As the article points out, Washington is not hurting for pitchers.  By starting Strasburg in the minors, he will have chance to develop and work on his pitches.  He will be in a situation where he can try different things to see what works best against the hitters-something he can’t do in the majors.  If we see Strasburg before July 4th, it will be a huge mistake, and one that will hurt Washington in the long run.

There are many who are against this signing since some see him as old and washed up.  I think that since the Nationals don’t expect him to be their ace, this signing makes sense.  He is a veteran who knows how to pitch and while he may not win 15 games, he will eat up those innings  (he has passed the 200 innings pitched mark in 9 seasons)that the Nationals want and will help the bullpen.  If your 5th starter is being knocked around on a regular basis, the bullpen won’t be rested to help save the  next game for your ace.  It’s all about putting the Nationals pitching staff in the best position for 162 games. 

I agree with the move.

The pitcher that I am most anxious to see is Jason Marquis.  After beginning his career with the Atlanta Braves in 2000, he has bounced around the National League playing for the Cardinals, Cubs, and last season, the Rockies.  He represented the Rockies in the All-Star game last year, and originally thought he wanted to play for New York in 2010.  The Nationals made him feel wanted, so here he is.  What Marquis brings to the Nationals is experience.  When he began with the Braves, he had the chance to learn from Tom Glavine and Greg Maddux, and then Matt Morris with the Cardinals.  With him around to help mentor the young staff, and Pudge behind the plate, the National’s pitching staff will be greatly improved.

Now that pitchers and catchers have reported, everyone wants to start making predictions.  At this point, the only thing that I know for sure is that the Nationals will be a much improved team this year.  As is the case with most teams, it all hinges on the pitching.  Right now, if Scott Olson stays healthy, he will be the third starter behind John Lannan and Jason Marquis.  The problem is that there is not a lot of experience in this rotation. As a matter of fact, the Nationals are trying to sign another veteran pitcher.  According to Bill Ladson, the Nationals have made offers to both Chan Ho Park and Braden Looper, but were turned down by both players.  The signing of Chien-Ming Wang does bring a pitcher with some experince to the team, but he will not be able to pitch until May, at the earliest.  In other pitching news, everybody is talking about Strasburg’s 9 minutes in the bullpen.  Pudge Rodriguez compared Strasburg to Nolan Ryan and everyone was awed by his performance.  I still am not completely sold on him, but if he is the real deal, then we could see him at Nationals’ Park in July if not sooner.

I believe that the defense will be much improved this year, especially up the middle.  Riggleman will work on fundamentals in Spring Training which Manny Acta never seemed to do.  Last year, Riggleman held his players accountable and it showed toward the end of the season.

It is too early to make any concrete predictions, except to say that the Nats will continue to impress and might even surprise some people this year.

Play Ball!

As I try to dig myself out of 10″ of snow here in Virginia, it is hard to think about green fields, and going to games in shorts and a T-shirt.  But, Spring Training is only a few weeks away and I am getting excited for the season.  To get everyone ready for some baseball, I thought I would pass along some information that Jayson Stark included in the latest issue in Baseball America.  Hopefully, this information can help some of you win some bar bets.

Most of us remember the game this past season against the Astros that began May 5th in DC that was suspended and had to be made up in Houston on July 9th.  Because the record books will show the July 9th events as a continuation of the game in DC, there are some very interesting facts that came out of this game:

• The Astros became the first team since the 1975 Twins to lose a game on a walk-off hit in their own ballpark
• The Nationals won this game DURING a 5 game losing streak
• Nyjer Morgan scored the winning run the same day he got a hit for the Pirates (remember he was traded after May 5th)
• The Nationals used 8 players that were not on their roster when the game was finished
• This game is the highest scoring game in the history of Nationals Park-even though one of the runs did not occur there
• The winning pitcher, Joel Hanrahan received the win while being asleep.  He had been traded to the Pirates, and was taking a nap on the day the make-up was played.

As mentioned, this information can be found in Jayson Stark’s column in Baseball America.  I thought it was too good not to share.  Just a little over two weeks until pitchers and catchers report!!

The Nationals have signed catcher Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez to a two year 6 million dollar deal. I think that this is an excellent move for the Nationals especially since Flores might not be able to start at the beginning of the season due to surgery on his right shoulder and elbow.  The only negative is that the Nats will probably release Wil Nieves.  Nieves has done everything that the Nats have asked and was a solid backstop.  I even  wrote in an earlier blog (found here) that Nieves should be the starting catcher on Opening Day next year.  I also mentioned that the Nationals need speed and pitching-something that they did not address with this signing.

