The football season is ending in its usual stinking fashion, but over the past two seasons I sense a difference in the fanbase. I have a young friend who was so happy a few years ago to sign up for season tickets--she is not renewing and has refused to go to the last few games. If we stay away from games and refuse to buy jerseys, perhaps Danny will change his ways? Nah. Pitchers and catchers report in less than 10 weeks!
Money talks. Especially to someone who always listens to money. So, it's worth a try.
In an article on NBC Sports, Fox Sports' Ken Rosenthal says the Nationals are likely to trade Tyler Clippard because they are so rich in right handed pitchers and because his salary will be very high. Please say it ain't so, Joe!
Clippard is one of severa valuable Nats who will be free agents after '15 -- Desmond, Zimmermann, Fister, Clippard, Span. There will be trade rumors about almost all of them. BUT the Base Case, imo, is that the Nats will keep everybody for the '15 run unless they get a trade offer that just blows them away.
So, I suppose you should hope that they DO make a trade or two because it will mean that Rizzo and his staff think they got a big win. But I've seldom seen a team that can still look so smart if it does almost nothing -- except, of course, address second base.
This glut of '15 free agents is hardly unique to the Nats. The Reds have to decide whether they want to try to make a serious run this year by keeping starting pitchers Johnny Cueto, Mat Latos, Mike Leaked and Alffredo Simo -- who are ALL free agents after '15.
The Nats have Good Problems. They can trade talent-in-its-prime for younger cheaper talent and then use the money they saved to buy different talent-in-its-prime.
In other words, Trade A for B, C and D, while saving X dollars you would have had to pay to A. Then use the money you saved to buy star player Z. You lose A, but gain B, C, D and Z.
Last year the Nat's bench hit .144 as pinch hitters. Four (Lobaton, Espinoza, McClouth, and Frandsen) of the five bench players scheduled to return for next year were part of this group. How will the bench improve, if we are relying on the same players? Does this mean that Tyler Moore is essentially gone?
Lobaton was a good backup catcher, so don't worry about him as a PH. Espinosa has enough value without considering PH ability, which fluctuates a lot from year to year because of small sample size. But every N.L. contender needs a strong LH pinch hitter. They thought that would be McLouth. With LaRoche gone, another LH bat is subtracted. So you are right -- they need to be confident that they have that lefty stick on the pine.
Moore's teammates can't wait for the day that he is free to leave and try to find a full time job somewhere -- because several of them think he'll be a Josh Willingham clone for several very good years. He deserves to have a real career somewhere as a starting player. I think he will. The Nats like him as a person and a hitter. But they just don't have a spot for him with Zimmerman, Werth and Harper taking up first base and the corner OF spots.
Boz, Since the season ended, two front office executives have left the Nat's front office for Arizona. Should we, as Nats fans, be concerned? Are the the Lerners difficult to work for?
When you win the most games in baseball over a three-year period and a lot of it is due to your excellent front office, other teams are going to take a run ($$$) at your people.
It's part of the price of success.
Conversely, when was the last time an NFL team looked at Washington as a place to try to poach top front office talent. ROTF...
BTW, apparently Fletcher's not baking down today.
Gee, chat readers have known the awful 13-season Haslett disaster stats for the last couple of years. You can pick the words of your choice to describe Fletcher blasting his old coach -- who probably had his back for much of last year -- but I think it is absolutely certain that Fletcher's real opinion is that Haslett can't be an adequate DC -- poor attention to detail, poor feel for when to call what and calls that Fletcher thought were so wrong that he immediately changed them.
BUT there is an extra dimension in this quote today. Fletcher: "What I’m doing is speaking up for all the players and that coaches that he [disrespected] for the last 20 years." Personal? Or is London just taking a lot of unfriendly fire today.
Oh, one point I left out of my column this morning on all the bad blood and payback that surrounds Snyder's team from all around the NFL. Jeff Fisher, who sent out the SIX players acquired with draft picks in the RGIII traded, is a long time buddy of Mike Shanahan. Not many do payback as well as Mike. That's why so many said -- the day Snyder signed him --"if things go bad, they'll really deserve each other."
