The days when Lucius Fox was rated higher than Juan Soto; The Nats finally get Cesar Hernandez. So much more going on!

Posted on December 1, 2021 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

There were five moves yesterday by the Washington Nationals that began with a waiver claim of Lucius Fox from Baltimore. The night ended with the Nats biggest free agent signing of the off-season, so far, with Cesar Hernandez committing to a one-year deal. In the middle were the official announcements that the team non-tendered long-time reliever Wander Suero and Ryne Harper and released minor leaguer Mike Ford. By the time the dust settled, the Nats player inventory on the 40-man roster sat at 38.  Continue reading →

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The Nats had 10 tender decisions to make!

Posted on November 30, 2021 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

Two Nats who are arb-eligible; Photo by Sol Tucker for TalkNats

The Washington Nationals knew that they had six decisions to make on arbitration-eligible players, and that grew to 10 after four players were deemed Super-Two arb-eligible per a report from MLB Trade Rumors over the weekend.  By 8 pm tonight, the team must decide who they will tender contracts to and who will be non-tendered. Continue reading →

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Point-CounterPoint: Welcome Back Ryan Zimmerman

Posted on November 27, 2021 by DonH

Photo by Marlene Koenig for TalkNats

Steve: While not official, Ryan Zimmerman said in a recent radio interview that he wanted to come back for at least one more year, but will discuss it with his family. The great thing is Zim can also mentor. It gives him greater value than the tangibles in the stats. I could see him having a better 2022 than a 2021 too. Continue reading →

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Our annual #Nats holiday gift guide is here!

Posted on November 26, 2021 by Andrew Lang

Another year has almost come to a close, and it is time for you to indulge yourself in our annual Washington Nationals gift guide of curated items we have picked including some bespoke items. Some range from the inexpensive and many head to the extravagant. Many of these items will sell-out quickly.  Continue reading →

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A Washington Nationals Thanksgiving of Thanks!

Posted on November 24, 2021 by ArVaFan aka Laura Peebles

Thanks!

As always, we have a lot to be thankful for in our lives and to have each other. On this Thanksgiving, we have a new list. What each of the Washington Nationals have to be thankful for: Continue reading →

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The MLB calendar has shifted due to the impending lock-out!

Posted on November 24, 2021 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

MLB stadiums are locked up, and it could be a long winter; Photo by Sol Tucker for TalkNats

With an impending lock-out in Major League Baseball due to start at the expiration of the current Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) as the clock ticks from December 1 to December 2, MLB has moved up their tender/non-tender deadline for arbitration-eligible players. Continue reading →

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At the top of our priorities list was fixing the Nats development system; Nats name De Jon Watson Director of Player Development

Posted on November 22, 2021 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

Photo by Andrew Lang for TalkNats

At the top of our priorities list for this off-season was fixing the Washington Nationals development system. This type of endeavor does not get fixed overnight. Fortunately, it turned out that this was on top of the list for general manager Mike Rizzo, also. An almost complete revamping is underway in a change of personnel in the player development hierarchy. It was actually named as our No. 2 priority just after an extension of Juan Soto and before the No. 3 priority of fixing the bullpen. Continue reading →

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Point-CounterPoint: How Bad Was the Nationals Bullpen

Posted on November 19, 2021 by DonH

How times have changed in the bullpen; Stan4Nats for TalkNats

It is the off-season, so time to bring back our Point-CounterPoint series. Today we cover the Washington Nationals’ bullpen that set a record in ineptitude in 2021 for most blown saves in a season (36), and their 5.08 ERA was the worst in the NL. Continue reading →

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The three best players in the NL all debuted for the Nats; One of them will be crowned the MVP tonight!

Posted on November 18, 2021 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

Photo by Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

Taking nothing away from Fernando Tatis Jr., the three best players in the NL in 2021 were Trea Turner, Juan Soto and Bryce Harper — and the BBWAA voters blew it.

The player chosen often flies in the flock of media opinion. Tatis was the early runaway favorite until he faded with his shoulder injury and then the attention moved to Harper. Usually, the analysts will point to Fangraphs’ WAR as the most important indicator — but that would have to indicate that Turner was the MVP.  The top-3 in WAR and for the batting crown started with Turner. He won both crowns if they actually crowned the top WAR player — and they often do with the MVP award.  But Turner, we know, did not even make the Final-3. Continue reading →

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2021 Nationals Player Grades Part 6

Posted on November 16, 2021 by Marc Goldstein

Photo by Lynn G. for TalkNats

This is the final installment of reviewing the 2021 Washington Nationals roster. The players listed here alphabetically go from “St” to “Z”. The two longest tenured Nats players are on this part of the list: Stephen Strasburg and Ryan Zimmerman.

Stephen Strasburg, RHP: Before anything else is said, Strasburg will always have a spot in Nats lore. He carried the team to their 2019 title, and won World Series MVP along the way. After the season, he opted-out of his previous long-term contract to become a free agent and capitalize on his dominance. That new contract was costly for the Nats to the tune of $35 million annually, and this new contract, so far, has been a disaster.

Strasburg was a player the team seemingly had to re-sign. The emotions after the title run were too high to let him walk. He signed a deal that ensured he would get $35 million annually. Through two seasons of the deal, he has pitched a grand total of 26 2/3 innings, and most of them were not good. That equals $2.625 million per inning. In 2020, we saw him battle injuries to the point where he got carpal tunnel surgery to end his year. For 2021, it was supposed to be a rebound season for him, but he continued to battle injuries and after several different diagnosis, he had thoracic outlet surgery. It is tough to watch him struggle so mightily with staying healthy. He certainly has a future with the club as the highest paid player, and the question will continue to be can he be a productive player? Continue reading →

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