**(ed. note - This has gotten such a nice response, I'm gonna pop it back on the front page from time to time...Thanks, MattHaggard.)

So I'm a Cubs fan.But I swear I'm not here to troll. ^^

Anyway, I have a question for all of you. I always wondered where a new franchise builds its fanbase from.

Did most of you just transfer over from being fans of the Expos to being fans of the Nats? Are some of you misplaced and disgruntled former Orioles fans?

How about baseball newcomers? Did having a alternative baseball team in the DC area make some of you former non-baseball fans into Nationals fans?

This has always made me curious and I really would like to know. Thanks for reading and replying and it's nice to meet ya'll.

Come by and chat at BleedCubbieBlue from time to time.

I'm here to break down the Nats' outfield (not all of it, but most) and predict their seasons for 2009. This may seem bold, but I think making predictions WAAAAAAAAAAY before the season starts makes predictions that come true seem more kick ass. Lets get right down to business. We'll start with Roger Bernadina. When he first came in he was pretty good, but the wheels stopped turning for him after a while. I honestly think that 2009 will be a breakout year for Bernadina, who only played 26 games in the '08 season for the Nats. I guess the whole "only 26 games" thing must be the explanation for the "only 16 hits" thing.

Prediction: Great 2009 season

Next we'll take a look at "The Duke". Hopefully Dukes remains one of the "big bats" in the Nationals organization, and doesn't get injured this time around. I have a gut feeling that it isn't going to happen again. Late season injuries can really screw you up considering that as soon as your back to normal, it's the off-season. I just don't think Dukes will get it done this year because his hot streak ended so abruptly that he lost too much momentum. But, I don't  think he'll fall anywhere below average in the 2009 seasn.

Prediction: Average season

Part Two Coming Soon!

Here's the link to my full article:

http://natsnewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2008/12/nationals-officially-annouce-cabrera.html

A quick synopsis:  Cabrera stinks.  He's been lousy and he's getting worse.  He used to be able to strike guys out, but either through injury or ineffectiveness, his K rates have dropped dramatically the last three years.  He's led the AL in walks, wild pitches and hit batsman.

I crunched a bunch of numbers in my blog post, so if you want to read 'em, please click the link.  Bottom line though:  If he's healthy, I'll go on record and predict 185 innings, 9-14, 5.10 ERA, 1.555 WHIP.  He'll take the ball every five days and stink.

Sorry, usually I try to present a balanced analysis.  But Cabrera's had his chances.  He just can't throw strikes with any regularity to get past mediocre.

Reports are out that the New York Yankees have done it again...coming to terms with free agent first baseman Mark Teixeira. No official confirmation yet... What do the Nationals do now? Call Adam Dunn? Bring in Orlando Hudson? Ask the Yankees about a deal for an outfielder? I'll have more on this a little later...

Mark Teixeira should accept the Nats' offer because accepting it will confirm that Tex is the kind of player he says he is.

Teixeira has always emulated Cal Ripken, Jr., the symbol of the intrinsic integrity of the Orioles' franchise before the latter was destroyed by corporate misdeeds.  Teixeira's performance is surely Ripkenesque. But Tex's career thus far has belied his asipration to a reputation like Cal's, for he has flitted between teams, going after big bucks and leaving when attracted by a better offer.  But it is not too late for Tex to become a one-team player.  He may well have ten good years left in his career, and spending them with a team that tries hard to play the right way will allow him to transform his reputation. Spending it with a team near his birthplace is very Ripkenesque.  There are only two such teams, and one (the one in my state) is alas a lost soul.  Not so the Washington Nationals, who don't have the horrendous administrative baggage of the O's.  The Nats have the potential to be a Braves' type team, and Tex can be their anchor. This could be a marriage made in heaven, and the cherry on the sundae is that Tex can do this and make himself fabulously wealthy at the same time.  It's a no-brainer, and if Scott Boras doesn't see this then he is truly not a good agent.

In this quickly-churned-out edition of Tuesday Nats Stats, we take a cursory glance at the two prime contenders for "2009 Nats Big Bat" on the Hot Stove.  Mark "$160M" Teixeira and Adam "A Bigger Wilkerson" Dunn.

Continue reading this post »

Here's the story:

http://natsnewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2008/12/nats-re-sign-harris-non-tender-redding.html

Interested to see what the terms of Harris' deal are.

All Redding did for two years was take the ball and keep the Nats in games.  Very surprised by this turn of events.

We can only guess that the team thinks that they can re-sign him cheaper as a free agent than he would make in arbitration. It's either that or he doesn't figure to be in their plans at all.

Nothing shocks me about this team anymore, but I do find this very surprising.

in each league since 1901?  Well, Brandon Isleib on the Hard Ball Times has tackled this question in two articles on the site. He works on the scheduling splits and projects the winners for each year in each division.  I found the two articles interesting and hope you do too. 

To read them go here and then read this page.  

It is interesting to see how some teams would've fared in such a set-up.

A big thank you to my friend Steve who sent these links to me for we have had some great conversations today about them.   Your thoughts?