Let's take it as a given that for a franchise to win, in any major professional sport, one needs good players, good coaches, good management, good health, and a bit of good luck. The question then: are these enough to overcome bad ownership, or that necessary, too? Because owners do not fire themselves. Have you ever seen a team -- in any sport -- win consistently despite bad ownership?
Not consistently.
But even the worst owners can get lucky and stumble into good people for key jobs when they are out of work for dumb reasons. Look at the Orioles. It doesn't get worse at the top. But Dan Duquette, who's a decent but chilly intellectual, got a tough rap in Boston and Buck Showalter, believe it or not, was out of baseball and doing TV despite his baseball brilliance because of -- well, not much, really, just comments like "wired too tight."
Where does Snyder find his Duquette and Showalter? Or does he? And if he did, would he leave them alone?
They should be the Washington Maroons. Or the Washington Marooned.
Marooned is right.
All day Sunday I just looked at this wrecked franchise and felt bad for the town, which it embarrasses, and most of the people who work and play for it.
Years ago in Camden Yards, I was talking with an executive who is now in the Hall of Fame who said, "You are watching the destruction of a great franchise." That's what we've seen at FedEx Field over the last 15 years.
The job is done. With the knowledge now that Griffin was apparently not the answer, I'd say that this team will remain bad-to-mediocre for years. Yesterday was the first time I've felt that way. What is the "solution?"
You can reach a point where there isn't one. Or certainly not one that is visible, even if you gaze at the horizon. Something will reverse it someday. Everything in the NFL is structured to insure parity -- iow, you could put a goat, a chicken and a pig in charge and sooner or later they'd draft Tom Brady in a late round. But it sure could could take a while.
Boz, I am by no means a rabid football fan, or a fan at all, but I watched most of the game yesterday and it dawned on me that the biggest problem for the Washington team isn't a lack of talent at the QB spot, but the completely incompetent offensive line. Tom Brady couldn't do squat behind those guys. Is it as simple as that?
Last week in Indy, Trent Williams had one of the worst games I have ever seen a left tackle perpetrate. I watched the tape again just to marvel at him. This is the cornerstone talent? Penalties, lined up wrong, allowed sacks. Okay, he was just coming back from an injury. Maybe an aberration. On Sunday, he almost got McColt killed with a blindside hit when he whiffed. Another really bad game when I watched again last nighty. Yet, after the game, he said a lot of sensible things, but I also heard him say, "The offensive line, believe it or not, has been doing all right."
No, Trent, I don't believe it. Something about the 13 sacks and FIVE quarterback fumbles (all by McCoy) the last two weeks tell me that the offensive line is NOT doing all right.
Hey Boz, Not sure why so many people are upset about yesterday's game. Yes, DC was down early to an inferior team, but they came back and gave themselves a chance to win late. Plus the season is early, they're off to a great start and are playing quite well overall. We'll see how they respond tonight when they can get some revenge against the Celtics. Go Wizards! Oh wait, there wasn't a football game yesterday, was there?
I'm with you. The Wiz loss to the Celts confused me. Want to see the bounce back. Doubt Beal will be 4-for-18 again.
Wiz were down 25 at one point in 3Q, but, with one minute left, could have gone ahead when ex-Celt Paul Pierce took a key three-point shot -- and missed.
The comeback from 25 down may be the important factor. But, after winning four straight, the Wiz do need to find spots in the sked, like back-to-back with Boston, to keep a streak going.
With the amount of money he makes, can't Jason Werth afford a driver 24-7? I'm also wondering, what do you think the response/fallout from Nats management will be down the road? I mean, this is kind of a black eye, given all of the recent focus on sports athletes staying out of trouble...
The officer who stopped Werth, supposedly driving 105 in a 55 mph at 9:40 on a Sunday morning in his Porsche, asked the hairy one what he was doing. Werth supposedly said, "Pushing my luck."
If that 10 days in jail sticks on appeal I suspect he'll think it was more serious than that. If you want to drive your Porsche over 100, do in the middle of Nevada and press your luck with the troopers in the middle of nowhere. But don't do it on our roads. We drive there, too. (Grump.)
Which editor did you get on the bad side of, that he or she keeps torturing you by making you write about the Washington football team?
What kind of money is it gonna take to sign JZ?
Almost as much as Jay-Z.
(Jay-Z net worth estimate: $520M).
