First I'd like to thank the Nats for doing next to nothing this off-season so we can get through all this without being interrupted. Much appreciated
The Nats 2024 was a stop gap year in relief where they brought in some older guys they never meant to keep and traded out some assets at the end of the year. Outside of Kyle Finnegan and Jose Ferrer there wasn't much of a plan. They signed a weaker set of guys in 2025 and hoped for the best. It didn't happen. The Nats had arguably the worst relief pitching in basebal in 2025.Presumed Plan :
Clayton Beeter and pray for rain? If there's a place where "plan" is going to far, it's the bullpen where the Nats are going with a bunch of untested arms because why sign anyone? It doesn't matter! <insane laughter as fans go mad>
Reasoning behind Presumed Plan :
It's basically a given that the place you try to save money is in the pen. You don't know how much you will use them. Guys can have weirdly good performances out of nowhere. It makes sense if you feel the need to cheap out somewhere to do it there. The Nats have historically felt that way since riding out actual good pens very early in the "Strasburg Window".My Take :
Jesus Christ this could be bad. They were the worst last year and right now they are putting no effort into making it better.
From the comments some of you seemed resigned to a terrible team to the point where you are like "signing anyone would actually be a mistake!" Stop that. That's owner talk. They have money. They can make the team good here and there (another bat, another arm, a few more bullpen arms) and not block anyone. Playing bad kids isn't helping anyone. Playing a ton of cheap talent to "see what you have" is not to find something good but to pay people nothing for a year without getting yelled at. Yell.
If the Nats aren't going to try to be playoff worthy that's a decision I'll accept in the "that's what teams do" way. But if they aren't going to try to be major league worthy - nah. I'm not down for that.
Anyway sign a couple of real arms for the pen! They need them! Desperately!
This is all correct.
ReplyDelete1. The current plan is to pay the least money possible and be totally fine with a demoralizing slog of a season. This is true for the whole roster and not just the bullpen, but the bullpen is most glaring because there are so few even slightly promising names. (I would add Henry to Beeter, though. Yes bad results last season, but the stuff looked very good and I'm happy with him being in the mid to high leverage mix.)
2. Way too many fans accept absolutely terrible teams in years that are likely to be out-of-contention. Even if you allow for the ridiculous logic that only championship % drives joyful fandom (which is not true for me and I can't imagine it's actually true for many fans), people drastically discount the potentiality that a team with mediocre projections puts themselves in a position to take advantage of some lucky breaks (true overperformances but also just lucky sequencing or batted ball luck) and squeak into the playoffs. The season is only over in April if you totally mail it in like the Nats are doing.
Plus, if you have better players, you can trade them for better prospects in the more likely scenario where you are out of contention in July. That more than makes up the difference between drafting 5th and drafting 13th.
"Playing a ton of cheap talent to "see what you have" is not to find something good but to pay people nothing for a year without getting yelled at. Yell."
ReplyDeleteNats fans are too nice to yell, unfortunately, so ownership feels like it can get away with this.
https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/los-angeles-dodgers-washington-nationals-172500550.html
ReplyDeleteThis sums up my opinion (and I'm sure Harper's opinion as well). The Nats have spent NOTHING since the Stras contract blew up in their face and Mark became the real guy in charge (yes I know Mark was in charge prior, but Ted was still alive and kicking). They have to spend some money to be taken seriously, because it will result in a scenario where the seats are empty and they're TV revenue is pennies, and Mark has even less incentive to spend. You have to put a compelling product on the field even if it's not going to be a world beater.
What they did last year was ridiculous, THAT was the year to spend. Maybe it blows up in your face, but you have the young core rounding into shape last year, so you go and sign a big name bat and big name SP and you have a decent chance. Now? No player is going to want to come here because they can't expect the team to put pieces around them to win. That's why Tucker is a Dodger despite equivalent offers out there, you don't just want a payday, you want to win