Washington Nationals

Face of the Franchise: Tim "Rock" Raines

Manager: Felipe Alou

C—Gary Carter
1B—Andres Galarraga
2B—Jose Vidro
3B—Tim Wallach
SS—Orlando Cabrera
OF—Tim Raines
OF—Andre Dawson
OF—Vladimir Guerrero
DH—Warren Cromartie
Bench: Util. Bob Bailey, Util" Hubie Brooks, 3B Larry Parrish, OF Rondell "Ron-DL" White

With Lastings Milledge getting demoted to the minors, Elijah Dukes has become the top center fielder for the Washington Nationals.

The question now becomes should you go out and roster him?

My answer: absolutely!  You have to get this guy on your reserve list or on your bench, even if you are in a standard mixed 5×5 league.  What can he bring to your team?

Some teams that are bad have a visible lack of talent.

They flounder around the bases and field, and lack the communication skills necessary to mesh together as an effective unit.

The Washington Nationals, however, do not display these characteristics.

The Nats have an extremely talented outfield, with Elijah Dukes, Lastings Milledge, and Adam Dunn patrolling right through left respectively.

THE RESULT: The tying and go-ahead runs were on base with one out in the top of the ninth, but Florida Marlins closer Matt Lindstrom buckled down and retired Josh Willingham and Austin Kearns to preserve a 6-4 win and three game sweep of the Washington Nationals (0-3).

The Nationals finally had a starting pitcher get past the third inning, as Daniel Cabrera tried to play stopper for the young Nats. But his promising start fell apart in the fifth inning, as the Marlins pushed four across against the former Baltimore Oriole making his National League debut.

Judging from the content of blogs covering the team, the fans of the Washington Nationals are grumpy. That is easy to understand when considered in the context of last year's 102-loss season. However, since the grumpiness is evident even during discussions of obvious improvements to the team, one might accuse us of holding a grudge.

On April Fool’s Day, 1985, George Plimpton gave us the fictional tale of Mets super prospect Sidd Finch. The article was was published in Sports Illustrated under the guise of reality, and as legend has it, many readers believed the story to be true.

Including myself. 

When I go back and read the prose again, it's easy to believe every word, because Plimpton’s pen is that well-crafted, although some of the facts seemed too gaudy to believe.

Washington Nationals 2009 Preview

The biggest signing during the 2008 offseason was Adam Dunn. Dunn had been phenomenal throughout the World Baseball Classic, but will he provide enough offense to a lineup that struggled so mightily in 2008? Most likely not.

The Nationals also acquired Josh Willingham (trade, Marlins), Daniel Cabrera (Free Agency), and Scott Olson (trade, Marlins), which should help their depth problem going into 2009.

The Washington Nationals might not have the most popular starting pitchers in Major League Baseball, but they have some of the most underated pitchers in all of baseball. 

It seems like starting pitching was a major concern for the Nationals going into the 2009 season, as they picked up two starters who have a lot of potential and could be in for breakout seasons this coming year. 

Scott Olsen and Daniel Cabrera were both key, under-the-radar type acquisitions who I could see putting up a solid season in 2009.