Some say Z'mann is in the Homer Bailey contract category. Dream on. Greinke -- >$140M -- is more likely neighborhood.
I surrender to the Danny and all of his minions. From my first game at Griffith Stadium-1955- until yesterday, I have always held the faith. Eddie LeBaron, Ralph Gugliemi, Norm Snead, Dick Shiner, Sonny, Dick James, Joe Rutgers, Karl Kammerer, Jerry Smith, A.D. Whitfield, Wilbur Jackson et. al. at least gave me some hope that there were better days ahead. Now the only light I can see on the horizon is "pitchers and catchers report".
You remember when BOTH the Skins and Senators were terrible -- for many years. There was no place to turn.
We're lucky. Now there is. Wiz and Nats are both good teams (Nats very good) and also appealing players and people. This is almost like a sanity test for local fans. Do you keep chewing on nails or notice that there is a steak and a bowl of ice cream sitting right on the table in front of you that you could eat instead.
(Our local radio guys would put the nails IN the ice cream, eat it and say, "Yuuummmm, good. Especially the nails.")
It blocked two extra points and a field goal.
Yup.
Also, the horrible field at FedEx. One Ram said to our Mark Giannotto, who told me, "It was horrible. Some patches were high, some were low. Wet, soggy."
A teammate said, "Only Chicago is worse."
"Yeah, probably Chicago," said the first Ram, "when it's raining."
All three of Griffin's biggest injuries in the NFL -- vs Ravens and Seahawks in '12 and this year in home opener -- were on FedEx Field. Two of 'em might have been field related. We'll never know.
Any sane person would not be looking for wins from the Redskins this season. I expected them to use this opportunity to see if RGIII could develop into the NFL QB that everyone at one point thought he could be. Does the fact that they are not mean that they think he no longer has that potential? Do you?
They thought they'd go 10-6 this year.
Honest. Gruden's mandate, like everybody's, has been "win."
If they had been able to say the word "rebuild," even internally, could they have handled Griffin differently or built their offense somewhat differently. I don't know. But I can see that the bridge between player and team has now been burned, dynamited and chopped into little pieces. Do you start building a new bridge? Doesn't look like it.
What was your perception of London Fletcher when you were covering him? Did it surprise you when you read his scathing comments on Haslett? Were there any signs of animosity between the two that you saw?
Everybody respected Fletcher. He was a wonderful player right through '12. (Not last year.) I enjoyed talking to him and did so often. But he would reach a point where he wouldn't say any more on touchy subjects but you could tell he was dying to open up. As a team leader, he couldn't.
I'm totally surprised that he has THIS bad an opinion on Haslett's coaching ability. (I thought I was the leader in the clubhouse.) But was he a player who, with me one-on-one after games, often seemed to be biting his tongue? Yes.
Can we please talk about the Wizards, Caps, or preferably Nats now? I'm sick of the football team...
Sunday really did seem like it was so low, so symbolic, that it is actually worth discussing.
But I promise the chat will not be (overly) contaminated the next three weeks with more of the same.
The winter meetings are probably going to be very active.
I just want to interrupt the Redskins bitterness to say the Wizards are not just good (yesterday's disappointing loss to Boston aside), but a real joy to watch. The ball movement and assists during Friday's win over Denver were beautiful. Do you think they'll get better as the season goes on?
They already had excellent chemistry and ball movement last year. But they are blending in new bench pieces now, like Humphries (21 rebounds!), and learning how to play with the great head-for-the-game Paul Pierce. So, they should improve.
Obviously the Western Conference is much stronger. But that just makes aiming high in the Eastern Conference that much more reasonable. They just blew the doors off Denver. Really enjoyed it, especially with Wall not even bothering to score double digits.
What are the possible solutions to crowning a national college football champ? This one doesn't seem to work.
It works adequately. College football ranking are so ridiculous __Baylor won its first three gift games against pigeons 178-27 (who knew there was a Northwestern STATE?). I enjoy Adam Kilgore's column on how stupid the committee looked after dropping TCU from No. 3 to "out" after they won by 52 points!
But I don't think that the final result is an injustice to anybody or that, as Vegas lines makers thinks, Ohio State is weak and undeserving of its place in the final four.
