The Nationals Report

If we're to believe the Nationals website, Stan is interested in COREY FREAKING PATTERSON.

I'm here to tell you, this is unacceptable. I'd rather have Nook Logan start until a kid is ready. In no way do I think Corey Patterson is worth more the $20. Let's look at his stats, shall we?

-Career BA: .258 with a .215, .276, and .269 the last three years. That looks nice doesn't it?
-He strikes out once every 4.3 AB. Not horrible, but nothing to be excited about, or anything you want your leadoff hitter doing. HELLLLOOOO Brad Wilkerson with no power.
-He steals some bases. Woopty do. Again, so does Nook Logan, and he's basically free.
-Career OBP: .298, with the last three years: .254, .314, .304. Awful.
-Here's another good one. Walks. Last three years: 23, 23, 21. So he doesn't hit, doesn't walk...

Basically, this guy has no business on a major league roster. In fact, looking at his numbers, I don't know how this guy has gotten two contracts. Didn't GMs learn anything about fast not being the most important thing when they used to get sprinters to be pinch runners, and they sucked? Guess not.

Please Stan and Co. Anybody but Corey Patterson. Anybody. Look at David Dejesus. Mike Cameron. Rocco Baldelli. Carl Crawford (I can dream).

WHOA. Just saw something...Patterson is a Boras client. Did we need anymore reasons not to stay away from this joker?

DOUBLE WHOA. Didn't see this before...

In other news, the Nationals need help off the bench, and infielder Aaron Boone could be a great fit. However, Nats assistant general manager and Boone's father, Bob Boone, said his son may want to look at a place where he would start the season as a utility player and then start playing on a regular basis, which happened with the Marlins last year.

Boone played in 69 games for Florida and hit .286 with five home runs and 28 RBIs. He was playing on a regular basis at first base before a left knee injury in late June put him out for the rest of the season. Boone's father said the infielder's knee is 100 percent healthy.

"I think he would really help our club with his ability to play all the infield positions," the elder Boone said. "When you go and build your bench, you want to have people where [you don't have much of a fall-off]. When you look at it that way, Aaron fits the bill. There are so many things we have to put together [in other areas of the team] before that would happen."

GET THIS MAN A CONTRACT. If only for the positive karma, and the anti-Red Sox juju.

Winter meetings are about to start which means its once again time for Jim Bowden to get beat up in the media over his wheeling and dealing tactics. But this is not what this post is going to be about. That I reserve for another time...if I feel like it.

No, this post is about the new stadium. Since I'm too poor and live too far away from season tickets, I've got no gripes about ticket locations or prices or anything of that sort. What I really wanna know is what our new home is going to be called. Right now we're still stuck with boring old Nationals Park. Now my vision isn't so clouded as to think that the Lerner's have enough money not to sell the park's naming rights, therefore naming it after some historic figure of Washington baseball/political history. (Johnson Park anyone? Perhaps Banneker Field) But I sincerely hope they think of the fans even the slightest when they make their decision as to who to sell the park to. To demonstrate my point, I've complied the list of what I think may be the 5 worst names for professional sports stadiums. I'm also included offers that teams received for naming rights.

1. Pink Taco Field
2. University of Phoenix Stadium (The name chosen over Pink Taco)
3. Gaylord Entertainment Center
4. Angel Stadium of Anaheim
5. Jobing.com Arena

I'm not going to even discuss the first one. Parents, if your kids ask, tell them its a fast food chain; that's it, that's all. Second on our list looks innocuous at first...until you realize that its not on the campus of UoP, but is the stadium of the Arizona Cardinals professional football franchise, thus creating mass confusion for us all. As for the third spot on this list, I know its juvenile and stupid to laugh at the name Gaylord, but you were thinking it too. Number 4, thank you for reminding us that you're in Anaheim and not LA but that you want to be from LA but not lose your roots in Anaheim...of Anaheim. Last but not least, I'm not sure what Jobing is, but I'm pretty sure its illegal in at least 5 states.

So c'mon Ted, don't let me down. Let me walk to the park with my dignity intact, which is much more than I can say for the residents of Phoenix.

If you have any ideas for what you think we should name the new park, send em in, we'd love to hear from you. Plus, we'll pass them on the owners, as soon as I tape the list to a brick and throw it threw Ted Lerners' window.

Thanks to the always well written, and almost always funny Sports Bog, I found this story.

Highlights:
Colin Cowherd claims Sean Taylor basically had it coming, because he used to be hood. Also, people can't change. And he's omniscient. Oh, and he's blatantly ignorant on race issues. Some quotes...

Sean Taylor, great player has a history of really really bad judgment, really really bad judgment. Cops, assault, spitting, DUI. I'm supposed to believe his judgment got significantly better in two years, from horrible to fantastic? 'But Colin he cleaned up his act.' Well yeah, just because you clean the rug doesn't mean you got everything out. Sometimes you've got stains, stuff so deep it never ever leaves.

Stains.

I didn't grow up African American. I grew up middle class. I wanted Stephen A.'s perspective on the story. And during this story I leaned on Stephen A., Michael Wilbon and Jason Whitlock for a perspective I don't have. You walk around ESPN, it's in the halls, on the posters, Diversity, Capital D, big letter. You know why Diversity's really important at ESPN, a big company? Because it gives you more people with unique perspectives. And if you're a growing company, you want to stay fresh, you need to have a 23-year old Hispanic gal or guy tell us what's going on in your community. Asian, white, black, Hispanic, everybody, new voices, young voices, old voices. You walk the halls of ESPN, it's the United Nations. It's great. Canadians, Hispanics, Europeans. They give us a perspective we don't have.

I didn't grow up black, I grew up (tax bracket). Get it? It's racist madlibs.

What a putz. I always disliked him, but now he goes in the pantheon of Assaholic ESPN personalities, joining Jim Rome and Orestes Destrada. What you say? Orestes never did anything to nobody? Well, I don't like his first name, and his suits are ugly. SO he goes on the list.

Hey people that still read this blog!

I know it's been a while since we've been regularly updating, and we have our share of excuses. Lack of exciting news, for one. But, others manged to keep the embers burning. So, we won't use that excuse.

The purpose of this entry is to tell the people still reading this blog what we plan to do to make this blog more "necessary".
-Mondays will be for Weekend recaps, and looking at our current roster.
-Tuesdays will be looking at Nats Prospects.
-Wednesdays will be focused on our Divisional rivals.
-Thursdays will be a blog roundup.
-And Fridays will be a weekly recap and whatever else we feel like putting in there. Other than that, we'll post on a weekend if something exciting happens, other than that, this space will be quiet on weekends. Feel free to come and comment (yeah right), and we might have some other plans to make it worth coming to the page. Stay posted for that.

The weekly schedule will start next week, coinciding nicely with Winter Meetings. Come back then for a new, revamped Nats Report.

It could happen...

in MC WORLD!!!!

A nice little post about our favorite pitching coach, the man that turns shit to...something less valuable than gold. Maybe Iron? I dunno. RANDY ST. CLAIRRRRRRRRRE.

Kudos to Federal Baseball.

Today I bring you glorious news! The Great MIKE BASCIK could be back with the club next year!
I hope he's in Columbus, but maybe that's just me.

Next week, we sign ARod, and move him over to short, pushing the Guz over to second.

Now we're talking.

A Nats News Dump:

73 wins means this team couldn't have gotten any better coaching. I guess.

Da Meat Hook is the Comeback Kid. Twice.

Torii Hunter likes Washington. But he likes money more.

Nationals hire minority. This is news. I guess.

Guy with totally awesome name is new Assistant GM. I wonder who our assistant to the traveling secretary is? Wonder if they get tired of people thinking their job is funny?

That's about all you're gonna get for a little while. Don't see us signing A-Rod, and FA signings are unlikely for quite a while. When we get a brand spanking new redesign, we might feel more inclined to be all post-y.

