Speed is the part of the game that is the hidden intangible #Nats

Posted on January 17, 2016 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

They say ‘speed does not slump’.  Speed also isn’t all about stolen bases; however, that is the easiest speed stat to look at, and the Nats were poor in 2015 in stolen base attempts ranking 4th to last with only 57 successful stolen bases.

Screengrab via ESPN Stats

sb2
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Jim Bowden tweets on Angelos and MASN. Chris Davis signs 7 yrs. $161 Million

Posted on January 16, 2016 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

In a Friday afternoon tweet from Jim Bowden, the MASN cash debate started again with many O’s and Nats fans commenting back to Bowden.  Can the Orioles afford to sign Yoenis Cespedes and Chris Davis?  Probably and Chris Davis signed for 7 years and $161 million and we will see if they sign Cespedes also.  According to Jim Bowden, “should be enuf to sign Davis/Cespedes”:

That 60% figure quoted by Bowden is way off as it’s much larger.  We know from court documents (pictured below) that in 2014 the Nats ownership interest was only 15% making the 2015 ownership interest 16% as the Nats ownership interest in MASN grows at 1% per year until they reach 33% ownership 17 years from now. For 2016, the Nats will own 17% of MASN.  Bowden thinks MASN is worth over $2 billion.  MASN is worth whatever somebody will pay for it and rumors have said that is well in excess of $1 billion.
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Nats get all arbitration eligible players under contract for 2016

Posted on January 15, 2016 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

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Should an upgrade at Catcher be a Rizzo Priority? #Nats

Posted on January 15, 2016 by DonH

There has been quite a bit of discussion lately regarding whether the Nationals need to go out and get a catcher to replace Wilson Ramos.

  • There is concern about his offense given his performance in 2015.
  • There is also concern over his defense from some Nats fans.
    • The key concern seems to be dropped throws from the outfield, thus allowing runners to score.

Lets start with his defense by looking at the standard catcher metrics. Continue reading →

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The 4 N’s: Nats News -n- Notes: Spring Training

Posted on January 14, 2016 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

As news is trickling in about Spring Training, the official date for pitchers and catchers to report is February 18th.  The Nats released this great graphic to mark the dates for us:

IMG_20160112_103510
Our great people at Image Works Creative created this great graphic! Thanks for everything you do for us, and loved the Bryce Harper quote!

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The NL East rosters will have a new look for 2016

Posted on January 13, 2016 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

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The Depths Mike Rizzo Goes To

Posted on January 12, 2016 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

As the 2016 Washington Nationals roster takes shape, there is still the question of depth of starters, on the bench and the back of the bullpen.

Since Mike Rizzo hasn’t said he’s finished with the 2016 roster, it is not fair to assume he is done with moves to strengthen this team.

Starting pitching depth could look like this:

  1. Scherzer
  2. Strasburg
  3. Gio
  4. Ross
  5. Roark
  6. AJ Cole
  7. Taylor Jordan
  8. Giolito
  9. Voth

Continue reading →

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Rizzo Report Card: The ups and downs and ups in the #Nats Hot Stove

Posted on January 10, 2016 by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears

On the morning of December 24, 2015 and creeping up on Mike Rizzo’s Christmas Eve, he had not signed one infielder to the Major League roster and had actually seen attrition in his infield roster as his Silver Slugger shortstop left to free agency and his 2nd best hitter of 2015, Yunel Escobar was traded to the Angels for Trevor Gott.

Rizzo was in great physical pain all off-season requiring back surgery on December 22nd. As he laid on his back on his hardwood floor in his DC home for extra support for his back, and picked up his phone to call up Seth Levinson at the Aces Agency, Rizzo thought back to the deals they crafted with Gio Gonzalez after his trade from the A’s to the Nats and even arbitration deals for Michael Morse. Daniel Murphy wanted to be signed before Christmas and Rizzo and Levinson crafted a deal that would work for both sides, and it was for far less than the 4 years and $16 million per year that the experts thought Murphy would get which is why this deal made so much sense for the Nats.

With one signing on December 24th, Rizzo got one of his biggest holes filled in ways that he couldn’t with any of the other candidates.  Daniel Murphy was set to be a Nats subject to a physical after the Holidays.

Surprise surprise that there was some loud noise and criticism on Twitter and other blogs of negativity on Rizzo that he failed on Zobrist and swung and missed badly on Brandon Phillips, and he didn’t get Darren O’Day.  On the radar and off just as quickly was the Nats rumored $200 million offer for Jason Heyward.  Commentors were trying to put together a pattern there, and even some in the media that Rizzo was getting turned down everywhere.

Here is what Tom Boswell of the Washington Post had to say after the Murphy signing,

“Partly, this is January happy talk. Murphy was the Nats’ third choice for second base after Zobrist and Phillips.”

Continue reading →

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The Qualifying Offer and the next CBA

Posted on January 9, 2016 by DonH

Seems pretty clear that the current Qualifying Offer (QO) system is working to the detriment of the players; and it is not clear that it provide any significant benefits to the teams. The way QOs will work (if they even exist) under the CBA to be negotiated and presumably put in place on December 1, 2016 will almost certainly be different. Continue reading →

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The Money Bubble

Posted on January 9, 2016 by Laddieblahblah

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