To The Future and Beyond With Washington's Nationals...

I believe the 2009 season began on September 28th, 2008, the moment Emilio Bonifacio's weak grounder reached the glove of Phillies' first baseman Chris Coste, who tossed to the Philly pitcher Clay Condrey covering first, to finish off the Nationals for loss number 102 of 161, and everything that's happened since has been an attempt to build for the future, for 2009 and beyond, including the trade that sent Bonifacio to Florida in return for 29-year-old left fielder Josh Willingham and 24-year-old left-hander Scott Olsen, who could end up being the steal of the offseason at the top of the DC rotation as a veteran on a talented young starting staff. Overly optimisitic? I've got pessimism for you...

2008 will go down in DC baseball history as the year the Washington Nationals lost 102 games and failed to sign their 1st Round Draft pick...(Of course, they'll get the 9th pick(9A) in this year's draft as compensation for failing to sign Aaron Crow, and the first pick of this year's draft for failing to win more than 59 games...) and it was also the year that the Nationals opened their new ballpark, Nationals Park, to polite applause, but attendance at the games only, not in front of radios or TV's in any significant way in the DC Metro area...(Is that way they call it? I'm from up North...)

...Now 2009 starts with the failed attempt to land their main free agent target, (whose name we'll not mention), and two months before Spring Training, with the new year now literally underway, no other signifant additions, (outside of Daniel "Potential" Cabrera), to what was, must I remind you, a 102-loss team...Nationals' Team President Stan Kasten told Washington Post writer Thomas Boswell, as quoted in an article entitled, "Nats Go All In", that in his opinion, the Nationals, "...already had a terrific offseason," with the additions of Cabrera, Olsen and Willingham, but when pressed by an incredulous Mr. Boswell, Mr. Kasten said:

"'We're determined to do more and be better in '09. We've already being(sic) looking at every option every day, not just Teixeira. His signing may start other moves in the industry. Now we know what the Yankees can pay. Let's see what everybody else will pay.'"

...And DC GM Jim Bowden let the baseball world know, in MLB.com writer Bill Ladson's article today, entitled, "GM Bowden not done improving Nats", that the Nationals weren't done improving their roster, with Adam Dunn and Orlando Hudson still at the top of their wish list...as a replacement for first baseman Nick Johnson and a leadoff hitter and second baseman, respectively, should the free agents choose to join the Nationals...and just as the DC Front Office has been saying all winter, Mr. Bowden once again assures fans:

"'We are exploring a lot of possibilities,' Bowden said. 'I think, obviously, we would like to have a big left-handed bat in the middle of our lineup. So that's a priority. We want to continue to add starting pitching and bullpen. I would say that most of our discussions were for those three areas.'"

But two paragraphs later, Mr. Ladson writes, "Don't expect the Nationals to acquire a big-name pitcher", and when he lists the projected starting rotation for 2009, it's John Lannan, Olsen, Jordan Zimmerman(n), Collin Balester and Shairon Martis, (not Daniel Cabrera?), so what makes you think veteran bats like Dunn or Hudson are going to want to become part of the rebuilding process in DC unless the Nationals outspend the competition to bring them in, as Mr. Kasten seems to be intimating they might in the quote above...(from the Washington Post)...

One has to wonder...Do Dunn or Hudson mean as much to the developing Nationals as they do to the contending teams that are in need of one or two extra pieces in their attempts to compete, while the Nationals are attempting to become competitive enough to regain the interest of their own fanbase...Will Washington overwhelm Dunn with an offer that draws him away from the Dodgers or Cubs? Will Washington sign Hudson when infielders Anderson Hernandez and Ronnie Belliard are already on the roster? Will Washington become interested in Manny Ramirez if no one steps up to sign him? And what are they going to do about all those outfielders? That's enough questions for now...

So, I guess Anderson Hernandez is going to be playing second in DC in 2009.

Emilio Bonifacio, acquired by the Nationals from Arizona before the Trade Deadline last July in return for the Tallest Pitcher in MLB History, closer Jon Rauch, and called at the time the second baseman of the future in Washington, is now the centerpiece of a package that reportedly also includes DC pitching prospect P.J. Dean and minor league infielder Jake Smolinski, a 7th Round pick and 2nd Round pick in '07, respectively, who go to Florida in return for Marlins' left-hander Scott Olsen and outfielder Josh Willingham. 

The talk so far this fall had been that Washington was in the market for a middle-of-the-order bat who could provide much-needed power to one of the league's worst offensive lineups, and the kind of names mentioned, (Teixeira, Fielder, Holliday, Dunn) seemed to be a little out of the Nationals' league, but Josh Willingham, a career .266 hitter, who hit 25 doubles, 5 triples and 15 HR's last season, and collected 51 RBI's in 102 games, (missing time with a herniated disk), is more the type of player I expected...29-years old, with (acc. to baseball-reference.com) an average .266 batting average, with 32 doubles, 4 triples, 25 HR's and 85 RBI's per 162 games played. 

But the point of this trade it would seem, is acquiring Scott Olsen, (and clearing up the second base drama), but mostly the acquisition of the 24-year old left-handed starter, who, 101 starts into his MLB career since being drafted by Florida in the 6th Round of the '02 Draft, has a 31-37 record and a 4.63 ERA. Olsen, like most new Nationals it would seem, comes with some baggage, however...(ed. note - "The drama is well-documented here on Scott Olsen's wikipedia.org page, which, yes, already includes the trade.")

Olsen was (8-11) last season, posting a 4.20 ERA in 33 starts and 202.1 IP, while allowing 94 ER, 30 HR's, 69 BB, and striking out 113, (down from 133 in '07 and 166 in '08), with a 1.31 WHIP and a .253 BAA. Olsen, who turns 25 in January, joins a DC rotation that could very well have 4 or 5 under-25 starters next season, including John Lannan, 23, Collin Balester, 22, and Shairon Martis, 21. 

...The Emilio Bonifaco Experiment in DC comes to a rather abrupt end, but if you've been following along with the Dominican Winter League action, you'll know that Anderson Hernandez has continued to impress, (after hitting .333 with 27 hits in 81 at bats over 28 games in Washington in '08, in which he collected 4 doubles and 17 RBI's), by batting .404 as of today, with 9 doubles, 4 triples, 1 HR, 15 RBI's and 4 steals for the DWL's second place Tigres del Licey. 

?'s Raised...

- Josh Willingham, Austin Kearns, Elijah Dukes, Lastings Milledge, Willie Harris, Roger Bernadina, Wily Mo Pena...Which of these players will not be Nationals come Opening Day? 

- Can Willingham play first? He's played 2 games there, back in 2006, and has played first in the Minors...

- Any chance Willingham isn't staying in DC?

-  Wasn't having Bonifacio fun? Would you trade Rauch for Olsen and Willingham? I think I would...I'd probably trade Rauch for Olsen...and I kinda like Willingham, I feel I can admit that now...

- Predict DC's '08 Rotation? Balester, Olsen, Lannan, Redding, Martis? How about Cory VanAllen, Ross Detwiler, Shawn Hill, Tyler Clippard or Jordan Zimmermann? That actually looks like a decent list of pitchers to choose from, or is it just me? 

- How about, Zimmerman, Guzman, Hernandez and Willingham around the infield? Or the HAMMER, Milledge and Dukes left to right in outfield...Sorry, Kearnsie?