Image taken from Google Images

On Tuesday night, the 2011 All Star game will take place. Of course, it’s supposed to be a battle of the biggest stars of the sport, and for the most part, it is. I’ll leave my reservations about the voting process for another day. MLB has done a great job advertising the Home Run Derby, which takes place the night before the Midsummer Classic. Of course, it’s a fun event, but it’s glorified batting practice. The most exciting event of the week, at least for the real baseball nerds such as myself, takes place a day before the Derby, as the future of the game is on display in the All-Star Futures Game.

Many of these players will go on to great careers. Looking at the MVPs of past futures games shows that these special prospects are just a step away from being special big-leaguers. Four of the six Larry Doby Award winners from 1999 to 2004 eventually made appearances in the MLB All-Star game, including Alfonso Soriano, Jose Reyes, Grady Sizemore, and Aaron Hill. Since then, emerging stars such as Billy Butler and Hank Conger have earned MVP honors and the remainder of the rosters feature many budding superstars as well. This year’s rosters are no different, as several of the players in the 2011 Futures Game will be hoping to return to future midsummer exhibitions representing their respective Major League clubs. Listed here are just a few of the top prospects to watch on Sunday night.

USA Roster:

Shelby Miller, RHP, Cardinals

Miller has been dominant in both High-A and in Double-A, a level to which he was recently promoted. Miller, 20, has struck out 124 batters in 95.2 innings. Miller was ranked as Baseball America’s 13th best prospect in baseball before the season, and moved up to 7 in the recent midseason top 50. He features a mid-high 90s fastball with life, a big curveball, and a developing changeup that looks like it will be a weapon for him in the future, although he hasn’t been throwing it for long. Like many top pitchers, he didn’t need a changeup in high school, but he’s been working on the pitch and it should be a strong part of Miller’s repertoire by the time he’s ready for the majors, likely sometime next season.

Matt Moore, LHP, Rays

Moore was ranked as the 15th best prospect in baseball before this season, and his performance as a 22-year-old for Double-A Montgomery has moved him up to the 3 slot, as the best pitching prospect in baseball. Moore has rung up 125 batters in 96.2 innings at the level, and he’s also done a great job curtailing some of the control problems that held him back early in his career. After walking 5.1 batters per nine innings in 2009 and 3.8 in 2010, he’s now down to an impressive 2.4 BB/9. A steal in the 8th round of the 2007 MLB draft. He led the minors in strikeouts in each of the past two seasons, using mostly his mid-90s fastball, low 90s two-seamer, and a sharp, late-breaking curve. Like Miller, he’s working on his changeup, which is behind his other three pitches in terms of their development but should be another solid piece of his arsenal.

Drew Pomeranz, LHP, Indians

Pomeranz’s first big-league season is making it clear why the Indians tabbed him with the fifth overall selection of the 2010 draft, as he’s jumped all the way from 61 on Baseball America’s preseason list to 14 on the midseason rankings. Pomeranz has been tearing up High-A, striking out 95 and walking only 32 in 77 innings. He features a low-90s fastball with a ton of life and a nasty curve that is really his calling card. The 22-year-old Pomeranz could be due for a promotion soon. It’ll be interesting to see how he attacks some of the more polished World hitters, who will represent the best competition he’s seen thus far.

Jacob Turner, RHP, Tigers

At 20 years of age, Turner is one of the youngest players in Double-A, but he’s been dominating hitters several years his senior. Possibly the most polished 20-year-old pitcher in the minors (although he does still have some work to do in refining his command), Turner has notched 79 strikeouts against just 29 walks in 100.2 innings. He’s dealt with some injury issues, but when he’s on the mound, he’s looked nasty. He’s got a mid-to high 90s four-seam fastball with run, a low 90s two-seamer with a sinking action, and fairly well developed secondary stuff with a nasty curve and plus changeup, especially considering his age.

Devin Mesoraco, C, Reds

The 23-year-old is the reason the Reds may feel comfortable moving Ramon Hernandez at the deadline, as his replacement has looked ready for the bigs in Triple-A. Mesoraco has jumped from a preseason ranking of 64 in BA’s top prospects all the way to 15 in the midseason rankings. Mesoraco has a .303/.378/.510 line this year, showcasing a solid eye and powerful bat, and his defense has improved by leaps and bounds since he entered the Reds’ system in 2007, as he’s now a lock to stick behind the plate.

