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

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

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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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Rizzo is holding firm for now on Donaldson and all other infield moves

Posted on December 16, 2019 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

Howie Kendrick underneath Minute Maid Park, Houston, TX; Photo by Paul Kim

The Washington Nationals are the World Series champs, and that should give General Manager Mike Rizzo a little bit of extra time on assembling his 2020 roster. He indicated that he would move swiftly after the Winter Meetings, but now he is in a wait and see mode on Josh Donaldson we have been told according to a source. Continue reading →

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Rizzo Should Make a Trade for…

Posted on December 15, 2019 by Luke Erickson

The defending World Series Champions were an integral part of two of the three biggest stories to emerge from the 2019 Winter Meetings in San Diego (if you thought the third one was Gerrit Cole, you thought wrong ;-). Continue reading →

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The Winter Meetings are over and the #Nats now need a 3rd baseman and have other needs!

Posted on December 13, 2019 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

Photo by Andrew Lang for TalkNats

There was little activity yesterday after a lot of action at the Winter Meetings which are officially over for this offseason even though we are not even technically in the winter months. The Nationals, Yankees, and the Angels spent big money, and their deals for respectively for Stephen Strasburg, Gerrit Cole, and Anthony Rendon were all record breaking deals. In each deal, the runner-up seemed far behind leading to speculation that teams were just bidding against themselves. Continue reading →

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The #Nats have shuffled the deck with their coaches!

Posted on December 11, 2019 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

The Washington Nationals announced several changes on their coaching staff that includes one new hire and three new roles for existing coaches. Manager Dave Martinez‘s first base coach, Tim Bogar, will be his new bench coach, and he had actually interviewed for the Mets managerial vacancy. He was considered a “strong contender” before the Mets went in another direction and hired Carlos Beltran. Since Bogar is taking Chip Hale‘s spot as bench manager, Hale will take over as the team’s third base coach, and Bob Henley will move across the diamond to take Bogar’s spot as the first base coach. The final change on the coaching staff includes the only hire from outside the organization as Martinez hired Pat Roessler as the assistant hitting coach.  Continue reading →

Posted in CoachingStaff, DaveMartinez, Feature, MikeRizzo | Leave a comment

Who’s on third? #Nats still have big decisions to make!

Posted on December 10, 2019 by SaoMagnifico

The Washington Nationals struck quickly on the first full day of the Winter Meetings in San Diego, re-signing World Series MVP Stephen Strasburg to return their all-world rotation from 2019. Continue reading →

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Stephen Strasburg back to the #Nats on a record-setting deal…until Cole surpasses it!

Posted on December 9, 2019 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

It is official that the first of the big three free agents is signed, and that freed agent is coming back to the Nationals as expected with Stephen Strasburg agreeing to a 7-year deal for $245 million at $35 million a year with a $32.7 million per year AAV calculation due to the deferred dollars. There is a method to the madness of this signing if you believe that agent Scott Boras just set his other client, Gerrit Cole, as the biggest name left out there on the pitching side and bidders will have to surpass the 7/$245,000,000 that Strasburg just got, and they probably will be asking 9/$320,000,000 for the younger Cole.  Continue reading →

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