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***OFFICIAL*** Washington Nationals ongoing thread (4 Viewers)

Well, the good news is that it's only 4 months until you draft Strausburg, and 6 months until you decide to not pay him and let him go back into next year's draft.

 
Do we have 0-10? Defending champs coming to town, then the red hot Marlins. Meanwhile the Indians are now on the board. WE CAN DO THIS.

 
MILLEDGE OPTIONED TO TRIPLE-A SYRACUSEThe Washington Nationals today optioned outfielder Lastings Milledge to Syracuse of the Triple-A International League. Nationals Assistant General Manager and Vice President of Baseball Operations Mike Rizzo made the announcement.
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Eephus said:
MILLEDGE OPTIONED TO TRIPLE-A SYRACUSEThe Washington Nationals today optioned outfielder Lastings Milledge to Syracuse of the Triple-A International League. Nationals Assistant General Manager and Vice President of Baseball Operations Mike Rizzo made the announcement.
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I know he was off to a rough start, but is there something else here? He may not be worthy of a starting spot right now, but that doesn't mean he's not worthy of a roster spot. Hopefully this means a lot more at bats for Dukes.
 
He was the most frustrated guy on the team and you could tell watching the games. They were asking too much from him, playing CF and batting leadoff, neither of which suit him. Hopefully he can get some confidence back and they use him right when he does come back. They are dying for a real CF and a real leadoff guy though, I don't know why they didn't get at least one of those, or duh, keep Bonifacio.

 
JZilla said:
He was the most frustrated guy on the team and you could tell watching the games. They were asking too much from him, playing CF and batting leadoff, neither of which suit him. Hopefully he can get some confidence back and they use him right when he does come back. They are dying for a real CF and a real leadoff guy though, I don't know why they didn't get at least one of those, or duh, keep Bonifacio.
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OK, thanks. I actually haven't seen much of their games yet this year, so I wasn't sure what exactly was going on. 10 strikeouts already as a leadoff man is just a disaster.
 
dgreen said:
JZilla said:
He was the most frustrated guy on the team and you could tell watching the games. They were asking too much from him, playing CF and batting leadoff, neither of which suit him. Hopefully he can get some confidence back and they use him right when he does come back. They are dying for a real CF and a real leadoff guy though, I don't know why they didn't get at least one of those, or duh, keep Bonifacio.
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OK, thanks. I actually haven't seen much of their games yet this year, so I wasn't sure what exactly was going on. 10 strikeouts already as a leadoff man is just a disaster.
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Although he has CF caliber speed and arm, he's not really a CF defensively. He gets poor reads and takes odd routes to balls in flight. Bonifacio's inside the park HR didn't need to happen last week.He's still only 24 but he just seems like one of those guys who'll never reach his potential. I can't think of a lot of guys who benefitted from getting sent down after 1000 major league PAs. I think the Mets organization gets some of the blame here. They rushed him to the majors and didn't develop his skills very well. Boswell's column today in the Washington Post quotes sources who are critical of Milledge's work ethic, but some of that probably falls in the Mets' lap as well.

 
It's looking like they may get a rain-out tonight. At the very least, it would have been interesting to see what they do with their lineup without Milledge and Guzman. We may have to wait until tomorrow to see the star-studded lineup.

 
dgreen said:
It's looking like they may get a rain-out tonight. At the very least, it would have been interesting to see what they do with their lineup without Milledge and Guzman. We may have to wait until tomorrow to see the star-studded lineup.
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It's a bad time to lose Willie Harris
 
Tonight's lineup:

Hernandez (S) -- 2B

Johnson (L) -- 1B

Zimmerman -- 3B

Dunn (L) -- LF

Dukes -- CF

Kearns -- RF

Flores -- C

Gonzalez -- SS

Martis -- RHP

 
dgreen said:
JZilla said:
He was the most frustrated guy on the team and you could tell watching the games. They were asking too much from him, playing CF and batting leadoff, neither of which suit him. Hopefully he can get some confidence back and they use him right when he does come back. They are dying for a real CF and a real leadoff guy though, I don't know why they didn't get at least one of those, or duh, keep Bonifacio.
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OK, thanks. I actually haven't seen much of their games yet this year, so I wasn't sure what exactly was going on. 10 strikeouts already as a leadoff man is just a disaster.
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If its any consolation, Boni has had 8Ks in his last 2 games.
 