Manny Machado, SS, Orioles

Machado, the third overall pick of the 2010 draft, has been living up to the expectations that come with that high a selection. Rated 14th preseason and fifth in the most recent BA update, Machado’s .263/.369/.458 line at A and High-A shows impressive power and discipline for a shortstop, and he contributes on both sides of the ball with a strong glove. Only 19, he may not make it to Baltimore until the 2014 season, but when he does he’ll be an impact player at short.

Bryce Harper, OF, Nationals

The consensus top prospect in baseball, Harper was recently promoted to Double-A. The 18-year-old might be ready for the majors today, but the Nationals figure to take their time letting him develop, as the future of their franchise rides on his bat and Stephen Strasburg’s arm. Harper is in the upper echelon of top prospects, as his incredible polish and abilities at his young age rank him alongside A-Rod and Griffey as one of the best prospects of all time.

Wil Myers, OF, Royals

Myers fell slightly from his top-10 BA ranking preseason to 17 in the midseason update, largely due to his move from behind the plate into the outfield. Myers wasn’t much of a defensive catcher, and his bat will certainly play in right. His trademark power hasn’t shown up in Double-A this season, as he’s slugging .385 after putting up a .506 mark between A and High-A last year. Nevertheless, Myers is only 20, extremely young for the level, and he’s on track to follow the rest of the impressive Royals prospects to the majors next season.

A quick note: Angels centerfielder Mike Trout was originally selected for the game but was called up last week when Peter Bourjos hit the DL. Trout won’t play in the Futures game, but he’s certainly the future of the Angels franchise, and it would be something of a surprise if he didn’t make it back to the All-Star festivities in the future.

The top prospects for the World team:

Carlos Martinez, RHP, Cardinals

Martinez will oppose his future rotation-mate, Shelby Miller, and they’ll likely be pitching together on the Cardinals’ staff by the 2013 season. Only 19, Martinez recently earned a promotion to high-A by striking out 50 while walking only 14 in 38.2 innings in A ball. A native of the Dominican, Martinez’s fastball routinely hits the high 90s with cutting action. He’s working on his secondary stuff, which will be the key to his moving up the organization ladder, but several sources say his fastball is big-league ready now.

Martin Perez, LHP, Rangers

The 20-year-old Perez has been on the prospect radar for some time, as he was BA’s number 17 prospect before the 2010 season, ranked 24th before 2011, and is up to sixth in the midseason update. The Venezuelan is one of the youngest players in Double-A, but that hasn’t stopped him from striking out 83 in 88.1 innings, while walking 36. He’s got great command of his 93-mph fastball, a pitch that has some nasty tailing and sinking action. He’s still working on commanding his curveball, but it’s got some nasty break and should be a plus pitch for him, and he also features a changeup that will likely be serviceable for him.

Julio Teheran, RHP, Braves

A Colombian native, Teheran was rated the 5th best prospect in baseball before the season, and moved up to fourth in the midseason update. The 20-year-old actually made his major league debut earlier this year in an emergency spot start, but he’s been dominant in Triple-A despite being the youngest player at the level by more than a year. He features a strong mid-90s fastball, a biting curve, and a developing change. He’s working on his command and consistency, but he’s got a long way to go before he’s a finished, polished prospect, as he still can’t buy a beer.

Arodys Vizcaino, RHP, Braves

Also 20, Vizcaino has taken a big step forward this year that earned him a midseason promotion to Double-A. He’s put up an impressive 83 strikeouts compared to 24 walks in 84 innings combined between his two levels this season, earning him the 16 spot on BA’s midseason update. He’s got a mid-90s curveball, but it doesn’t have enough movement to really be considered major league ready at this point. However, he’s working on commanding an advanced curve that looks to be a solid out pitch, and also features a changeup with impressive potential. Vizcaino is a native of the Dominican and was acquired from the Yankees in the 2009 Javier Vazquez deal.

Wilin Rosario, C, Rockies

The Dominican Rosario is having a down year, possibly related to a knee injury sustained last August that required him to undergo surgery. After hitting an impressive .285/,342/.552 as a 21-year-old in Double-A last season, he’s managed only a .249/.286/.439 in the first half of 2011. Regardless, he’s got impressive power for a catcher, and flashes great defense and a solid arm behind the plate, and his skills were still strong enough to land him at 28 on BA’s midseason update.

