Monday, September 25, 2006
Back In The Saddle
Many thanks to everyone for your patience with my extended absence from Nats blogging. I had another one of those life-sucking projects dropped on me at work that has eaten up whatever free time I've had. It's been that kind of a summer for me. I'm embarassed to say that this coming Saturday will be the first Nats game I've attended in person since the All-Star break.
In any case enough of my whining. What's up with the Nats?
Well, the big news over the past few days was the gruesome injury Nick Johnson suffered in Saturday's loss to the Mets. I was watching when it happened and man, you just have to cringe when you see a guy who's in that much pain. Fortunately, we got some good news today when it was reported that Nick should be back in time for Spring Training. Real classy of the team to do the knee-high socks thing, by the way. It's the little things like this that make baseball a true gentleman's game in my mind.
Soriano's 40-40 is the feel-good story of the Nats' otherwise forgettable 2006 season. For all my kvetching about Bowden not trading him, it's nice from a fan's perspective to see him reach that milestone. Seeing how much he gets paid this offseason will be one of the more interesting storylines during the Hot Stove League. For the record, I'm guessing the bidding will start at a Beltran-esque 5 years/$85M and go up from there.
The Frank Robinson Farewell Tour looks to be well under way. Having Frank around has been fun, but let's be honest with ourselves -- he's not the kind of manager that you build a winning franchise around. Joe Girardi will be the free agent manager-du-jour this offseason. If the Nats can somehow land him, I'd be happier than if we settled for a Lou Piniella, Bob Boone, or Felipe Alou, to name a few of the potential Frank replacements that have been floated around. That said, Girardi's reputation is almost entirely based on exactly one season with the Marlins. In a weak NL, I'd have to give as much if not more credit to the criminally underappreciated Larry Beinfest for the team's success this season. The Marlins are going to be s-c-a-r-y very soon (2008-09 WS?). You heard it here first.
Ryan Zimmerman's NL RoY chase looks destined to be ultimately fruitless thanks to Dan Uggla's strong finish to the season and the Marlin's better record. While he won't win the hardware, Zimm is still going to be a cornerstone at the hot corner for the Nationals for many years to come. In a team that is still very much in flux, it's nice to have some certainty. The Z-man's jersey is definitely on my wish list for Christmas this year.
Jim Bowden's contract status (or lack thereof) continues to add fuel to the smoldering debate over whether he'll be back in 2006. I think the team is in need of someone with more history of building a franchise and I doubt that Kasten and JimBo are always on the same page. Plus, Bowden is a leftover from the bad old days of MLB ownership. He's certainly made some nice moves (trades for Kearns, Lopez, and Soriano; drafting Zimmerman) and some stinkers (not trading Soriano, signing Guzman, and myriad other minor missteps). Paul DePodesta, Kim Ng, Ed Wade, Mike Arbuckle, Kevin Towers, and Bill Bavasi are currently available or rumored to be available names that would probably bring more vision and talent to the job than JimBo has. RealGMBaseball.com is in the midst of a rundown of all 30 current MLB GMs which I highly recommend.
Finally, hooray for Columbus! The Nats has finally bowed to logic and moved their AAA affiliate to a much more convenient location. Taking nothing away from New Orleans (the Zephyrs' Katrina relief efforts were a great story,) but Columbus just makes more sense. Between Columbus, AA Harrisburg, A Potomac, and the recently announced agreement with A Hagerstown, the Nats are certainly making a name for themselve in the mid-Atlantic area. Good moves all around. Hat tip to Nats Farm Authority for keeping all us slackers up to date on the latest goings-on in the Nats farm system.
Well, that's all for today. Let's hope it's not another month before I can post again.
In any case enough of my whining. What's up with the Nats?
Well, the big news over the past few days was the gruesome injury Nick Johnson suffered in Saturday's loss to the Mets. I was watching when it happened and man, you just have to cringe when you see a guy who's in that much pain. Fortunately, we got some good news today when it was reported that Nick should be back in time for Spring Training. Real classy of the team to do the knee-high socks thing, by the way. It's the little things like this that make baseball a true gentleman's game in my mind.
Soriano's 40-40 is the feel-good story of the Nats' otherwise forgettable 2006 season. For all my kvetching about Bowden not trading him, it's nice from a fan's perspective to see him reach that milestone. Seeing how much he gets paid this offseason will be one of the more interesting storylines during the Hot Stove League. For the record, I'm guessing the bidding will start at a Beltran-esque 5 years/$85M and go up from there.
The Frank Robinson Farewell Tour looks to be well under way. Having Frank around has been fun, but let's be honest with ourselves -- he's not the kind of manager that you build a winning franchise around. Joe Girardi will be the free agent manager-du-jour this offseason. If the Nats can somehow land him, I'd be happier than if we settled for a Lou Piniella, Bob Boone, or Felipe Alou, to name a few of the potential Frank replacements that have been floated around. That said, Girardi's reputation is almost entirely based on exactly one season with the Marlins. In a weak NL, I'd have to give as much if not more credit to the criminally underappreciated Larry Beinfest for the team's success this season. The Marlins are going to be s-c-a-r-y very soon (2008-09 WS?). You heard it here first.
Ryan Zimmerman's NL RoY chase looks destined to be ultimately fruitless thanks to Dan Uggla's strong finish to the season and the Marlin's better record. While he won't win the hardware, Zimm is still going to be a cornerstone at the hot corner for the Nationals for many years to come. In a team that is still very much in flux, it's nice to have some certainty. The Z-man's jersey is definitely on my wish list for Christmas this year.
Jim Bowden's contract status (or lack thereof) continues to add fuel to the smoldering debate over whether he'll be back in 2006. I think the team is in need of someone with more history of building a franchise and I doubt that Kasten and JimBo are always on the same page. Plus, Bowden is a leftover from the bad old days of MLB ownership. He's certainly made some nice moves (trades for Kearns, Lopez, and Soriano; drafting Zimmerman) and some stinkers (not trading Soriano, signing Guzman, and myriad other minor missteps). Paul DePodesta, Kim Ng, Ed Wade, Mike Arbuckle, Kevin Towers, and Bill Bavasi are currently available or rumored to be available names that would probably bring more vision and talent to the job than JimBo has. RealGMBaseball.com is in the midst of a rundown of all 30 current MLB GMs which I highly recommend.
Finally, hooray for Columbus! The Nats has finally bowed to logic and moved their AAA affiliate to a much more convenient location. Taking nothing away from New Orleans (the Zephyrs' Katrina relief efforts were a great story,) but Columbus just makes more sense. Between Columbus, AA Harrisburg, A Potomac, and the recently announced agreement with A Hagerstown, the Nats are certainly making a name for themselve in the mid-Atlantic area. Good moves all around. Hat tip to Nats Farm Authority for keeping all us slackers up to date on the latest goings-on in the Nats farm system.
Well, that's all for today. Let's hope it's not another month before I can post again.
# posted by JammingEcono @ 3:14 PM 
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I assume what you meant is that Dutch Zimmerman's ROY award is all but assured by Dan Uggla's late season collapse.
Uggla's hitting .229/.270/.390 for September, and batting .174 over his last 10 games. If anyone other than Zimmerman snags the hardware it will be Hanley Ramirez.
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Uggla's hitting .229/.270/.390 for September, and batting .174 over his last 10 games. If anyone other than Zimmerman snags the hardware it will be Hanley Ramirez.
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