OOTP Developments Forums - View Single Post - A New Day in DC

glenn · 03-01-2009, 07:40 PM

Tomorrow is Opening Day, my first with the Nationals, and I'm nervous about the season. Our starting pitching is the most troubling, as we have some big holes to fill. Our line-up is solid, though not spectacular. I've made the final changes to our roster, notified the final group of players that they won't be back, and met with the owner and team president about his expectations for the season.

Luckily he didn't say we need to win it all. At least I'm lucky they have realistic expectations. Their goal is to be close to even. Close is kind of a vague word, but I think we could realistically win 78-80 games, which would be a big improvement over last year. Anything more and we'd need a lot of luck, and any more than that I'll need to start looking for another job I think.

The last two cuts are the toughest, and I planned to send down Wilfredo Ledezma until the last minute, but decided to send down Yunior Novoa for more seasoning. I also sent down Joel Hanrahan to begin the season in AAA. I planned to send down Jason Bergmann, because I don't think he has better stuff than Hanrahan, plus Hanrahan didn't pitch bad this spring. I don't know how you can send down a guy that didn't allow a run and only two base runners all spring. He did everything we asked him to do, and that just doesn't seem fair to him. Performance needs to take count for something, even if his talent isn't is high.

Despite his sprained ankle, I've decided to leave Lastings Milledge on the roster for now, and not place him on the DL. He should be back in action this week, but I will revisit in a few days and make a final decision. We've only got 24 players who will suit up for the Marlins series.

We get to stay in Florida though, as we open against the Marlins. The pitching match-ups for the opening series are:
Shawn Hill vs Jason Johnson
Scott Olsen vs Ricky Nolasco
John Lannan vs Chris Volstad

I've had some trade discussions with the Tigers and Red Sox this week. The Tigers are desperate to unload either Nate Robertson or Dontrelle Willis, but I don't want to take on another bad contract, even if we could only a couple of ours. The Red Sox also tried to gauge our interest in Tim Wakefield. He is probably better than one of our starters, but our catchers have enough problems without trying to catch a knuckleball.

Baseball America published their final ranking of minor league systems, and the Nationals made a big jump to #17. They were critical of our depth, but with the addition of Blake Dewitt, along with Jordan Zimmerman and Catcher Derek Norris in the top 100 prospects, that allowed us to make the big jump.

03-01-2009, 07:40 PM	#18
glenn Major Leagues Join Date: May 2006 Location: PA Posts: 407	4/5/2009 Tomorrow is Opening Day, my first with the Nationals, and I'm nervous about the season. Our starting pitching is the most troubling, as we have some big holes to fill. Our line-up is solid, though not spectacular. I've made the final changes to our roster, notified the final group of players that they won't be back, and met with the owner and team president about his expectations for the season. Luckily he didn't say we need to win it all. At least I'm lucky they have realistic expectations. Their goal is to be close to even. Close is kind of a vague word, but I think we could realistically win 78-80 games, which would be a big improvement over last year. Anything more and we'd need a lot of luck, and any more than that I'll need to start looking for another job I think. The last two cuts are the toughest, and I planned to send down Wilfredo Ledezma until the last minute, but decided to send down Yunior Novoa for more seasoning. I also sent down Joel Hanrahan to begin the season in AAA. I planned to send down Jason Bergmann, because I don't think he has better stuff than Hanrahan, plus Hanrahan didn't pitch bad this spring. I don't know how you can send down a guy that didn't allow a run and only two base runners all spring. He did everything we asked him to do, and that just doesn't seem fair to him. Performance needs to take count for something, even if his talent isn't is high. Despite his sprained ankle, I've decided to leave Lastings Milledge on the roster for now, and not place him on the DL. He should be back in action this week, but I will revisit in a few days and make a final decision. We've only got 24 players who will suit up for the Marlins series. We get to stay in Florida though, as we open against the Marlins. The pitching match-ups for the opening series are: Shawn Hill vs Jason Johnson Scott Olsen vs Ricky Nolasco John Lannan vs Chris Volstad I've had some trade discussions with the Tigers and Red Sox this week. The Tigers are desperate to unload either Nate Robertson or Dontrelle Willis, but I don't want to take on another bad contract, even if we could only a couple of ours. The Red Sox also tried to gauge our interest in Tim Wakefield. He is probably better than one of our starters, but our catchers have enough problems without trying to catch a knuckleball. Baseball America published their final ranking of minor league systems, and the Nationals made a big jump to #17. They were critical of our depth, but with the addition of Blake Dewitt, along with Jordan Zimmerman and Catcher Derek Norris in the top 100 prospects, that allowed us to make the big jump.