The Nats Thread (old thread link inside, too many load issues)

[skinfan2k]

Danny will get one more season. This is essentially his 2nd season. Desmond took what 4 full years to develop into our most consistent player on offense.

[Duckus]

Re-signing LaRoche scares me. I love him and think he was the team MVP this year . . . but he is having a classic contract year. He will never match these numbers again. He will come close and be solid, but not this good. I don't want to pay him based on this year.

[skinfan2k]

Also i question why Tyler Moore doesn't get the first AB off the bench. Why are we wasting Roger so early in all 3 games so far? thats so dumb.

[Renegade7]

This team won 98 games. They stole one in St. Louis, then we had two awful games...let's see how they do tomorrow (and hopefully in 5)...I don't really think there are any open spots right now.

I love you skinsgirl, but really?

We had a revolving door at left outfield all season. There's no reason in the world that Detwiler should be starting in an elimination game (even if strasburg was playing and healthy). 98 wins and we got swept by the Yankees because even though we had pitching, we couldn't go toe to toe with them offensively (this is important because that's the type of team you would see in November, a team that can hit and pitch). Its not about who you beat in the regular season, its about who you're going to have to deal with in October and November.

The reality is in stone, we can't shut out the cardinals every game in a 5 or 7 game series. And even if we get through this series, do we have enough firepower on offense to get through a pitching staff like the Reds in the playoffs (which is damn near as good as our is) We do have great talent on defense, but we need great if not elite talent on offense if we want to talk about winning championships.

Again, this is just my opinion. We have a very good baseball team and a stupid amount of money. Do what you gotta do to win rings.

[skinfan2k]

i am 0-8 attending playoff games for dc sports :/

[StillUnknown]

Re-signing LaRoche scares me. I love him and think he was the team MVP this year . . . but he is having a classic contract year. He will never match these numbers again. He will come close and be solid, but not this good. I don't want to pay him based on this year.

He had a career year, but his base stats aren't that far off what he's done in previous season when healthy.

He also covers up a lot of would be mistakes by our infield with his glove. I wouldn't break the bank to re-sign him, but I definitely want him back. A 3 yr deal would be ideal

[Renegade7]

Its not a matter of being scared, its a basic numbers game.

Guaranteed starting spots next season:
Bryce
Werth
Zimm
Desmond
Suzuki/Ramos
LaRoche (assuming he's resigned)
Morse

That's 7 of 8 spots guaranteed. The only potential open spot is Espinosa, and I don't think the organization is ready to give up on him yet.

Werth and Morse are both over 30 and there spots should not be guaranteed. I would keep my options open for trades given how deep our farm system is and the fact we have the capital to eat contracts. If you feel you have the opportunity to get an elite talent that could help put us over the top, do it. We're basicaly making the assumption that everyone is going to come back and be better then last year. History dictates that that isn't always the case...

[StillUnknown]

Werth and Morse are both over 30 and there spots should not be guaranteed. I would keep my options open for trades given how deep our farm system is and the fact we have the capital to eat contracts. If you feel you have the opportunity to get an elite talent that could help put us over the top, do it. We're basicaly making the assumption that everyone is going to come back and be better then last year. History dictates that that isn't always the case...

Werth's contract is untradeable, and his production this year back from injury makes his spot secure.

I would be perfectly fine trading Morse to open a spot if the deal was right.

[Renegade7]

Werth's contract is untradeable, and his production this year back from injury makes his spot secure.

I would be perfectly fine trading Morse to open a spot if the deal was right.

Understandable, and I'm glad you see where I'm coming from with this. Is Bernadina untradeable? Detwiler? Jackson? Ramos is coming off a torn ACL, why is his spot promised with scout's honor?

[hail2skins]

Things could be worse.......look at how the Reds are doing at home after dominating the Giants at their place.

[aREDSKIN]

Too bad the Nats have performed so poorly. They had a great and unexpected regular season. We need more SP and definitely more bats. Werth is, well, werthless. Not impressed at all. Bad mistake signing him. The O on this team is anemic. Thanks for the RS ride. Lots to be proud of. Thanks!!!!

[skinsgirl26]

I love you skinsgirl, but really?

We had a revolving door at left outfield all season. There's no reason in the world that Detwiler should be starting in an elimination game (even if strasburg was playing and healthy). 98 wins and we got swept by the Yankees because even though we had pitching, we couldn't go toe to toe with them offensively (this is important because that's the type of team you would see in November, a team that can hit and pitch). Its not about who you beat in the regular season, its about who you're going to have to deal with in October and November.

The reality is in stone, we can't shut out the cardinals every game in a 5 or 7 game series. And even if we get through this series, do we have enough firepower on offense to get through a pitching staff like the Reds in the playoffs (which is damn near as good as our is) We do have great talent on defense, but we need great if not elite talent on offense if we want to talk about winning championships.

Again, this is just my opinion. You have a very good baseball team and a stupid amount of money. Do what you gotta do to win rings.