3 run shot by Dunn just as I was posting that. Joe Blanton brings a great dose of confidence to any struggling offense. It will take the Phils at least two innings to dig out of this hole

 
JZilla said:
Joe Blanton brings a great dose of confidence to any struggling offense.
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But this offense hasn't been struggling. They haven't been great, but they haven't been bad either.7th in BA7th in OBP11th in SLGThey are also middle of the pack in runs, RBI, HR, and TB (and they've played less games than most teams).
 
dgreen said:
JZilla said:
Joe Blanton brings a great dose of confidence to any struggling offense.
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But this offense hasn't been struggling. They haven't been great, but they haven't been bad either.7th in BA7th in OBP11th in SLGThey are also middle of the pack in runs, RBI, HR, and TB (and they've played less games than most teams).
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Yeah but it felt like the loss of Guzman and the demotion of Milledge might take the wind out of their sails a bit.
 
JZilla said:
dgreen said:
JZilla said:
Joe Blanton brings a great dose of confidence to any struggling offense.
Click to expand...
But this offense hasn't been struggling. They haven't been great, but they haven't been bad either.7th in BA7th in OBP11th in SLGThey are also middle of the pack in runs, RBI, HR, and TB (and they've played less games than most teams).
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Yeah but it felt like the loss of Guzman and the demotion of Milledge might take the wind out of their sails a bit.
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Winds from the east at 0.0005 knots with gusts to 0.00051
 
Eephus said:
JZilla said:
dgreen said:
JZilla said:
Joe Blanton brings a great dose of confidence to any struggling offense.
Click to expand...
But this offense hasn't been struggling. They haven't been great, but they haven't been bad either.7th in BA7th in OBP11th in SLGThey are also middle of the pack in runs, RBI, HR, and TB (and they've played less games than most teams).
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Yeah but it felt like the loss of Guzman and the demotion of Milledge might take the wind out of their sails a bit.
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Winds from the east at 0.0005 knots with gusts to 0.00051
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:)Yeah, I don't think they had any wind in their sails, despite a decent start with the bats.Apparently, Guzman is ok and was available to PH if needed last night. I believe he's expected back in the starting lineup this weekend.
 
JZilla said:
It's always exciting to speculate about how long the new losing streak might last
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Pretty hard when the team loses in consecutive nights about the same way. I'm hoping they are good by the time I move there but I'm not sure thta will happen. The Expos were basically fleeced in the final few years and this organization is as thin as they come.
 
The Bullpen Gets Blown Up

After today's loss, Manny Acta came into the manager's interview room. He was seething. He sat down and said, "I think it's embarrassing. I think it's unacceptable. I think our fans have every right to be mad, like we are right now. And it's not going to be tolerated. We're going to have a brand new bullpen tomorrow, and if those guys that come in don't get it done, we're going to continue getting guys out of here. Because I think all of us deserve better... The fact is, you have to throw strikes. This is the big leagues, and they're big league pitchers, and you win with pitching. We had a chance to win three games in a row, we couldn't do it, and it's not going to be tolerated. So starting tomorrow we're going to have a brand new bullpen. Plenty of moves, and more to come."

The moves came a few minutes later.

Once Acta returned to his office, he and Acting GM Mike Rizzo called the players in one-by-one. First Steven Shell. Then Wil Ledezma. Then Saul Rivera.

Yup, overnight, three-sevenths of the bullpen is sent down. Counting the long-anticipated roster move -- C Josh Bard, gone; P Jordan Zimmermann, up -- this team is turning over almost a fifth of its roster.

Here are the moves:

GOING DOWN:

* RHP Saul Rivera, optioned to Class AAA Syracuse

* LHP Wil Ledezma, designated for assignment

* RHP Steven Shell, designated for assignment

* C Josh Bard, optioned to Class AAA Syracuse

COMING UP:

* RHP Garrett Mock

* RHP Jason Bergmann

* RHP Kip Wells

* RHP Jordan Zimmermann

(Zimmermann and Wells will both be added to the 40-man roster, which loses Shell and Ledezma.)

Acting GM Mike Rizzo elaborates...

Q: You have said Garrett Mock was being groomed as a closer. Will he be the new closer here?

I think that's to be determined. He's going to come in and be a member of the bullpen. I'm not sure where the bullpen will kind of all map out right now. It's a brand new bullpen, really. We've got some unanswered questions.

Q: This is almost a fifth of your roster turning over. How tough is it to be put into this situation?