The Nationals have already made a big move this offseason. Trading for Josh Willingham and Scott Olsen. They had to give up Emiliano Bonficano for them. This greatly improved outfield production and the starting pitching staff. The Nationals have 5 really big priorities this offseason.

1.) Starting Rotation. The rotation just got energized with the addition of Scott Olsen. He will eat up innings, topping 200 for the first time this year. He will also take up the ace spot considering the state of the rotation right now. A big possibilty right now is that A.J. Burnett might sign with the Nationals. His agent said that he was leaning towards the Nationals or Yankees. If the Nationals sign Burnett also, the rotation would look like this..

1. A.J. Burnett

2. Scott Olsen

3. Tim Redding

4. John Lannan

5. Collin Balester or Shawn Hill

The rotation would have one ace right away and Scott Olsen is an ace in training, maybe 2 years until he is at ace status. Tim Redding was the ace most of this year and he is still a really good pitcher. Collin Balester and Shawn Hill are both young and they could be good next year depending on how much they train during the offseason. 

2.) Finding a power hitter. The Nationals had no power this year. The team leader in homeruns had 14. That amount was by the rookie Lastings Milledge and Ryan Zimmerman. Reports show that Adam Dunn is wanting to sign with the Nationals because of his friendship with GM Jim Bowden. Dunn would provide the power that the Nationals need. But, the negatives of signing him is that he will be very exspensive and he won't provide any average or fielding Even though the Reds have free agent compensation clause, the Nationals won't have to give up their 1st round pick because the first 15 picks are protected. Ryan Zimmerman will ebound and Willingham has some power, so the Nationals power is going to be greatly improved next year.

3.) Relief Pitching. The bullpen took a big hit when Chad Cordero got injured, Jon Rauch was traded to the Diamondbacks, and when they traded Luis Ayayla to the Mets. The Nationals bullpen is a bunch of unproven talent and 2 veterans. Te only reliable arm is Joel Hanrahan. he is good, but you don't want an ERA of 3.95 closing out ball games. The Nationals could sign Jason Isringhausen. He is a good reliever, many teams might not touch him because he talks to himself too much. Arthur Rhodes is a veteran lefty reliever that will be able to stop all lefty hittter that he comes up against. The Nationals are committed to i,proving the bullpen so these signings might not be out of line.

4.) Infield Hitting. The infield was horrible at hitting this year. The whole infield production was from Crisitian Guzman. Second base is going to be open next year, and Ronnie Belliard can't be the starting second baseman again. Willie Harris had a good season. But, the Nationals need a second baseman for the long run. Emiliano Bonificio was the next second baseman, but he was traded to the Marlins. The Nationals can sign someone like Mark Gruizilanek. he is a verteran that will provide a temporary second baseman for 2-3 years until a second baseman is ready.

5.) Stop-Gate Catcher. The Nationals don't have a very good catcher right now. Paul Lo Duca was a disaster. Jesus Flores needs 1-3 more years in the minors until he is ready for the majors. I would suggest someone like Jason Varitek or Chad Moeller. They would be able to start for 2 years and with Chad Moeller, they could platoon Jesus Flores and Moeller.

These are the top 5 priorities for this offseason. If the Nationals sign Dunn and Burnett they would have some pretty formidable veterans. If they could get Varitek too, they might be able to compete in the division next year. What do you think the top 5 priorities are for this offseason?

Poll

What is the Nationals biggest priority this offseason?

34%

Starting Pitching

9 votes

0%

Relief Pitching

0 votes

0%

Closing

0 votes

30%

Outfield Power

8 votes

0%

Outfield Average

0 votes

0%

Infield Defense

0 votes

15%

Infield Power

4 votes

0%

Infield Average

0 votes

0%

Catcher Defense

0 votes

0%

Catcher Hitting

0 votes

15%

Adding Prospects to Farm

4 votes

3%

Getting more Draft Picks

1 votes

26 votes | Poll has closed

you can go here to read the whole thing.  i laboriously transcribed the whole thing.

http://bottomfeederbaseball.blogspot.com/2008/11/meet-press-with-willingham-and-olsen.html

here's my opinion:

There's already a lot that's been written about this deal, and I'm sure that there will be many more volumes as well. The deal makes next year's team better and I don't think they gave up all that much to accomplish that. Bowden's larger message is that the organization realizes that the fan base is going to shrink and that they HAD TO address the talent level on the major league roster, what Nats fans pay to watch.
Are Willingham and Olsen all-stars? Probably not. We pretty much know was Willingham is, barring a Ryan Ludwick-type explosion. Olsen? He's just 24. He's got three full seasons in the bigs. His velocity returned in September. He still hasn't entered his physical prime.
I'm not going to harp on the team for deviating from "The Plan" like some of my brethren. They didn't trade anyone away that was going to be part of the "first great Nats team". They aren't blocking anyone that should be playing. To the contrary, Olsen will allow Martis and Zimmermann to stay in the minors where they belong for another season.
The Nats got two completely average major league players for a utility infielder and two fringy low minors prospects. Love it or leave it.