TCU won big on Saturday, but their entire season wasn't some monster blowout. They lost to Baylor (58-61) and had close games with Oklahoma (3y7-33), West Virginia (31-30) and Kansas (34-342). They didn't win EVERY gamed by 52.
And TCU's ridiculous margin of victory for the season __26.5 points__ isn't that different than Baylor (24.6) or OSU (24.0).
It's not like any of these teams were playing an SEC schedule. Baylor also had a loss (27-41 to West Virginia) and a couple of tough wins, including TCU, Texas Tech (48-46) and Kansaas State (38-27).
Yes, if the names on the uniforms of OSU, TCU and Baylor has all been changed, and OSU had been less glamorous as a famous power, then a different team probably would have been picked. But I think all three were close enough that it's not any outrage and OSU's 59-0 win over a 13th-ranked Wisconsin team is a pretty amazing statement win.
IOW, the system is good enough for me. At least now we can argue about whether the 4th-best team in the country was left out. For decades we have often been left to debate whether the No. 2 (or even No.1) team in the nation got left out of the defacto Title Game.
Lost in all the other DC sports news last week was the short article that stated DC politicians had approved unanimously the construction of a 'soccer only' stadium near the Nats stadium at Buzzards Point. That is huge for DCU and continues the transfiguration of that section of the city - a 'win-win' for all. Go United!
I wouldn't call it a small story -- I certainly found it on A1 and read it!
But you're right it was an important story. I hope, and as an operating assumption agree with you, that this should help with the "transfiguration of that section of the city." Nats and United should make good neighbors.
I noticed how pretty the L.A. stadium was in the MLS title game on Sunday.
Hi! Just curious for your thoughts on the Orioles and the Markakis debacle this week (clearly, I'm biased). Do you think the Orioles should have signed him, and do you think GMs should consider fan sentiments or player loyalty when fielding their team? And do you think there are parallels to Mussina leaving?
At this stage of his career, with his power way down, Markakis isn't worth anywhere the deal that the Braves gave him. The O's are lucky he left -- even though everybody loved him and he's still a wonderful fielder. It's similar to LaRoche in D.C. Everybody wishes him well. But that doesn't mean you want to give him a multi-year contract to stay -- four years in Nick's case.
Nelson Cruz was a big loss, probably impossible to replace. Losing Markakis allows for the possibility of a slight upgrade at a much lower price. IOW, apparent bad luck is really good luck. We'll see who it turns out to be.
That's it for to day. Too many good subjects and questions!
See you next Monday.
Went to the game yesterday and had a flashback to the Nats circa 2009. Easy parking and no lines at the concession stands were major positives, but the play was horrible. Funny thing, I can enjoy "bad" baseball, but bad football is just plain bad.
Just wanted to give a shout-out to Dan Steinberg for becoming a new sports columnist. His wit has made the Bog a worthy read for many years. I'm excited to see him in his new role.
Everybody's pleased for him. Well-deserved.
Is the world ready for a fully-evolved bog! Be fun to find out.
Boz I am a life long and multigenerational Washingtonian and the way the current atmosphere that surrounds ALL DC sports teams is so toxic is unprecedented to any city at anytime . It doesn't matter what the record the impression of the teams and the fans is SO NEGATIVE. In other cities they can take the circus of the Redskins or the end of season crash and burn soul sucking failure of both the Nationals and Capitals and the years of nothing but stupid of the Bullets/Wizards and run with it as part of what it means to a fan in that city. Not here it is used to demean and attack the city and fan bases by national sports reporters and it wears on the fan base so that every year is another long road to endure failure and depression. So WHY CAN'T THIS BE FUN why do we have to be subjected to abuse from all around. Thanks for listening.
I hear you.
But I DO take it as fun. The Nats have been delightful and October exits are part of the game. Even though nobody prefers it this way, maybe '12 and '14 are part of building a fan base with scar tissue and war stories. (Not real war stories. You know what I mean.)
The Wiz are certain fun, too. The Caps are a perfectly normal pro team with a still-special player in Ovechkin.
And, if you cock your head at a certain angle, and I sometimes do, the FedEx Follies are darkly amusing.
Overall, these are good times to be a Washington sports fan. Maryland in a bowl game in its first Big Ten year. On and on.
Smile. It's not all Deadskins. In fact, less all the time.
Over and very much out.
