7 months away...

But I am back. Its been hard but I want to use this blog again. I'll start having some updates more often now. Thanks

Looking back on the crazy post.

Prior to Opening Day, I wrote my predictions. Now I'll look back and maybe revise them for the final strech of the season. The post can be found ?here. Here were some of my predictions...
1. John Patterson can remain healthy and win 17 games.
So far: John has only started 7 games and may be done with the Nats. Uh well...
2. Shawn Hill will be healthy and 10-12 wins.
Shawn has made 8 starts, and has not been healthy, but he has been great. With only a 2.70 ERA, I say he's one of the better pitchers on the Nats
3. Matt Chico will be in the ROY race
He's been great, but not ROY Great
4. Jason Bergamann will not lose a rotation spot
And he hasn't. Prior to his injury, he had the lowest ERA in the league but hasn't been to great lately. Still in the Rotation though
5. Jermone Williams or Levale Springer will be ok for the number 5 spot
Wrong...Neither are on the team anymore. Speinger is in the minors and Williams was released.
Bullpen
Wagner isn't here, or zincola, but Colome and Rivera have realy steped up as great arms.
Lineup
Jesus hasn't been outstanding this year and really proved himself as the catcher of the future.
Dimtri Young has been a class citzen. And a great player
Feilpe Lopez is not an all-star.
Ronnie Belliard has been great.
guzman looked like he was on his way to the Comeback player of the year...Till he got injured again
Zimmerman will be the man this year and hit 25 homers and shine at the hot corner
Pretty close.
Church is still here and Snelling is outta here.
Logan hasn't been decent, but recently has been hot.
Kearns will not hit 35 homers.
AND MANNY ACTA WILL PROVIDE THE NATS WITH SOMETHING THEY NEED TO MAKE THIS HAPPEN, PASSION...Which he has. I put the credeit this year on him and Randy St. Claire.
Pre-season prediction-82-80.
Right now that looks vary possible. The Nats would have to go 29-17. Possible yes, but unlikely. i think they will go more like 23-23 the rest of the way for 76 wins. Maybe a little more.
Still a great season.
Thanks for reading.

Memories

I would like for any Expo's and Sentors fans to share some of the best things that they remember from their teams.I would hate to see the Nats leave, so I can only imange how hard it was to see their team leave.
Share what you would like...

My favorite memory, by far, most going to the chilly first game. The exepdition match between the Mets and Nats. I was so cool to see the Nats the first time. It was lots of fun.
Thanks for reading.

Where would the Nats be if...

Sorry for not posting. I've been busy.
Anyway, I was going through all the transactions and noticed alot of bad trades. I've decided to highlight all of the major ones here:
In 1997, the Expo's traded Cliff Floyd to Florida Marlins in exchange for Dustin Hermanson and Joe Orsulak.
In the 1997 season Floyd did really nothing. He hit.234 with 6 HR and 19 RBI's through 61 games. The following seasons, Floyd did alot better. In 98', he 22 HR's with 90 RBI's and a .282 AVG. Through 1997-2001, Floyd hit 92 HR's with 351 RBI's. In 2002 the Expos got him back, but they traded him again, this time to the Red Sox's for Sun-Woo Kim and Seung Song.
In 2005, the Nationals first year in Washington, Floyd hit 34 HR's with 98 RBI's.
So what did the Expo's get back for Floyd. Dustin Hermanson never hit higher than .145 in his 4 seasons with the Expo's. Joe Orsulak hit .227 in his only year with the Expos. He hadn't played again. Sun-Woo Kim actually did play for the Nats. He had an ERA of 6.14 in 2005, over 29.1 innings.So what were the Expos reason's for trading Floyd?Off The Kuff wrote quite a piece on why the Expo's did these deals. He describes it as a plan to get rid of the Expo's and help baseball. Very interesting read.

My personal favorite horrible trade, the Expos traded Pedro Martinez to Boston Red Sox in exchange for Carl Pavano and a player tobe named later; Montreal Expos received Tony Armas Jr. Pedro had a 1.90 ERA in 1997 through 31 starts. He was excellent. As we all know Pedro went on to help the Red Sox's win their first World Series in 86 years. So what did the Expo's get in return? Carl Pavano made his Major League debut in 98'. He had one decent season as an Expo where he pitched 15 games and had an ERA of 3.06. Pavano was then used to get Cliff Floyd back in 2002. Tony Armas pitched with the Nationals in 2005 and 2006 and was mediocre at best.

