell." (is that good or bad?)

Cool. Both of the Nationals' first round picks have been signed, and signed quickly. That's the story, of course. These two kids might end up being the next Joe DiMaggio, or the next Joe Charboneau. You just never know. But one thing we do know, and we needed to know it now during these dark days, is that Stan Kasten is a man of his word. During the past few weeks, I have been casting barbs at the new Nationals' ownership group for refusing to spend money on free agents. "We'll spend the money on building up the farm system," or so they said. Well, they were telling the truth. It can take weeks, even months to come to terms with a first-round draft pick. Remember the J.D. Drew fiasco? Drew refused to sign with the Phillies and re-entered the draft, signing with the Cardinals the second time around. And, if the team doesn't pony up the appropriate cash, the kid simply goes to college.

Not this time.

It was almost as if Bowden said, "What'll it take, kid?" and then he simply wrote a check. Just like that. So now, no longer is this franchise into drafting only those players they can sign. They now draft those players who can play baseball. And that makes a big difference. When I lived in Seattle many years ago, then Mariners' owner George Argyros told his GM to use the team's #1 pick to grab a player they could afford to sign. The Mariners selected Al Chambers. The Tigers, selecting after them, took Kirk Gibson. See?

It'll be interesting to see how things work out. It won't be like last year, when it took all of two weeks to realize that Ryan Zimmerman was the team's future at third base. David Wright, the Mets' star third baseman, was just 22 when he first played in the major leagues. He completed four years in the minors. So, if Marrero, or Willems are as good as Wright, we can expect to see them playing "up here" sometime in 2010. Heck, by then, the new park won't even have that "new stadium" smell anymore.

The future is looking solid. Now, if we can only fix the present....

MIKE FLANAGAN REVISITED

2006-06-26T19:12:00.000-06:00

[June 27th] -- Yes, I used to watch the Baltimore Orioles, I admit it. Not to root for them, mind you, just for the joy of watching the only baseball available on D.C.'s local channels. No ESPN or MASN then, just WJZ-13 and the Orioles' Broadcasts.

Starting in 1976, I began to notice a new pitcher for Baltimore. He was a tall, thin lefty with a herky-jerky motion and bunch of curvy, off-speed stuff. He would look like a world beater for oh, five or six innings or so, then Wham! Bam! Whack! And that was that. Exit Mr. Flanagan. Slowly (it took about a season), Flanagan was able to make it past the 6th inning and eventually became one of the best pitchers of his era. He won 167 games over his career, and was selected to several all-star teams.

Fast forward thirty years. In 2006, I began to notice this tall, lanky left with a herky-jerky motion and a bunch of curvy, off-sped stuff. He would look like a world beater for oh, five or six innings or so, then Wham! Bam! Whack! And that was that. His name was Mike O'Connor. Thus far O'Connor has had only one bad outing, two weeks ago against the Colorado Rockies. I was watching the Rockies Fox SportsNet channel here in Idaho, and George Frazier correctly predicted that O'Connor would pitch well the first two times through the lineup, then begin to give up runs as the Rockies began to figure out his unusual motion. O'Connor has redeemed himself his last two starts, allowing just three earned runs in thirteen innings.

I think that the Mike O'Connor that we've watched this far is as bad as we'll ever see. With each game he pitches, he gets better, and learns how to stretch his limited ability even farther. Certainly, he doesn't have top-of-the-rotation stuff, but he could easily be the Nats' number three pitcher for years, winning 12-14 wins every season.

NATS AVOID SWEEP IN BALTIMORE

2006-06-25T15:22:00.000-06:00

[June 24th] -- You know things aren't going very well when "Nationals Avoid Sweep" is a really positive headline. But after losing the first two games in Baltimore, they badly needed a win before shuffling off to Toronto. Thank goodness they got it.

It didn't look very encouraging early on. Livan Hernandez, who's trade value seems to be dropping each time he takes the mound, allowed leadoff hitter Brian Roberts a single and then walked Bill Fahey. Miguel Tejada hit a double-play grounder, but Fahey took out Jose Vidro at second base, leaving runners on the corners with just one out. The Orioles should have gotten a run out of Javy Lopez's fly ball to right, but Marlon Anderson did his best "Jose Guillen" impression and threw Roberts out at home, ending the threat.

