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Capitol Punishment Q & A: The Failure and the Future of Washington Baseball
By Jamie Mottram | October 22, 2008
Since last we spoke with Chris Needham of the late, great blog Capitol Punishment, the Nats kept right on sucking Racing Teddy-sized balls. But now the season’s over and offseason looms, so we caught up to see what’s what.
Our conversation is as follows, but not before this pic of comment queen Smurphette, resplendent in Mr. Walk-Off (the highlight of the season, sadly). Enjoy …
1. By just about any metric — wins, attendance, ratings, etc. — this season was an epic fail. In an ordered list one through five, who’s to blame?
You’re not really going to limit me to five, are you? Let’s see… Uncle Teddy’s cheapness, Bob Carpenter, Lenny Harris, Jim Bowden’s ego, Wily Mo Pena, the d-bag who raised the price of the chili nachos mid-season, John Patterson, Felipe Lopez, the cashier who gets snippy when you stand there waiting for the fifty cents change they owe you, the Trilateral Commission, Tom Boswell, Bob Carpenter and Lenny Harris.
I dunno. Throw ‘em all in a woodchipper and make five piles out of it, and call that a five-way tie for extreme suckiness.
2. That’s a lovely tombstone for the 2008 season, sir. But let’s look at that first part, the Lerner-style thriftiness. How has that gotten, and will that get, the franchise in trouble?
Well, other than the bad PR from bi-monthly stories about them not paying their rent or threatening to sue the city because Uncle Teddy’s panda-tear bidet isn’t functional (cry, Butterstick, cry!), I’m not sure what’s to worry about. They’ve got a PLAN! for the long-term that means they’re going to be spending their money on things we can’t see: the minors, international signings, drafts, etc.
Wait a minute, sorry… started to sound like nationals.com there for a second.
Here’s what you need to know about the status of the plan: 1) their top hitter and pitcher prospects sucked this year; 2) When they didn’t sign their top draft pick, Aaron Crow, that freed up money for them to sign a few more draft picks, meaning their draft budget was far below what it should’ve been and that they’re not willing to spend above and beyond as they’ve claimed, and; 3) since signing Smiley Gonzalez, the number of big-name international free agents that have been recognized by the various scouting publications is about the same as the percentage chance this team had of winning a game once they fell behind by nine.
But they’re “not taking one dime of profit!”
3. OK, but surely there must have been something positive from the season that was. Right?
Plenty, but sometimes you gotta squint to find it. The two that stick out: Dukes’ progression and Lannan’s development.
It’s funny, the “if” surrounding Dukes next year involves his health, not the safety of his friends and family. Lannan took a step forward this year, especially with his command of his breaking pitches. It was beautiful watching him spot those pretty much wherever he wanted. That being said, I’m not sure if he’s going to get much better than he is now: a third starter most years, maybe a #2 in his best seasons. Still, that’s a valuable asset. Someone like that could get $10 million+ on the open market.
4. Slim pickings, indeed. So who else on the Major League level, and I suppose in the upper minors, is part of “The Plan?”
I’m not sure there are really any sure things there. Every one of their young players has question marks. Can Milledge play D good enough to play center or hit enough to play left? Can Dukes stay healthy? Marrero? Detwiler? The only one of their upper-level prospects who seems to have a clear future to me Jordan Zimmermannnnn. He’s the only one of the pitchers, who has a track record that shows some sort of high ceiling. They’ve got some interesting parts otherwise, and some players who could be useful in certain spots, but there’s not a David Price or an Evan Longoria around — unless some players take some BIG steps forward really quickly.
5. I notice you didn’t mention Ryan Zimmerman, Chad Cordero and Emilio Bonifacio. Zimmerman, I guess, because he’s a given, but what’s up with Cordero’s? And have did Bonifacio fail that quickly? And why the hell did they trade Jon Rauch for him?!!!1!
Single-N Zimmerman, yeah, because he gets a pass. He’s already established. The only question is how much better can he get?
Cordero? Nice guy and all that, but he’s coming off a torn shoulder. I’d let Omar Minaya take him to complete his collection of crappy Nats relievers.
As far as the Rauch/Boni trade, there are two separate questions there: 1) Was trading Rauch a good move? Yep. He’s been worked harder than the seams on Bowden’s leather pants. 2) Was a slap-hitting middle infielder a good return for him? Eh. I’m not convinced.
I do love, though, how strange the perceptions of Boni V. Hernandez are. Boni’s hailed as the “next Luis Castillo” (hopefully not the 2008 model), but gets usurped in the final weeks by Anderson Hernandez, an older, probably inferior player who had a hot 80 ABs — as if those 80 fluky ABs are more important than the 3508 ABs he had in the minors all pointing to the fact that IPOR can’t hit. It’s like this team is run by people who need higher doses of ritalin.
6. OK, enough about the ADD-riddled past. What moves do you advocate them making in free agency and via trades?
Well, what’s the point? You really think Uncle Teddy’s going to open up his wallet?
That being said… I think this team is better than it played last year. Too many things went wrong last year, so we’re starting with a talent base that should produce more wins just by players playing up to their ability.
For upgrades, the position players are mostly set. I know some fans are lusting after Teixeira, but 1B is typically a pretty easy position to fill, and we’ve got two giant mammals under contract there next season. If they’re going to target there, I’d get someone like Dunn or Burrell — a lumbering OFer who can make Kearns the highest paid defensive replacement in history and fill in at first when the inevitable injury strikes.
But the most obvious place for an upgrade is with the starting pitching. They’re not getting CC, but there’s a solid core of second-tier pitchers who probably have decent value — and none of them carry any of the giant red flags that Carlos Silva did last year!
Just throwing some names out there without having really studied it: Jon Garland, Derek Lowe or Ollie Perez. None of ‘em are going to be aces, but they’re all capable of doing what Esteban Loaiza did in ‘05.
7. So you suggest they sign a slugging OF, plus a quality SP. Sounds reasonable. But with regard to the Lerners not bucking up, haven’t they spent some money already (i.e. $51 million for 10 seasons of Nick Johnson, Christian Guzman, Dmitri Young, Paul Lo Duca and Ronnie Belliard)? Seems to me that spending wisely may be the bigger problem.
That’s certainly true.
The question isn’t whether they’ll spend at all, but whether they’ll spend commensurate with their revenues. They could add $30 million in salary and still be middle of the league in payroll, while still probably having enough money so that Uncle Teddy doesn’t go hungry at night.
Yeah, their idiot of a GM has to spend the money more wisely, but he should also have more money to play with in the first place.
8. Let’s make believe they add that $30 million in payroll, spending it in the manner which you suggested. How do you see the ‘09 team shaping up and season playing out?
Can’t be worse, can it?
I dunno… say they have a Dunn/Burrell guy, one of those pitchers I named and another from the Odalis scrap heap, and I could see .500ish if things break right. (Don’t you love the optimism of the offseason!)
Two things hurt them a lot last season: the under-performance of the hitters and the godawful defense.
They’ve taken steps to improve both. Throw in some fresh talent, and who knows?
9. I think you’ve struck the unofficial 2009 Nationals team slogan: “Can’t be worse, can it?” Anyway, thanks for your time, and is there anything else before you go, Mr. Needham?
Fire Bowden! (Ed. note: Needham ended our last conversation with “Fire Lenny!!!” Just sayin’.)
Topics: Interviews, Nationals |
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