Hot Stove-itude

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:

• 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.

Can finally focus on basketball season

The Heels lost a very entertaining Meineke Car Care Bowl yesterday, 30-31, to Dalal Abulhasn's West Virginia Mountaineers. To their credit the Mountaineers, especially quarterback Pat White, made plays down the stretch and the Heels did not.

Despite a phenomenal performance by Hakeem Nicks, who dominated the first half for Carolina, the Heels could not overcome turnovers and dropped passes in the second half. Leading 30 to 24 and driving into West Virginia territory on a drive to put the game away, Shaun Draughn fumbled on the 30. Earlier in the final stanza Greg Little, who had a nice game catching and running the football, dropped a long pass that would have given the Heels a big first down.

Finally, T.J. Yates was intercepted with less than 2 minutes to go on his only bad pass of the game. Those plays were the difference in the game and the loss.

I would have felt better if Hansbrough, or at least Danny Green, were on the field for the football Heels.

Despite the final outcome, the season was a good one for the Heels. We saw Butch Davis point the program in the right direction last season, and the progress continued this year with 8 wins, a bowl game, and road wins at Rutgers and Miami. Best all all, this is still a relatively young team with loads of talent returning. That's true even with Brandon Tate graduating and if Nicks goes pro early.

And despite the final score, Evan and I had a fun time watching the game and tackling each other during commercials.

But before looking forward to the 2009 football season we must turn to the 2009 basketball Heels, who get back in action tonight against Rutgers.

One Quick Nats Note

The Nats did not sign Severna Park-native Mark Teixeira despite putting some serious cheese on the table. I'm not sure he is worth that money, money that the Nats will probably spend on Adam Dunn and hopefully some pitching.

The Yankees upgraded their pitching with CC Sabathia, but even with A.J. Burnett (who only produces in a contract year) and Teixeira I'm not that impressed with the Yankees lineup, projected to be:

LF Johnny Damon (on the downside of his career); SS Derek Jeter (ditto, but not as steep a slide as Damon); 1B Mark Teixeira and 3B Alex Rodriguez (legit threats); DH Hideki Matsui (oft injured and like Damon not the threat he once was); RF Xavier Nady (serviceable but hardly intimidating; I'd go with Nick Swisher); C Jorge Posada (fading fast as most 35+ catchers do); 2B Robinson Cano and CF Melky Cabrera (neither have been focused nor productive the last two seasons; or use Swisher in CF).

Anyway, I'd still put the Yankees behind the Rays and Red Sox in the AL East for 2009.

As for the Nats, though he strikes out a lot and is yet another former Reds player, Dunn would be a nice addition. No one on the Nats hit more than 15 homers last year and Dunn is a consistent 40 homer guy. He'd look good in the four hole.

The Nats would look semi-legit with this lineup: LF Willingham (24 homers with Florida last year); CF Milledge; RF Dukes; 3B Zimmerman; SS Guzman; 2B Willie Harris???? ideally the Nats sign Orlando Hudson and do NOT give the job to Mets reject Anderson Hernandez; 1B Adam Dunn?; C Jesus Flores.

The pitching staff is a bigger question. Former Marlin Scott Olson and former O Daniel Cabrera will likely be the 2nd and 5th starters, respectively, with John Lannan in the rotation as the 3rd or even number one starter. Depending how Cabrera performs in spring training, the Nats could have three rotation - but at least two - spots open, with folks like Colin Balester, Shaun Hill, Jason Bergman, Shairon Martis, Matt Chico and even Mike O'Connor to battling for a spot.