Teddy was a loser. A laughing-stock. A shameful joke. He embodied the Washington Nationals’ franchise perfectly. From 2005 to 2010, Teddy finished last in every race. The Nats finished last in the NL East those years too. Enough was enough. In the winter of ought ten, the Natinals Nationals decided to change their stars. Ownership had just drafted Bryce Harper first overall, a year after drafting Stephen Strasburg first overall and weeks before Strasburg’s elbow would pop. They finally wanted (after years of needing) someone to change the culture. So to the surprise of the baseball world, they signed former world champ and Philadelphia Phillie, Jayson Werth, to more money and more years than anyone thought reasonable. For the first year ever, the Nationals didn’t finish last in 2011. They’ve had winning records every year since. But Teddy still lost. Every time. He was still O-for-ever.
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Manage Like it’s the Playoffs
Coming off the Dodgers series, there are 13 games left in the season. I think the best way to get the team ready for the playoffs is to manage like they’ve already begun. The first priority is health. Play the guys coming off injury (Jayson Werth, Trea Turner, Michael Taylor, and eventually (hopefully) Bryce Harper), and give the guys who’ve been playing every day the occasional day off. And then pinch-hit, pinch-run, and defensively substitute like you would in October.
Set the lineup based on the team’s health, then use whatever bench and bullpen options you have that day to win the game. Make the games matter to keep the team sharp. It’s also a great way to sort out the bench and back of the bullpen to pinpoint the most effective playoff roster.
What if Zim Took a Knee?
What if Ryan Zimmerman took a knee during a national anthem? How would we react? How should we?
Two Months to See Who’s In and Who’s Out
There are 53 games left in the regular season. Fifty-three games to get through until the games really matter. Fifty-three games for some guys to get healthy, some to get hurt, and others to either play their way on or off the playoff roster.
The Cubs are Weird Wusses
I’ve never liked the Cubs. While this weekend’s series is simultaneously a probable NLDS preview and relatively meaningless, I want the Nats to win the series mostly out of spite. I don’t like the Cubs.
The Nats Bullpen: Survivor Island Edition
Finally… bullpen help is on the way. Ryan Madson and Sean Doolittle immediately become the best two relief pitchers on the Washington Nationals, despite neither being their former team’s closer. The two only have 4 saves between them this year, but so what? The Nats needed help and they got it. But are these two enough? (Probably not.) And who on the team is worth keeping around and who needs to be voted off the island?
Daniel Murphy is the Best Deal in Baseball
What is the best free agent signing the #Nats have made to date?
— My name is Jo(e)nas📎 (@TheNatsBlogJoe) June 21, 2017
What’s the best free agent signing the Nats have ever made? That’s the question @TheNatsBlogJoe asked on Twitter a couple of weeks ago and the resounding answer he received was Max Scherzer. But those respondents are wrong. Lots of folks argued that the Jayson Werth signing was more important because of the culture change his addition brought. They are wrong too. In third place on the Twitter poll was the correct answer — Daniel Murphy. It’s hard to argue too vehemently against Max, who’s already rung up 16.4 WAR in 2 1/2 seasons, equaling $131.7M (of his $210M 7-year contract) in value according to Fangraphs, and a Cy Young Award. And while Werth hasn’t quite earned all of his $126M contract, he’s come close enough to justify his signing when you consider the Nats haven’t had a losing season since they signed him. But Daniel Murphy has been one of, if not the best, free agent bargains in all of baseball.
Stars and Scrubs
With 5 All-Stars so far (#VoteRendon), this year’s version of the Nats is Dolly-Parton-like top heavy. The top 6 Nats all have 2 WAR or higher. There are 2 Nats in the top 10 in baseball in both hitting (Anthony Rendon and Bryce Harper) and pitching (Max Scherzer and Stephen Strasburg). Injuries and the craptastic bullpen have sucked a lot of joy out of this season. Yet the calamities that have befallen the team have allowed a few of scrubs to show their worth.
The Gio Gonzalez Trade is Still Paying Off
Gio Gonzalez‘s great start to this season and the impending trade deadline inspired me to take a look back at the top Nats trades to see how they added up. Mark Zuckerman complied a great list this winter, so I decided to break down the ten trades he wrote about to see how they compared in total WAR for the players involved.