What can you say? I guess you can say a lot of things. 73 wins is 16 wins from 1st in the division. That's a lot of wins. 21% less wins in fact.
The Plan provides for developing young talent, not overpaying for FAs, and some other things that I can't really put my finger on. I do know this. For the Nationals to compete with the Mets and the Phillies in the next 2-3 years, a good portion of this team needs to go.
Schneider, Lopez, Belliard, Church, Kearns, Pena, and Logan wouldn't start on the Mets. And they shouldn't be starting for a 1st place team. They all have a few strengths, but they also have weaknesses that wouldn't be welcome on a World Series caliber team. From the reports I've read, almost all of our draftees are projected back end rotation guys. You can't win with four 5's. Let's hope for some magic, because to win a World Series, or hell, even to be in the playoffs, that's what it'll take.


THAT BEING SAID, I love the Nationals. I love how when they put together a little string, I lose all semblance of reasoning. Anyway, season's over. News will be posted, rumors will be posted, and we may expand the coverage of the site. Enjoy the winter everyone.

So, remember how Ayala closed last night?

Here's why...

Ayala was on only because, when the Nationals called down to get closer Chad Cordero to warm up, Cordero rose -- and promptly threw up in his glove. Save the jokes about how that's what the Mets were doing all week. This was a serious situation.

"It was kind of weird," Acta said.

Cordero said he hadn't felt bad all day. But when he rose to warm up, he felt something. Some vomit escaped. "I grabbed my glove," he said, "and everything else came out."

Um....

Turns out, it should be more like this...

I'm here to say that moments last night were an embarrassment.

The pick off of FLOP after 5 throws over.
2 backwards k's with men on base on three pitches.

The good news, I don't believe we'll be in last place. The Yankees are 1.5 games out, and I'll be seeing them in person next Saturday, hopefully with playoff aspirations on the line.

We're toying with a redesign for the offseason, we'll see how that goes.

Anyway. Hope you can make it out to one of the last baseball games at RFK. I won't be, but were I hope, I would be.

Update: Bob Carpenter is out. I'm not torn up about it, but since I don't know who's next, I can't really say anything about it. We'll see what comes of this. I like Don Sutton, a lot. I like Charlie and Dave, a lot. I hate Don Baylor. I hate Ray Knight. I hate Johnny Holliday. Get me Vin Scully!

Hothead has a limo.

Courtesy of Nats320. Our favorite.

Here we are, September. The end of the line for 86% of teams, and the beginning of the long, cold, baseball-less winter. At 63 wins, we are hardly world beaters. We are expectation beaters, which is a lot better than perennial expectation shortcomings (see: Washington Redskins). There are a number of interesting stories to watch in the next month. Here are a few of them:

1. The Starting Pitching Conundrum- The current rotation of Shawn Hill, Jason Bergmann, Matt Chico, Joel Hanrahan, and Mike Bascik (with Redding out of commission for a week)
will not strike fear into the hearts of the NL East. It does have the makings of being formidable though. Shawn "When Healthy" Hill has shown some large bright spots, and with his devastating sinker and some strong innings in Fall League, I see him at the top of our rotation next year. There are issues of durability, but I tend to believe that's going to be the way for pitchers from now on. The 200ip pitcher is a rarity now.
Jason Bergmann has been inconsistant, with 2 or 3 gems (with one coming on his last start) surrounded by average or sub average starts. He has tools, but has control issues at times. Again, for what he is, and what he costs, a solid number 4, and a speculative 2-3.
Matt Chico, what can you say? Should he have been in the majors this year? No. He should have been in Harrisburg to start, Columbus near the end, and maybe with a callup. But, he was in the majors, and led the team in starts. Impressive, don't you think? More than any other pitcher on the staff, Chico struggles with control issues, and they have bitten him on many occasions. And with low 90s stuff, and no devastating out pitch (though his change has been responsible for a lot of his K's), he needs to have tighter control. But hey, Tom Glavine approves of him, so we should too.
Joel Hanrahan needs to have a big September to stay with in the rotation next year. He's another pitcher who has had a few nice starts, but has yet to show that he's a pitcher that a team trying to move the next level needs. I think he'll be a stop gap until a young pitcher makes his way up in the end of next season.
Mike Bascik is not good. Next.
Tim Redding

needs to get healthy in a hurry, and he may find himself back with the Nats due to an awful FA crop of pitchers. I hope he does, because I like his stuff. I think he'll be in AAA next year though. So we'll see.

2. The Middle Infield Conundrum- We at the Nats Report obviously love the Guz with a passion likely reserved for his wife and mother. We await his return, and count the days until he makes his appearance this month. That being said, do we know for sure that this year marks the return of Guz's offensive prowess? No, we're not positive. We hope so. Know why? Felipe Lopez is a crappy shortstop. He doesn't hit enough to warrant his D, and supposedly is having attitudinal issues. Ronnie Belliard continues to hit, albeit not at his previous levels this season, and has been reasonably solid at 2b. Should he lose weight so his range improves? Hell yes. Will he? No. Do we have ANY serious middle infield prospects that could help in the near future? No. So here's my prescription, Play Guz at SS all season, hope that he has a killer year, and trade him at the deadline if there's a market for him, since he's in his walk year. Hope that a middle infield prospect has made himself available, and if not, go after a big, young name on the market. Find a fielding first 2b, and platoon him with Ronnie. Oh, and non-tender FLop.

3. The Walking Wounded- Nick Johnson. John Patterson. Alex Escobar (haha. I know). These men have had the luxury of stealing money from the Nats this year. Some of them have net millions. Some less. What to do with these welchers? Nick could rebound this summer, and I hope he does, because he's an OBP machine. This displaces Meat, but that's a problem I don't mind having. JPatt is a head case, and should be cut and resigned to an incentive laden deal. That way when he has "nerve issues" again, we aren't throwing money at the problem. As much as I've said how much I love Escobar, this man is an injury magnet. I don't want him around the other guys...on second thought...maybe he'll steal everyone else's bad karma. He'll ward off injuries from NJ. ESCOBAR FOR BENCH COACH!

4. The Rookies- How soon will the golden children make their appearance? Despite Bowden's lip service, I see 2 or 3 rookies on the 25 man next year. Maxwell as a 4th outfielder. Detwiler as the 5th starter. Alaniz or Albalamadamadingdong in the pen. Write it down.

Ok, I'm tired. What do you think?

Jesus Flores > Brian Schneider, at least at the plate. I wish the bigs were like my softball where you could hit whoever you want despite who you have in the field. Man is clutch. I will doodoo in the fondue if he is sent back to the minors next year.

Ray King to the Brewers for a PTBNL. This is good, for a number of reasons, not the least of which is he is old, and was picked up for nothing. Unless we got back beans, this was a smart move.

Enjoy the pennant chase, Ray!

GUZMANIA2K7 may NOT be over!!!

Also, Zimm loves his Sunday reds, as he wins another game.

Kyle might chime in with our thoughts on the Saturday night game we went to...needless to say, we were pissed about the results of the President's race. BOOO.

Turns out, it wasn't just "B" named pitchers (though I will show some more.)

First of all, more Micah Bowie action.



"YAAARRRGHHHHH!"- picked up on MASN's field mics.



You've heard of the pulling down the lamp shade technique on the curve ball?
Well, Micah just snapped the damn thing off.


Now 2 more of the B's.



Pixelated. But still scary.

Now, one for the minor leagues.



Remember him?

Last but not least...



The Grizzly Mountain man. Grrrrrowl...

-Operation "Fry the Fish" was a brief success. Notice there wasn't a mention of how LONG the fish would be fried. They were flash fried. Now, we sit in the cellar with them.

-I was originally going to post about the wonder of Wily Mo's one legged homer, but I took too long, and now it's all been covered. I will say it was one of the more impressive feats I've seen by a player on a last place team, in a non-late inning situation. Enough qualifiers?
But seriously, it was awesome.

-MLB hates the Nationals' pitchers. Look below me for proof.

-How does this quote make you feeeeeeel?

"You still have to remind them that it's not over," Acta said. "As I said, this month, it could become a long month, and I don't want to go home thinking that yeah, we just won more than 40 like everybody thought. I want to have a little more satisfying ending. It's not going to be easy. We never said it was going to be easy."

