The Nats Blog

The time has come to say goodbye to The Nats Blog... “It is an honor and a privilege to know that after 11 years of coverage…these will be the eight very last words ever written here: The Washington Nationals are the World Series Champions.” thenatsblog.com/2019/11/the-ti…

@ladsonbill24 Mechanics look horrible. Call me old fashioned but he should not be on his knees fielding ground balls. No way that’s more effective.

Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor is doing fielding drills at Citi Field. #Mets #MLB

@ajflax Remember this well. I was actually worried the Pirates would take Crews. I think there is als a revisionism happening here that people are thinking Crews wasn’t the right pick at 2. He was considered the most MLB ready prospect with incredibly high potential.

Something very interesting has happened with 2023 draft revisionism, which is that everyone has forgotten Skenes was not the consensus #1 guy. He took a huge leap as a pro. All the pre-draft rumors had the Pirates looking at Langford or Crews.

There’s obviously a sting trading an All-Star and one of the cornerstones of the Soto trade… But the Nats now have a lot of depth in their system and 9 of their top 30 prospects are 20 years old or younger. Young talent for a new regime to develop.

@CraigMac @ajflax So many former Nats + MAGA jokes but I’m just too sad to make them

@ajflax When was the last Nats hitter with this much red?

Your Nats 2026 first baseman?

@JeffPassan What happens with Fien’s bonus. Is that already paid by Texas? If so, did the Nats essentially get a top 15 pick player without having to pay his $4M+ bonus?

Full trade, per ESPN sources: Rangers get: LHP MacKenzie Gore Nationals get: 3B Gavin Fien, SS Devin Fitz-Gerald, RHP Alejandro Rosario, 1B Abimelec Ortiz and and OF Yeremy Cabrera A big return for the Nationals. Fien was the 12th pick last year. Evaluators love Fitz-Gerald.

When at an Unrivaled game in Miami I hear a familiar cheer and a unmistakeable energy. It couldn’t be!?! I thought. It was. Terrance. The legend himself. I told him I was a big Nats fan, he gave me a huge hug. Miss this guy!

@JWepp So that’s where babies come from…

Crazy part about this video is they’re now dating with a kid on the way.

@TalkNats I question whether that clubhouse has fully recovered. Based on the reports from the post this week…it sure seems there’s instability all round the organization. Ultimately I don’t think he’s broken. He will have a good reset this offseason and hopefully good coaching.

@TheNatsBlog This is a 3 month slump though. That's a long time. It's like the tale of 2 seasons.

On July 3rd, James Wood had the 9th highest WAR for any position player in MLB at +3.5. He was an All-Star and named to the HR Derby. He had 23 HRs (only 3 behind Schwarber). Wood had a K rate of just 26.4%. He was legitimately in the MVP conversation, and we saw commentors talking about a $500 million extension for him. Since that point, Wood has a -0.6 WAR, and the highest K rate in baseball since that point at 40.4%. The power production has been 4 HRs and just a .201 batting average and 110 strikeouts in those 63 games from July 4 to Sept 19 (1.75 K per game). What happened? Was it the HR Derby preparation that reportedly coincided with the demise? An injury? If Wood continues on this 1.75 K per game pace, he will break MLB's all-time ignominious strikeout record of 223 as Wood is just 11 Ks from that mark.

@TalkNats True but perhaps it’s easier to correct a slump a few games in if your clubhouse isn’t plunged into total chaos. We’ll never know but if we’re looking at big things that happened the week he fell apart. Hard to count that one out.

@TheNatsBlog The start of the slide was 2 games before the firing but you never know.

@jasonmahler @NatsSource It is not obvious that the looming lockout will negatively impact the value of an mlb team long term. These are long term assets.

@TheNatsBlog @NatsSource It's just obvious that the looming lockout will negatively impact the value of an MLB team, and also just as obvious that the Lerners will demand "full value" whenever they decide to sell. Maybe someone will decide to give them more than market value but no one seems interested.

I have no knowledge of anything… But if Lowe’s gone there’s a good chance that none of the Nats returning players will make more than $10 million in 2026. There is a vacancy at manager. A vacancy at GM. Senior business vacancies (CRO, CMO…) Seems like a clean slate to sell.

It’s crazy to me to think about how when Bryce won his first MVP he was the same age as James Wood, Brady House and Dayden Lile and younger than Abrams, Crews, and Hassell 🤯

lol Bob starting a sentence about how Riley Adams is hitting like he’s in his late 20’s only to realize he is in his late 20’s mid sentence and try to save it.

@NatsSource @jasonmahler The Rays are about to be sold and the Twins are expected to be sold this offseason as well. Sports franchises are long term assets, and extremely limited…I doubt a lockout will keep the billionaires who want to be in the club away.

@jasonmahler @TheNatsBlog Mets sold a year before a lockout, and right after COVID

@ajflax Now do it again without Lowe

I have crunched the numbers and determined the optimal OF/1B/DH playing time mix for the rest of the season. If you bench Young and put Bell/Lowe on the bench for ~1/3 of your games, you can get Hassell and Lile to start ~75% of the time.

@dkim2183 @Bobby_Blanco @MLBPipeline Is it? Wood, Crews, House, Abrams, Gore all graduated… Hassell too.

Eli Willits enters @MLBPipeline's new Top 100 prospect rankings at No. 18, one spot behind Ethan Holliday at No. 17. They're the two highest ranked prospects from this year's draft. Travis Sykora at No. 46 and Jarlin Susana at No. 73 round out the Nats prospects in the top 100.

Love me some Brad Lord. So happy they put him back in the rotation.

@jburroughsa I’m sure he wants to be effective he wants to get paid. My guess is it’s an endurance issue.

@TheNatsBlog I honestly think he either loses interest in the season/can’t handle playing for a losing team.

In his first 15 starts this season Mackenzie Gore gave up more than 4 earned runs 0 times. He has done it now 4 times in his last 8 starts.