What are your hopes for pleasant surprises for the Nats?

Posted on January 17, 2023 by DonH

Photo by Sol Tucker for TalkNats

When Ghost has writer’s block, it is time for a DPW (Desinated Pinch Writer).

This will be short and sweet.  Here are three positive Hope Fors that you can comment on. Continue reading →

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Daylen Lile is ready for anything after a rehab-focused 2022

Posted on January 16, 2023 by Alex Hill

Photo via Daylen Lile’s Twitter

In the second round of the 2021 draft, the Nationals selected Daylen Lile, an outfielder with a smooth left-handed swing. Lile was the 80th-ranked draft prospect in his class and earned a reputation as one of the best pure hitters coming out of high school. A month later, he was getting his first taste of professional baseball in rookie ball. Lile, the Nationals’ 16th-ranked prospect, ended the season with a .219 batting average and .613 OPS in 19 games. Continue reading →

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The 14 new Washington Nationals prospects via International Free Agency

Posted on January 15, 2023 by Nationals Source

Photo by Luiggi Chavez for TalkNats

Here (pictured above) are 11 of the 14 new Washington Nationals prospects signed officially today as part of this International Free Agency class as reported by Anthony Puesán and @NationalsSource  Continue reading →

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What Is Your Favorite Baseball Story

Posted on January 14, 2023 by DonH

Photo by Laura Peebles

Time to have conversations about things more pleasant than how many games the Nationals will lose in 2023.

So we’ve collected a few stories from some regulars to get the conversation started.

Please comment with a favorite baseball story – and we mean stories that somehow involve you personally. Continue reading →

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Breaking: Source on sale of Nats said “no sale” is current status!

Posted on January 10, 2023 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears
WASHINGTON, DC – September 28, 2022: Washington Nationals owner Mark Lerner on the field; (Photo by Sol Tucker/TalkNats)

Tomorrow marks the ninth month since the Lerners officially announced they would explore a sale of the Washington Nationals on April 11, 2022. The Lerner family and sports team investor, Ted Leonsis, were getting closer to an agreement on the sale of the Nats, earlier in November, but as we reported at the end of November, it appeared they just could not get close enough — and were off by too many zeros to make it work.

A source tells us today that, “for all intents and purposes, there’s nothing happening anymore on the sale of the team with Leonsis. I won’t say it’s over. Just over for now.”

Continue reading →
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Nats complete their acquisitions for position players with signing of Corey Dickerson

Posted on January 10, 2023 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

Homeplate gate and Nationals Park facade; Photo by Sol Tucker for TalkNats

Can you smell that Spring air? Okay, maybe not yet, but we feel a lot closer today to a Spring Training roster. As we have written for over the month, the Washington Nationals saw an opportunity in a deep left field market to snag a free agent. Mostly the Nats were tied to David Peralta, and overnight, The Nats Report broke the news that the Nats are finalizing a one-year deal with veteran Corey Dickerson. In that left field grouping of free agents, Dickerson was the youngest at 33 years old. He won’t turn 34 until the end of May.  Continue reading →

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Elian Soto turns 17 today, and in 5 days should be officially signed with the Nats!

Posted on January 10, 2023 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

Photo by Luiggi Chavez for TalkNats

As Elian Soto celebrated his 17th birthday with family and friends today, the younger brother of Juan Soto should be following in his older brother’s footsteps and signing with the Washington Nationals as an IFA (international free agent) in five days. We certainly got to see a lot of the younger Soto for years when he was seen at Nationals Park and Home Run Derbys, and the World Series. Today, Elian is taller than Juan, and the Nats hope he is taller in his stats too. Can lightening strike twice? Continue reading →

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Brenner Cox offers more to the Nationals than you know

Posted on January 9, 2023 by Alex Hill

Photo via Brenner Cox’s Twitter

Heading into year three of a rebuild, the Washington Nationals need to capitalize on their draft picks now more than ever. The team’s poor performance during the 2021 season granted them the opportunity to select 5th in the 2022 draft, the highest since taking Anthony Rendon 6th in 2011. With that, the Nationals drafted Elijah Green. The athletic, powerful high school outfielder was the No. 3 ranked prospect in his draft class and was recently featured in MLB Pipeline’s “Best Draft Prospects of the Past Decade”. Continue reading →

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Spending other people’s money and the search for a left fielder for the Nats!

Posted on January 8, 2023 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

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

There are plenty of fans that wanted to see the Washington Nationals spend “big” in free agency. From our sources, the Nats have been “in” on deals that did not work out, but none of them were long-term deals. Part of the issue is that the team is still technically looking to be sold, and tying up money in long-term deals would bind the next ownership group. That is something the Lerners are trying to avoid because that would be spending someone else’s money.

Let’s face it, the Nats could have overspent on players, and if they sell the team before April, they would not pay a dime in salary since players don’t start earning their salaries until the start of the season. No salaries are paid out to players in Spring Training just daily stipends. Last year, the Lerners did try to pay Juan Soto the largest guaranteed contract in U.S. sports history for north of $440 million — but Soto’s agent, Scott Boras, indicated that they were not going to do a deal until they knew who the new owners of the Nats were going to be. Then why negotiate a deal in the first place? Continue reading →

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Point-CounterPoint – The Nats Offensive Woes

Posted on January 7, 2023 by DonH

Photo by Sol Tucker for TalkNats

It does not take any analytics to conclude that the Nats gave up too many runs and did not score nearly enough runs in 2022, or for that matter in 2021 also.

So I decided to look at the stats to drill down on the why of the Nationals offensive woes as a complement of the what. I come at this from the perspective of someone who spent his career as what is now called a Data Scientist. I had the benefit of working for really smart statisticians when I graduated from college (way back in the mid 70s) and they impressed quite a few points on me, most notably:

  1. Be skeptical of everything.
  2. Never, ever, ever, ever focus on the numbers. Focus on what they mean (i.e., the why that explains the what)  as that is how you figure out what to do and what they mean.
  3. Always, always, always look for other factors that could have influenced the observed outcomes.

Continue reading →

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