Well, it's unacceptable to perform the way the bullpen has performed. It shows the incredible strain that it has put on the whole ballclub, and like I said since spring training, here it's all about doing the job and executing pitches and making it work. And it was clear that the people we had in there just weren't doing the job.

Q: Was today the final straw?

Yeah, the incompetence of the bullpen was drawn to a head today and it got to the point where it just wasn't fair for the fans, it wasn't fair for the rest of the teammates and the starting pitchers to go status quo. We're going to change things up. Mock and Bergmann had good spring trainings. They had options, so they got sent down. That was the rationale at the time. We're going with the guys that we feel give us the best chance to win games.

Q: And Wells?

Wells has been outstanding, probably as good a stuff and as good a performance as anybody. He's been a starter down there. He's had two starts, has a two-plus ERA down there. He's got power stuff, and we need power arms that throw strikes... He's got some experience, and he's earned the promotion to pitch in the big leagues.

Q: You've obviously seen Saul in better times. What on earth has happened with him?

Well he's a guy who pounded the strike zone, and we're going to send him back to Syracuse. We just had a talk with him, and that's one of the things he has to go back and get back into, is being the Saul that can hit his spots. You know, when you walk the fastest guy in baseball to lead off the ninth inning it just shows that you don't have the command of your stuff.

Q: Not to sound pessimistic, but if these moves don't work out, where do you go from here?

Well, we're going to run what we feel is the best 25 guys on the club, and we're going to just keep finding ways to acquire players and acquire talent until we find somebody who performs for us. I'm optimistic about this group. Like I said, Mock and Bergmann, as far as what their spring trainings were, deserved to be on the big league club... We gave the guys a chance to perform, and they didn't perform.
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The good news (and it doesn't help forget the games this weekend) is that they get to add Stephen Strasburg later this summer (PS - if they blow that opportunity and pass on him with the first pick of the draft, they shouldn't have ANY fans left to draw).

Rizzo knows his stuff - did a great job when here with the Diamondbacks, but I hope he doesn't think that Kip Wells having a couple of good starts in the minors means he is a good ML pitcher.....even if he fooled the kids in the minors, at some point he will look in a mirror in Washington and realize..............he is STILL Kip Wells

 
They are an absolute joke. That's for sure. Thank God for the Lions, otherwise they'd be the worst team in sports.

Acta's real close to gone. They're probably gonna bring in some retread like Davy Johnson to finish out 09.

Will be somewhat interesting to see what they do with Strasberg, then management/coaching staff in the offseason. I always thought Randy St. Claire did a pretty good job with the fecal matter he was given, but the pitching staff is now at rock bottom and digging.

 
JZilla said:
I always thought Randy St. Claire did a pretty good job with the fecal matter he was given, but the pitching staff is now at rock bottom and digging.
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Starting pitching has improved this last rotation. Last four starts:
Code: 
IP  H  R ER BB SO HRMartis  6.1  5  2  2  2  1  0Lannan  6.1  3  1  1  1  8  1Olsen   7.0  6  3  2  1  5  1Cabrera 5.0  3  2  2  4  0  0
 
JZilla said:
Will be somewhat interesting to see what they do with Strasberg
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How weird would it be for Boras to take that kid to Japan for a year. He'd put up numbers like they've never seen over there. He'd really be huge.You've got to figure that with the slotting system he'd stand to make more in Japan, then ask for a kings ransom to come home.
 
The foo said:
JZilla said:
DCThunder said:
With the weather today, we can hope for a rainout tonight.
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Now that's real hopeI actually was kinda wanting to check out J Zimmerman
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I thought he looked great, only mistake was an 0-2 fastball down the middle which was hit for an HR by diaz.
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Yeah that was a strange choice of pitch in the situation but other than that he looked goodThey actually took a lead and held onto it like a real team. Even Kip Wells helped out.
 
dgreen said:
JZilla said:
I always thought Randy St. Claire did a pretty good job with the fecal matter he was given, but the pitching staff is now at rock bottom and digging.
Click to expand...
Starting pitching has improved this last rotation. Last four starts:
Code: 
IP  H  R ER BB SO HRMartis	6.1  5  2  2  2  1  0Lannan	6.1  3  1  1  1  8  1Olsen	 7.0  6  3  2  1  5  1Cabrera   5.0  3  2  2  4  0  0Zimmerman 6.0  6  2  2  1  3  1
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Updated with Zimm's start last night.Can't expect those types of numbers out of every rotation, but something close would be really nice. Add an improved bullpen (hopefully) and some more timely hitting for more runs and I bet they could actually get some people to pay to watch them.
 