Barry at the venerable Nationals Journal dropped this little nugget of despair. I feel that way too, but it's not my job to keep people motivated, and I don't get paid. So pop a happy pill, Manny.

-Jason Bergmann is inconsistent. Lannan is inexperienced. Hill is injury prone. Redding has been surprising, but player's are as good as their past stats indicate. Chico nibbles too much for his own good. Patterson...Patterson. Bascik will be gone next year. Or better be. Hanrahan, the jury is still out. The FA SP market this offseason is weak. Kyle Lohse, anybody? Be nervous.

Evidently having a last name that starts with a B means you must look completely ridiculous on Nats.com. It's something I've noticed all season but tonights awesome picture of Jason Bergmann spurred me to post these fine photos. These guys should take lessons from John Lannon and Tim Redding on how not to look like an idiot while throwing:

Today we have a special "treat". A reader submission. I proudly present to you, Willy Mo "Puttin on the ritz". Fantastic!!!

By special Request...

HAPPY BIRFDAY!!!

This post marks the 100th post for the Nationals Report. To be honest I never thought I'd live to see this day. Back when we were a wee little blog, fresh out of the womb, we were struggling for our piece of the Nats pie. And look at us now, we still don't have it!!! Wooooo! Are we bitter...no. We track the traffic on the site, we know you people read it, you're just too shy to leave comments for people that are such a big deal as me, K Swizzle and Das Hoff. Seriously though, we dont' bite. But back to the real reason we're here...

With the Nats win last night and another comical Florida loss, the Washington Nationals are in 4th place in the NLeast. Yes, I meant to leave out the space. If I recall correctly, many were picking the Marlins to be a sleeper team this year to make it deep into October. Where are the pundits now baby. Surprisingly, they're giving Manny Acta some love. On more than one occasion I've seen articles proclaiming that Acta should receive some manager of the year votes. Through my rose colored glasses, I'm going to pretend that they actually mean it, and not just that our team is a bunch of no talent ass-clowns (see: Michael Bolton). But say they are NTACs, they're still better than a lot of teams in the bigs.

What a better way to bring a team out of a hitting slump than to play a series against the Houston Astros in Minute Maid/Enron/The park with that retarded hill in CF.

I'm also convinced that we did not trade Emiliano Fruto for Willy Mo Pena. I'm pretty sure we traded for a cybernetic being from the future who's come back to kill Sarah Connor; and hit home runs. The being has been programmed to look at balls and beat out soft grounders and choppers. If only Skynet had programmed in some fielding abilities. Lets hope next year Bowden can find T-1000 and sign him too. Let's hope he can pitch.

FRUTO.

Let's trace back, Vidro for Fruto and Chris Snelling and cash. Snelling for Langerhans. Langerhans DFA. Fruto for WMP.

WMP for Vidro.

I think we win.

I'm not a fan of this deal really, unless the player to be named later is some chump from Columbus (see Chris Booker). But he is going to be a K machine. And whilst he does have some pop in the bat, I don't think the end justifies the means. Especially when it means that Ryan Church will have lost his everyday role in left field. I believe Ryan is going to have a hard time splitting duties with Willy and both will end up struggling. I just don't get this move really, unless the coaching staff believes they can make Willy a more patient hitter. I will however wait to see how this turns out before passing my final judgment. Bowden has proved us all wrong before so we shall see.

Meanwhile, the Nationals have hit a run of poor form this home stand. The bats have gone eerily silent once again. Harking back to the first week of the season when we couldn't buy a run except for in junk time. I really hope that the coaching staff gets the boys in the cage and works out some of these problems, because its getting slightly frustrating. GRRRRRR!

Remember last week, before Shawn Hill came back and people were talking about demoting Matt Chico because of his inability to get ahead in the count or limit his walks? And the whole organization, or at least Acta, said no way?

Wahh wahh.

I agree with this move absolutely. Chico has to fix his stuff if he wants to be long term in this league. 2 starts in AAA, and then back in Sept. when rosters expand. We'll see how it all goes.

For cash and a PTBNL according to ESPN. I'll get you a link when I can find it.

Update: Here we go.

Well, that was a pleasant night for Nationals fans, wasn't it? First, Redding pitches an absolute gem, with strong 'pen help from Ayala and Cordero. Then, late last night, the Nationals FO pulls a coup on the world, and sign a player who was thought to be unsignable.

What does this mean for the Nationals? In the sense of talent immediately, not a whole lot. Remember, Mcgreary is a high school senior pitcher. The Nats are paying for him to attend Stanford, so he has time get stronger and bigger. My belief is he'll either stink in the summer leagues and stay all 4 years, and then be plugged in AA, or he'll be lights out in summer ball, and leave early to start his ascension to the big show. Either way, organizational depth is paramount for a winning club.

From an organizational philosophy standpoint, this signing was absolutely huge. The "Plan" had its supporters and detractors immediately after it was announced that the Nats were playing for the future, and would cut the salary in meantime. I was in the camp that believed it was easy to play that card as an owner, and never come through. There are numerous examples throughout all levels of sport. The beginning of the season had our team looking like a mockery, and increased disdain for the Plan. But then, the 2007 draft happened. The Nationals had chosen Sean Black last year, another hard sign, who ended up going to Seton Hall, being a few hundred thousand dollars apart in the negotiations. After the Nats chose Mcgreary, I read he was a hard sign, but a 1st round talent. I immediatly worried we had replayed last year's strategy, of picking by name, and not thinking about whether something will come of it.

But Lerner, Bowden and Kasten weren't about to let that happen. The Nationals have already showed that they are going to establish their pitching with young arms developed in the system (as is the only cost effective way of doing do...Gil Meche...), and this pick furthers this organizational strength.

Does this mean all these pitchers will be wearing Nats uniforms? No. The smart money is against that happening. To win, you need to have a system overflowing with prospects to use in deals to acquire proven major league talent. Bowden said after the trade deadline that the Braves were the "Winners", not only because of who they acquired, but that they were able to deal from strength, with Saltalamachia's path blocked by all star McCann, two low level prospects who weren't going to play over Renteria or which ever FA will replace him in the future. Bowden wants to be able to do the same thing in a few years, and if we continue to have these kinds of drafts, we'll be in running for big names at the deadline in the future.

The future is bright for this team. The present is overcast, with brief breakthroughs, but I don't mind. We have the actual possibility of not being in last, as well as spoiling things for other teams (namely, the Mutts). I'd be content with that.

So we signed our top 20 draft picks. Atta boy Lerner's, way to splash the cash. That being said as excited I am that we signed McGeary, the deal is structured so that he won't be pitching for the Nationals any time soon. But its always nice to stockpile good arms, and evidently the kids smart too, going to Stanford and all. Glad to see the plan is moving forward. And if you believe Aaron Rowand's quote on nats.com yesterday, word has gotten around that the Nats farm system is getting back to the monster it was in Montreal.

What I was more excited about yesterday is that my predictions of a homestand sweep turned out to be unfounded. I am a bad person. I lost confidence in the team after blowing the lead Tuesday and thought that we would fold up like a lawn chair for the rest of the homestand. But they didn't listen to me and Tim Redding went out and came up trumps again, at the dish and on the bump. And though he got into a jam late in the game, the bullpen cam in and doused the fire (Ayala might be the best reliever no-one's ever heard of, he is nigh un-hittable)

So that brings us to tonight contest. I'm not really who I should be more worried for. The Nats have to face Cole Hamels, but the Phillies have to face Hanrahan. The middle of the lineup for Philly has looked pretty hapless so far in this series, its been the rest of the lineup that is killing us. Perhaps we're sandbaggin' it a little bit to those guys and really concentrating on the big guns. Either way, I dont' expect us to fully shut down the Phils tonight, but who can really. But I'm predicting another quality start from Hanrahan, 1 or 2 runs only, and another curly W in the books!

Source.

WE GOT HIM.

