I have to interrupt this Carolina basketball blogging to comment on how nice of an off season the Nationals have had.
The Doug Fister move was very nice. Any time you can add a durable, play-off tested pitcher with a sub-4.00 ERA in the American League as your third starter* you are having a good off season. The Nats' rotation will once again be one of the best if not the best in the National League, with Strasburg, Zimmermann, Fister, Gio (*anyone who walks that many batters has to be our fourth starter) and either Ross Detwiler, Taylor Jordan or my personal favorite, Tanner Roarke, as our fifth starter.
Of course, the starting pitching was not the issue for the 2013 Nats but the bullpen was as Washington struggled to replace lefty set up man Sean Burnett. But this off season has solved that problem, too, as the Nationals acquired lefthander Jerry Blevins from the A's. Not only does Blevins give the Nats a proven southpaw who should be just as good as Burnett was, it also means Washington's pitching staff includes the only two University of Dayton Flyers - Blevins and Craig Stammen - in the majors. Book the UD Alumni Association night out at Nats Park NOW!
Not only did the Nats improve their rotation and the left side of their bullpen but our division rivals the Atlanta Braves have gotten worse. They lost Nats-killer Tim Hudson to the Giants, but more importantly lost their heart and soul when Atlanta native and perennial all-star catcher Brian McCann signed with the Yankees.
Sure, the Braves signed Gavin Floyd, and their remaining starters from last year - Medlin, Miner, Teheran - are very good. And they still have Craig Kimbrell, Freddie Freeman and Justin Upton. But this off season our roster has gotten better, and their's has not.
Reignite the Natitude!
A few more Nats - and baseball - notes:
The Doug Fister move was very nice. Any time you can add a durable, play-off tested pitcher with a sub-4.00 ERA in the American League as your third starter* you are having a good off season. The Nats' rotation will once again be one of the best if not the best in the National League, with Strasburg, Zimmermann, Fister, Gio (*anyone who walks that many batters has to be our fourth starter) and either Ross Detwiler, Taylor Jordan or my personal favorite, Tanner Roarke, as our fifth starter.
Of course, the starting pitching was not the issue for the 2013 Nats but the bullpen was as Washington struggled to replace lefty set up man Sean Burnett. But this off season has solved that problem, too, as the Nationals acquired lefthander Jerry Blevins from the A's. Not only does Blevins give the Nats a proven southpaw who should be just as good as Burnett was, it also means Washington's pitching staff includes the only two University of Dayton Flyers - Blevins and Craig Stammen - in the majors. Book the UD Alumni Association night out at Nats Park NOW!
Not only did the Nats improve their rotation and the left side of their bullpen but our division rivals the Atlanta Braves have gotten worse. They lost Nats-killer Tim Hudson to the Giants, but more importantly lost their heart and soul when Atlanta native and perennial all-star catcher Brian McCann signed with the Yankees.
Sure, the Braves signed Gavin Floyd, and their remaining starters from last year - Medlin, Miner, Teheran - are very good. And they still have Craig Kimbrell, Freddie Freeman and Justin Upton. But this off season our roster has gotten better, and their's has not.
Reignite the Natitude!
A few more Nats - and baseball - notes:
- Nate McLouth, meh. Then again, I guess GM Mike Rizzo is taking the safe bet that one of our outfielders will likely get hurt, and McLouth is a more than capable back up.
- It seems that the only remaining move will be adding a back up catcher. Otherwise, the Nats' non-pitching roster seems set.
- I have no idea what the Yankees or Phillies have done this off season, but I think I would rather have Robinson Cano than Carlos Beltran**, Brian Roberts and Jacoby Ellsbury. Adding McCann makes sense but the Yankees' other moves don't. And the Phillies have signed older guys like Marlon Byrd while losing Roy Halladay to retirement. Both those squads are way over the hill.
- Great to see the Cardinals get worse, too, in losing Beltran!
- The length of Cano's contract is phenomenal. I guess no one in the other Washington learned anything from the infamous A-Rod, Soriano, Pujols, Hamilton contracts.
No comments:
Post a Comment