Hak-Ju Lee, SS, Rays

Along with pitcher Chris Archer, Lee was a prize return in the offseason Matt Garza trade. A native of Korea, he’s having a great year at High-A in his first season in Tampa’s system, and the 20-year-old’s .330/.399/.458 line catapulted him from a preseason ranking of 92 to the 22 spot on BA’s midseason update. Lee plays solid defense at short and provides impressive offense from an up-the-middle position.

Jurickson Profar, SS, Rangers

Profar is the youngest player in this year’s Futures Game, as he only recently turned 18. Destined to become one of only a few MLBers from Curacao (others include Andruw Jones and Jair Jurrjens), Profar is incredibly polished for his age, with solid plate discipline, the ability to hit for some power, and potential Gold Glove defense. He’s currently the youngest player in any full season league, and his .270/.380/.488 earns him the 12 slot in BA’s midseason update.

Many of the players in the Futures Game will go on to long and productive big-league careers. While the All-Star game may have the names and the Derby has the flash, for many hardcore baseball fans the most important and exciting event of the All-Star festivities is the chance to see the sport’s best prospects sharing the stage.

Image taken from Google Images

Superstars change everything, no matter where they go. This is true in business, personal life and, of course, sports and is on display, at least for the time being, in Hagerstown, MD. Hagerstown is the home of the Hagerstown Suns, the Class A Affiliate of the Washington Nationals and is home to the third oldest stadium in the country (This stadium has been reviewed on baseballreflections.com and can be found here).

Currently Hagerstown is home to the number one prospect in all of America, Bryce Harper. Serious baseball fans may remember Harper’s story, which was made extremely public around draft time last year. He is probably most known for dropping out of high school and getting his GED so he could to go college faster and develop as quickly as possible. The Nationals seemed to like this plan as they made him the number one pick in the draft last year.

While Harper has stayed on the national stage quite frequently with a story about him making the front page of ESPN.com just last week, he is also giving a small, loyal, baseball town, a chance to see what they hope to be a future Hall of Famer.

Hagerstown had supported their baseball team long before Harper arrived, but his presence has dramatically changed the atmosphere. Not only are the Suns selling more tickets than ever before, the town is a buzz with Harper fever.

If a fan arrives half an hour before the game, at most Minor League ballparks they would have no problem getting their ticket and finding their seat before the first pitch. This is not so in Hagerstown this summer as with 30 minutes prior to the start of the game, the line for tickets stretched nearly around the block.

The Suns are lucky they have a standing room only option as a ticket already in place because most people who arrived around game time, found themselves standing for the duration. His presence has helped financially in the team shop as well as the prices for Hagerstown or Harper apparel were greater than those at any level of Minor League Baseball seen by this writer.

In the opening introductions, there was no question who the fan favorite of the night was, as Harper strode out to centerfield, his name was announced and the crowd went wild as if Rick Vaughn was coming out from the bullpen in Major League.

Harper didn’t necessarily do anything out of the ordinary that night in Hagerstown. In fact, in his second at bat, he attempted to bunt twice, which fans were not too pleased with. Although it may be great that he is willing to play small ball (albeit with no one on base at this time), the fans clearly came to see Harper hit one over the wall.

He nearly did just that on the first pitch he saw during the game, but the ball ended about 20 feet short of the right field wall in the fielder’s glove. Even so, it was clear during that at bat, and those that followed, that Harper would not be long for Hagerstown. His swing was clearly the most fluid and powerful of anyone on the field that night and even though Harper cannot yet join his Major League buddies in the bar, he clearly has a swing that can compete with them. Harper was converted to the outfield from a catcher and admits he is still trying to catch on, but as long as he keeps swinging the bat with the conviction he showed that night in Maryland, he will have no problem sticking in the Majors for quite some time.

Hagerstown received some good news last week when the Nationals announced Harper would play in the Minors all year this season. While that may be the case, he is probably on his way to the next level very soon.

