Taking an extended holiday break is nice. I did it and so, in fact, did the Washington Nationals. After signing first round flop Nick Senzel and buy low comeback potential reliever Dylan Floro, Mike Rizzo put on his Tommy Bahama flew down ironically to Bermuda and sipped on a Mai Tai for three weeks. They've singed only minor league depth since then and only a few of those.
But again that's the plan as we understand now. It is not a "strategic signing to set up the team for 2025" off-season. It is a "wait and see what bargains we can get because we don't know when we'll be good" off-season. Much like it was going into last year. Signings will come, they almost have to unless they are resigning themselves to a worse finish, but they will come later when the pool becomes shallower but the demand for water has also diminished. Talent should still be there but at better prices.
For reference here's the list of ok FAs that might end up on the Nats, updated for signings.
1B/DH : Carlos Santana, JD Martinez, Brandon Belt, Jorge Soler, Donovan Solano, Garrett Cooper, Cutch
Others with DH potential : Mitch Garver, Justin Turner, Tommy Pham, Adam Duvall, Aaron Hicks
Starters : Stroman, Martin Perez, Giolito, Lorenzen, Clevinger, Kluber, Carrasco, Manaea, Montas, Wood
Still plenty of help available. So do something! (I'm talking to the other teams here because they have to make their run before the Nats swoop in).
2023 was a mild downer. The team stunk, though not as badly as it could have. The prospects in house didn't explode, though enough made progress to keep the plan on track. On quick analysis, the draft didn't get the best guy*, though there's nothing at all wrong with Crews as a 2.
2024 though? Year of the Nationals! Until it isn't but that isn't today.
*Basically all post-draft work says Wyatt Langford, picked #4 by the Rangers, clearly looks to be the best and I'd be shocked if he doesn't leapfrog Skenes and Crews in prospect lists this Spring. Yes, it's early but you'd rather be the best early too!
9 comments:
I would not think that a soulless automaton would leap on the Langford bandwagon after just 44 minor league games. I can't help but feel that you'd be a lot more cautious if the Nats had drafted him over Crews. But maybe I'm just cranky because, after nearly four years of dodging, COVID finally tracked me down.
I really wish the Lerners would just sell.
If they're not going to pony up for ANYONE good until they know how badly they whiffed on all the trades, then we'll just be waiting 2 more years to win 80 games, then top out at 83 wins, and blow it all up in 5 years and start over, chasing 100 losses to get back in the lottery again for 3 years in a row.
And I waited 35 years for this? The Nats' run of quality through the teens barely seems like a memory, and more like mythology.
Take it easy, Kevin! Yes, 2020-23 have been bad. So was 2006-2010. All true.
I assume "waited 35 years for this" referred to the 33-year gap (1972-2004) between the Senators and the Nationals. What you waited for and then got with the Nationals has been much, much better than the baseball DC got from the Senators.
2012-2019 had its frustrations, but that was an EIGHT YEAR period where the Nationals had the second most wins in MLB. Including, you know, a World Series championship. Last time the Senators had a run as good or better than that was 1924-1933...which was before any of our times.
Consider this: if one leaves out the WW2 years (1942-1945) only EIGHT Senators teams from 1934-1971 had a better record than the 2023 Nats (71-91, .438) in their last THIRTY FOUR YEARS (8-34 is a .235 batting average). It only goes up to 10-38 (.263 batting average) if one includes the WW2 years.
The 2005-2023 Nats have had a better record than the 2023 (and 2006) Nats ELEVEN TIMES. That's ELEVEN TIMES in SEVENTEEN seasons (leaving out 2x 71-91 records). Even 11-19 (.579) tells us the Nationals under the Lerners are more than twice as likely to finish above .438 than the Senators were.
Or if one prefers, one WS title in 19 seasons vs one WS title in 71 seasons. Your mileage may vary.
Seriously, any old time Senators fans should understand and appreciate just how much better DC baseball has been with the Nationals than it EVER was with the Senators. The Lerners aren't perfect--not by a LONG shot--but let's not go overboard the other way hating on an ownership group that has produced much better baseball than the Senators we pined for did.
Yeah, no guarantees with this rebuild. But it's not an automatic "White Sox whoops" level rebuild either. So how about instead of assuming EVERYTHING THE NATS DO IS WRONG!!!! we all settle in and see how it goes?
I think it is true both that (1) Langford played better than Crews during the post-draft period; and (2) nobody is revising their ranking of Crews/Skenes/Langford based upon such a tiny sample of games. BUT: there was a handful of pundits who liked Langford over Crews, so maybe that handful will speak a bit louder in the spring.
@Keven and others who seem to so heavily discount the Nat's amazing World Series year:
1/ there are a lot of teams whose last WS game was years ago and last WS series win was decades ago. .That has been reviewed in this blog several times.
2/ none of us got to properly enjoy the WS win because of the pandemic--we were entitled to 12 months/162 games of being the reigning champions. That would have left a much bigger glow than what most of us feel now. Bad timing, yes. A sign that the Lerner's have let us down? Hardly. As Harper has written several times--there is much to second guess and wish happened in the Lerner era--but they are no worse than average owners when you survey the state of MLB today.
John C - You're just cranky and sick. I'm not on anyone's bandwagon after a couple minor league months. Just saying Langford today looks like the best pick in the draft from what little information we have. It could be different by Memorial Day but it is how the season ended. I still really like Crews for a number of reasons. (like he's much better in the field)
KR / MC / SG - I wouldn't drag the Lerners until we see what happens in the next couple of years. We've seen what they do when a rebuild works (nearly perfectly to be honest) and it was pretty much what you want outside of a little extra RP spending that they always seemed to balk on. We haven't seen what they do when a rebuild fails (if this rebuild does that - it could still work). All we've learned is that they do not pull the trigger early on moving on FAs. We thought they might. Werth sort of fit that idea. But really they were more confident or had other reasons to do it - like building the fanbase. Good to know, but not SELL THE TEAM worthy imo. We'll learn more each year for good or bad.
Anon @ 1:01 - I'll take that bet (is that a bet?). Langford didn't just play better. Crews ended the season with 20 games in AA and put up a .208 / .318 / .278 line. Langford in 17 games at AA and AAA put up something like .390 / .525 / .650. Plus I've seen some stat anlysis of the type of hitting done that further pushes him. Also, as I noted last year, guys tend to overreact to hotness making these lists because they don't want to miss out. That's how Elijah Green ended up sneaking in on a bunch of lists last year. All that to me says Langord will top and Crews and Skenes. Of course all that means to me is he's moving up from around 12 to say 3-4 with Crews and Skenes moving from the 3-4-5 area to 4-5-6-7. (FWIW - I'd expect Wood to slip from Top 10 to Top 15/20, with House moving up close to the Top 20)
Helpful posting for everyone and me .
National baseball typically refers to baseball played at the national level, representing a country in international competitions like the World Baseball Classic or the Olympic Games. It showcases the best players from a particular nation competing against other countries, highlighting the unique styles and talents of each Basetballplaying nation. National baseball fosters patriotism and unity among fans as they cheer for their country's team on the global stage.
National baseball typically refers to baseball played at the national level, representing a country in international competitions like the World Baseball Classic or the Olympic Games. It showcases the best players from a particular nation competing against other countries, highlighting the unique styles and talents of each Basetball .playing nation. National baseball fosters patriotism and unity among fans as they cheer for their country's team on the global stage.
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