The 2008 LAAA record is 49-30.
Their pythag record is 39-37.
They will probably lose a number of games on the way to the record getting closer to normal. Hopefully three of those losses will come against us.
And lets all remember, Mike Scioscia is a piece of garbage.
Monday, June 23, 2008
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Lensterino.
To Chris's Cry of "Fire Lenny Harris." comes a resounding rejoinder of "So Say We All!"
Jumping on the bandwagon, here is Harris himself.
From The wapo-
"Harris, who collected more pinch hits than any other player in history, also drew clear distinctions between what he sees going on with the Nationals and what he experienced during his career. "I had mentors," he said. He's not sure the younger Nationals do.
"I had baseball guys who felt for the game," he said. "When we came out, we already felt that we were going to win the ballgame. . . . It's hard for me to speak for them. All I can do is see and watch them play, and I see a difference already, because our attitude on the bench was different. Every team we played for, we were always encouraging, always in the game. This is like a different environment now. We got a whole bunch of young kids."
Really? He had mentors? He had baseball guys telling him about the game? You mean like coaches? You mean like hitting coaches telling him about the game and how, in the game, to hit baseball? That kind of mentor?
Jumping on the bandwagon, here is Harris himself.
From The wapo-
"Harris, who collected more pinch hits than any other player in history, also drew clear distinctions between what he sees going on with the Nationals and what he experienced during his career. "I had mentors," he said. He's not sure the younger Nationals do.
"I had baseball guys who felt for the game," he said. "When we came out, we already felt that we were going to win the ballgame. . . . It's hard for me to speak for them. All I can do is see and watch them play, and I see a difference already, because our attitude on the bench was different. Every team we played for, we were always encouraging, always in the game. This is like a different environment now. We got a whole bunch of young kids."
Really? He had mentors? He had baseball guys telling him about the game? You mean like coaches? You mean like hitting coaches telling him about the game and how, in the game, to hit baseball? That kind of mentor?
Monday, April 21, 2008
BPIBB
If one can trust the MLB probable starting pitchers page two days before a game, Wednesday is the big day for us.
Personally, I wouldn’t waste him on us, but thankfully they are going to. Should be some nice padding to his universally predicted Cy Young campaign.*
*For the value of universal predictions, please see ‘Tigers, Detroit. 2008 Edition’
As a Nationals fan, I’m pretty happy with Santana pitching in this division. We are most likely not play-off bound during his peak years. Meanwhile, a whole bunch of potentially good players are no longer going to be helping the Mets when the Nats are playoff contenders. A move of this magnitude also hopefully puts some more “win now” pressure on the Phillies, and to a lesser extent, the Braves. If several teams start mortgaging their future for the present, we could have a lull in division strength in 2011-14 or so.** During that lull the Nats, with some group whoever survives the perils of prospectdom could hopefully start making the playoffs, increasing team revenue, and then making the playoffs again with better and then better teams.
**While I do believe I am more correct than incorrect with this assessment, I must admit I have not recently looked at who is under control for how long by which teams. I am making my judgment based more on gut than on facts. In the case of the Braves, Chipper has to age, right? Teixeira is a free agent at the end of the year, and they traded their farm system to get him. Their pitching is, mostly, ancient. The Phillies seem to have a lot of players in their peak years right now, although I cant speak to their farm system. The Mets have two of the best young players in the game, a few young pitchers, F-Mart, and then a whole bunch of oldies. Can all of these teams fix their coming problems? Sure. Still, they have a lot of problems on the way. If we capitalize on those problems, we can beat them.
Much more importantly, as a baseball fan, I love the move because we get to see Santana pitch. How wonderful is that?
I think I need to talk about my relationship with baseball in order to talk about my idea of Santana. It seems to me that most serious Nationals fans were baseball fans before the 2004-2005 off season. They were Yankees fans or expos fans, Brewers or Angels fans, Sox or Sox fans, and of course reformed Os fans. . They became Nationals fans through their love of baseball. I, on the other hand, began to love baseball because of the Nationals.
