The Nationals Report

Remember last night how Lastings was a late scratch?

Turns out he was late to the ballpark, and Manny benched him. If this sounds familiar, it's because it should. Same thing happened in his brief stay in Flushing.

Some quotes from the article.

"He showed up late for work," Acta said. "I love Milledge and he knows it. Out of all the rules I have, I have three rules that are unbreakable regardless of who you are. You can be the 25th guy on the team, or Ryan Zimmerman. At least, [Milledge] gets disciplined. Go ask Jim Bowden, Stan Kasten and the Lerners what would they do to me if I showed up late for work."

Milledge didn't deny that he was late to Nationals Park, but declined to give the reason. Asked what happened, Milledge said: "That doesn't matter. I was late. ... It's something I couldn't control. I take full responsibility."

Lastings, buddy. Listen to me. Your job is to play baseball. You make not shabby money for it. Hire a driver. If you're waiting on the green line, you might not make it in time. Stan Kasten was not talking to you about "Go Metro".

I wish I had other stuff to write about, but there's nothing, absolutely nothing. Today Paul Lo Duca and Lastings Milledge were unveiled to the Washington media. You can dress em up but you can't take em out. Check out the banner shot from Nats.com


First things first, that guy in the background looks scary. I'm pretty sure he's a Marlins fan wondering what its like to actually sign a new player. Second, Trader Jim looks really pleased with himself. I don't pretend to imagine what's really going on in his head but I'm guessing its something along the lines of, "That's right Jimmy, you really duped em all this time. You're a god damn genius. No one does it better than you. Take that Reds! How's Gary Majewski doing? PWND!" Lastly, Mr. Milledge also looks mildly amused, but look at Lo Duca! I'm glad he could spare the time out of his extremely busy day to grace us with his presence. It's not every day you get to see a 4 TIME ALL STAR. I know you were just traded from a contender to the Nationals, but seriously, show some @#$%ing respect, at least paste on a fake smile.

You're not starting off on my good side Paul, not at all. If you're going to mope on stage, you might as well have just phoned in and placed a cardboard cutout of you on the stage. That is, if the Mets shipped us the one they used behind the plate last year.

Milledge on the other hand, I like your style. You already know how to give the media what they want, the almighty quote. "We're gonna go out there, we're gonna bust our tail and we're gonna win." Similar to but not quite as legendary as maybe my favorite sports quote of all time, "We'll take the ball, and we're going to score!" (oh, Matt Hasselbeck), but still, I like where his head's at. He's hungry for wins, which can only help.

From now until we're mathematically eliminated from the 2008 playoff race, the following statement will end all of my posts:

2008 Washington Nationals, NL Wild Card Winners!

This weekend...nothing happened.

It's been a slow weekend for Nats news and I was out of town for the weekend. Thus...no posts.

Last week was a week of highs and highs (we think). I think I speak for Jon in that I don't think we made one bad move. Ryan Church and Brian Schneider never figured in to our long term plans as a team so their departure isn't a huge blow. Were Church and Schneider really going to produce that many runs this year...I don't think so. The only player leaving for which I had any affinity is Jonathan Ablalalalaladingdong. He showed some sick stuff in his short stint with the big club and he could've been a major piece of our pen for years to come. But there can only be so many spaces for a spot lefty and Ray King takes up two and ate the third.

So the outfield has transformed from Pena, Church/Logan, Kearns into Pena, Milledge/Kearns, Dukes/Kearns. Which would you rather pitch to? Exactly. Pitchers don't care who you inseminated, beat, and or disrespected. They only care if you can hit. And the second group I mentioned hits better than the first. Case closed!

Okay I think I've beat this dead horse enough. The Nationals Report thinks Trader Jim is a genius and might be leading us to the promised land.

Your 2008 Washington Nationals...

NL Wild Card Winners!

We've got the stones to believe, DO YOU?

Disclaimer: I, Jon, share Kyle's enthusiasm, and depending on the way the rest of the offseason shakes out (signing some arms), I will be right behind him. If not...we'll see.

Just a quick rundown of the "Winter Meetings Checklist" posted on Nats.com last week and what can be checked off:

More starting pitching:

Half Check! Tyler Clippard from the Yankees. Youth talent but nothing proven yet. More importantly no innings eater yet. I'm still holding out for Livo.

Leadoff Hitter:

Nothing! There aren't many true leadoff hitters out there on the market but anything is better than what we've got. Problem is that the defensive lineup seems set, so who would squeezed out for a leadoff hitter...I predict 2B. Its going to be a tough find though.

Center Fielder:

Check! The Nats have acquired both Lastings Milledge and Elijah Dukes through trades. Both come in with some questions about character and none about talent. Hopefully a change of scenery will provide both with new life.

Power Hitter:

Check! Both Milledge and Dukes have above average power so it seems as if we're trying to kill two birds with two stones here. Neither have played full major league seasons though so the breath is still being held on this. Smart money is on at least one or both working out.