Now I'm a plan believer. Where do I sign? If I were a certain BPG poster, you'd be seeing fireworks. As it is, you'll see a post tomorrow.

YAYYYY!

Barry says we might have all jumped the gun on Mcgreary.

Thanks Nationals.com for using the jump to conclusions mat.

Man, that game killed all of the goodwill the Arizona win brought us.

And as expected Nats.com is reporting that Jack McGeary will be playing at Stanford this upcoming year.

Two players returning in one game...I'm going to wet myself!!! Tonight is the return of glass joe himself...Shawn Hill (btw he's thrown 4 scoreless at the time of posting and he's looking nasty). But pitching really isn't our problem this year, its offense. So I'm also glad to see its the return of:


That's right its photoshop fun time here at the Report again. I realize that I have substituted 6-pack abs, huge pecs, and whatever those washboardy things are beside them for lots of fat and man boobs, but at least I kept his goofy head. On a serious note, he's going to provide a much needed shot in the arm for the offense. No offense to Robert Fick, because he filled in admirably, but we signed D'Meat to a two year deal because of the offense he provides, and we need it if we're to finish the season on a high note.

In unrelated news, Josh Smoker (great name, although creepily close to John Rocker) signed a deal with the Nats today. Evidently he was just trying to put the squeeze on the Nats and had every intention of signing. So in the end he went for slot value and we added another talented arm to the system. The only prospect still worth talking about now is McGeary, and while I would have no problem paying him whatever price he names, I understand the Lerner's desire not to and Im not really holding out hopes that he's going to sign.

Ankiel and the Nats in '08!!!

It would appear, after watching the last few games, that Dmitri is essential to our offense. We have fallen off the map offensively since his delicious hamburgerstring strained itself. Granted, we went against Brandon Webb and his absolutely devastating sinker, but the boys have got to remember that they can hit. Manny should show them tape of the big innings they've had this year.

Another thing of note, John Lannon is better than Matt Chico. You heard it here, folks. Matt Chico is a 5 on this team, and in AA anywhere else. Lannon could be a 2 or 3 in a few years. We lucked out on this guy. Hard luck loser who deserved better than he got tonight.

Shawn Hill WILL be pitching Tuesday, so if you're in the neighborhood (which I will be), you should come to the game and see if he's still got it.

For anyone paying attention last night. Rick Ankiel made his return to the bigs last night. Instead of hitting the net behind home plate a few more times, he came back as a field player. And quite an impact he made. For those of you who thought he was dead, he switched to playing OF after having asploded his mind in the playoffs throwing wild pitch after wild pitch, going back to the minors, fixing his mechanics, coming back to the bigs, and throwing even more wild pitches. I personally laughed a few years ago when I heard the news that he was leaving the mound behind. Well look who's laughing now. I posted a few weeks back lauding his power from the outfield. And after last nights debut, dropping a 3-spot bomb, it appears that his power could transfer to the majors nicely. Now if I only knew a team that was looking for an OFer with power this off-season...Bowden, seriously, get on it. I think he's the perfect fit for our club. He's not going to be terribly expensive, as he hasn't really made a name for himself in the bigs as an OFer. He's not a player 2 years out of high school who has never seen big league pitching (he hit as a pitcher for the cards). And his story is locker room gold. When someone is in a prolonged slump, Rick can always say "you think your slump is bad, I threw 5 wild pitches in a single inning...in the playoffs...and then I threw two more in an inning later in the series" And for him to battle all the way back to the majors at a new position is just phenomenal. With him and meat hook in the locker room, the Nats would have no problem keeping the right climate in the atmosphere. I know it won't happen, but he is at the top of my wish list this winter. Perhaps if I was Nats320 he would listen...probably not.

Anyways, I was just catching up on my Nats news as I've been out of town and have only been reading game summaries on my cell phone. I ran across the latest Nats notes article on Nats.com and they presented the fact that the Nationals starting staff has the lowest ERA in the bigs over the past 36 games. While us Nats fans have been paying attention and know that our staff is doing a great job under the circumstances, watch any national show where they mention the Nats, and all they say is how young and untalented our team is. They pay no regard to reality in that the Yankees (sorry Jon) have paid huge dollars for supposedly talented starters and yet their ERA is almost identical to the Nats. I bet if you have any national pundit a choice between Kei Igawa and any starter on the Nats, they wouldn't even think twice...Kei Igawa and his 6.79 ERA. Seriously, we get no love, except for Acta. People do give us the backhanded compliment that he's doing so much with this bunch of losers. Its wedding time...peace

It's a long season. There will be highs, and there will be lows. When you're the Nationals, you're supposed to have more lows than highs. If you've been watching this homestand, the Nationals are confounding expectations.
You've got a team with unproven pitching, players left for dead on the FA scrap heap weeks before Spring Training opened, and a crew of players that most contending teams wouldn't be interested, with few exceptions.
What you also have is a team with impressive chemistry, and an inspiring attitude. At the risk of sounding like Nats320, this team is something we should be proud of. They aren't the Redskins, spending millions on every available free agent and perennially disappointing their legions of fans. Every game, these Nats give it their all. You don't hear about players complaining about playing time, or having issues with each other. You see a unified front of youthful fun and complete effort. "Problem guys" with other clubs change their stripes here, and become leaders.
This team isn't going to win the division. They won't win the Wild Card. But if they keep this up, they won't be in last place. They won't be the laughing stock of the jokers on Baseball Tonight (this show is in this shitcan since they got rid of HR, but that's another post).
A sweep of the World Series champs is followed up by a road trip to the west coast, and the Barry Bonds show. Will one of our pitchers give up the long ball? Maybe. Does it matter? Not at all. Pitch to Bonds, and get him out. My personal opinion on Bonds appears to be out of the mainstream, but this is great exposure for our team. Go on national TV and play ball the way they've been playing, and make the commentators begrudgingly admit their jump to incorrect conclusions.
We'll keep watching. With the effort this team is putting out, we kind of owe it to them.

0.5 games out of not last place.

As an aside, DC United looks great this afternoon. If anybody who reads this hasn't been to a match, I'd highly recommend it.

I'd be talking about tonight's game, BUT I CAN'T SEE IT!!!!

Star Trek on DC11...ch 20 blacked out. Cmon, cable guys. It shouldn't be this hard.


UPDATE: Issue resolved, it only took 4 innings. POWER TO THE PEOPLE!

Oh, Comcast. THEY DON'T BLACK OUT GAMES BECAUSE NO ONE GOES TO THEM....DURRRRRR.

Update Parte Dos: Uh. Who are these guys? 12-1. In the 7th. With 3 hrs. With 2 of them of the upper deck variety. And the Cardinals are sending in Aaron Miles. What is going on?

is under way, and looking good tonight. As we stand this minute, the Astros are up 3-1 on the Fish, and the Nats have the big MO over the Cards, with Redding turning in an awesome performance (suck on that doubters! (Kyle)). We'll see as it finishes, but our Nats are looking very very good.

I don't know about you, but everytime we beat a team with proven sluggers by more than one run, I feel really good. Griffey. Dunn. Phillips (kind of). A rookie pitcher making his second start after shooting through our entire minor league system in one half season shut them all down.
Don't get me wrong. The Reds are not a good team, and they don't have a great probability of becoming good in the near future. But like I said, we're a team of pretty much nobodies, at least on the national stage, and we scrap.

We didn't address the trade deadline, mostly because there wasn't a lot to write about. Kvetch about non deals all you like, Jimbo's letting it ride. After a day of thinking about it, I'm still not sure how I feel. There are two distinct camps on this subject.

1) Relievers like Chad and Jon don't come around all the time, and we control their salaries for 2-3 years, and are just the kind of players we'll need once we get steady SP's and a better offense.

2) Relievers like Chad and Jon are a dime a dozen. We need hitting prospects, no matter how far from the bigs they are. In a reliever hungry trading climate, Jimbo shouldn't have had a problem getting some potential hitters with those two chips. That and Chad is going to give me a heart attack soon.

I'm probably leaning more towards 2, but I see merit in Camp 1. For the sake of being a sports blogger, I need to be definitive. So, ROAR JIMBO. YOU SCREWED UP.

