This two classes and a full time job is a bit more involving than I expected. I’m hoping to get some of the seasons in review up later this week. I have class tonight and Wednesday, so hopefully on Friday.
{ 2008 10 06 }
We cannot always build the future for our youth, but we can build our youth for the future - FDR
{ 2008 10 06 }
This two classes and a full time job is a bit more involving than I expected. I’m hoping to get some of the seasons in review up later this week. I have class tonight and Wednesday, so hopefully on Friday.
Sec 204 Rw K Seat 11 | 06-Oct-08 at 9:18 am | Permalink
Hot Stove doesn’t get lit until after the World Series, so I did not expect you to start posting until then. Take your time, studies are more important than Baseball (just barely of course. Anyone else bummed by the Cubs?
Berndaddy | 06-Oct-08 at 9:38 am | Permalink
No! I grew up a Cards fan. My Dad is having a good laugh in heaven I bet ya…
Sue Dinem | 06-Oct-08 at 9:39 am | Permalink
Nope, just the stupid comparisons to the Red Sox. The Cubs have to lose five times in a Game 7 for that to be even close to accurate, never mind hardly ever finishing in 2nd place to its hated rival.
Brian - Any word on why the Carolina League is taking so long to release the ‘09 sked? His eminence at Ballpark Watch reported that the expansion has been pushed back to ‘10 at the earliest, so what gives?
Ben | 06-Oct-08 at 10:25 am | Permalink
You know, it’s hard when you’ve supported small payroll bottom dwellers for this long, to get too teary eyed about the Cubs. They have the 8th highest payroll in baseball. Hardly plucky, lovable gamers.
Mark L | 06-Oct-08 at 10:49 am | Permalink
Can’t speak for anybody else, but would much rather see the Kasten interview than season reviews. Thanks
Chris | 06-Oct-08 at 10:54 am | Permalink
Agreed. Bring on Kasten!
natsfan1a | 06-Oct-08 at 11:23 am | Permalink
Not bummed about the Cubs here either, but I am rooting for the lower payroll Rays.
Would be interested in seeing the Kasten interview as well but, as others have noted, no rush what with the playoffs and your other obligations.
SlowPitch63 | 06-Oct-08 at 11:26 am | Permalink
Brian,
You don’t owe us. We owe you.
Your priorities are correct. Do your job, a man’s gotta eat and go to school, a man’s gotta learn.
When time is available come back and give us what you can.
My priority after taking care of yourself is:
Answer Sue’s question,
Kasten
Years in review
Potential Rule 5 pickups and loses
Thanks,
Let’s play two!
JayB | 06-Oct-08 at 11:50 am | Permalink
Not many MSM got to talk to Kasten this year. I would expect that Kasten speak has the greatest value to fans (even if we will have to have a CP type Translator hooked up).
estuartj | 06-Oct-08 at 1:10 pm | Permalink
Everyone needs to check out the Crow interview through Nationals Journal.
Everyone will take away something to back up their own point of view, but there’s no way Crow doesn’t come off looking bad.
IMO this guy is a toolbox, not just a tool, but many tools necessitating a tool box.
Shame we didn’t take a better person who would have signed, but after this june we MIGHT end up better off. Big gamble by Crow and a big gamble by Bowden/Kasten/Lerner but we won’t know how either will work out till next June through August.
Berndaddy | 06-Oct-08 at 2:24 pm | Permalink
estuartj
I still feel we’re better off without Crow. After reading the article I’m feeling that much better. We were able to sign two other players we won’t have signed. Jones and Ramirez. (Which is bogus on it’s own, I know, the Nats should spend that money with or without a Crow signing)and we’ll get two top picks next year. I can’t see them missing up next years draft by not signing those two picks.
BTW Crow toolbox includes, a screw driver, lots of nuts with no bolt (nothing bolted down with that boy) , ball barrings (big steel hard ones), a hole punch ( for bursting fan’s balloons, a carpenter’s pencil ( for writing down one thing and then erasing it and writing down something else) and a horse shoe cause he’s gonna need it…
EdDC | 06-Oct-08 at 4:20 pm | Permalink
Why does Crow coming off looking so awful here in that article? The Nats had a chance to sign him for $4 million and turned down the opportunity. That’s less than FLop, Lo Duca, and Dmitri money for ONE year! No one in the entire org won more than 10 games last season. Crow would be the #1 ranked player, not just pitcher, in the minor league organization!
I would feel so much better about the Nats’ actions here if there was not see a clear pattern of excessive bush-league frugality.
The Nats do not trade for players if they have a decent MLB contract. This is an important omission in my view.
The Nats sign draftees over slot only if they forego signing other players over slot.
The Nats have not yet signed long-term their core players like Zim.
No international big signings since Smiley.
And last year’s largest free agent signing, at a paltry $5 million, was for Lo Duca.
No wonder the Nats do not get sandwich draft picks, like other building clubs–the Nats do not bring in players other clubs want.
Where is the commitment other than to the balance sheet? Going into the off-season, it would be good to know that the Nats are on solid ground, with an owner who recognizes the large affluent market we are in here in the DC region.
Is all this not a HUGE concern? If not, then sure– let’s blame the greedy, crazy kid Crow. And let’s blame Bowden for not getting the other good young players in here.