Do you remember the Nationals' exhibition game at Camden Yards earlier this year, just before the start of the regular season? The Orioles pitched Daniel Cabrera, whose 99 mph fastball, coupled with his devastating slider, made the Nationals look silly all game long. Not this time. He would throw a 98 mph fastball in the dirt, then try to compensate for his wildness by throwing 99 mph the next time. He threw one of those out-of-control heaters near Daryle Ward's head, then threw the next one even harder, hitting Ward on the upper shoulder, just inches away from the unprotected nape of his neck. Too close, and very scary.

Cabrera's "stuff" looks electric; I mean, how can a 99 mph fastball not be? His curve, his slider, all the off speed pitches, are top-notch. That said, he seems to get whacked around pretty good each time he takes the mound. One day, he may stop being a thrower and become a pitcher, but, it hasn't happened as of yet. But it might. When I was a tiny, tiny lad, I went to a game with my brother at The Los Angeles Coliseum, before Dodger Stadium was completed. I don't remember much, but I do recall this slender, stylish lefty who seemed to be able to throw his fastball through a brick wall. His curve was so good that when he threw it, my knees buckled. He lost the game something like 9-1. My brother told me that if he ever learned how to pitch, he'd become great. Sandy Koufax certainly did. Koufax "did it" by easing up a bit on the fastball and letting that rainbow curve become his out-pitch. To a lesser extent, Ramon Hernandez did the same thing this year, and won five games in a row. He's got all the tools to be dominant, but does he have the desire to change his style? Time will tell.

Ryan Zimmerman continues to concern me. He is 1-24 in his last four games, and looks both timid and tepid at the plate. He's down below .270 for the first time in quite a while, and you have to begin to wonder if he's just in a slump or has the league found a flaw in his approach? I don't know. A rookie season wouldn't be a rookie season without a few slumps, but Zimmerman is the "golden child," the team's Moses ready to lead them out of the wilderness and into the promise land. And, as we all know, Moses succeeded. Will Zimmerman?

Royce Clayton got three hits and is now batting .270. Regardless of what you think of him, no way would Cristian Guzman be hitting this well so late in June. Daryle Ward had two hits, two RBI's, and is hitting .322. Of the team's "long term" stars, Nick Johnson is the most replaceable, thanks in part to Ward. Ward and Matt LeCroy could easily take over at first for Johnson this year, and Larry Broadway could be ready next near. Marlon Anderson got two hits on Sunday, and Fick added a single. Marlon Byrd had his first good swing in a month, launching a ball deep over the left field wall. I guess the formula for success, at least for now, is to play all those guys that Jim Bowden signed that no one else wanted.

Jose Guillen's Plight: I love my wife, I mean, I really, really love my wife. I love her so much that you wouldn't think that we've been married 27 years. She is angelic and sweet and wonderful. Sometimes, though, when one of the kids are doing dumb things, or one of her college classes isn't going right, or when (God forbid) I've done something stupid, she gets a little, well, "testy" might be the right word to describe it. So when she's happy, everyone is happy. When she's "testy," .... well you get the idea. Remember now, her base personality is **perfect**. So what happens when you have someone like Jose Guillen, who's season thus far is a major league version of having a rough home life? Guillen is "testy" on his good days. When he is this year's Cristian Guzman, however, I can't imagine what it must be like to be around him. When he's hitting 25-30 homers a year, his teammates consider him "different;" When's he batting .217, he's a jerk. Bowden needs to trade the jerk ASAP before the pollutes the clubhouse any more than he already has. And if he doesn't, I'm going to have my wife rip him a new one. That'll show him.

What did you say sweetie? Okay, I'm off the computer right now. Of course, I'll take out the trash, and change Katie's diaper, and go get you a Dr. Pepper, and .....

THE NEWEST NATIONAL

2006-06-24T12:50:00.000-06:00

[June 24th] -- The Nationals announced that the team's second first round pick, pitcher Colten Willems, has signed with the club for a reported $1.4 million dollar bonus. He will immediately report to the team's extended Spring Training facility in Viera, just a stone's throw from his home in Fort Pierce. He had committed to the University of Florida, but told friends and family that he anticipated signing to play with the Nationals "if an agreement could be reached."

