The Nats roster squeeze on mediocrity has to happen this off-season!

Posted on October 14, 2021 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

The Washington Nationals just pared-down the roster by three players from the 2021 roster to essentially get the down to 37-players once free agency officially starts and the 60-day IL players are added back to the roster. Gone are Alberto Baldonado, Steven Fuentes, and Sean Nolin from the roster. While Baldanado and Fuentes were assigned to Triple-A Rochester, Nolin elected free agency. But there will need to be more moves made in the future, plus the team has to make decisions on Rule-5 eligible players to add to the roster. Continue reading →

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The Arizona Fall League begins today; Jackson Rutledge and Cole Henry headline the 7 Nats on the roster!

Posted on October 13, 2021 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

The Arizona Fall League gets started today, and the season will finish with their championship game on November 20. There are six teams in the league, and each AFL team is comprised from players that come from five MLB minor league systems, and from there, teams that have chosen six players to participate and one taxi squad player on each roster. The Washington Nationals players are part of the Surprise Saguaros.

Mario Lisson will manage the roster with the Nats players which will also include top prospects from the Reds, Rangers, Royals, and Yankees in this year’s AFL. Lisson managed the Nats Low-A affiliate Fredericksburg Nationals. He is originally from Venezuela and bilingual which certainly has helped him communicate with almost every player in whatever language they speak. Continue reading →

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This time, Kevin Long does leave, and Dave Martinez will search for a new hitting coach!

Posted on October 12, 2021 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

Kevin Long with Daniel Murphy. Photo by Lee Heiman for TalkNats

When the Washington Nationals struggled offensively to begin the 2021 season as several Nats players slumped out of the gates, it did not take long for people to call for Kevin Long to be fired as the team’s hitting coach. Not only was Long not fired, his offense turned in a good season in a few key categories like batting average (1st in NL at .258) and strikeout avoidance (1st in NL at 1,303). But there were some stress areas of failures like doubleplays (worst in MLB at 158), runners left-on-base (worst in MLB at 1,168), and home runs (9th worst in MLB at 182). Continue reading →

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A Juan Soto extension should be Priority #1

Posted on October 11, 2021 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

Photos provided courtesy of Mary Beth Koeth

There is no time like the present to give a present to the faithful of the Washington Nationals. We listed a contract extension for Juan Soto as the No. 1 priority for the team this off-season.  Continue reading →

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The Nats 2022 lineup looks to be almost set!

Posted on October 8, 2021 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

Photo by Sol Tucker for TalkNats

As July 30 was approaching and a sell-off by the Washington Nationals at the trade deadline looked to be a go, we felt that general manager Mike Rizzo needed to poach one of the top catching prospects from an NL West team. On that list was Keibert Ruiz of the Dodgers, Joey Bart of the Giants, and Luis Campusano of the Padres. The player being dangled was clearly Max Scherzer who admitted recently that he thought he was going to be dealt to the Padres. The deal expanded to a blockbuster of Scherzer and Trea Turner and the Nats indeed got Ruiz from the Dodgers plus their top pitching prospect in Josiah Gray and a toolsy outfielder in Donovan Casey.  Continue reading →

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Rebuilding the bullpen could prove more difficult than the starting rotation!

Posted on October 7, 2021 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

One thing we can all agree on from general manager Mike Rizzo’s presser over the weekend is that this Washington Nationals’ success in the future should be built around the starting rotation which was the formula in the past. But easier said than done. You need great starting pitchers in order to have that success — and the Nats are far from that now. Rebuilding that five-man rotation could prove easier than constructing a new bullpen in 2022.  Continue reading →

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The money, the Juan Soto contract status, and roster moves!

Posted on October 6, 2021 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

Mark Lerner spoke to fans between innings; Photo by Steve Mears for TalkNats

They say when a team is bad you cannot fire all of the players, and while that is true, the Washington Nationals will remove several players off of the roster by the time the team finishes Spring Training. The team does not have many free agents, so most of the change will come from 40-man DFAs and possibly a non-tender or two. Continue reading →

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One priority checked off the list as Alcides Escobar is locked up!

Posted on October 5, 2021 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

Photo by Sol Tucker for TalkNats

Priority #5, Alcides Escobar, is now under contract for the 2022 season, and we can check that off the list. Priority #5 also calls on general manager Mike Rizzo to upgrade third base. Rizzo has already said that Luis Garcia will go into Spring Training as his second baseman which is his job to keep. With Escobar at shortstop and Josh Bell returning at first base, and Garcia at second base, the fit is there once again for Josh Harrison, and the team could also take a look at Matt Duffy and the lefty Brad Miller as a I suggested in the original article. Continue reading →

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Mike Rizzo will begin his autopsy as the off-season begins!

Posted on October 4, 2021 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

Photo by Ryan Morris for TalkNats

The final count was 97. It could have been worse. But it could have been a whole lot better. It was the most losses for the Washington Nationals since 2009. On the final day of the 2021 season, we celebrated the careers of Ryan Zimmerman, Gerardo Parra, and Alex Avila. The Nationals had a 5-1 lead going into the 6th inning, and all of the same observations percolated to the top in this game that replicated the blueprint for losing 96 games before this. Continue reading →

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Game #162 and the final curtain comes down on this 2021 season!

Posted on October 3, 2021 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

Photo by Marlene Koenig

As the curtain comes down on the Washington Nationals for this 2021 season, they will be joined by 19 other teams who will have an early exit to the off-season. The only October baseball those teams will see is their final regular season game today. The Phillies, Mets, and Marlins are all headed to the same place as the Nats.

With some teams, heads will roll. Many feel that the Mets and Phillies will make moves to their coaching staffs, and possibly their front offices too. The Nats might not fire any coaches, and manager Dave Martinez  said yesterday, that pitching coach Jim Hickey, will return which is what we reported earlier in the week. It was out of the norm to hear that official proclamation so soon, especially given that the Nats pitching will rank in the bottom-third of baseball — but surprisingly they are seventh from the bottom headed into this game at a 4.79 ERA. Continue reading →

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