Do you base all rooting interests on the Nationals? Would you base your rooting interest in the playoffs on the teams with the most National ties? If so...
GONE TOO SOON
Braves
Former Nats pitcher Reynaldo Lopez was a great starter for the Braves but they would shift him to reliever at the end. Mistake? They aren't still playing are they? Also on the Braves, Eddie Rosario. Yuk. Glad ya lost
Brewers
Joe Ross was on the Brewers as the season ended. He did fine!
Astros
With Dusty gone the most Nationals person with the Astros is GM Dana Brown - who was the director of scouting until Rizzo took over the GM role. How'd he end up GM if his Expos/Nats scouting was... mediocre at best? Time and a stint with the Braves that was actually good. Player wise it's barren on the post-season roster but Old Friend (tm) Wander Suero is in the org and was on the mound when the AAA team Sugarland clinched the AAA title.
Orioles
Daniel Johnson, former Nats draft pick who ended up traded to Cleveland was there. That's it
STILL IN IT TO WIN IT
Yankees
You may have heard of a little player named Juan Tiberius* Soto. Only one but it's a big one.
Royals
The Royals picked up Hunter Harvey mid season to help with their playoff push. He got hurt very quickly. Other than that no Nats.
Tigers
No Nats
Guardians
Lane Thomas was traded to Cleveland and was disappointing... until he crushed a bomb to open up the ALDS.
Mets
Jesse Winker, another traded guy, is the obvious one but who could forget long time Nat Reed Garrett (9IP in 2022) finally finding his form for this Mets team?
Phillies
Trea Turner. Bryce Harper. Kyle Schwarber. I mean this is basically the Nats team that could have been.
Padres
What happened on August 8th, 2024? That's when Carl Edwards Jr threw his one inning of major league work this year.
Dodgers
Blake Treinen and his talent at pitching good and somehow seeming bad is playing his fourth season for the Dodgers. Daniel Hudson, at Dodger before he was a Nat, has been in LA since 2022 and actually pitched a full season this year! (he was ok). Ever the resourceful team they've made use of a Nats' castoff. Anthony Banda, who has made an incredible journey in his career**, including a stop in DC last year, found himself at home in the LA bullpen.
If seeing former Nats makes you happy, you are rooting for a Phillies Yankees World Series
If it makes you sad, you are rooting for Padres facing either the Tigers or Royals.
*May not be his actual middle name
** drafted by the Dbacks, refused, drafted by Milwuakee, traded to Arizona, made his debut with Arizona in 2017 then traded to Tampa (2018-2020), DFA'd and traded to SFG for cash (minors only 2021), traded to Mets (2021), DFA's then grabbed by Pittsburgh off waivers (2021-2022), DFA'd then traded to TOR for cash (2022), DFA'd, rejected assignment, signed with Mariners (minors only 2022), opted out, signed with Yankees (2022), DFA'd went to minors, elected FA, signed with Nationals (2023) in off season. DFA'd spent season in minors. Elected FA, signed with Cleveland (minors only 2024), traded to Dodgers
12 comments:
For me it's the reverse-I can't bare to watch the games with former Nats, too painful. Happy that Harper's gone, but the others, esp Trea and Soto, hurts too much.
Yeah I agree with mainlaker…seeing ex nats play in the playoffs is kinda like seeing your ex excelling in their life and you’re sitting in the corner eating cheetos jer*ing off
As usual, this is presented in a way to make the Nats org look bad. The Nats never converted Lopez to the bullpen by choice. He never appeared out of the bullpen for them in the minors, and only did so in MLB in 2016 because he was a depth call up. Remember that the Nats rotation was Max, Stras, Roark, Gio, and Ross. It was the White Sox that moved Lopez to the bullpen in 2021, where he remained through stints with various teams until landing with the Barves.
Similarly, the “Nats that could have been” would have required a $709M commitment to just three players. And Harper signed for “only” $330M because he finally realized (in mid-March 2019) that he wasn’t going to get the $400M+ that he was looking for. The Nats didn’t want to wait until after STcwas already under way to see if Harper’s price would come down. And it’s hard to make the case that that was a bad decision.
I share your bitterness on these players and am impressed that you wear it with such aplomb.
The Trea/Byrce/Shwarbs was a passing comment. It could have been. It may not have been advised. But that was less the point that "hey look at all these good players that were on the Nats" Unfair a bit? Maybe I don't know
The Lopez stuff? I wasn't even thinking about how the Nats used him. You've been holding whatever that is in for a while. That's on you
Ehh gonna have to disagree with you there…when you said “ but they would shift him to reliever at the end. Mistake?” it was pretty clear what you were saying haha
You can't disagree! I know what I was thinking! I was the one thinking it!
With Sale hurt pitching him in relief on the double header day instead of saving him for a potential playoff series was a mistake (made even worse by not letting him finish the game after the Braves went up 3-0 pulling him for more relievers. If you feel like you have to use him let him rest your relief arms).
And if all the money we didn't spend when we weren't good and had a weak farm system....turns out to be the money that we spend to get Soto....then all these imagined sins get washed away?
Nah - all the imagined sins got washed away in 2019
If the comment was directed at how the Barves used Lopez, that’s on me for misunderstanding. It wasn’t that I have been carrying that Lopez stuff around so much as when I read the comment I was like “huh; that’s not how I remember the Nats handling Lopez” and started looking stuff up. So it wasn’t a long term grudge so much as a short term internet rabbit hole. And no, I don’t think that’s an improvement. 😄
Harper---that being the case, then "flags fly forever" and we had the oldest team in baseball at that time, should have some salience with the doomsayers who think everybody has it better/does it better than our team does. Exactly how many teams have never won a world series?
I do think some of the bad attitudes come from the pandemic wiping out the good feeling you get from a year spent as defending world champion.,
I do have a soft spot for Lane Thomas, who was a good Nat, and probably would have been fine staying. But he’s in a better place. Go Cleveland.
Post a Comment