Good game tonight, Kearns showed flashes of what he needs to be in order to be a part of the long term solution. Lannan didn't dazzle, but did fairly well. Some mental errors, but as long as we get the sweep, I'll forget about them.

This blogs unofficial goal is to not finish last in the NL East. We already lost our talisman, GUZMANIA2K7, and we want some fried fish in September. So, from now on, we want you to watch the standings, and to watch the Fish flounder (ha). FRY THE FISH.

I have the perfect off-season signing

Rick Ankiel...lock it up...take it to the bank

He's slugging .574 for the Cardinals AAA team with 31 HR in 96 games, we should make him pitch and then on his off days, play the OF like he does for the Redbirds. Seriously, its a good idea!

Jerome Williams will not be back.

His line tonight...
Williams (L, 0-3) 3.0 11 hits 11 runs 7 ER 2 BB 2 K 9.48

They can't all be winners.

I have to admit, I didn't see today's day game, but I heard about it. And you have to be pleased at our pitching lately. Scrap heap find over and over, and we squeeze real performances out of them. This team is nowhere near being good yet, but as has been said by every single National announcer, the Nationals don't give up, and will fight you the whole game. So, keep doin that guys. Hopefully the front office puts up the dough for 2 or 3 big offseason moves, and that we can moves these picks to high Minors next year, which will set us up for 2009. Wooooo!

That's right, I'm challenging anyone who thinks this Belliard deal isn't a good one to a duel. 10 paces at dawn, bring it! Here are some reasons why this is a good deal for team:

1. He hits the ball
Unlike the rest of the team sans D'Meat and Guzmania, Belliard has good at bats. He looks at pitches and can spray the ball all over the field. He may not have power but he plays in the one position where it's excusable...2nd base. Now I really don't understand why 2b's get a pass to be just base hitters but that's another issue.

2. Felipe is not the long term answer at SS
Stay with me here. Felipe Lopez is playing SS this year due to Guzman's freaky finger injury. Thus when Guz comes back next year and continues to romp (Guzmania 2K8 lives here, don't accept imitations), Lopez is back at second. And that means Belliard is on the bench. Which is arguably where he is the most valuable. Just look at the stiffs we send up to pinch hit now. With the exception being Jesus Flores, our pinch hitters are despicable. Belliard would be a definite upgrade on the bench.

3. We're not a mid-market team
Now after my last point, I'm sure a lot of you are saying, "So we just signed a 32 y/o bench player to a 2-year, 3.5 million dollar deal! THAT'S RIDICULOUS!!!" Despite the low-level product we've put out in the past and present, the Nationals are a big money team. According to Forbes magazine, the Washington Nationals are the 6th most valuable team in baseball, just behind the Cubs and Dodgers and ahead of St. Louis, Philly, Atlanta, and Anaheim. The Washington metro area is the 8th largest in the nation. So while the Lerners have committed t "The Plan" of re-stocking the farm system, they are showing with this trade that they do have deep pockets and we will not hesitate to sign someone that will help the ball club.

As always, I don't care about your thoughts. Unless they agree with mine they're wrong. But you can click the little comment link and put them in anyways, and I will ridicule you!

Watching this game today, I've come to a few conclusions:

Felipe Lopez is in a big time funk, and looks really lost at the place. Overstriding, and swinging off balance. I wouldn't be opposed to letting him go at the end of the season, and keeping Belliard at 2B for a few years.

Bergmann is having issues keeping the ball down. Is it mental, mechanical, physical? I don't know, that's why they pay St. Claire to figure it all out.

Dmitri Young is a monster. This guy is playing a different game than the rest of the league. He is spraying the ball over the field, and never gives up on an at bat. I say keep him for the year, if Nick looks like he is still made of Candy glass, offer him a 2 year deal, and put him on a weight loss program. If Nick looks like he'll be ok, get your compensation picks.

I hate Austin Kearns swing. I hate it. No matter what, he looks he's late on the pitch. I don't care if he hit .350, someone has gotta get this guy to a hitting tee, and tell him to go to the ball with his hands.

I used to be pro-Langerhans, anti-Nook. I'm mostly apathetic now, but Nook's speed keeps him on the team in my book. A lot of teams have their speedster, (Bourn in Philly, Willits on Anaheim, Harris on Atlanta) and they can change the game with that speed. Langerhans is a defensive player at best, which you don't need on a last place team. (Update: He's a defensive player that can hit an upper deck homerun. I don't know anything)

Micah Bowie is a dork. "Get r dun". No, Micah. No.

I'm starting to like Don Sutton. He has a good voice for Color. He's no Vin Scully, who I got to listen to on my free Mlb Extra Innings preview. That man's voice is silky smooth. And the guy who did a few minutes in the Philly game this weekend on ESPN was way better than Jon Miller.

The Astros suck. I wish they traded Hunter Pence to us for Sori last year.

You still read this? Let us know. Comment. Email.

For the few readers who check here occasionally for new posts in vain, go check out DC Sports Bog this week, as our favorite blogger, Chris Needham from Capital Punishment is guest blogging. He's always entertaining, and has the endurance to continue to post with a team that gives us a win followed by 2 losses most of the time. So go do it.

As you may or may not have noticed, we kind of stopped posting. It was a chore, and we (the Nats) are painfully inconsistent. Right when we get excited about the team (crazy awesome May-early June), they bring back the suck. Its very frustrating, as I'm sure you know.
The All Star break seems like an eternity for a baseball fan, but is probably nowhere near long enough for a player. I imagine most ballplayer's wives don't remember what they look like after a long road trip, but they also find comfort in spending their hubby's ungodly wages coming from playing a game. Nonetheless, we're in a sports vacuum today, aside from some soccer which I love. I'm not going to give the Nats a midseason report, mainly because if they had a grade, it would be an F. They're in last, they will be for a couple seasons, and they're only going to get worse in the second half. They get no D's. A few players deserve high grades, but the low grades from everyone else bring down the average. It's like that retarded trailor trash kid that screwed up your 6th grade class' SOL score. Asshole.
So, let's hope we don't embarrass ourselves in the second half. Why do I say that? Because I'm sure we'll be losing D-meat, Belliard, and possibly our closer and setup man. That makes a Big Momma sized hole in our already anemic offense, and kills our bullpen. So, pardon me for not drawing hearts on my Nats ticket stubs, and dreaming of the future, since the immediate future is pretty dark.

Haven't posted in awhile cause there hasn't really been much to say. I'm rendered speechless by the suck that is our team right now. Mannyger should have them practicing hitting off tees, just so they can remember what contact feels like, cause they're not getting any of it in games. Ever since Guz went down the sticks have gone away. And I think its giving our pitchers/guys with arms confidence problems. How can you go out and pitch effectively if you know its not really going to matter because we're only going to score 2 runs and they won't be scored until the 8th or 9th. Amazingly though, our team is on about the same pace as our team was last year. We just had a little more firepower last year so it was bearable to watch. As the trade deadline approaches, the team is going to shift in a new direction and though the play might not be much better, it still leaves the door open for an exciting second half. Exciting in the sense that we might get to see a lot of the younger guys in the system get some PT, oh and Nick Johnson might play a game or two. I sort of want Bowden to keep DMeat. I don't really think we're going to get a lot of value prospect wise out of him because of his age. So unless we get an offer that we can't refuse prospect wise, we should just hold on to him and milk him for all he's worth. Plus he looks like Wesley Willis, which I find hilarious. CUT THAT MULLET!!!

Went to the game again at Turner...

This game has it all. Z-man pulling a Nook, a Flop 3 pitch all looking strikeout, and a multi homerun game by a guy with 4 HR all year coming in. I'm not going tomorrow. I can't stand how much we blow.

And its all because GUZMANIA is dead...he was more important that you all realize.

