The Home for Washington Nationals Game Talk

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Hope Springs

Here Comes Spring, and With It, Change and the Promise of the Unknown

I think it’s obvious that the Nationals made enormous changes to their organization, more transformative than I have ever seen in over fifty years of following the Expos and then, the Nats. Whether these additions translate into on field success will not be known for some time. But one thing is for sure; the Nationals have extended their tree well beyond Arizona cronies. There are now several top former executives from multiple organizations, longtime baseball people who remain vibrant and bring their track record with them. Continue reading →

I’m tired of debating who is more at fault for why there is no baseball. There are no good guys in this debate.

That, combined with the fact that it is challenging to come up with ideas for a post that people can have fun with and discuss, means we have another question that folks can try to guess the answer to.

I (DonH) already know the answer. As does Steve. At some point when the question(s) have been mostly answered I will post the table with all the relevant players.

Continue reading →

Photo by Sol Tucker for TalkNats

Editors Note: Rich from TheNatsReport had the idea to write this article and asked me if I wanted to collaborate on writing it. Hopefully, there will be some updates as additional interviews were requested to add to this. We also edited this from the original version that TheNatsReport published.

One of the lingering effects of the baseball lock-out, that few are talking about, is what is going to be happening with the stadium workers and local businesses near stadiums that will be directly affected by the baseball shutdown. It is devastating in Spring Training cities, but what about in the big cities where MLB stadiums are locked up? The seasonally employed stadium workers who make the game-day experience enjoyable for the fans are once again unintended victims of another season to start without games. These workers are an integral part of that game-day experience, however, they do not make nearly as much as players do — not even close.  Continue reading →

What is the baseball endgame? Does commissioner Rob Manfred have a plan? The tide has turned in public opinion weighing heavily in favor of the players since Manfred publicly announced that the first two series of the regular season would be cancelled. A sport that some say is watched by a demographics with an average age of 57, you have to wonder if the baseball will lose more fans. Continue reading →

Major League Baseball commissioner Robert D. Manfred Jr. and Major League Baseball Players Association Executive Director Tony Clark speak during a press conference before Game 3 of the Championship Round of the 2017 World Baseball Classic. (Photo by Alex Trautwig/WBCI/MLB via Getty Images)

Tick tock, goes the clock,
And Now what shall we play?
Tick tock, goes the clock,
Now Summers gone away.

That nursery rhyme is perfect for this debacle of a CBA negotiation between the owners and players. It is like the two playground bullies arguing over dessert on the playground in elementary school. The two sides in baseball are acting like children. They are 20-25% apart in some instances and each side is budging by about 1% which will not make up any ground. The war of words has been played out in the media, and perhaps the worst of it hit the fan today.  Continue reading →

Photo by Sol Tucker for TalkNats

Have you ever been married? A baseball contract is like a marriage, except it always has an expiration date. No, the expiration is not necessarily like a divorce, but it could be if both sides do not see eye-to-eye in the end. The Washington Nationals proposed to Juan Soto and he said “no” and that “no” is ringing loudly in the public eye — mostly in negativity. There should not be any negative vibes. Just because Soto did not take the deal, it does not mean it is over. Sure, the Nats can propose other deals over and over and maybe Soto says “yes” at some point. For all intents and purposes, any deal will tie the Nats and Soto together for the rest of his baseball life. It could be the greatest contract in history, but you never know until it is over — just ask any fans who have seen their team crushed by one of those bad and expensive long-term deals. Continue reading →

Baseball is now over 75-days into their lock-out that began at the beginning of December. Today, the MLB lock-out has now officially delayed the opening of big league camps in Florida and Arizona as pitchers and catchers were set to report today. The impasse needs a serious intervention and MLB unilaterally agreed to have a federal mediator step in which has not happened to this point due to pushback from the player’s union. Continue reading →