Image via Wikipedia

With the game tied 2-2 in the top of the 4th, with a man on third base and in our nation’s capital, Nats CF Nyjer Morgan‘s temper got the best of him when he miss played an Adam Jones (Orioles CF) hit up against the CF wall. Nyjer Morgan’s temper tantrum allowed Jones to get an inside-the-park HR as Morgan’s teammate RF Josh Willingham had to come all the way from his position to feild the ball. Morgan apparently thought he had knocked the ball over the CF fense for a HR on this Saturday’s game against the Orioles (May 22nd. 2010).

To see it with your own eyes, watch the video below!

So, do you think the manager should have benched him? They (the Nationals) wound up winning the game 7-6, but at the time, it gave the Orioles a 4-2 lead!

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The first time around shows Strasburg's last three pitches (all strikes) & you have to look hard in order to see the incontrollable response of a rabid Nats fan.

This next shot is a zoomed in look at that last strike

Last, is a freeze frame of the fan in question, fist to head!

Beware: this could happen to you! Nats fans just aren't use to this type of quality player in recent years!

By Charles Farrell

La Ventaja De Campo (Home Court Advantage)

In what looks like a continuing trend, a court in the Dominican Republic has ordered the New York Yankees to pay more than $750,000USD to Carlos Rios, their former director of Latin American scouting, after ruling that his firing was unlawful.  Judge Alexis Gomez Geraldino ruled in favor of Rios, who was dismissed in August 2008 for allegedly skimming $100,000 in bonus money from Yankees prospect Kelvin De Leon.  The judge said the charges against Rios were based on rumor and ordered the Yankees to pay him $762,878 in damages. The team plans to appeal.

In August 2008, the Yankees vacated the contracts of Rios and scout Ramon Valdivia for allegedly taking bonus cash from De Leon. Valdivia last year won a defamation suit against De Leon, who paid him $70,000 in compensation. Victor Burgos, investigating the case for Major League Baseball, acknowledged in court testimony that he made a mistake in a report accusing Rios of skimming money from De Leon, an outfielder New York signed in 2007 at age 16 for $1.1 million.

Kelvin De Leon

A couple of months ago, another Dominican court ordered the Washington Nationals to pay $40,000 in damages to a scout who was fired after signing a prospect who lied about his age. Jose Baez, the Nationals’ former director of operations in the Dominican Republic, sued the team for what he said was an unjustified firing after Baez and special assistant to the general manager Jose Rijo signed a player who identified himself as 16-year-old Esmailyn Gonzalez.

Esmailyn Gonzalez /Carlos Alvarez Daniel Lugo

The Nationals gave the player a $1.4 million signing bonus; Major League Baseball later discovered that Gonzalez was almost four years older than he claimed and also lied about his identity. His real name is Carlos Alvarez Daniel Lugo.

The judges in the case also directed the Nationals to pay Baez six months salary, plus other damages – including holiday pay and a severance package –  that will bring the total payment to almost $75,000.   Testimony by baseball investigator Nelson Tejada is said to have supported Baez’s assertion that he had nothing to do with Gonzalez’s age and identity change.

The two cases provide further proof that Dominicans have home-field advantage in their own country with regards to the courts.  The question now is whether MLB will be reluctant to pursue Dominicans for alleged misdeeds.  There is fear that some Dominicans, believing that Dominican courts are inclined to side with them, will be more likely to commit unsavory acts, further clouding the murky waters of baseball in the Dominican Republic.

Not with the typical hopes of baseball fans, that their team may be winning the pennant or even the World Series. No, Nationals fans were finally hopeful that their team had turned the corner and would be in the beginning of an upswing that would have them competitors for several years.

There was confidence in the system, confidence in the organization, and confidence in the leadership.

Fast-forward to the 2009 All-Star break and the Nationals have the worst record in baseball and have fired General Manager Jim Bowden, pitching coach Randy St. Claire, and just today Manager Manny Acta.

So what happened?

Poor planning:

While the Nationals made a specific effort to spend money this off-season, and publicized their intent to do so, they ran into some problems. Most notably, the Nationals found that no one really wanted their money.

Free agent after free agent came and went, all turning down the Nationals money to go somewhere with a better chance to compete. Mark Teixiera took less money with the Yankees, Crazy Milton Bradley took a deal in Chicago, and Orlando Hudson didn’t hesitate to take a deal with the Dodgers.

By the end of free agency the only bat left to sign was slugger Adam Dunn. While the Nats got him at a good deal, two years for $20 million, he wasn’t quite the complete hitter the Nationals needed in their line up.