While I like this veteran signing, there is another veteran signing that I would be against.  There were stories earlier that Smoltz was interested in coming to the Nationals.  I thought that would have been a bad idea.  Most teams sign a pitcher such as Smoltz when they are one player away from a playoff run and they feel he can put them over the top (Red Sox, Cardinals).  The Nationals are SEVERAL players away, and while they need pitching, this would have been a bad signing.  The Nats have a solid group of young pitchers that need time.  Bringing in a veteran like Smoltz would just delay their growth.  You could argue that he could mentor them, but I’m not sure he wants that role.

Let Pudge mentor the young pitchers.  It’s a cheaper signing and one that could pay huge dividends.

I have made no secret of the fact that I wanted Jim Riggleman to stay on as the Nationals’ manager, and today the club made it official.  When Manny Acta was fired, it was said that he wasn’t holding the players accountable.  Riggleman came in with a new approach, and began working on fundamentals.  It was made clear that every player was being held to a different standard.

General Manager Mike Rizzo appeared on  XM Radio this afternoon to talk about signing Riggleman.  The comments that he made on “The Show with Jody McDonald and Rob Dibble”  were telling.  He led off by saying that he did not want to hire a manager with no experience.  Rizzo was also impressed with Riggleman’s “open door” policy.  He stated that many managers say that they have an open door policy, but really don’t.  Riggleman, Rizzo said, actually gets up and goes through that open door to talk to his players.  The Nationals have also been impressed with his knowledge of the game, or as Rizzo put it, the X’s and O’s.  Rizzo had talked to Tony LaRussa and Bobby Cox about Riggleman, and they both were impressed with his knowledge and strategy.

Riggleman is direct.  Rizzo mentioned that he is the kind of person who can “pat you on the back and kick you in the butt”.  This is especally important since baseball has changed according to Rizzo.  He pointed out that now, most players get their experience at the Major League level.  Therefore, being able to teach the fundamentals at this level is key, and Riggleman can do that.  While I agree that Riggleman can do that, I do question Rizzo’s comment.  Are players really being called up without knowing the fundamentals?  If so, why?  Has the talent become so diluted that players need to come up before they are ready?  Maybe baseball did expand too fast.

I mentioned in yesterday’s post that Ryan Zimmerman was up for a Silver Slugger.  Today it was announced that he was given that award for his work with his bat.  The Silver Slugger is given to the top offensive producer at each position in each league.  In a league with Wright and Jones at 3B, Zimmerman comes out on top.  Zimmerman finished the season batting .292 with 33 HRs and 106 RBIs. 

Congrats again, Ryan!!

It was announced today, Wednesday, that Ryan Zimmerman has won a Gold Glove for his defense at third base. Even though the Nationals led the majors in errors this year with 143, Ryan led all third basemen with 325 assists.  He becomes the first Washington National to win the award and only the second player from a Washington team.  Bonus points if you know who was the first Washington player to win. (Earl Battey, Catcher for the Senators in 1960-I had to look it up). 

Zimmerman is also in line to win a Silver Slugger Award which will be announced Thursday.  He is competing with a college teammate from Virginia, Mark Reynolds of Arizona.

Congratulations, Ryan!! 

For a list of all winners, click here

In my last blog, I wrote that Roy Clark has turned down an offer from the Nationals.  Now, the Braves website is reporting that he has accepted an offer to become the Assistant GM.  Clark has been with the Braves since 1989 and has been the scouting director for the last 11 years.  There was a time when the Braves were considered to have one of the best farm systems in the league.  As the Braves were going on their run of division titles, much of their success was due to home-grown talent (yes, they signed free-agents like McGriff and Maddux).  Roy Clark was a large part of that, and he will have scouting and development responsibilities with the Nationals.  I asked for someone who can keep the pipeline stocked.  Let’s hope the Nationals have found that person.

Mike Rizzo has wated no time putting his own stamp on the Nationals. It was reported last week that he made several moves. The first thing he did was dismiss James Williams.  Williams was not a player, but rather the man assigned to “look after” Ellijah Dukes.  Wiliams had been hired by Jim Bowden, and apparently Rizzo felt that Dukes (25) was old enough to look after himself.  Also, Jose Cardenal was let go on Thursday.  Cardenal had been acting as a “special advisor” to GM Bowden.  Cardenal knows full well that Rizzo wants to put his own people in place, and Cardenal plans to go back to his native country of Cuba and try to bring players here legally.
The last thing Rizzo did was to fire several minor league instructors.  While who he fired and who he replaced them with is unimportant, (but you can read about them here) I will say that what is important is the fact that he is moving quickly to make the Nationals HIS team.  This tells me that he will move quickly when it comes to dealing with players, and that there will be a different attitude in the Spring.  I’m keeping my fingers crossed, anyway.
There is also word that the Braves scouting director since 2000, Roy Clark, has turned down an offer from the Nationals.  Lets hope the Nats can hire someone that will keep the pipeline strong