First, kudos to Willems, who has shown that, like Ryan Zimmerman before him, money is important, but is certainly isn't everything. He probably could have squeezed a few more ducats out of Jim Bowden and Dana Brown, but he realized that being on the field, and not at the bank, would enhance his potential as a professional ballplayer.

Willems, only 17, was listed as the sixth best high school pitcher in this year's draft. Over the past two seasons at John Carroll High School in Fort Pierce, he amassed a 13-3 record with a 1.18 ERA. Unbelievably, he allowed only thirty-three hits in over 100 innings in his junior and senior year. He has a moving fastball that averages 92-93 mph but can touch 97 when needed. His "heater" was ranked third best among high school pitchers. The problem, however, with having such a devastating fastball in high school is that you don't need any other pitches, and as a result, his curve and other off speed pitches need a lot of work. His slider will in time be his #2 pitch, with his curve a distant third. Luckily, he has "pinpoint" control, so once those other pitchers catch up to his fastball, he will be able to dominate the opposition.

At this point, Willems is slated to be a #3 starter in the major leagues, and needs about four years to get there. So, with luck, he'll appear at the new park sometime in 2010. Now, all of this sounds wonderful, but remember, there are three guys at Class 'A' Potomac that came into the profession with similar press clippings, perhaps even better, and have struggled mightily thus far. Will Willems follow a fast path to Washington, or will he struggle like Colin Balestar, Mike Hinkley and Clint Everts?

Time will tell.

PATTERSON RETURNS, BUT WINNING WAYS DON'T

2006-06-23T21:34:00.000-06:00

[June 23rd] -- I'm getting a little tired of having to keep looking for the silver lining within each Nationals' loss. Luckily, there really was one on Friday Night.

John Patterson, counted on to be the number-two starter for the team this year, went on the disabled list with exactly one win more than a month ago. After an unimpressive rehab stint at both Potomac and New Orleans, Patterson returned to the rotation with the admonition to stop the team's bleeding. Well, he didn't stop the bleeding, but he slowed it considerably. Patterson pitched six strong innings, allowing seven hits and no walks while striking out three. He lowered his ERA to 3.41. Patterson answered two questions on Friday. Yes, he's healthy, and yes, he can be the team's stopper if called upon. Considering the speed in which the Nationals are plummeting, and the ineffectiveness of the de facto stopper, Livan Hernandez, I'd say he'll be getting the "official title" any day now.

Other than that, another poor performance all around for the Nationals. Ryan Zimmerman, since cresting at .286 on Sunday, has seen his batting average drop fifteen points. Royce Clayton got three hits, as did Jose Vidro. That was about it.

I can't tell you why the Nationals have become a lethargic, heavy footed, head-to-the-ground team after the three week rapture that made us all feel so warm and fuzzy. Maybe this is the real team. Maybe the mix of veterans and rookies, at least in this case, just isn't working. Reports have placed GM Jim Bowden's right-hand man Bob Boone at a Yankees' Double-A game doing some serious scouting. Unless the veterans starting hitting and pitching soon, however, we won't have anyone the Yankees, or any other team for that matter, would want.

Hopefully, the Nationals will rebound tomorrow. We can hope, can't we?

WANTED: BLOGGERS!

2006-06-23T10:03:00.000-06:00

[
[June 23rd] -- WANTED: Bloggers of all ages and sexes, from all financial, ethnic and religious backgrounds. Must live somewhere upon the Earth (or close to it). Must be able write at a first grade level. APPLICANT MUST BE A NATIONALS FAN! Apply at one of the existing Washington Nationals' blogs. There is no salary, but the fringe benefits are rewarding.

Sound silly?

The Washington Nationals are far behind the other major league teams in most areas. They have one of the worst minor league systems. Their current stadium is as old and rusty as is their manager. The team's major league roster is a complilation of has-been's and never-wases. Now, that's all true, but also true is the fact that we as fans cannot control, and certainly cannot correct, those problems. But we as fans are lacking in one particular area, and this is a situation that can be easily corrected.

