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Daniel Murphy is the Best Deal in Baseball

2017 Articles 1 Comment

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.

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First Half NL MVP Candidates

2017 Articles Leave a Comment

We’ve reached the All Star break, meaning we’ve hit the “halfway” point of the season. At this point, we can typically take a step back and get a good look at baseball thus far this season and maybe get a good prediction of how it’s going to end. Of course, anything can happen between now and October, and I am neither an expert nor am I clairvoyant. But I’m going to give a go at predicting some of the likely candidates to win the National League MVP at the end of the season. Last August I did the exact same thing (albeit with a month and a half more playing time to consider), and I correctly predicted the top five MVP finalists. So here is my early insight into potential 2017 MVP candidates.

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Which Relievers Could The Nats Target: Part Two

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A few months ago, I wrote about some relievers the Nationals could pursue in a trade. In the intervening months, during which the Nats’ bullpen has only festered further, more rumors have sprung up about who the Nats may be interested in. As such, I’ll break down a few of those names using the same system I used last time — rating each player’s ability and acquisition price.

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The Missing Piece is the Only One that Matters

2017 Articles Leave a Comment

Other than the Washington Capitals no other team in Washington DC has had as good a chance to achieve the ultimate goal in their sport as consistently as the Nationals in recent years. The perpetual curse of the DC sports fan it seems is to make it most of the way up that mountain before crashing (as harshly as possible) back to reality. In the post-mortem for the most promising seasons it always seems that there was something eminently avoidable at the root of all the problems.

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The Hidden Costs of Not Fixing the Nationals Bullpen

2017 Articles 1 Comment

Look: I’m sick of talking about the bullpen, you are sick of reading about the bullpen, but we really don’t have a choice. The Nationals have an elite offense (even more so if they get healthy) and an elite rotation, but have been treading water for the last couple months because of a ‘pen that cannot keep runs off the board. Fortunately, the stiffest competition has a bullpen that is nearly as useless, leading to a massive lead in the division all the same. The resulting popular rhetoric has been “the Nats have time” and “why rush into a move, maybe they can figure things out before the last week of July.” I am here to challenge that notion with some thoughts on the hidden costs of the 2017 Nationals bullpen.

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What to Expect When You’re Expecting Sheldon Neuse

2017 Articles Leave a Comment

It’s no secret that the Hagerstown Suns are among the most talented teams in minor league baseball. Led by their prospect-studded offense, the Nationals’ Single-A affiliate has jumped out to a South Atlantic League leading 46-34 record, producing a league-high 7 All-Stars. Among those All-stars was Fort Worth native and former Oklahoma Sooner Sheldon Neuse. It’s hard to stand out on a star powered team like the Suns, and Neuse found himself quickly overshadowed by his teammates following a slow April. However following his disappointing start, the third baseman has been able to make adjustments and put together a solid season on both sides of the ball that has caught attention across the league.
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Tony Two Bags is Better Than You

2017 Articles Leave a Comment

Once again, Anthony Rendon does not get the recognition he deserves. He is arguably the best third baseman in the league. He does everything well — hitting, fielding, throwing, baserunning. Part of the problem is there is no player less likely to self-promote than Two Bags. In the epic 23-5 drubbing of the Mets, he went 6-for-6 with three homers and 10 RBI, but in the post-game interview, he praised the pitching, flat out denying Dan Kolko any self-praise whatsoever. Joe Ross failed to complete 5 innings that day, giving up 5 ER on 7 hits and two home runs. His interviews have become him dodging any questions from MASN Dan that have anything to do with patting himself on the back. Getting snubbed from the All-Star Game probably matters less to Rendon than any other player. He simply is not the baseball rat that Bryce Harper, Max Scherzer, Daniel Murphy, Stephen Strasburg, or Ryan Zimmerman is. Since Anthony in unwilling to do it, this space at The Nats Blog will do it for him.

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Brian Goodwin, the Saving Grace

2017 Articles 1 Comment

Everyone is hurt, the bullpen sucks, and Gio Gonzalez wasn’t named an All-Star. The Nationals were in a bit of a skid until Max Scherzer hurled a gem on Sunday night, and things weren’t looking so pretty. Trea Turner’s wrist is broken, Jayson Werth is still out, and the bullpen is a revolving door of awfulness. And yet the Nationals have continued to play some consistent baseball. So who’s been the saving grace throughout all these injuries? Not Scherzer or any of the big boppers in the lineup, but Brian Goodwin.
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Stars and Scrubs

2017 Articles Leave a Comment

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.

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The Disappearing Matt Wieters

2017 Articles 4 Comments

I have very distressing news: Matt Wieters has gone missing. I know his name has been in the lineup; I know it looks like he has been crouching behind the plate. But can you really be sure behind all that catcher’s gear it’s actually him? Because, for the last two months, there has been very little evidence in the box score to prove the presence of Wieters.

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