tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28676208.post1799554936767407481..comments2023-10-20T04:28:04.547-04:00Comments on Nats320 -- A Washington Nationals Blog: Two More Signed. #1 To GoScreech's Best Friendhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01094199653375184305noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28676208.post-37579125429531316182008-08-12T14:25:00.000-04:002008-08-12T14:25:00.000-04:0025-25-25-25-25.....1. 25 home games to go, all but...25-25-25-25-25.....<BR/><BR/>1. 25 home games to go, all but nine v. teams in the pennant & WC race. Should translate, when you add Manny in Dodger Blue, to 30k average, meaning Lerners get near 2.4 million for first year at Nationals Park. Add fact they unilaterally have declared area a "Rent-Free Zone" and payroll of no more than $50 million, and they should have revenues in '08 sufficient to make them play the Free Agent Game seriously...<BR/><BR/>2. 25 games to lose to equal the fourth year expansion Senators in their "Off the Floor in '64" season (1964), equaling that 62-100 mark; this also should propell them into the Free Agent Game seriously in order to sustain season ticket sales for 2009...<BR/><BR/>3. 25 being the number on the back of the worst clean-up hitter in modern baseball history, the second half of the bust that has been Lopez-Kearns. Should he continue to hit below .220 (or even .250 with "surge")with virtually no power numbers, he should be gone in 2009, like his ex-Reds counterpart "Mr. Energy - ex Flope"...<BR/><BR/>4. 25 being the number of Major League Players a major league team should carry on its roster. Currently, the Nationals carry, at most, 18 such players, including rookies like Flores; Bonifacio; and Gonzalez; and rookie pitchers like Lannan and Shell. Players like Kearns, Langehans, Orr, Casto, Ayala, Manning, Colome are not major league caliber and should be discarded. Obviously, DYoung and WMPena are busts as projects, too. Nick Johnson ("That's just it Nick - you are a steer") unfortunately cannot be relied on to fill a roster spot. Dukes, on the other hand, clearly a major leaguer, unless he also suffers from Johnson syndrome. Presuming Dukes is on the roster, then team needs to fill 6 spots - two everyday players (e.g. Holliday, Texiera) and one front-line pitcher, and Cordero at back of relief rotation, and three others... <BR/><BR/>5. 25 (times 3): the amount the payroll needs to be in 2009 - $75 million, despite the fact that the Lerners also have to pay rent in 2009.<BR/><BR/>Trust in The Sun Also Rises. All Good.SenatorNathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10049860385485455410noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28676208.post-3365776119525735722008-08-11T22:42:00.000-04:002008-08-11T22:42:00.000-04:00If Jimbo can pull off signing Crow he may have bou...If Jimbo can pull off signing Crow he may have bought himself another year as GM!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28676208.post-36603959719365385522008-08-11T20:35:00.000-04:002008-08-11T20:35:00.000-04:00Looking over the Nationals' roster, you see all ki...Looking over the Nationals' roster, you see all kinds of holes.<BR/><BR/>-- No left hand power<BR/>-- Inability to take walks, leading to poor on-base percentage<BR/>-- too many strike outs<BR/>-- too many first-pitch swingers<BR/><BR/>Jamie Moyer said it best "overanxious." Jeremy Guthrie said "they were swinging at my pitch and getting themselves out."<BR/><BR/>An indictment of Lenny Harris and the team's inexperience.<BR/><BR/>The team has a chance to be excellent afield, but weaknesses are at 2 key positions - SS (unless Gonzalez plays) and CF (Milledge is getting better, though).<BR/><BR/>Pitching, the team has some good starters, but lacks the shutdown guy other teams fear and the guy who stops losing streaks.<BR/><BR/>The bullpen is a disaster. No strong set-up man (Rivera is ok, he doesn't allow many HR's), no good LH stopper, an unproven closer (the Sunday loss was the first time the team really missed Rauch, oh, the Colorado loss, too).<BR/><BR/>There will be free agents to plug these holes, but they won't come cheap and they won't play for the Nats unless the Nats overpay. That seems unlikely.<BR/><BR/>I don't see much hope for 82 wins until 2011. Kasten forgets that he made an early FA signing -- Terry Pendleton, who made a huge difference in those Braves clubs by giving them a steady veteran presence.<BR/><BR/>Unless the Lerner's open their wallets, it could be a long time before this team wins.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com