I was sorta a Mets fan my first few vague years, mainly because my older sister was a Yankees fan and Darrly Strawberry’s last name was, like mine, a common object. During that period the Mets won the World Series, an event I have no recollection of. Then I spent several years in England, where my nascent love of baseball, and Darrly Strawberry, waned away to nothing. Years later, after moving to the NoVa area with my family, we would go to several Orioles games a year. I took my lack of interest in these excursions to mean I did not like baseball, rather than learning what was probably the correct lesson, that is- I just do not like the Baltimore Orioles.*
*Except Cal. Like everybody, I liked Cal. Turns out the rest of the team was on steroids. So yay for me for not liking them.
Then, the Washington Nationals came. My roommate that off-season was a member of that proud, knowledgeable, and often-wronged race, Mariners fans, and he pushed and prodded and sorta forced me to fall in love with baseball. So I started following baseball in earnest in 2005. However, having so much to learn about baseball (which is still true) I just focused on the division the first year. The American League was something I did not particularly care about.
I remember during the 2006 season having to admit to a bay area friend that no, I did not know who this Barry Zito fellow was, except I thought he was probably a pitcher. This is the level of ignorance we are talking about.
So I would always hear about this guy, this magical unstoppable pitcher toiling away in the frozen north.
He had a weird name, he had struck batters out, he was just very very good. I remember the first time I heard him pitch, Minnesota had an afternoon play off game and I used my lunch break to listen. It sounded beautiful. I've never seen him pitch. Sure, games have been on a tv at a bar or some such. But I've never really watched him pitch, pitch by pitch.
The whole point is, its going to mean alot to me to watch Tim Redding get the win Wednesday night.
Personally, I wouldn’t waste him on us, but thankfully they are going to. Should be some nice padding to his universally predicted Cy Young campaign.*
*For the value of universal predictions, please see ‘Tigers, Detroit. 2008 Edition’
As a Nationals fan, I’m pretty happy with Santana pitching in this division. We are most likely not play-off bound during his peak years. Meanwhile, a whole bunch of potentially good players are no longer going to be helping the Mets when the Nats are playoff contenders. A move of this magnitude also hopefully puts some more “win now” pressure on the Phillies, and to a lesser extent, the Braves. If several teams start mortgaging their future for the present, we could have a lull in division strength in 2011-14 or so.** During that lull the Nats, with some group whoever survives the perils of prospectdom could hopefully start making the playoffs, increasing team revenue, and then making the playoffs again with better and then better teams.
**While I do believe I am more correct than incorrect with this assessment, I must admit I have not recently looked at who is under control for how long by which teams. I am making my judgment based more on gut than on facts. In the case of the Braves, Chipper has to age, right? Teixeira is a free agent at the end of the year, and they traded their farm system to get him. Their pitching is, mostly, ancient. The Phillies seem to have a lot of players in their peak years right now, although I cant speak to their farm system. The Mets have two of the best young players in the game, a few young pitchers, F-Mart, and then a whole bunch of oldies. Can all of these teams fix their coming problems? Sure. Still, they have a lot of problems on the way. If we capitalize on those problems, we can beat them.
Much more importantly, as a baseball fan, I love the move because we get to see Santana pitch. How wonderful is that?
I think I need to talk about my relationship with baseball in order to talk about my idea of Santana. It seems to me that most serious Nationals fans were baseball fans before the 2004-2005 off season. They were Yankees fans or expos fans, Brewers or Angels fans, Sox or Sox fans, and of course reformed Os fans. . They became Nationals fans through their love of baseball. I, on the other hand, began to love baseball because of the Nationals.
