New Years and the Nats; What a year 2019 was for the Washington Nationals!

Posted on December 31, 2019 by ArVaFan aka Laura Peebles

There was no point in doing New Year’s Resolutions for the Nationals, because they would have all been the same: “Win Another World Series.”

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Why Mike Rizzo has not moved in a new direction

Posted on December 29, 2019 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

Photo by Andrew Lang for TalkNats

Impatience among the fanbase seems like part of the natural progression in the “Help Wanted” needs for the Washington Nationals who have been looking for a new third baseman ever since word broke on December 11 that Anthony Rendon was gone. For nearly three weeks, Rizzo has been publicly attached to the pursuit of the other top third base free agent, Josh Donaldson, who is taking his sweet time making his decision. So why hasn’t general manager Mike Rizzo moved on from Donaldson? The answer to that question is multi-faceted. Continue reading →

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The math says the Mets, Nats, Braves, Phillies, Marlins are the current pole positions in the NL East

Posted on December 27, 2019 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

All of the NL East teams have made key moves in this offseason, and the Mets currently have the highest team WAR in the NL East at 43.9 according to Fangraphs. The Nats are at a 41.0 WAR followed by the Braves  who are at 40.0 with the Phillies (36.1) in fourth and the Marlins (20.4) lagging far behind in their normal fifth spot. The issue with the Nats and Braves is that they both lost key players to free agency and have not replaced their collective WAR — yet.  The Mets just signed Dellin Betances to their bullpen where they have a projected 5.0 WAR bullpen compared to the Nats at 3.0. It is widely expected that the Nats will add a few more players to their roster, and you can expect those WAR numbers to change before Spring Training camp opens in just 47 days.  Continue reading →

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Mike Rizzo is back to work for the Washington Nationals and some important shoutouts!

Posted on December 26, 2019 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

(AP Photo/Alex Brandon All rights reserved)

It is back to work for Mike Rizzo and his front office and analytics staff. There are less than six days remaining before the calendar turns to the year 2020. You have to wonder if Rizzo or anyone in his braintrust had any revelations over the holidays. There is sometimes that “aha” moment. Is it time to turn the page and pivot in another direction? We all know where the hold-up is in the roster construction, and his name is Josh Donaldson who is Rizzo’s number one target at the moment at third base. It feels like we we could be at an impasse, but it is for Mr. Rizzo to decide if that is the case and whether it is time to go in another direction. Will he give his orders to “The Pentagon” to work on some other analytics? They are a key to the Sabermetrics and the math of WAR (Wins Above Replacement) which keeps Rizzo’s analytics department on their toes as they get him to a lineup and roster that will work towards his offseason goals of 90 wins in his roster construction. Continue reading →

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Laura’s annual Christmas stockings for the Washington Nationals!

Posted on December 24, 2019 by ArVaFan aka Laura Peebles

Ho ho ho home run Ho-wie Kendrick! It is that time of year again, and while the Astros had Cole in their stockings, the Nats got rings in theirs! A tip of the cap to Casey Stern because nobody can complain any more about that Lucas Giolito, Reynaoldo Lopez, and Dane Dunning trade for Adam Eaton because “Prospects are cool, but parades are cooler!”  Continue reading →

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Days of Rest – Why Only for Pitchers? Could the Howie system work for Zim?

Posted on December 23, 2019 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

Photo by Marlene Koenig for TalkNats

Baseball analytics cover most anything you want to analyze including days-of-rest statistics if you can crunch the numbers yourself for position players. If you go to the Baseball-Reference and look at the splits for pitchers, you see their numbers broken down by the number of days of rest. But that split is not there for position players. Presumably because they are expected to play every day. With the expertise of Don Henderson’s data mining, he discovered a pattern with Ryan Zimmerman that was never really discussed like the more noticeable plan manager Dave Martinez used for Howie Kendrick who was returning from an achilles injury.