General Manager Jim Bowden continued to put logjams at premium positions while ignoring positions where they were weak. Going into opening day the Nationals had Lastings Milledge, Willie Harris, Austin Kearns, Josh Willingham, Wily Mo Pena and Adam Dunn all competing for three outfield spots, yet they had Anderson Hernandez penciled in as the starting second basemen.

While Bowden used his efforts to fill positions he already had filled, the pitching staff went completely ignored. As a result the Nationals have been, for much of the year, fielding a rotation that has one sophomore and four rookies. The bullpen has been filled with has-beens or undeveloped prospects, and the only signing the Nats made, Odalis Perez, never showed up to camp.

Poor execution:

Image via Wikipedia

The Nationals started the season on a hitting tear. Through May, Nick Johnson was batting .332, Jesus Flores .310 and Ryan Zimmerman .317. Adam Dunn had 16 homers and 43 RBI, and even Austin Kearns was getting on base at about .370.

Despite this tear however, the Nats were losing at a record pace.

No starting pitcher, not even John Lannan was getting the job done. Nats closer Joel Hanrahan couldn’t notch a save to save his life, and lost his closer spot….three times. If the National’s bats put the team in a situation to win, either Hanrahan, Rivera, or Colume would find a way for the team to lose it.

One can imagine how things went from bad to worse when the Nationals bats came down to earth in June. Close losses turned into blowouts, and the win loss percentage fell below .300.

Poor future?

The Nationals marked the end of the first half by firing their manager of two and a half years, Manny Acta.

Hopefully for the Nationals they can turn this around.

Their starting pitchers have begun to turn things around.  In the month of July Craig Stammen has posted an ERA of 1.69, John Lannan has posted an ERA of 3.86, Jordan Zimmermann an ERA of 3.86.

The young pitching is hopefully a good sign of things to come. New interim manager Jim Riggleman will have this staff under his reign and will have a line up that is regaining health.

Regardless of the strategy, the Nationals have one goal for the remainder of the season: don’t finish with the worst record in MLB history.

One word describes the 2008 Washington Nationals record: abysmal. They lost 102 games! Granted, they had injuries to both first basemen (Johnson and Young) and most if not all of their outfielders (Wily Mo Pena, Lastings Milledge, Austin Kearns and Elijah Dukes) at one time or another and 3B Zimmerman. Then they did the unthinkable and traded star RP Jon Rauch; hence, the 102 losses.

Holes to Fill

There aren’t many positions that are already spoken for on a team that loses 102 games, but they should be fine if healthy in the OF and the left side of the infield (SS and 3B). They will need help at catcher, 2B and in relief (especially at the closer role). If Nick Johnson isn’t healthy once again, then you can also add 1B to that mix, too.

Free Agents

The National go into this off season with only 3 free agents: 1B Aaron Boone (35), SP Odalis Perez (31) and SP Tim Redding whom they non-tendered (30). They are one of the few teams that are in the Mark Teixeira sweepstakes along with the Angels, Orioles, Red Sox and Yankees. This would be a huge signing and add much needed skills to this team on both offense and defense. Aaron Boone signed a one year contract with the Astros back on the 18th, so he won’t be playing in D.C. next year.

The Outlook

Unfortunately, it will take a few years for them to truely be competitive in the NL East, but with the aquisitions of Olsen, Willingham and if they sign Teixeira, then they might excelerate expectations. Either way, they are moving in the right direction and with their new stadium in it’s second year of hosting the Nationals, they are poised to imrove upon their abysmal record of 102 losses from a season ago.

Off Season Moves Made So Far
This month they selected RHP Terrell Young from the Cincinnati Reds in the Rule 5 Draft and released RHP Jesus Colome who is still young enough and could have the type of year that could finally match the potential he has shown over the past few years. This release, like that of Tim Redding may come back to bite them.

In November, they acquired LHP Scott Olsen and OF Josh Willingham from the Marlins in exchange for INF Emilio Bonifacio, RHP P.J. Dean and INF Jake Smolinski. This is probably their best move they have made since the move to D.C. I expect Willingham to have a big year in D.C. especially if they land Teixeira and Olsen will be a huge factor in rebuilding a poor pitching staff and add some experience as well. If they can hit as a team and stay healthy, Olsen should win 15 games as their Ace.