I'll get back to you later, you've made good points and I understand where you're coming from - def agree about Det, and also don't think Jackson should have started today, but JZimm didn't show up either and Gio had a rough start (maybe it would be nice to face Reds pitchers if they are like ares ) ...I think we have elite (okay, at least great) talent on offense: Werth, Harps, Desmond, Morse, Zimm, LaRoche - Bernadina when he played - especially considering how good they are on D. I don't know if it would be worth it to give any of them up for someone who is a .300 batter, but not as good on defense, I just don't think they're playing to the best of their ability right now, for some unknown reason. We need to stop ****ing stranding players on base. Being so dominant in the regular season does mean something. Yes, the Yanks owned us, but we also won a lot of series against good teams.

I don't know what's going on with this team, but I don't think cutting players and throwing money around is the answer. I hate the excuse that they are an inexperienced postseason team (and I guess it kinda negates my argument about being a dominant regular season team, whatever), but honestly, no one thought we'd be this good and perhaps this is just proof of it. This team is going to be very good for the upcoming years. We had a great ride and these past two games have really stunk, but do you think that this team, when playing their best, can compete with the best? I do. I don't know why they look so awful right now. Who would you cut? Who would you throw money at? (Honestly, I don't know that much about the rest of the teams, aside from a few of them, so I don't really know who would be possible to get.)

I am super conflicted. Obviously, I would love to have an even better team. Maybe throwin some money around is the answer, but it wouldn't be my personal choice...I don't think there are a lot of positions we need to fix. Maybe I'm too much of a homer...thoughI really I am about done with Espi.

Okay that was a wayyy longer answer than I wanted to give and I'm sure it's all over the place and crazy at some parts, but I gotta get to writing my paper so I don't have time to go back and see if I made sense haha. Schoolwork is so hard to do after a loss.

I'm ready for game 4. Nats will blow out the Cards. Being negative was ruining my life, so now I'm all about getting my hopes up and saying we'll get it next time if we lose

[skinfan2k]

I knew we were in trouble after game 1 when zimmerman said that we did our job and took a game at STL. he said that after the game that we did what we came here for. This to me is inexperience. Even if you take game 1, you want to put the nail in the coffin in game 2. Not play to win 2 out of 3 at home

[stevemcqueen1]

I think it would be a huge mistake to give up on Danny. He didn't even have that bad a year, improving on his overall level of play from last year. He's a switch hitting 2B that's a 20/20 threat with plus defense and range. He led our team with 3.5 WAR last season according to fangraphs, and had 3.8 this year.

Talk of getting rid of him is crazy and knee jerk. It's worse than the talk of getting rid of Desi last season. Have we as fans learned nothing from that?

---------- Post added October-10th-2012 at 07:19 PM ----------

Understandable, and I'm glad you see where I'm coming from with this. Is Bernadina untradeable? Detwiler? Jackson? Ramos is coming off a torn ACL, why is his spot promised with scout's honor?

- Berny isn't an everyday player with a massive contract. Not a good analogy.
- Jackson is a FA
- Ross is a solid, but unspectacular power throwing left handed 4/5 starter. I don't think Still was trying to say he's untradeable. He was talking about the everyday starters.
- Ramos is one of the most promising catchers in the NL and a defensive stud that we were fortunate to swipe from Minny when he was their #1 prospect. He's the reason we traded the guy who was our top prospect before Stras and Harp came along (Norris). Yes, his spot should be secure.

This team is a juggernaut that's only going to get better. We do NOT need to go out and make drastic changes. Our immediate future is brighter than anyone else in baseball.

I mean, come on.

---------- Post added October-10th-2012 at 07:27 PM ----------

I am super conflicted. Obviously, I would love to have an even better team. Maybe throwin some money around is the answer, but it wouldn't be my personal choice...I don't think there are a lot of positions we need to fix. Maybe I'm too much of a homer...thoughI really I am about done with Espi.

This team won 98 games the year before we were really supposed to make the leap. It's full of so much young talent that a great prospect like Lombo has to pinch hit, and we have no idea where our best prospect (Rendon) is going to fit in when he gets called up. All we have to do is stay the course.

If we don't win it this year, that's alright. We take our knocks and grow up. We've always been a year ahead of schedule as is.

---------- Post added October-10th-2012 at 07:31 PM ----------

He had a career year, but his base stats aren't that far off what he's done in previous season when healthy.

He also covers up a lot of would be mistakes by our infield with his glove. I wouldn't break the bank to re-sign him, but I definitely want him back. A 3 yr deal would be ideal

That's where I'm at. He's extremely valuable to us. The only issue are his injuries.

But eventually we are going to have to figure out how to work Rendon into the infield. As much as I like LaRoche, I wouldn't want to keep him if it meant blocking Rendon or forcing us to trade him.

[skinfan2k]

Derek Norris wasn't apart of the Wilson Ramos trade. We gave them Matt Capps for Wilson Ramos.