The "How bad are the Nationals" thread

[TooLiveBrew]

So is the Nationals' 2007 25-man roster

 

EDIT: sorry, thought I read "message board fodder"

[zachjack13]

I think the Nats will be decently bad, meaning they will better than teams like the Royals, Mariners, etc (including the Cubs). but worst than their division, the Brewers, and most of the NL Central (which for a whole is pretty weak, with the exception of the Brewers and Cardinals.) Overall, I think that they finish 67-95.

[EinhornIsFinkle]

relocation? They are in the process of building a new stadium as we speak.

[RobertR]

I'm thinking somewhere around 100 losses. They'll be the worst team in the majors, but nowhere near the Tigers of a few years back. The lack of ownership and tight budgets for scouting and strict slotting on draft day, really limited them. Joint ownership and a lack of direction did the Nationals no favors.

 

Still, you have to be more than lacking direction, but actively incompetent to lose much more than 100 games. Manny Acta sounds like a fairly competent manager and I'm not expecting any Lopes/Royster style meltdowns. They'll be worse than Yost was his first year with a rock bottom payroll, but I also expect them to find some diamonds in the rough.

 

Robert

[dadofandrew]

I would say a few below Robert's guess of 62 wins, I'd say 58 if I had to pick a number. They have a decent, if unspectacular every day lineup, but they pretty much held open tryouts for the rotation.

[brewers4eric]

The 2002 Brewers managed to scrape together 56 wins. Put me down for 63 wins for the Nationals.

[thefutureishere2006]

put me down at an even 50. remember when everyone said how bad florida would be last year..

[geothite]

The franchise was picked bare by MLB and then sold.

A lot of teams owe the Nationals a thank you card for the talent that was bled from this franchise over the last 5 or 6 seasons.

[Invader3K]

Quote:

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relocation? They are in the process of building a new stadium as we speak.

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I know, I was kidding.

 

Seriously, I think they'll still pull off 60 wins this year, but barely.

[MarquesJohnson2000]

They just said on Mike & Mike that the over/under in Vegas for the Nationals is 65.5

[splitterpfj]

So you've got arguably the least talented MLB roster at the moment, and you're being picked on at every turn, what to do for an encore?

 

How about screwing up the delivery of season tickets? Let's alienate our most ardent supporters...

 

www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/26/AR2007032601720.html

[Fatter than Joey]

32-130 is not going to happen -- I suspect that worst case scenario, they are a 55 win team. They are still better than a lot of the expansion teams that took the fields in the 60s and 70s.

[dadofandrew]

Blaming Fed Ex is pretty weak. Fed Ex isn't letting them sit somewhere, they require signatures. The Nationals dawdled too long before sending them out.

[RobertR]

FWIW, Baseball Prospectus has the Nationals projected at 66 wins.

 

Their offense is unimpressive, but not historically bad by any stretch. Ryan Zimmerman, Felipe Lopez, Austin Kearns, Ryan Church, Chris Snelling, and Brian Schneider have soem promise. Heck, if they move Lopez back to SS and start Belliard at 2B, they'll only likely be a bit below average. Their bullpen looks servicable, too. It's their starting rotation that's a shambles. The ballpark may serve to hide some of their struggles though.

 

The main concern I would have would be the starting rotation putting too big a strain on the bullpen and the entire pitching staff collapsing.

 

Robert

[djoctagone]

ouch.

 

their bullpen is going to be in big trouble soon . . . if not already.

 

the first three starters have averaged just over 4 innings each.

[Terok Balefire]

Wow and just wait until the injuries to the pitchers start stacking up.

[don1481]

All the Nats need to do is acquire 3 knuckleballers and have them pitch complete games. A 3 man rotation. That would be funny.

[thefutureishere2006]

and this is all against florida...picked to finish 4th in that division.

[samwise]

Nats are playing their 3rd shortstop in 3 days because Guzman is hurt, so is Logan.

[RobertR]

Hey, the Nats won a game. Their real concern is going to be keeping their bullpen fresh though. They have to get something out of their starters.

 

Frankly, they should have been going after the Ben Hendricksons of the world all spring.

 

Robert

[endaround]

Nationals are not even the biggest underdog today. That's the Pirates against Houston. Yeah, I don't understand it either.

[burniebrewer]

Hey, the Nats won a game.

 

Special thanks go out to Florida closer Jorge Julio for his 9th inning meltdown.

 

1/3 IP, 5H, 3R, BB

[djoctagone]

Quote:

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ouch.

 

their bullpen is going to be in big trouble soon . . . if not already.

 

the first three starters have averaged just over 4 innings each.

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ouch ouch.

 

yesterday's fourth starter lasted just 3 -2/3 innings . . . surrendering 6 walks.

[djoctagone]

the nationals finally get their first quality start of 2007 (6-2/3 innings from shawn hill) but still fall 3-1 to the diamondbacks. they are now 1-5 on the season.

[splitterpfj]

When your #1 starter has an ERA above 9 and a WHIP above 2...this would be a bad beginning.

 

Stay tuned.