I was sorta a Mets fan my first few vague years, mainly because my older sister was a Yankees fan and Darrly Strawberry’s last name was, like mine, a common object. During that period the Mets won the World Series, an event I have no recollection of. Then I spent several years in England, where my nascent love of baseball, and Darrly Strawberry, waned away to nothing. Years later, after moving to the NoVa area with my family, we would go to several Orioles games a year. I took my lack of interest in these excursions to mean I did not like baseball, rather than learning what was probably the correct lesson, that is- I just do not like the Baltimore Orioles.*
*Except Cal. Like everybody, I liked Cal. Turns out the rest of the team was on steroids. So yay for me for not liking them.
Then, the Washington Nationals came. My roommate that off-season was a member of that proud, knowledgeable, and often-wronged race, Mariners fans, and he pushed and prodded and sorta forced me to fall in love with baseball. So I started following baseball in earnest in 2005. However, having so much to learn about baseball (which is still true) I just focused on the division the first year. The American League was something I did not particularly care about.
I remember during the 2006 season having to admit to a bay area friend that no, I did not know who this Barry Zito fellow was, except I thought he was probably a pitcher. This is the level of ignorance we are talking about.
So I would always hear about this guy, this magical unstoppable pitcher toiling away in the frozen north.
He had a weird name, he had struck batters out, he was just very very good. I remember the first time I heard him pitch, Minnesota had an afternoon play off game and I used my lunch break to listen. It sounded beautiful. I've never seen him pitch. Sure, games have been on a tv at a bar or some such. But I've never really watched him pitch, pitch by pitch.
The whole point is, its going to mean alot to me to watch Tim Redding get the win Wednesday night.
Friday, April 18, 2008
Oversights
Metsblog, a pretty good blog generally, does a recap of last nights 14-inning marathon. They do not once mention Scourge of Potential MVPs John Lannan, and his 11 strikesouts. Sure, starting pitching doesnt seem that important after the fourteenth inning stretch, but still, its an annoying omission.Since you know, that is all we had, really.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Nick 'The Stick' Johnson
Nick Johnson presents an interesting situation. He’s a very valuable player. He pounds out doubles, hits some home runs, and walks like a beast* He also get injured a lot. As in, I hate steroids, but I wish he’d take them so he’d heal faster a lot.
* Well, more like a horror-movie killer. You know, teenagers running, serial killer just keeps walking, same pace, unstoppable. Every times you turn around, there he is, walking at that same pace. That is Nick Johnson.
Here is my point. There are a number of teams, possible contenders, that could use a relatively cheap highly productive first baseman. Some of these teams have some good prospects. The Nats are not going to the playoffs anytime soon.** By the time we get there, one assumes one of our many 1B prospects will have developed into an at least ok MLB first baseman. So to trade a commodity that is valuable at present for one that has future value makes a lot of sense.
** You ever write a sentence and desperately hope somebody looks it up in a years time and says “ha, you are a moron!” This was one of those sentences.
Except, and here is the thing, I cannot see a Nick Johnson trade happening. Jim Bowden should be asking for a lot, because Nick Johnson is a very good ballplayer who seems to have come back unaffected by more than a year on the sidelines. On the other hand, any GM of moderate intelligence should be hesitant, because this guy is clearly hated by the gods of ligaments, bones, femurs, and such.
The thing that worries me is if Bowden decides to settle for some small package, worried that Johnson gets injured and the Nats get left with nothing. That might be the right move, but I’d rather risk holding on to him. I have little trouble imagining Johnson putting together two quality seasons and ending up an A free agent.* I have more trouble imaging us getting prospects in a trade that would be better players than the ones from those “A” FA draft picks.
*To be fair, I have no idea what criteria Elias uses to figure out A free agents. I just think Nick can have two really good seasons.
* Well, more like a horror-movie killer. You know, teenagers running, serial killer just keeps walking, same pace, unstoppable. Every times you turn around, there he is, walking at that same pace. That is Nick Johnson.
Here is my point. There are a number of teams, possible contenders, that could use a relatively cheap highly productive first baseman. Some of these teams have some good prospects. The Nats are not going to the playoffs anytime soon.** By the time we get there, one assumes one of our many 1B prospects will have developed into an at least ok MLB first baseman. So to trade a commodity that is valuable at present for one that has future value makes a lot of sense.