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Washington Nationals

With all of their injuries and a pitching staff that was in trouble before trading RP Jon Rauch, the Nationals find themselves at the bottom of the NL East once again and it is there they will be for years to come in my estimation. They also host the worst record in baseball. They need pitching and a quality player who can play over 100 games at 1B without getting hurt. Once that’s done, then we’ll talk. Does the National’s Enquirer have anything more to say about this assessment? Do you agree or disagree?

Atlanta Braves

Things were so bad in Atlanta that they gave up and traded 1B Mark Teixeira to the Angels before this year’s trading deadline. They did get 1B Casey Kotchman in return, but he’s just not the return on investment one would expect in a deal for someone of Teixeira’s quality. With that being said, the deal had to be done! They couldn’t just loose him completely at season’s end. Their pitching staff has been mired by injuries (Glavine, Hampton and Hudson) and despite the season Jair Jurrjens is having, looks to be too heavy from carrying the lame to remain on top of the division this year. Now I hear rumors of them even trading 2B Kelly Johnson. These other questions remain: How long can Chipper keep playing with all those leg injuries? Will this be Glavine’s last season due to his recent injuries? Will John Smoltz be back next year? What will happen with Mike Hampton? Maybe someone from Braves Baseball Blog can answer a few of these questions for us or at least give us some insight on some of them.

Florida Marlins

Personally, I amazed that they’re even still this close in the NL East! You have to credit it to the play of guys like SP Nolasco, SS Hanley Ramirez and the other Marlins who have stepped it up this season. Unfortunately, I don’t see them catching either the Phillies or the Mets. Let’s see if their spending trend improves with the upcoming new stadium. What can the men at Fish@Bat or FishStripes tell us about how bright the future looks for these fish?

New York Mets

With the recent injuries to SP John Maine and closer Billy Wagner, the Mets are in rough shape in my estimation. It is my opinion that they do not have the pitching to go far into the playoff if they make the playoffs. Also, outside of Beltran in CF, they are one big bat away from what I think they need in the line up despite second year 3B David Wright having yet another great year at the plate and on the base paths (although the latter is off last year’s pace). Back to their pitching staff, Pedro has not been impressive, but Pelfrey has improved, but yet another arm would be most beneficial for their future success. Maybe someone at The ‘Ropolitans or maybe Matt Cerrone from MetsBlog can provide us with more details that I might be missing.

Philadelphia Phillies

To me, this is a weaker division, but the Phillies are at the top of the heap. They still need another starter, even after acquiring Blanton, but with Lidge, Madson & Romero, their bullpen is looking better this year. Offensively, they are one of the best teams in baseball! Howard at 1B, Utley at 2B, Rollins at SS, Burrell in LF and Victorino in CF. It doesn’t get much better than that! It’s their offense along with their improved bullpen that makes me pick them to remain in first place in the NL East as they should be starting to pull away from the Mets in early September. For more on the Phillies chances, let’s hope that some of the Phillies experts from Philliesflow or Phillies Nation can grace our pages with some personal insight from the city of brotherly love. By the way, I was at their ballpark on Saturday for a birthday party of one of my wife’s uncles and I must say that Citizen’s Bank Park was done right, what a really nice place to watch a game. I loved the Liberty Bell in CF.

     There’s not much here to write home about! This is still the old Montreal Expos, just in new duds & a new city. Albeit, a big time US city that happens to be our nation’s capital. What better place to host a team from our “National Past Time”? They deserve better than this, or do they? That’s a whole other post for another time. Now back to the 2007 Washington Nationals.

     Leading the charge offensively is their young third baseman, Ryan Zimmerman who hit 24 HRs while knocking in 91 RBIs with an OBP of .330 in just his second major league season. I have him ranked 9th in my fantasy list for his position, but he’ll get moved up to 8th if the Brewers move ROY Braun to the OF in 2008. No other player on the team even comes close to cracking the top 15 in any other position now that teammate Dmitri Young no longer qualifies at DH. No one on the team, with a minimum of 250 at bats, had a SO rate under 12% and only Austin Kearns (RF) and Brian Schneider (C) has a walk rate above 10%. Maybe they need to rethink how they draft players & start looking for guys who have better plate discipline. However, Schneider (along with LF Ryan Church) was in the trade that landed OF Lastings Milledge from the Mets. 