That's what the Nats and I share in common this week. I'm on the road for business as are they. And we just both happen to be in the ATL. So how better to spend a balmy summer night then at a real major league ballpark, Turner Field, watching the Nats take on the cowards, errr Braves. I will have all of you that watched know that somehow we didn't look as bad in person as I'm sure we looked on TV. I didn't even notice the 13K's, well except for Zimmerman's. Dude looks as lost as a congressman in his constituency. Highlights of the game were that Bergmann looked just as good as he did before he went on the DL. I attribute the fall off in the 4th inning as him just getting tired. It's only his first start back, so look for him to go longer and longer into games as he keeps going. But what I saw looked promising. The hitting also wasn't as bad as I had feared when I heard the Guzman news (more on that later). We just couldn't string them together. With Tim Hudson behind us now, I think we have a good chance to come back in this series and win it.

On the the Guzman news. As most of you know GUZMANIA 2K7 is now over. He had surgery to repair the cartilage in his thumb. What sucks about the whole thing is that it was on such an innocuous play. Barfield looked much more shooken up by that play than Guzman. Then again three weeks ago in my slow pitch softball league a slid into 2nd and torqued the wrist, played the rest of the game and the next day couldn't move my hand, so I can see how it happened. I'll tell you why I'm not as depressed as you'd think I'd be. Had Guzman continued playing, there was a good likelihood that he would be dealt before the deadline to a contender. Now that he's "damaged goods" he'll be around next year, when we're supposed to have a marginally better roster. So the GUZMANIA 2K8 train is now being assembled. Tickets go on sale next spring! Those of you who bought season tickets to 2K7, thanks for Pledging your allegiance, you've got preferred status for next years GUZMANIA!

BTW after watching a game at Turner, I don't care how much more expensive tickets are at the new field...it'll be worth it. Also I'd like to take a moment to thank the Braves for making the game a good experience for the visiting fan. Before the game, on the giant video board, they ran a 5 minute promo on the Nationals and their history in Montreal. And repeatedly throughout the night many of the trivia questions were actually Nationals related, such as how much the Nats new ballpark cost, and who threw out the first ceremonial first pitch ever at RFK. Perhaps I'll go back tomorrow and sit in the $1 skyline section, as opposed to my no closer to the field $8 seat.

Nook, I'm finished with you.

Chief is strikeout nasty right now, and so was Rauch. A display of Bullpen mastery by the Nationals, along with a strong performance by Micah Bowie.
We were talking about Bowie's ability to continue to avoid L's, and it's a smoke and mirrors scenario. He has little control of his curve, but he has multiple pitches. And he's tricky.
And Kyle has a new favorite player, double 00, B Watson.

Oh, and Pwned, Boobs, Teen, Porn, Sex, Nats, 9/11, Al Quaeda, Bush.

We're trying to boost our Google skills.

Last night....well, we aren't going to talk about that. That was an example of good vs. not very good. Let's talk about other stuff.

Levale, we hardly knew ye. But, hope you weren't settled in DC. Speighner along with Abreau were DFA'd today, making room for Luis Ayala (YES!) and Chris Schroeder (who?). Also, Brandon Watson has arrived, proof that the Nook/Langerhans combo isn't working. Nook needs to go.

My next pick to leave, Tony Batista. Bergmann to come up. We'll see how genius I am.

Just want to let this out, so you can pay us homage later. Keep D-Meat, ship Nick Johnson. There we said it, what're you gonna do about it!

UPDATE: Bowden says we might be right.

Word on the street, from a million different sources, including the Nats home page, Nats Journal, Rotoworld, Fox, etc., etc., say we will be going after the one, and only, Elijah Dukes.
No one disputes the Dukes has pop in his bat, something we want in a CF next year. You know who else has pop in his bat? Jose Canseco. He's still in independent ball somewhere, throwing the knuckler. Let's give him a contract! It's not like he hasn't confessed to doing anything wrong, and written books about it!
The consensus is that the Rays are trying to get rid of Dukes ASAP, as he has just fathered his fifth child out of wedlock by a 17 year old foster child. At this point, the Rays might be asking for a bucket of baseball and some bats. If this is the case, I say we take him, and stick him in Columbus, as we have no youngsters of real worth there, and he can't screw up a last place team. BUT, if they ask for a young player like Flores, or on of our good arms out of the the pen (READ: COLOME. They want him back, maybe? probably not. But I want him), then I say, NO! with a fake French accent.
Flores WILL be the man. Mark my words. Just as we predicted the rise of GUZMANIA2K7, we are predicting that Flores will be an All-Star in 4 years. Write it down.
So in summary, No to Elijah Dukes, unless he's almost free. If free, then yes.
I doubt he will be free, and I would keep him away from DC, as there are enough crimes there without importing criminals, so I doubt we'll have him.

Perhaps its true. We just might be on a roll. Yeah I know we're playing just over .500 ball as of late, but for a starting rotation of Simontacchi, Chico, Basick Speigner and Bowie. Just take a few minutes to stew about that for a second. At most any of one those guys is a 5th starter on contender and a 3-4 guy on a .500 team. Kudos to Mannyger for gettin the boys up. This brings me to my next point. As good as it is to have our team win games so far this season, its going to be that more disappointing when we become abhorribly bad after the trade deadline. As much as I'd like to be able to see some wins to close out the season, I'd much rather see us trade away the valuable commodities we have for some young talent. Now I'm not saying that we should start over with a new team next year, expanding "The Plan". Rather we separate the chaff from the wheat, leaving only the players that can help us for the long haul. So here are the players I would say will be up on the block this summer:

Ronnie Belliard
Dimitri Young (Love this guy, but he's getting old and he needs to go to the AL so he can DH)
Ray King
Chad Cordero
Jon Rauch
Cristian Guzman (Maybe, but I hope not. Guzmania lives!)

I think we could get some real value for these guys, for guys like Cordero and Rauch, we could get some decent prospects, some of which could make the team next year.

As for tonights game, we brought out the whoopin' sticks tonight. And with the exception of Fick and Colome, everyone manned up tonight. I was gonna say that chicks dig the long ball, but no one wants the women baltimore has to offer soooooo yeah, not goin' there. Anyways the nats go for the series win tomorrow. It's in the bag.

Ladies and Gentlemen,
As we have stated from the start, GUZMANIA2K7 is a force to be reckoned with, and deserves an all star berth. Don't believe me? Ask Ladson.

If you read this blog, we demand you cast your vote for GUZMANIA 25 times, which is the maximum. Here is the link.

It's been awhile since I've had my say on here. But let me explain. I had no internet the entirety of last week after I moved across town. A weekend trip to Blacksburg and you've got the 10 days or so I've been gone. Enough about me though, what've the Nats been up to. You know, the unusual. Losing a series to the Pirates and then winning one against the Twinkies. This is edge of your seat stuff man, at least we're in almost every game. The pitching seems to have regressed a little bit as of late but that's to be expected with the arms we're rolling out there. The offense however has surprisingly stayed pretty good. We still have yet to blow anyone out but I don't care about blowouts. It's all about the W's baby! Tomorrow the Nats will bring a little class to the Baltimore era by gracing the Orioles with their presence. I'm just glad we don't have to face Bedard this series. Anyways I'm back, so get off me!

Meat, you are a great hitter right now, but you don't not belong in the field. Your error in the 7th today is the stuff of little leagues. If the Nats bring this game within 1, I will make a Meat voodoo doll and stick a pin in your glove hand so you have to DH this entire week. Don't think I won't do it.

Since Kyle is dead or something, and hasn't posted in a while, I'm going to cover today's important events. What important events might I be speaking of? That would be the 2007 First Year Draft, which the Nationals need more than most other teams. I'm also watching the Nats play the Pirates, and after giving up a lead off triple, Chico manned up, got two fly ball outs, backed up an errant throw by Kearns and prevented a run, and the K'd Jason bay looking. Nice start. I'll be popping back in as things happen.

Also, later today or tomorrow Kyle and I are going to post what we think the Nationals need to be a competitor in the NL East.

Update 1:23- Seriously, if we don't trade DYoung ASAP, we're idiots. The man is hitting out of his mind. It's too bad we don't get to use a DH, cause this man is built for it. He's just not built for anything involving a fielder's glove. 2-0 Nats off Meat's 2 run blast.