This one seemed decent. The Expo's traded Carlos Perez, Mark Grudzielanek and Hiram Bocachica to Los Angeles Dodgers in exchange for Peter Bergeron, Wilton Guerrero, Ted Lilly and Jonathan Tucker. Grudzielanek was decent over the next years, but Ted Lilly went on to be an innings eatter. Not as an Expo though. Lilly was traded to the Yankees along with Jake Westbrook in 2000. Westbrook is not a 200 Innings per year pitcher for the Indians. The the players the Expo's had/got all flourished elsewhere.

In 2001, the Expo's traded Ugueth Urbina to Boston Red Sox in exchange for Tomo Ohka and Rich Rundles. Urbina went on to be a solid reliever for multiple teams. Tomo Ohka did play for the Nationals in 2005. Ohka frustrated then manager Frank Robinson, which lead to Ohka being traded for Junior Spivey.
Also in 2001, the Expo's traded Milton Bradley to Cleveland Indians in exchange for Zach Day. Bradley had a great 2003 season, and has been a solid outfielder since. Day never really panned out. He was used to get Preston Wilson in the 2005 season then signed with the Nationals again in 2006.
In 2002 Traded Jason Bay and Jimmy Serrano to New York Mets in exchange for Lou Collier. Bay is now an all-star. Bay was drafted in the 22nd round in the 2000 draft. That still doesn't mean that you can trade away a top prospect like Bay for nothing. Collier only played 13 games with the Expo's. Bay would be the Nationals CF now and we wouldn't have the Logan logjam.

This is the biggest trade of all. The Expo's traded Lee Stevens, Brandon Phillips, Cliff Lee and Grady Sizemore to Cleveland Indians in exchange for Bartolo Colon and Tim Drew. At the time, this was a great deal for the Expo's. Colon had 10 wins for the Expo's that year. However, Colon was later traded to the White Sox's for nothing. Brandon Phillips is now the starting SS for the Reds and would be a great fit for the Nationals. A combination of good defense, hits for and average average, and as good power. Cliff Lee is now a front end starter for the Indians.
He had 18 wins in 2005. But the biggest mistake of all was Grady Sizemore. He is a great centerfeilder. He plays great defense and hits for a good average, with some power.

If all that wasn't enough, there's more. The Expo's traded Matt Herges to Pittsburgh Pirates in exchange for Chris Young and Jon Searles. Young was later traded for a pair of nobody's from the Rangers. Chris Young is now a great pitcher for the San Deigo Padres. He is best known for throwing the punch at Derrek Lee this year. Matt Herges pitched one year for the Expos before moving on.

In 2003, Vladimir Guerrero left. Guerrero owns nearly every Expo record. He is one of the best hitters in the game today. The Expo's had essentially given up on the team.
The Expo's also traded Michael Barrett to Oakland Athletics in exchange for a player to be namedlater; Montreal Expos received Bret Price. Micheal Barrett had some decent years, but still should have gotten something better in return.
In 2004 a four team deal went down. The Expo's gave Orlando Carbera to the Red Sox's and received Brendan Harris, Alex Gonzalez and Francis Beltran. None have done anything as a National. Harris has shined this year with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

So the Nationals would have great players not if the MLB and Omar Minaya hadn't sold the team away for nothing. If there is one bright side, the Nationals wouldn't have been in DC if Minaya hadn't traded away the team. So thanks Omar for giving us a sucky team, but at least a team.
The Plan from Stan Kasten is just trying to repair years of damage. Hopefully, one day the Nationals will overtake Minaya's team(the Mets) for the best team in the divsion.
Thanks for reading

Josh Whitesell

I hope he gets his shot in the majors this year. As of tonight, he is hitting .283 but has a great OBP of .413. He also had 18 home runs with 57 RBI's. I would love to see him be the starting first basemen, and have D. Young traded. If the Nats do sign Adam Dunn in the offseason, he can play in LF instead of first. I would like that lineup more than the current one. D.
young could bring back at least one good prospect-seeing how Scott Linebrink recived three good prospects. Seeing how he is a RP maybe Jon Rauch could be one the move -to New York. Lastings Milledege would be great.
My current project is getting the WPA for all the Nationals Minor League teams. Anyone that is good with databases or excel please leave an email address
Thanks for reading