** You ever write a sentence and desperately hope somebody looks it up in a years time and says “ha, you are a moron!” This was one of those sentences.
Except, and here is the thing, I cannot see a Nick Johnson trade happening. Jim Bowden should be asking for a lot, because Nick Johnson is a very good ballplayer who seems to have come back unaffected by more than a year on the sidelines. On the other hand, any GM of moderate intelligence should be hesitant, because this guy is clearly hated by the gods of ligaments, bones, femurs, and such.
The thing that worries me is if Bowden decides to settle for some small package, worried that Johnson gets injured and the Nats get left with nothing. That might be the right move, but I’d rather risk holding on to him. I have little trouble imagining Johnson putting together two quality seasons and ending up an A free agent.* I have more trouble imaging us getting prospects in a trade that would be better players than the ones from those “A” FA draft picks.
*To be fair, I have no idea what criteria Elias uses to figure out A free agents. I just think Nick can have two really good seasons.
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Billy Bulter in five years.
It will be interesting when some DH hits .400, and we get to watch the fight over whether it really counts, the hitter never having to field and all. Of course, most people playing DH aren't fast enough to get the infield hits they are going to need to reach the magic number. But some day, I can see it happening. Fucking DHs.
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Attendence
Someday there will be regular sell-outs at PLEASE BUY THE JOINT STRIKE FIGHTER Stadium. There will lots of fans screaming as we make a playoff run. Most of those fans will be chumps.
On the other hand, most of them will not be those drunk guys from Boston who were behind my section last night.
On the other hand, most of them will not be those drunk guys from Boston who were behind my section last night.
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Game Recap 4/4
Good: Christian Guzman (.360/.360/.560)
Bad:Dmitri Young (Not Pinch Hitting Late in Games)
Good: Nats Bullpen (4IP, 0R, 1H, 0BB, 3K)
Bad: Odalis Perez (4IP, 5R, 9H, 4BB, 2K)
Good: Nats collect 10 base hits, 5 walks and have the benefit of 2 St. Louis errors!
Bad: Nats strand 25 base runners and lose
On the whole, not a bad game. Considering that Perez reverted to his usual form and threw half a seasons worth of pitches in half a game, it was surprising that were in a position to wish that there were better offensive options off the bench in the late innings. Though it would be nice to give Saul a night off once in a while, and the rest of the bullpen too if things keep going this way. Guzman had better be careful. If he continues to hit like this, I might start liking him (shudder).
Bad:Dmitri Young (Not Pinch Hitting Late in Games)
Good: Nats Bullpen (4IP, 0R, 1H, 0BB, 3K)
Bad: Odalis Perez (4IP, 5R, 9H, 4BB, 2K)
Good: Nats collect 10 base hits, 5 walks and have the benefit of 2 St. Louis errors!
Bad: Nats strand 25 base runners and lose
On the whole, not a bad game. Considering that Perez reverted to his usual form and threw half a seasons worth of pitches in half a game, it was surprising that were in a position to wish that there were better offensive options off the bench in the late innings. Though it would be nice to give Saul a night off once in a while, and the rest of the bullpen too if things keep going this way. Guzman had better be careful. If he continues to hit like this, I might start liking him (shudder).
Thursday, April 3, 2008
First Place(Even more so!)
I keep thinking it’s a bad idea for Guzman to be leading off and then he keeps getting on base. So we will see.
Update
Seriously, terrible lead off hitter. Two doubles in the first two innings.
Update
Seriously, terrible lead off hitter. Two doubles in the first two innings.
Monday, March 31, 2008
Evil MSM coverage.