We know there was a plan in place to try not to play Howie Kendrick on consecutive days, and it paid dividends as Kendrick compiled some impressive numbers in small sample sizes and besides a hammy injury on a questionable “send” home, he stayed healthy. And in clutch spots, Mr. Kendrick was a hero in the postseason! But this goes more to the viability of doing the same with Zimmerman who would benefit from a similar plan.  Continue reading →

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Donaldson – Bryant – Seager a trio of choices for third base

Posted on December 21, 2019 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

Let me ask you a question, if Josh Donaldson had five-year deals in-hand, why hasn’t he accepted one of them? The only real movement is in the debates and in social media with the daily updates from media pontificators like Jon Heyman and Bob Nightengale who have claimed for over a week that the former AL MVP has five-year deals to choose from, and the normally reliable Ken Rosenthal says the Washington Nationals have given four-year deals with rumored value of over $92 million. Of course there is the Braves who put the “Qualified Offer” tag on Donaldson and by all accounts they want him back too for next to nothing. So why did my source from inside the Nats organization tell me on Friday afternoon that was not true about a four-year offer from the Nats? Again, in the end, maybe Donaldson gets a four-year deal from the Nationals, but to this point, all we are hearing is crickets chirping.  Continue reading →

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Remember that time when Rizzo snagged his Plan C on Xmas eve of 2015?

Posted on December 20, 2019 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

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

The 2015 season was a disaster for the Washington Nationals which started with much promise when the Lerners ponied up $210 million to bag the prize of free agency that year in Max Scherzer. In Spring Training, the infamous line was uttered, “Where’s my ring” by a giddy Bryce Harper. The reigning NL East champs looked like they would win 100+ games that year, but the only thing they won was the 17th slot in the 2016 draft because of their 83-79 disappointing record that signaled the exit of that season’s manager Matt Williams. The team also lost Denard Span, Jordan Zimmermann and Ian Desmond to free agency and shifted Danny Espinosa to shortstop. It was no secret that filling second base was a top priority for the 2016 season as well as signing a centerfielder. Continue reading →

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Sometimes Plan B works out better in the long run!

Posted on December 19, 2019 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

Revisiting some thoughts from last year when the Nationals pivoted to their Plan B, it turned out to be the moves that pushed the Nats over the top. The Patrick Corbin acquisition not only provided the starting pitching depth the Nats needed for the regular season, but he turned out to be the bridge in the bullpen using the theory of highest leverage situations need the highest leverage players. If manager Dave Martinez learned anything from watching his predecessor manager handling a postseason bullpen, Martinez saw in live in 2017 from the opposing bullpen as Dusty Baker in Game 3 on October 9th that you don’t bring in your third worse bullpen arm into a game you are winning 1-0. Martinez saw Dusty Baker do just that in the bottom of the 7th inning. Martinez also knew about keeping his best defense on the field, and going with his best lineup. Howie Kendrick never started a game for Baker in that NLDS but he was an integral part of Martinez’s lineup. Continue reading →

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The director of the #Nats World Series documentary called it a “remarkable run”

Posted on December 18, 2019 by Andrew Lang

The event kicked off with a quick Q&A with (L to R) Ryan Zimmerman, Mike Rizzo, Mark Lerner, Lindsay Czarniak, Craig Melvin; Photo by Sol Tucker for TalkNats

Many of you braved the cold weather a few weeks ago to see the premiere showing of the 2019 World Series documentary from Major League Baseball Productions that debuted to a sold-out crowd of 3,000 at The Anthem in Washington, D.C. The red carpet event was attended by Ryan Zimmerman and general manager Mike Rizzo as well as principal owner Mark Lerner, and the narrator of the film Craig Melvin. While Nats fans already know the final outcome in this come-from-behind World Series stunner, the journey to the destination is unique in the eyes of the director of this film, Jed Tuminaro, who tells a story using images you have not seen before and exclusive interviews that tell the story behind the scenes. It is worth getting the DVD of the documentary even if you want to skip ahead to watch only seventh game. Continue reading →

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