     Speaking of Dmitri Young (1B), he bounced back nicely after all that he was struggling with personally in 2006. In 2007 he posted a .320 average & an OBP of .378, but saw his run production drop. He hit less than 15 HRs & under 80 RBIs, not what you would expect out of Young. Then again, after overcoming those personal struggles, it isn’t that bad…is it?

     The additions of Milledge, Elijah Dukes, who was recently acquired from the Rays & Wily Mo Pena, who was acquired at the 2007 trading deadline from the Red Sox. It looks like the Nationals are looking to add some more punch to their anemic offense.

     Other notable Nationals to look out for in 2008 could be CF Nook Logan who compiled 23 stolen bases in 111 games with a success rate of 82%. 2B/SS Felipe Lopez was also a stolen base threat, that is, when he got on base, with 24 stolen bases in 153 games with a success rate of 73%. Add to this list, recently acquired catcher Paul Lo Duca, a career .288 hitter to replace the traded Schneider. It seems as if signing the 35 year old Lo Duca translates into the Nationals sticking with the youngsters in their starting rotation.

     Here’s where the Nationals really need some Major League help if they are going to improve in 2008: Pitching! More specifically, starting pitching. The most wins any pitcher had in their rotation was 7 by rookie Matt Chico. In 31 starts, Chico went 7-9 in only 167 innings & like a lot of rookies, had a high WHIP (1.54). As a matter of fact, I can only see two pitchers in their rotation that had a winning percentage above .500; Micah Bowie went 4-3 in 8 starts, but might have gotten win(s) as a reliever. Bowie pitched 19 innings of relief in 2007. The other was rookie Joel Hanrahan who went 5-3 in 11 starts with only 3.1 innings of relief. To highlight the problem they had with their rotation, just look at the drop off in starts. After Chico‘s 31 starts, we see Jason Bergmann (6-6) with 21, Mike “# 756*” Bacsik (5-8) has 20 (to go along with his 12 innings of relief that might have gotten him a win or two). Then another rookie, Shawn Hill (4-5) had 16 starts, Tim Redding (3-6) had 15, Jason Simontacchi (6-7) had 13 & Hanrahan had only 11 as was previously mentioned. Three others had less than 10 starts, including the previously mentioned Micah Bowie. Only Hill & Redding had ERAs under 4.00 & Hanrahan had the best SO/9 out of this batch with a mark of 7.59. What it seems like the Nationals are relying on is improvement out of probable 2008 starters Bowie, Chico, Hill & Simontacchi. I say that because Bacsik recently signed a minor league deal with the club for 2008, so he doesn’t look like an option, but more like a fall back if things don’t work out. They really should pick up another reliable arm to go along with what they currently have or else they will NOT be much better in 2008! I’d at least look into getting a veteran like David Wells who might be able to teach them more than a veteran catcher (Lo Duca ) would. Maybe they can get the Yankees to eat most of Mike Mussina’s contract & get him in a trade. It is my strong opinion that they have to get at least 1 veteran arm in that rotation for 2008, even if that one arm is way past his prime!

     Their bullpen; however, was quite the opposite! They had 6 players with ERAs under 4.00 although they lost one of those arms, Closer Chad Cordero, to free agency this off season to the Reds. Cordero had 37 saves, but also 9 blown saves and 1 Hold in his 75 innings pitched in 2007. Look for fellow blogger Jon Rauch to petition for the closer’s role for the Nats in 2008. He had 4 saves with 6 blown saves in 2007 and a WHIP of 1.10, and also had an impressive 33 Holds which was tied for third in all of Major League Baseball in 2007! His VORP score (19.3) was better than even Cordero’s (17.3), but both were behind teammate Saul Rivera who sported a VORP score of 21. To go along with that stat, Rivera was 3-3 (SV/BS) with 21 Holds. He too, might be a candidate for the closer’s role in 2008.

     Honorable mentions here include rookie Chris Schroder who had an ERA of 3.18 and a WHIP of 1.13 and a team high SO/9 of 8.54. Luis Ayala & Jesus Colome both had ERAs under 4.00; Ayala with a 3.19 & Colome with a 3.82. Both had WHIPs under 1.40 as well.

**Bottom Line: The Nationals need better starting pitching. Either what they have NEEDS to improve or they NEED to go out & get help this off season!**