“Thanks to Zimmerman, the Nationals' overnight trip to Philadelphia was upbeat as could be. The record shows that Zimmerman hit a so-so .247 with runners in scoring position last season, but he's developing a reputation here that transcends stats.”-Jerry Crasnick
“He has since emerged as the team's No. 3 hitter, a future Gold Glove winner and most-noted clutch performer, despite his .247 batting average with runners in scoring position last season.”-Ken Rosenthal
The man has four game ending homeruns in two years. He also has a number of other walk off hits. Whatever else, BA with RISP is not a super good stat to use in this situation. A batter who did not get a hit with two on, up 10-1, in the first would be penalized by BA with RISP, even if he hit a walk off home run every game.
“He has since emerged as the team's No. 3 hitter, a future Gold Glove winner and most-noted clutch performer, despite his .247 batting average with runners in scoring position last season.”-Ken Rosenthal
The man has four game ending homeruns in two years. He also has a number of other walk off hits. Whatever else, BA with RISP is not a super good stat to use in this situation. A batter who did not get a hit with two on, up 10-1, in the first would be penalized by BA with RISP, even if he hit a walk off home run every game.
First Place!
The Prince of the Potomac , Admiral of the Anacostia, The Walk-Off Wizard of Washington!
Friday, March 28, 2008
Chris over at Capitol Punishment took part in an NL East chat over at the Baseball Analyst.
Marc Hulet writes the following sentence.
Matt Chico (91 ERA+), Hanrahan (70 ERA+) and Tim Redding (career 88 ERA+) are all probably middle relievers at best on other teams.
Notice what is sort of disingenuous about that?
Marc Hulet writes the following sentence.
Matt Chico (91 ERA+), Hanrahan (70 ERA+) and Tim Redding (career 88 ERA+) are all probably middle relievers at best on other teams.
Notice what is sort of disingenuous about that?
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Opening Day Lineups
Previous years opening day lineups are from MLB.com. I think the one for 08 is accurate.*
*Look at me, I’m Joe Posnanski! No, I am not. But I love the Posteriks. Something really crazy about that opening day line up list, Pedro never started opening day in Montreal. Not once. In 1997, Pedro had an ERA+ of over two hundred, which is very good. Jim Bullinger had an ERA+ of 75. Which is not good. Pedro was coming off several good seasons, Bullinger off of several bad ones. Bullinger started opening day. I assume Pedro was injured. I cannot find anything about that, but it seems reasonable. Any other reason seems unreasonable. This probably is not very important, except if Pedro Martinez never started opening day in Montreal, then I would say opening day starts is not a stat that should be bandied about with seriousness when making hall of fame cases.
I have no interesting analysis whatsoever to go along with this. I will say I am glad Termel Sledge left the team and did not become a super star. If he had, how would I have chosen between the equally righteous “The Termelator” and “Sledgehammer” nicknames I had thought up.
I think we have the best number 8 hitter yet this year.
2005
Name/Pos/BA/OBP/Slg/AB
1. Brad Wilkerson CF .248/.351/.405/565 AB
2. Cristian Guzman 2B I will not write these numbers.
3. Jose Vidro 2B .275/.339./.424/309 AB
4. Jose Guillen RF .283/.338/.479/551 AB
5. Nick Johnson 1B .289/.408/.479/453 AB
6. Vinny Castilla 3B .253/.319/.403/494 AB
7. Terrmel Sledge LF .243/.348/.378/37 AB
8. Brian Schneider C .268/.330/.409/369 AB
9. Livan Hernandez RHP
2006
Name Pos.
1. Brandon Watson CF 28 AB does not make judgment reasonable.
2. Jose Vidro 2B .289/.348/.395/463 AB
3. Jose Guillen RF .216/.276/.398/241 AB
4. Nick Johnson 1B .290/.428/.520/500 AB
5. Alfonso Soriano LF .277/.351/.560/647 ab
6. Ryan Zimmerman 3B .287/.351/.471/614 AB
7. Royce Clayton SS .269/.315/.348/305 AB
8. Brian Schneider C .265/.329/.329/410 AB
9. Livan Hernandez RHP
2007
Name Pos.