Oh, and it was good to get R. Zimmerman another 5 years. He may not turn out to be a superstar in this league, but I think it's a good sign that he was willing to stay here. There had been rumors that he wanted out.

 
dgreen said:
dgreen said:
JZilla said:
I always thought Randy St. Claire did a pretty good job with the fecal matter he was given, but the pitching staff is now at rock bottom and digging.
Click to expand...
Starting pitching has improved this last rotation. Last four starts:
Code: 
IP  H  R ER BB SO HRMartis	6.1  5  2  2  2  1  0Lannan	6.1  3  1  1  1  8  1Olsen	 7.0  6  3  2  1  5  1Cabrera   5.0  3  2  2  4  0  0Zimmerman 6.0  6  2  2  1  3  1
Click to expand...
Updated with Zimm's start last night.Can't expect those types of numbers out of every rotation, but something close would be really nice. Add an improved bullpen (hopefully) and some more timely hitting for more runs and I bet they could actually get some people to pay to watch them.
Click to expand...
Cabrera's gotta go. He only contributes to the whole joke-of-a-franchise perception.I have no idea why he's not in the pen. Hell I have no idea why he's not in Baltimore's pen. I think he could be an asset in relief. Big ugly freak with a huge, wild arm. I think he's just always said no... well you know what.. eff you, guy.
 
JZilla said:
dgreen said:
dgreen said:
JZilla said:
I always thought Randy St. Claire did a pretty good job with the fecal matter he was given, but the pitching staff is now at rock bottom and digging.
Click to expand...
Starting pitching has improved this last rotation. Last four starts:
Code: 
IP  H  R ER BB SO HRMartis	6.1  5  2  2  2  1  0Lannan	6.1  3  1  1  1  8  1Olsen	 7.0  6  3  2  1  5  1Cabrera   5.0  3  2  2  4  0  0Zimmerman 6.0  6  2  2  1  3  1
Click to expand...
Updated with Zimm's start last night.Can't expect those types of numbers out of every rotation, but something close would be really nice. Add an improved bullpen (hopefully) and some more timely hitting for more runs and I bet they could actually get some people to pay to watch them.
Click to expand...
Cabrera's gotta go. He only contributes to the whole joke-of-a-franchise perception.I have no idea why he's not in the pen. Hell I have no idea why he's not in Baltimore's pen. I think he could be an asset in relief. Big ugly freak with a huge, wild arm. I think he's just always said no... well you know what.. eff you, guy.
Click to expand...
Agreed. I'd much rather see a younger arm in the starting rotation to give us a better glimpse of the future.Oh, and Saul Rivera is back up. :shrug:
 
dgreen said:
JZilla said:
dgreen said:
dgreen said:
JZilla said:
I always thought Randy St. Claire did a pretty good job with the fecal matter he was given, but the pitching staff is now at rock bottom and digging.
Click to expand...
Starting pitching has improved this last rotation. Last four starts:
Code: 
IP  H  R ER BB SO HRMartis	6.1  5  2  2  2  1  0Lannan	6.1  3  1  1  1  8  1Olsen	 7.0  6  3  2  1  5  1Cabrera   5.0  3  2  2  4  0  0Zimmerman 6.0  6  2  2  1  3  1
Click to expand...
Updated with Zimm's start last night.Can't expect those types of numbers out of every rotation, but something close would be really nice. Add an improved bullpen (hopefully) and some more timely hitting for more runs and I bet they could actually get some people to pay to watch them.
Click to expand...
Cabrera's gotta go. He only contributes to the whole joke-of-a-franchise perception.I have no idea why he's not in the pen. Hell I have no idea why he's not in Baltimore's pen. I think he could be an asset in relief. Big ugly freak with a huge, wild arm. I think he's just always said no... well you know what.. eff you, guy.
Click to expand...
Agreed. I'd much rather see a younger arm in the starting rotation to give us a better glimpse of the future.Oh, and Saul Rivera is back up. :X
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I like Saul, he signed a ball for us :thumbup:
 
:goodposting:

I'm starting to feel like we're in the movie Major League and it's getting to the part where the talk around town is, "You know, they aren't that ####ty."

 
Losing 1-0 on a bases loaded walk with two outs in the 9th inning kind of sucks. Oh well, I guess you can't win 'em all. :blackdot:

 
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