Today, we are proud to announce...

that Adam Dunn will be joined the Nationals for the 2008 season.
Reports from Fox sports saying the Nats are trying to trade for Adam Dunn this season. Why?
Jim Bowden said that he thinks he will be able to lock him up to a long term deal, so why watse prospects and get him now. Sign him in the off-season. What will we lose?
Dunn will be a type-a free agent this off season. If the Nats sign him, then we will lose a first rounder and the original team will receive a compensation pick. But, if we remember Alfonso soriano last year, the Cubs were protected because their pick was in the top-15 in the draft. Im 90% sure that the Nats will also have a top 15 pick. So, the Nats will only lose their 2nd round pick. Now next years draft won't have any extra picks because the Nats don't have any free-agent that are worth anything. So we will lose a pick. Which may be a good thing, because the Nats will most likely spend money over slot this year for Smoker and McGeary.
It would be great for the Nats to get Adam Dunn but Jim Bowden doesn't need to waste prospects on him down. Dunn's best friend, Austin Kearns, is still on the Nats and that may give Dunn a better reason to sign with the Nats.
Thanks for reading

More trade talks with Boston?

The Boston Red Sox's had a 14 game lead over there rival New York Yankees. Today that lead is only at 7 games. That's still a big lead, right? Well, according to PTI, only 3 teams have came back to win the division when down such a feat. One was the Yankees. So the Red Sox's have all the reason in the world to be afraid. The question is will Theo Epstein do anything about. Right now, David Ortiz is battling injuries and the Red Sox have wanted a first baseman. Well, Dmitri Young is out there. The Red Sox have also reportedly wanted another arm in the pen. Well here's the blockbuster trade:

Red Sox's get:

D. Young, R. Belliard(only because of his versatility and playoff experience.Dustin Perdoria, the Red Sox's young second baseman could use some time off, as well as Juilo Lugo. Ronnie can also play first) RP Jon Rauch and Larry Broadway.

Nationals get:

Brandon Moss, Jon Lester, Jason Place, and maybe Willy Mo Pena.

The only reason I put WMP up there is because of Jim Bowden's desire to have him on the Nats. Brandon Moss has some power( 13 homers so far this year in 342 AB) and still hits for average. He doesn't have a really high OBP but a good number(.390)

Jon Lester is the pitcher that was diagnosed with cancer last season. This year however, Lester has made a full comeback. Lester has a good fastball with an above-average change.

Jason Place is the five-tool CF the Nats need. He strikes out alot on offspeed but plays great defense. Has plus speed.

In all, pulling both Moss and Place will be tough but the Nats are giving up alot of players. I think it's good for both teams. Jim Bowden could also talk the Sox into this one with a line like, " You know the Yankees offered me so and so, I might trade Young to them." If Jim can make a move like this it would be great. However it is very unlikely
Thanks for reading

Why sign McGeary?

There has recently be a flurry of reports about the Nationals signing their sixth-round pick, Jack McGeary. McGeary, considered a first-round talent, wants first-round money. McGeary also slipped because many expected him to go to Stanford instead of playing baseball. The Nationals may have offered him a 2-2.5 million contract and allow him to go to school. Some fans are outraged. Other's happy. Why doesn't it make sense. In the draft, you never know if a player is going to make it to the majors or not. A good strategy is to target players with potential and stockpile. Chances are one of them will make, maybe more if you are lucky. Even if not for this team. Later on down the road when the Nationals are close to the promise land, a world series, they may be buyers instead of sellers. These hot prospects could be good bargaining chips to bring in some players that will help the team win some more games.
So sign McGeary right? It's not that easy. Some think if the Nationals pay for McGeary, then the Nats won't sign that free-agent at the end of this year. But, Stan Kasten has already said many times that the Nats will be spending money on free-agents.
Hopefully, the Nats end up getting both Smoker and McGeary. But the real question is, why are fans complaining? Everyone, including me, went on and on about how the Nats should have spent some money this off season, and now when they are willing to spend that money, fans complain about it. The Lerners are spending the money not us. They have alot of it. This is a sign of things to come(see free-agents).
Thanks for reading