by Andrew Lang
by Andrew Lang
by Andrew Lang
WASHINGTON, DC – September 28, 2022: Washington Nationals owner Mark Lerner on the field; (Photo by Sol Tucker/TalkNats)
As we reported last month, the Washington Nationals were going to decline the mutual option on Nelson Cruz, and they did just that on Sunday. That almost locks in the Nats payroll with the CBT accounting at $114 million unless the team does not tender a contract to Luke Voit, which seems unlikely that would happen. Continue reading
On the three year anniversary of the Washington Nationals first World Series win, the team invited season ticket holders to a new event called the Ballpark Bash. In attendance were manager Dave Martinez, general manager Mike Rizzo, and three members of the 2019 World Series team: Sean Doolittle, Kyle Finnegan, and Matt Adams. Of course, we were most interested in the Q&A session because this event had no pre-packaged questions.
Continue readingThe laughs stopped in the Astros’ dugout after Kyle Tucker‘s second home run of the night, and were replaced by utter shock. Astros’ beat writer, Brian McTaggart, seemed to put part of the blame for the Game 1 loss on Astros’ manager Dusty Baker for some questionable decisions in the opening game of this 2022 World Series. There was plenty of blame to share in this post-mortem. Continue reading
https://poll.fm/11229992
As a fan of the Nationals, who are you rooting for to win the WS? The two teams are among (at least among Nats fans) are, or should be, the most hated.
And yes, the pejorative spellings of the team names is intentional.
Don’s Take: I really wish the Padres or the Mariners or the Guardians or the Blue Jays had made the WS, but they didn’t. It would have been an easier choice.
Yes, there are still some starters on the Astros from the cheaters regime (Alex Bregman, Jose Altuve and Gurriel). From my perspective the Nats put them in their place by beating them in 2019. So, my wanting Dusty to finally get a WS ring, combined with my memories of what it was like to go to a game against the Phillies at Nationals Park, makes rooting for Dusty a relatively easy, but still uncomfortable, choice.
Steve’s Take: The Phillies would not even be in the postseason this year if it weren’t for two factors:
For me, it is Astros over Phillies. I can’t root for those vile fans.
Bregman’s grandfather worked for the Washington Senators. That goes a long way for me as I always like that connection but then he was part of the Astros cheaters.
Bottom line: Lesser of two evils for me is Go Dusty!
Your Take: Weigh in on the poll and in the comments.
Photo by Sol Tucker for TalkNats
Going from the rankings of the Washington Nationals top prospects yesterday, to what the core of the team looks like is easy to do at the present. But looking a few years into the future is like dreaming. Again, a year ago the Nats’ farm was ranked last in MLB. Today, it is in the top dozen of all farm systems thanks to the haul received back in the Juan Soto trade. There are enough team-controllable players and top prospects to fill every spot for the position players plus some backup bench spots in the year 2025. Continue reading
Graphic from Alex Hill of Nats Farm
Before the 2022 draft and trade deadline, the Washington Nationals farm system was getting ranked as the worst farm system in baseball. It had been as high as №22 by MLB Pipeline right after the 2021 trade deadline when the Nats traded for Josiah Gray and Keibert Ruiz — and they still met their requirements as prospects.
The 2022 acquisitions, to the Nats’ system, were transformative. Those prospects came via the top of the 2022 draft, and the trade of Juan Soto to the Padres that netted five blue chip young players for the Nats. At FanGraphs, the Nats jumped to the №8 farm system in early August after they re-ranked with the newly acquired players, and before CJ Abrams reached his rookie at-bat limit (130 ABs). Continue reading
"Opening Day should be a National holiday"
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