If you do a Google-search for team blogs, the returns are overwhelming for the vast majority of the major league baseball teams. Even the Kansas City Royals have a bevy of blogs. What about the Nationals? More or less, I can find roughly twenty or so blogs that update on a regular basis, with another dozen (give or take) who update weekly, monthly, or "as the need arises." Sadly, several of those that now publish irregularly used to be some of the Nationals' finest daily blogs. Please don't get me wrong, I am not blaming the bloggers who have fallen by the wayside. Far from it; I am commiserating with them. I typically update 29 days a month, a pretty good record. It takes me an average of 20-25 hours per week to research and publish my blog. I can do it because, at least for another couple of semesters, I am a full-time college student who doesn't have to work. Most of my day is spent in front of my computer anyway. I'm not sure I would even have attempted to start this blog had I been a member of the workforce. I mean, the Nats are important, but then so is paying the mortage.

So, because of the strain and drain that the real world brings upon us, our numbers are dwindling (I so miss "Banks Of The Anacostia;" he was one of my first reads every day). This small cabal that I belong to has no power, and can effect no change, and is generally an afterthought to the team that we love. Jim Bowden, and now Stan Kasten and the Lerners, are making decisions based on their perception of what we want. They don't ask us, mind you. They just say, "Hey, I think the fans would like us to crank up the P.A. system between innings and play Tony Orlando and Dawn." And so they do. A few of us might scribble some negative comment about "yellow ribbons" and "strawberry patches" but that is where it stops. No tsunamic outrage ensues. It's just a line on a blog read by a couple of hundred people a day.

But what if, instead of having 25 blogs covering the Washington Nationals, there were 250? Or 500? What if, instead of one blogger grousing about Tony Orlando, there were hundreds who demanded something more contemporary, like, say, The Beach Boys? (sorry, my personal favorite). A strong, unified blogdom could, at least in a small way, drive the discussion. Would Kasten or Bowden listen? I don't know. But they would know that the hundreds of thousands of Nationals fans, fans who today have no real voice, would be represented by a group looking after their best interests. The Yankees and Red Sox and Dodgers have relationships with their bloggers. Others might as well. Do general managers think about what the bloggers might say before the pull the trigger on a potential trade? I don't think so. But the GM's would realize that the bloggers could be their team's best friends, or they could be their worst enemies. The choice would be the team's.

Case in point: Thirty years ago, a general manager was free to make any move without fear of the fans reacting, or even remembering. The only way, for instance, for a fan to find a particular general manager's trade history was to get ahold of the Sporting News' "Baseball Register," and even then, only that one fan had the information. When Jim Bowden traded Brad Wilkerson et. al. to the Texas Rangers for Alfonso Soriano, there was a blizzard of (mostly negative) stories written by Nationals' bloggers. I wrote at least a dozen myself, covering every conceivable angle. What did it mean for the team's payroll, or long term health. Would Soriano hit at RFK? Would Wilkerson hit more homers in Texas than Soriano would in D.C.? On and on it went. Within a week, Nationals' fans knew every facet, every nuance, every intricacy, of the deal.

Nothing gets by the ticket-buyers any longer.

So, it's time you started a blog. Become part of the Nationals' bird-dogs who ferret through the minutiae to insure that every fan, everywhere, is informed about the team's goings-on. We need at least 100 blogs online by the end of the season. Some might think that we bloggers would prefer having fewer competing with us. No. The more the blogs, the more there is to read. The more there is to read, the more readers there will be. The more readers there are, the more paying fans their will be at the gates at RFK.

Leave a comment with your email if you'd like to get some help getting started. I am a computer illiterate, yet through trial and error, I was able to create a pretty unique webpage. I can show you how. I can point you to dozens of websites that help make creating and managing your blog a piece of cake. Let me help. Ask the other bloggers; I'll bet many of them would be willing to help you too.

Why do I put in the 20+ hours per week? Because, outside of my family, it's the 20 most fulfilling hours I have. Each of us views the Nationals differently. Read twenty blogs and you'll read twenty different perspectives on the Nats. Start a blog and become the blog-o-sphere's 21st perspective.

Your's might be the best.

ORIOLES - NATIONALS DEJA VU

2006-06-22T12:37:00.000-06:00

[June 22nd] -- Tomorrow night, June 23rd, the Washington Nationals will trot out onto the Baltimore Oriole's home field and begin a three game series with 32 wins to their credit. On that same day, exactly 37 years earlier, the Washington Senators trotted onto the Baltimore Oriole's home field and begin a three game series with 34 wins.