1. Felipe Lopez 2B .245/.308/.352 608 AB
2. Cristian Guzman SS .328/.280/.466 174 AB
3. Ryan Zimmerman 3B .266/.330/.458 653 AB
4. Austin Kearns RF .266/.355/.411 587 AB
5. Dmitri Young 1B .320/.378/.491 460 AB
6. Brian Schneider C .235/.326/.336 408 AB
7. Ryan Church LF .272/.349/.464 470 AB
8. Nook Logan CF .265/.304/.345 Way too many.*
9. John Patterson RHP
2008
Maybe I will put up Pecota for these guys? I dunno.
1. Christian Guzman SS
2. Lasting Milledge, CF
3. Ryan Zimmerman 3B
4. Johnson 1B
5. Kearns RF
6. Dukes LF
7. Lo Du,C
8. Belliard 2B
9. Odalis Perez LHP
*Why couldn't we have given Watson a year in center. Just one simple year.
*Look at me, I’m Joe Posnanski! No, I am not. But I love the Posteriks. Something really crazy about that opening day line up list, Pedro never started opening day in Montreal. Not once. In 1997, Pedro had an ERA+ of over two hundred, which is very good. Jim Bullinger had an ERA+ of 75. Which is not good. Pedro was coming off several good seasons, Bullinger off of several bad ones. Bullinger started opening day. I assume Pedro was injured. I cannot find anything about that, but it seems reasonable. Any other reason seems unreasonable. This probably is not very important, except if Pedro Martinez never started opening day in Montreal, then I would say opening day starts is not a stat that should be bandied about with seriousness when making hall of fame cases.
I have no interesting analysis whatsoever to go along with this. I will say I am glad Termel Sledge left the team and did not become a super star. If he had, how would I have chosen between the equally righteous “The Termelator” and “Sledgehammer” nicknames I had thought up.
I think we have the best number 8 hitter yet this year.
2005
Name/Pos/BA/OBP/Slg/AB
1. Brad Wilkerson CF .248/.351/.405/565 AB
2. Cristian Guzman 2B I will not write these numbers.
3. Jose Vidro 2B .275/.339./.424/309 AB
4. Jose Guillen RF .283/.338/.479/551 AB
5. Nick Johnson 1B .289/.408/.479/453 AB
6. Vinny Castilla 3B .253/.319/.403/494 AB
7. Terrmel Sledge LF .243/.348/.378/37 AB
8. Brian Schneider C .268/.330/.409/369 AB
9. Livan Hernandez RHP
2006
Name Pos.
1. Brandon Watson CF 28 AB does not make judgment reasonable.
2. Jose Vidro 2B .289/.348/.395/463 AB
3. Jose Guillen RF .216/.276/.398/241 AB
4. Nick Johnson 1B .290/.428/.520/500 AB
5. Alfonso Soriano LF .277/.351/.560/647 ab
6. Ryan Zimmerman 3B .287/.351/.471/614 AB
7. Royce Clayton SS .269/.315/.348/305 AB
8. Brian Schneider C .265/.329/.329/410 AB
9. Livan Hernandez RHP
2007
Name Pos.
1. Felipe Lopez 2B .245/.308/.352 608 AB
2. Cristian Guzman SS .328/.280/.466 174 AB
3. Ryan Zimmerman 3B .266/.330/.458 653 AB
4. Austin Kearns RF .266/.355/.411 587 AB
5. Dmitri Young 1B .320/.378/.491 460 AB
6. Brian Schneider C .235/.326/.336 408 AB
7. Ryan Church LF .272/.349/.464 470 AB
8. Nook Logan CF .265/.304/.345 Way too many.*
9. John Patterson RHP
2008
Maybe I will put up Pecota for these guys? I dunno.
1. Christian Guzman SS
2. Lasting Milledge, CF
3. Ryan Zimmerman 3B
4. Johnson 1B
5. Kearns RF
6. Dukes LF
7. Lo Du,C
8. Belliard 2B
9. Odalis Perez LHP
*Why couldn't we have given Watson a year in center. Just one simple year.
Monday, March 24, 2008
A decision so monstrous!