Update 2:46- We took Ross Detwiler, after Wieters was nabbed in the 5th slot. I'm not sure how I feel about this, but we'll see. Score still 2-2.

Batista runs through a stop sign and gets tagged out. Guzmania then follows with his patented triple. We lose by one, so you do the math.

You weren't. Evidentally, Acta liked Speigner's "makeup" after his first inning, and he shall return to the rotation.

I'm watching this seaworld event at RFK, and we're down 3-0 after a Josh Bard homer. It was a popup, but in the normally hermetically sealed RFK, wind pushed it out. I can't expect anything out of Simontacci today, because I've pitched in the rain, and it sucks. Let's hope we can win this series, and enjoy the off day tomorrow.

Levale Speigner's last game in a Washington Nationals jersey.


At least I hope.

Well tonight went exactly as I had thought it would. Tonight was the game sandwhiched between 3 dominant pitchers; Penny, Lowe, and Peavy. Tonight the Nats got to take their hacks against Mark Hendrickson. Listed at 6-9, he's nowhere near as imposing as his frame would lead you to believe...230 lbs. Man is a beanpole. And our hitters treated him as such. Z-man showing him no respect in the first blasting one, and I mean blasting it. You pretty much have to crush it to get it out of RFK. The bats never really stopped tonight, with excellent performances by D-Meat, Z-man, and of course GUZMANIA! We still don't get enough respect for calling that one. Eat it Nat-o-sphere, we didn't hop the bandwagon, we built it! Enough chest thumping though. Things we also saw tonight: Jesus is human (the bible told me so), Robert Fick is not a major leaguer, and its rediculous how these pitchers are just coming out of the ether to pitch good solid games for the Nationals. Tonights game ball goes to...Manny Acta. After taking two on the chin, Manny didn't let the team get down and they pounced on the opportunity to win a game. Now they go into the series with the Padres with a little momentum and possibly they can get to Peavy. We shall see...

God. Awful.


I was there for all nine. This game doesn't deserve a recap.

No, my opinion hasn't changed. Chad Cordero isn't a major league closer, at least not on a good team. But we need to keep putting him out there so we can trade him by the deadline and get some value. Colome would be a low cost, and less stressful choice in the closer role.

In other Nats news, Jason Bergmann had an MRI on his throwing elbow, and had fluid drained today. Not looking like a speedy recovery. JPat and Shawn Hill are scheduled to throw bullpens this weekend and could potentially be back by mid-June. Jon Rauch appears to have lost his confidence, and no amount of tinkering with St. Claire has fixed it to this point. Here's hoping the vertically gifted setup man can get his schwerve back.

- When your team scores 12 runs, you shouldn't have to use 7 pitchers to get the win. Something is inherently wrong with that. I didn't see the whole game but Rauch appears to have lost some confidence (which may have something to do with Monday/That rediculous bandbox) and lost his location. Colome continues to show me skill, and nasty sliders.

- Games like this are why watching Church is so frustrating. 2 HR's and a 3 rbi double this game, and the next time, he'll be K'ing on a changeup or curve with two strikes. Consistency, my friend, is key.

- You know we're big Guzmania 2k7 supporters here, but he committed a boner tonight that should have gotten him benched. Broken bat grounder to short, which Alex Gonzalez bobbled twice, and the Guz was trotting to first, and barely beat the throw. Inexcusable when you are a last place team. Effort is mandatory.

- Simontacci was a worthwhile pickup. He's an arm, that wouldn't start on a good team, but has contributed well in limited innings. I like his makeup and he's valuable to this team with a dearth of starting pitching.

- Thank god I didn't have to watch Kearns wave at strikes all night.

- Mike Bacsik on the bump tomorrow, trying to win the first road series. After Cincy, on to beat up on a St. Louis team with major struggles. Let's keep pushing our way to .500.

Someone call FEMA, cause Cincy just got bombed. Well actually you probably don't want to call FEMA then, they'll just fuck everything up. Either way, we put a whooping on Cincinatti. I felt it in my bones that we were going to put a hurt on the Reds tonight. Mainly because they had someone starting that probably wouldn't even make the rotation in Washington, and that's saying something. Now as I'm typing this we're furiously walking runs in, so I'm stopping for now

- Jesus Colome can pitch. Credit Randy St. Claire with the reclamation project from the DRays.
- Ken Griffey is worth having on your fantasy team.
- I am slowly falling in love with Nook Logan. Initially, with the dumb name, the lack of power, and for vague reasons, I wasn't a fan. Normally don't like all glove, no bat players. However, Nook can hit righty, and has more than enough glove to make up for his bat from the left side.
-Matt Chico will be a solid number 4 starter for the Nationals, even when this team becomes a legitimate threat. His underutilized curve and moving fastball make him a tough guy to face, and we need more of those.
-Jim Bowden couldn't have looked more pleased with himself after FLop hit a grand slam, and had two doubles.
- Guzmania2k7 isn't as hot as it was before, but the man is 4 for 10 with RISP since his return, and we need that. And, he can flat out move.
- Kearns has some major issues right now, don't let that home run last night fool you.

What I am about to tell you is sad and embarrassing. I did what I've always made fun of, but I still have excuses, weak as they may be. I went to RFK with some friends Sunday for my birthday to see the last game of the "Battle of the Beltway" or whatever they've branded it as.

I fully expected a thrashing with Bowie starting, and as it was the Sunday game, I fully expected Tony Batista at third or first, and...well, I was going to name another scrub, but all our bench players are around the same skill level now that Josh Wilson is in Tampa Bay.

I digress, we got seats in 415 area, and it was in direct sunlight. We stayed until the 4th inning over there, but then we started to fuse with the plastic seats, so we moved into the shaded area. If you were there or watched the game, you know that aside from Nook Logan putting on a base running clinic, this game was a snooze. Bedard dominated our lineup from top to bottom, and the O's got to Bowie just enough to make it boring.

As one of my friends started to fall asleep, and the prospect of sitting in traffic after a unbearably boring game (a day after we made an emergency trip to Union Station on my birthday from Stafford) was not an pleasing prospect.

So we left.

I'm not proud.

We get to Springfield, and check the post game report, and found out we had a thrilling come from behind victory in 8th. AND Chief actually closed a game out. Crushing.
The call in show lambasted the people who left early, so we all felt 5 inches tall.
I have a learned a lesson, no matter what, you stay till the end. Even if you have to drive further than most people back home...you never know.

Oh, and I watched the game last night too. How can we be so unlucky? We get the bats going with authority, but Speigener can't keep the ball from leaving the park. And that homer off of Rauch was ridiculous. You saw where Schneider was asking for the ball, down and away, and Rauch didn't put it there...Maybe he needs a break, but we NEED SOLID LATE INNING RELIEVERS. When they falter, it's the most crushing thing to a ball club.

Well, for the however many there are of you readers who never comment, here are some pictures.

Bergmann on the DL...current ace of the staff...Simontacchi, then Chico, then who knows. This is going to be painful.

Update: Saturday's starter....Mike Bascik, of a 1-3 AAA record...and Sunday, Micah Bowie, who hasn't started since 1999. Allllrightttt.

Bergmann...out! Fire the strength coach like the Yankees did...this is absolutely ridiculous! We no have one starter this year who hasn't missed a start due to injury...MATT CHICO. I'm livid, this needs to stop.

A chance to win the second series in a row against a NL East team?
Yes sir.

Matt Chico, you're up.

That's right, I'm in Florida on business. I flew in yesterday and boy are my arms tired. I had to do that one. Anyways, why didn't I realize that the minute after Bergmann's gem was over, we have been rendered teh suck by injuries. Now granted the pitchers we had weren't exactly going to wow anyone, even AAA teams. But they could give us quality starts none the less. Well its two days later and I'm reading things I just don't want to read. Like Billy Traber still existing, and Micah Bowie making a start. Can we just forfeit 7-0 like my softball league? Perhaps we can go with a 2 man rotation... I for one thing we should run a platoon at pitcher...no one but Simontacchi, Chico, or Bergmann is allowed to pitch more than an inning. That way, one person can't be completely to blame for all the runs. Oh but Chief still doesn't get to pitch to anyone in the 9th and perhaps the 8th either. I'm just bummed that we had a little confidence going and then we have to trot out Jerome Williams, Levale Speigner, and Micah Bowie out on the bump, I'm sad

Hey readers,
Kyle is out of town for the week, so I will be manning the Report for the next couple of games solo.