Things haven't changed.

Well, yes, actually they have. The Orioles began that evening with a 51-19 record, by far the best in the major leagues. They enter tomorrow night's game with a 33-40 mark, only a game-and-a-half ahead of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Even more amazing, the Orioles, winners of the World Series just two seasons earlier, drew less than 8,000 fans to old Memorial Stadium that night. So much for any "Battle of the Beltway" during the Nixon administration.

All-star Dave McNally pitched for the Orioles that night. Casey Cox took the ball for the Senators. McNally was by far one of the top three pitchers in the American League that year, and Cox was just beginning his first full year with Washington. It was a scoreless game until the 4th, when Sudden Sam Bowen singled, plating Hank Allen (Dick Allen's brother) and Frank Howard. The Orioles tied the game in the 7th when Curt Motton hit a pinch-hit single, scoring Mark Belanger and Andy Etchebarren. The Birds blew the game open in the 8th when two current members of the Nationals staff, Frank Robinson and Davey Johnson, homered off of the best reliever in the league that year, lefty Darold Knowles. The Senators scored one final run in the 9th on a Ken McMullen single off of Jim Palmer, who entered the game in the 8th inning (Jim Palmer, a hall-of-famer, was still trying to return from an arm injury that side-lined him for most of the 1968 season). Ultimately, Orioles' closer Pete Richert came in and shut the door on Washington. Richert, who was traded by the Senators to Baltimore for Mike Epstein in 1967, wasn't particularly flashy, but certainly got the job done when Earl Weaver put the ball in his hands.

It'll be interesting to see if history repeats itself within the game itself. I think we'll be safe unless we see Jim Palmer jogging in from the bullpen.

NATS SCARED OFF BY BIG GREEN MONSTER

2006-06-21T21:16:00.000-06:00

[
[June 22nd] -- It's time. Go ahead; give it a push.

For the third consecutive game, the Washington Nationals were throroughly outmatched by a team that didn't even seem to be trying. Over the three games, the Nats were bested by a rookie, by a pitcher so bad he was waived by the Kansas City Royals, and a veteran with a 60 mile-per-hour out pitch.

For the Nationals to win on a regular basis, every player has to play up to their potential, or better still, exceed it on a daily basis. For teams like the Boston Red Sox, they have to show up to the stadium on time.

That's the difference between the big boys and teams like the Washington Nationals. Now, don't get me wrong. I believe Stan Kasten's long-term plan is a sound one, and in five or six years, the Nationals, with a new stadium and a bevy of young bucks, will compete for the N.L. East crown for a decade or more. But what do we do in the meantime? How do we react as the team continues to get it's brains beat out by the big-boys? We can either say, "Oh well, they're terrible -- when does Redskins' summer camp begin?" or "Why isn't the team doing something, anything, about the situation?"

The Nationals were outscored in their three losses to the Red Sox by a 26-9 margin. Three starting pitchers sent to the mound, three starting pitchers completed less than eleven innings combined. Pitchers didn't pitch, hitters didn't hit, fielders didn't .... well, you get the idea.

So, a team that is without question going nowhere this year sends down a solid young infielder and returns Royce Clayton to short. Roy Corcoran (1-1, 1.93 at New Orleans) didn't get a call up this week but Jason Bergman, great last year but not this season, got the nod. It seems the Zephyrs' pitching coach thought Bergman deserved the callup more. Hmm.....

Over the forty-two years that I have spent on this Earth watching baseball, I have come to one unquestionable truth. Teams that plug the elderly into holes that surround young players never, never succeed. They seem to poison the youngster's enthusiasm and temperament. Why does Jim Bowden et. al. believe that a loss is somehow more palatable when Royce Clayton is at short? They aren't! But if at the end of the year, we can look past all those losses and say, "Hey, Brendan Harris batted .275 with some power during the second half of the year," doesn't that make those losses have some value?

I think it does. Instead of looking at those horrific line scores, we can check to see how the kids are doing, like we all do for Ryan Zimmerman after every game right now. It's either that or endure a long summer in Washington.

Hey, it's a thought.

OUCH!