John Patterson is gone. Let us take a peak at his 05 in relation to some other pitchers that year.
ERA+
JP 130
Livan 102
Jake Peavy 134
Brandon Web 126
Chris Carpenter 149
At this point I started looking at Pedro Martinez and got distracted from my fickle attempts at research by being amazed at how darn good he is. (He is really good!) And did you know Joba’s ERA+ this year was over 1,000? Point is, there are a lot of peoples who are better than John Patterson.So Patterson can go screw himself.
No, not really. John Patterson pitched very very well in 05. He was better the oodles of starters other teams put out there on the mound. Over the following two years, on quick breaks from his global quest for the fountain of youth, he threw 72 innings of subpar ball, while still striking out a fair number of guys. He also did not balk once over the last two years, a fact of no real or unreal importance. His velocity was way down. In short, he was a money shredder.*
(Odalis Perez is our opening day starter....hand-waving)
Many other Nats blog can explain the monetary and performance reasons much better than I. There is one angle I have not seen touched on, though. Doesnt it make us look like jack-asses to cut him now? At the moment, it looks like a money move, or some other sort of bad idea.
If John Patterson was finding a way to pitch average major league baseball around the trading deadline, or even below average, don't you think some team would give us something for him? Sure, not much, but maybe something. We gave up all sorts of potentials. That seems like bad business to me.
We will have to see what happens in Texas. But remember, for it to have been a good decision to let him go, we are not just looking for him to have a bad season. Either he has to severely fail, or he has to be a year or two away from getting back his mechanics.
Well, hopefully people when my blog has many readers someone will look back at this post and wonder how I learned not to suck as a writer.
*A money shredder is a device I plan to invent some day to efficiently dispose of money. It works based on the following principle. Shred money->?->Profit.
ERA+
JP 130
Livan 102
Jake Peavy 134
Brandon Web 126
Chris Carpenter 149
At this point I started looking at Pedro Martinez and got distracted from my fickle attempts at research by being amazed at how darn good he is. (He is really good!) And did you know Joba’s ERA+ this year was over 1,000? Point is, there are a lot of peoples who are better than John Patterson.So Patterson can go screw himself.
No, not really. John Patterson pitched very very well in 05. He was better the oodles of starters other teams put out there on the mound. Over the following two years, on quick breaks from his global quest for the fountain of youth, he threw 72 innings of subpar ball, while still striking out a fair number of guys. He also did not balk once over the last two years, a fact of no real or unreal importance. His velocity was way down. In short, he was a money shredder.*
(Odalis Perez is our opening day starter....hand-waving)
Many other Nats blog can explain the monetary and performance reasons much better than I. There is one angle I have not seen touched on, though. Doesnt it make us look like jack-asses to cut him now? At the moment, it looks like a money move, or some other sort of bad idea.
If John Patterson was finding a way to pitch average major league baseball around the trading deadline, or even below average, don't you think some team would give us something for him? Sure, not much, but maybe something. We gave up all sorts of potentials. That seems like bad business to me.
We will have to see what happens in Texas. But remember, for it to have been a good decision to let him go, we are not just looking for him to have a bad season. Either he has to severely fail, or he has to be a year or two away from getting back his mechanics.
Well, hopefully people when my blog has many readers someone will look back at this post and wonder how I learned not to suck as a writer.
*A money shredder is a device I plan to invent some day to efficiently dispose of money. It works based on the following principle. Shred money->?->Profit.
On the title.
I have long told myself I would start a Nats Blog when a name came to me. It never did, so I settled. Nationalism.blogspot.com is a Farsi website. So WashingtonNationalism it was.
Hopefully I keep this going. Also, gaining a reader or two would be nice. The great benefit of web logging, as far as I can tell, is you have to earn your readership. So here goes.
You can probably already tell I use so too much.
Hopefully I keep this going. Also, gaining a reader or two would be nice. The great benefit of web logging, as far as I can tell, is you have to earn your readership. So here goes.
You can probably already tell I use so too much.
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