Tonight's game features Jerome Williams returning from a short stint on the DL with an ankle sprain. Atlanta will be throwing Tim Hudson at our Nats, he of the sub 2.00 ERA. This game will be a good test of the spirit of this team. The Nats are on a 4 game win streak, including a home sweep of the Marlins, and the game 1 (near no-hitter) victory over the Braves. I wouldn't doubt that the Braves' bats will come alive tonight, even though Jerome has had a resurgence of late, and has shown he has some ability. Chipper Jones should be returning after thumb pain caused his late scratch in the last game.

My Prediction: Braves 6, Nats 2.
Guz-diction: 1-3, run.

Update: I am a genius, I needed to put money on this game. Almost got the trifecta with Guz.

I don't know what to say. That game was great to watch, and it was the first one I've seen since I've been home and graduated. This should mean I'll see every Nats game from here on out.

Bergmann was a stud, and until the pitch he gave up the bomb on, he had pitched nearly perfectly. Nothing meaty, was efficient, ball was live and had speed. The bats were still pretty silent, but our boy GUZMANIA2k7 continued his hot streak with 2 hits, including his second consecutive game with a triple.

He does however need some post game interview pointers. Sounds kinda nerdy, and needs work on his metaphors and cliches.

So, great great pitching, just enough hitting, and decent pen work. And we may have hurt a division rival's ace. So, A+ for tonight.

4 straight boys. Don't call it a comeback.

Cause we swept 'em! Did anyone go into this weekend believe we had a chance to sweep the Marl. Cause I sure didn't. I mean everyone knows the Marlins aren't going to win the World Series (although the years they shouldn't are the ones in which they somehow do), but still they're a quality club and we swept them. And the funny thing is that it shows just what we could have here in Washington. Three solid pitching performances, timely hitting, and more importantly hitting with power. The Nats of 2007 really haven't had any problems putting wood on the ball, there's just been no pop. But all the pieces worked together this weekend for a trio of quality wins. And I know you all saw Guz triple...don't lie, you were impressed. Bring on the Braves! I hope Langerhans hits a game winner in this series, beatin' em with their unwanted parts (which is normally what happens to the Nats)!

This Blog is slowly becoming a series of rebus'

=

Someone serious needs to sponsor the call to the bullpen for the Nats. Cause it's pretty much Manny's favorite thing to do. Every game Manny punches that dial at least 5-6 times. It's clear to me that he puts much more emphasis on which arm you throw with than how good you throw with said arm. I can't find any other explanation for the reason why no one in the bullpen should ever expect to face more than one batter. Bowie will get a K, gets yanked, boom three singles in a row for the loss. I understand that you can keep guys in there for too long, but at least give them a chance. If we keep using every pitcher every game, we really are going to have no one left. Manny's getting on my nerves....

Let us know your thoughts on the re-design...or anything else, we're starved for comments! Also...

I know it doesn't look like it, but here at the Report we really are Nationals fans. We're just not fans who give a team a free pass to suck because the payroll is so low. There have been, and there are teams who have smaller payrolls than ours and are nowhere near this bad. Granted they have farm systems that weren't nuked by the owners but still. So while we spew this venom, know that we do it out of love.

Also, a list of moves made today

Cordero goes on the bereavement list
Winton Abreu and Tony Batista called up from Columbus
Josh Wilson designated for for assignment
JPatt and JWag(Juggs) on the DL

It's just unconscionable. I can't stand watching the Nats on TV because every 9th inning, I know Chief is more likely than not to blow it.
He doesn't throw hard.
He doesn't necessarily through strikes, because he has to be cute, because he has nothing to throw.

This blog will be officially in the "Get Cordero out of the 9th inning" camp forever. Don't care if he reels off 15 saves in a row. The man doesn't have the stuff to get it done. He fooled everyone once, and now the league is on to him. A lot of the fans are on to him.

Put Rauch in the 9th, stick Cordero in the 6th or 7th, where he knows he can't single handedly lose the game for us.

This is being written as Cordero lucked into 2 outs. Regardless of how it turns out, this team will rarely have a lead into the 9th, and when we do, we need to win those games. Cordero is not putting us in a position to do that. Let's give someone else a chance before we permanently crush this team's spirits.

That's the sound of Jason Bergman pitching...











I've never seen so many "fast"balls in a row go over the center of the plate!

Friday: 2:20 (Bergmann v Zambrano- The self described 2007 Cy Young Winner)
Saturday: 1:05 (J Patt v. Rich Hill)
Sunday: 2:20 (Shawn Hill aka Ace v Ted Lilly)

Well folks, since the bats have died in San Diego, this weekend could be bad. The pitching has been extremely solid for the past 3 starts, minus Chico's last outing. But Zambrano, who has the stuff, and Hill and Lilly who have come out on fire, could continue to stifle our bats over the weekend.

Other rainclouds on the horizon, my favorite former Nats, Soriano, has found his stroke and has decided to start earning his paycheck. He's raised his avg. to .320 and has his last 2 HRs in the past few games.

Church has to pick it back up, as his power has disappeared lately. Belliard continues to hit the ball, and will be a great asset off the bench when Guzmania! comes back.

Let's hope the pitching continues, and we start smackin the ball around the friendly confines.

Nats gettin' a little love from the media. Screw Rosenthal!

http://www.sportsline.com/mlb/story/10164260

A poem...

I was up late last night
It was half past ten
I was watching baseball tonight
Wouldn't be awake past eleven
When what to my wondering eyes would appear
But Ryan Langerhans, and the worst start of the year
I thought to myself, could this be true
Has Bowden done it again
Or could this just be a ruse
I went to the Nats site, for word of the trade
I came up empty handed
No word had been made
Alas it was true, Snelling now has to pack
As I thought to myself, the Bowden strikes back!

All poetry aside, I believe the deal to be an astute call by Bowden. Our bench has been woeful and while Snelling has played okay, I think he's really getting a pass because we're comparing him to the rest of our team and really just to his replacements. I know some people are going to bring up that Langerhans is 3/48 this season but it was not long ago that Langerhans was one of the hottest young stars in the game. Keep in mind that he's still only 27. I think that its possible that Langerhans re-kindles the flame here in Washington. And if he doesn't, he'll be no worse than Chris Snelling, cause no major league player continues to hit .063 for an entire season.

So I was going to do this earlier, but exam week is a crazy, crazy week.

This article does quite a number on our new ownership group, but as Kyle said, it was based mostly on interviews of former workers. And as we all know, spurned lovers/employees are sometimes less than reputable.

In case you didn't actually READ the link, it tells a tale of woe of an organization that has yet to find its feet, and along the way, has lost quite a few employees for asinine reasons, such as not paying per diems, not letting a worker ship packages via Fedex to FL, not paying Scouts....etc.

The section that seemed the most ridiculous to me was a pull quote stating that for a team who has a claimed commitment to its farm system, its strange that they would not hire the extra conditioning staff they had planned on because it was $30,000. For as much as concessions are, and tickets for a last place team, and the low low low payroll, I think cost cutting has gone about as far as it should. There comes a point where the ownership has to start paying out, and spending for things to start turning around.

If you're all about the Farm system, spend even more than you are now, because we are so far behind, that only the Draft can save us in 5-6 seasons. We don't have enough proven vets to get legitimate prospects at the deadline, so what you see if what you get.

Call me reactionary, but with an 9-18 record, I need some silver lining. This article was just another rain cloud.

Read this article.

I or Kyle will give you some analysis at some point tonight or tomorrow, but this is an eye opening article to say the least.