2006-06-20T21:26:00.000-06:00

[June 20th] -- For the second straight night, the Boston Red Sox through a sub-standard pitcher against the Washington Nationals, and for the second straight night, Boston's so-so throwers outclassed their Nats' counterparts.

Look, forget the loss; it'll end up being only one out of 90 or more that the Nationals will amass before the season is over. It's the timing of the loss that is causing me angst. Had Jim Bowden been willing to pull the trigger on some big trades two weeks ago, he would have received in return buckets full of prospects. Livan Hernandez, Tony Armas Jr. and Ramon Ortiz were all pitching at the top of their game. Jose Vidro was blistering the ball. Jose Guillen wasn't playing, but neither was he upsetting anyone. Alfonso Soriano was hitting a home run pretty much every evening. And Bowden could have told a prospective trade partner, "Look, Nick Johnson has been healthy all season -- that injury "bugaboo" is long gone!"

Now, two weeks later, Hernandez and Armas and Ortiz are getting the stuffing beat out of them each time they take the mound. Jose Vidro's line drives are a lot softer these days. Jose Guillen is hitting, but he's getting grumpy again. Alfonso Soriano is striking out a couple of times a game and Nick Johnson is hurt. How many prospects have the Nationals lost in potential trades by waiting to make deals until we get closer to the July 31st trading deadline? Many. Too many.

I think it's safe to say that those three weeks where the Nationals had the best record in baseball was a fluke, a once-in-a-season "give 'em all you've got" streak. Now, the team is looking suspiciously like that those Nats who started the season 13-27. That's not bad, and I'm not complaining. But the Nats are going to have a tough year with or without the aforementioned veterans. Why not get some deals done now before they play worse, or worse, they get injured and have no trade value at all.

The Nationals could finish the season with Schneider, Larry Broadway at first, Bernie Castro at second, Brendan Harris at short, Zimmerman, and a combination of Robert Fick, Ryan Church, Daryle Ward and Marlon Byrd in the outfield. A starting rotation of John Patterson, Mike O'Connor, Shawn Hill, Jon Rauch and (if healthy) Pedro Astacio (or another yet unamed rookie) could provide the team at least the opportunity to win a respectable number of games the rest of the way.

I'm not suggesting we field a minor league team for the remainder of the year, but if we're going to continue to get spanked this badly with the veterans, we might as well lose with the kids. It won't hurt as much.

What do you think?

HOW BOUT SUNDAY'S GAME! (AND FORGET MONDAY'S)

2006-06-19T22:03:00.002-06:00

[June 19th] -- Yet another geology test, so it'll be Tuesday afternoon before I can give a decent account. That said, there is no angle I can find that closely resembles "decent" in the Nats loss to the Red Sox.

I always add a picture of something exciting to my story, but nothing good happened. Oh, I guess you could say that Jose Guillen's shot off of the Coke bottle high and deep in left field is cause for celebration, but, c'mon, that was Jose Guillen. He's a grumpy soon-to-be former National, so it's not like it meant anything in a 6-3 loss. Sure, Jose Vidro whacked one too, but it was so early in the game that I barely remember it happening. Tony Armas Jr. wasn't very good, Alfonso Soriano was downright bad, and Ryan Zimmerman, one game removed from being the hero, went 0-4 and grounded into a double play with two runs on base -- the Nats' last chance to make a move on Boston. Man, baseball can humble you real quick.

So, all of a sudden the starting pitchers who helped fashion that best-in-league winning skein are now back to pitching in their comfort zone (read: their pitching poorly again. Livan Hernandez, Ramon Ortiz and Tony Armas Jr., once the stalwarts in the pitching staff, are getting hammered on a regular basis. Without at least two of those three pitching effectively on a regular basis, the Nationals have no chance to approach 75 wins, the lowest number I think a team can win and still be considered "respectable." It goes without saying that once John Patterson returns this weekend that Shawn Hill will be replaced in the starting rotation. But really, honestly, don't you agree that the rotation would be stronger with Hill remaining and one of these three being traded? I thought that Tony Armas Jr., with his six wins, had turned the corner and was about to become the pitcher that the Red Sox and Expos/Nationals thought he would be. Now, I just don't know.

Oh well, some games will be like this one. The guys deserved a bad one after the last two games against the Yankees. But boy, they'd better win tonight.