Sue Dinem | 06-Oct-08 at 7:44 pm | Permalink
Actually, Balester won 12 games (9 in Columbus, 3 in Was) in the organization last year, and as for Crow… two words: Jeff Allison.
EdDC | 06-Oct-08 at 8:19 pm | Permalink
Hey, good one! Jeff Allison has been a total flame-out. You make an excellent point: both Jeff Allison and Aaron Crow are PITCHERS!
Of course, Allison was drafted in the first round out of high school. And Crow was drafted as the College Pitcher of the Year by the Nats, going undefeated his junior year. Crow was also rated the number one prospect in the Cape Cod League, posting a 0.67 ERA. While Crow was achieving all this post-high-school stardom, Jeff Alison was into other things, as Boston.com reports:
“Allison, 23, is serving three years’ probation after pleading guilty to four felonies and four misdemeanors last October in Greensboro, N.C., including heroin possession and two counts of possessing a stolen vehicle.”
So now Crow needs to add to his worries that, as a pitcher, he will probably engage in such activities too. All pitchers do such things, as we know. The Crow saga worsens with each passing day.
Sue Dinem | 06-Oct-08 at 8:50 pm | Permalink
Clearly, I don’t have the taste for Aaron Crow that you do, Ed.
A DC Wonk | 06-Oct-08 at 11:04 pm | Permalink
Correct me if I’m wrong (and I didn’t read the article), but didn’t Crow’s demands not get lowered to the $4m level until it was too late for him to even get a physical (or that he refused to get a physical, or something like that?)
Anyone remember?
Pilchard | 07-Oct-08 at 12:40 pm | Permalink
If you look at the last 15 drafts, pitchers that are drafted in the top 10 that become impact MLBers are less than a 50/50 proposition. Who’s to say if Aaron Crow would’ve been a bargain at $4 million or would’ve been the next Kyle Sleeth or Matt Anderson?
Luke Hochevar was that last sure thing college pitcher. This year, he went 6-12 with a 5.51 ERA. The argument that Nats should have paid the asking price for Crow because the Nats signed LoDuca and the Meat Hook to bad contracts does not hold any weight because who’s to know how Crow will ultimately produce?
I wish the Nats had signed Crow, but based upon his demands and the uncertainty as to how productive he would be, I can understand why the Nats and Crow did not reach an agreement.
FWIW, I can NOT understand why the Nats did not sign a single high-profile international free agent. I also do not understand why the signing of Ramirez and Jones should be linked in anyway.
Berndaddy | 07-Oct-08 at 1:32 pm | Permalink
Because Ramirez, more so than Jones, was rated so high coming out of high school. 2nd team all American and we may not have signed him if we had signed Crow. Pilchard to be honest all these picks are speculation, eh. Who would have figured Lannan would have done so well this year. It’s all a game within a game.
BTW the different ideas that are esponsed here on Brian’s site just turns my engine. I love it and the points everyone makes. I can’t wait till the Winter meeting either.
Sue Dinem | 07-Oct-08 at 2:06 pm | Permalink
“Just turns my engine” Are you calling us a bunch of cranks?! ;-)
Speaking of cranky, I have to quote this little rant from Nats Triple Play on his decision not to buy 2009 season tix:
Is the schedule worth it? Securing good seats for premium games? Next year, Opening Day and the last game of the season are both on the road. No special games there. Memorial Day — road. July 4 — home. Labor Day — no game. A 3 game home series with Boston might be a draw, but the annoying Bahstan fans factor is pretty damn high. Looking at the 2009 schedule, there isn’t much worth “securing”. No big first game in the new park. No Opening Day. No Closing Day. Can’t really say there’s anything here that I need to have.
And even if there was, the Nats aren’t even close to selling out the stadium. You can walk up and buy a seat anytime you want, and even with no planning, you can probably get better seats than you’ll get in a reasonably priced season package. If the ownership chooses to push the fans away by not even trying, well, I’m finally done rewarding them. I have every confidence that in a year or two I can line back up for season tickets and get as good or better than what I have now. With season ticket purchases dropping each and every year, the trend suggests that taking a year off won’t cost me any ground.
EdDC | 07-Oct-08 at 4:18 pm | Permalink
Pilchard,
Most of us who think Crow should have been signed are not convinced that he is Walter Johnson. Let’s say you are correct, that it is a 50-50 proposition. That does not mean you say he won’t make it, so it is better that he walks. You sign as many draftees as you can. You could sign Crow for the $4.0 or 4.4 or whatever the number is and still have money left over for Ramirez, Jones and some others too. All it takes is a little higher budget. It is the lack of financial commitment by ownership that troubles me.
After all, the Nats saved plenty of money at the major league level. No expensive free agent signings. No big money international signings since Smiley. No trading for young players who have decent contracts. The Nats have only traded for bargain contracts since the Lerners took over.
All that saves LOTS of money! Not just the few million it takes to get more draft picks signed, but many tens of millions have been saved. Why are so many Nats’ fans so understanding of the Lerners supposed need to conserve their financial resources? So now the Nats will probably look to 9A as a signability draft pick? What’s up with all this?
Sue Dinem | 07-Oct-08 at 8:02 pm | Permalink
Boy, that must have taken a long time to type one-handed.