I was making my usual rounds around the FanSided network this morning and I happened to stumble upon an interesting article on Rum Bunter concerning some rather harsh words Nationals reliever and ex-Pirate Sean Burnett had to say about his former team.  I won’t go into too much detail about what was said, I’ll let you check out Rum Bunter for that, but I am going to say a few things. 
First thing, since when does a guy like Burnett, who’s been effective in a limited role in Washington, have the nerve to get vocal in the media.  It’s not like this [...]

This weekend the Nationals go to Pittsbugh to play the Pirates for the first time since the two teams made a deal involving Nyjer Morgan, Sean Burnett, Joel Hanrahan, and the enigmatic Lastings Milledge on July 1st.  At the time, the deal was generally thought to have been a slight win for the Pirates.  The Pirates kick started their firesale by getting rid of a 28 year old journeyman and got a former blue chip prospect who could benefit with the new address in return.  Well, nearly a month later, it’s painstakingly obvious that the Nationals won this deal in [...]

With the trade deadline approaching fast, the Nationals, despite being as far from contention as a team can get, appears to be quiet as of now.  One might argue that the Nationals are so bad that they don’t have any players of value but that’s not the case.  There are actually a handful of players on this roster that could be an integral part to a contender’s postseason push.
Josh Willingham OF
The most valuable player as of right now has to be outfielder Josh Willingham who has been absolutely on fire as of late.  He’s got good power for a corner [...]

Last week, I started this blog with part one of my ten storylines that can sum up the 2009 Nationals season thus far.  In case you forgot about it, you can catch 6-10 at http://teddyneverwins.com/2009/07/23/summing-up-the-2009-washington-nationals-season-part-1/. 
So before I keep wasting my time, let’s get into the top five stories of 2009.
5.  Say Hello to Nyjer Morgan
Having already been mentioned multiple times in this top ten list, it’s obvious that the trade to acquire Nyjer Morgan was pretty signifigant to the Nationals season.  When the Nats made the trade they thought they were simply dumping an ineffective reliever in Joel Hanrahan on [...]

First off I would like to say forgive me for being a tad late on this.  I’ve been on the road visiting family in San Diego for the past week so it has been difficult to keep up with what’s happening.  With that said, I’d like to address something that happened this past Monday.  Former Texas Rangers and New York Mets manager Bobby Valentine declared that he will not be returning to manage the Chiba Lotte Marines in Japan next season.  Ok, I know what you are thinking.  Why does this pertain to the Washington Nationals?  As of now, it [...]

Thanks to strong pitching and hot bats, the Nationals managed to win their second consecutive series by taking two out of three games from the San Diego Padres this weekend.  The offense was led by Ryan Zimmerman, who went 5-8 with two home runs and four RBIs in the first two games but went a dreadful 0-5 with 3 strikeouts in the finale, and Cristian Guzman who went 5-9 with a home run and 2 RBIs in his familiar number two spot in the batting order.  John Lannan threw eight strong innings in Sunday’s game to further prove he is [...]

Dear Mr. Kasten,
The 2009 baseball season is halfway over and one thing has become highly apparent when it comes to the Washington Nationals.  This team seriously lacks pitching, especially in the bullpen.  While the roster may feature a few promising young arms like Jordan Zimmermann and John Lannan, there is still plenty of work that needs to be done.  I realize that the farm system is incredibly thin and progress with Stephen Strasburg isn’t looking that good but I have a few suggestions on how you can find a few diamonds in the rough.  If there is one thing that [...]

The league’s worst team looks to catch a break when the league’s second worst team comes to town in the form of the San Diego Padres.  As dreadful as Washington’s pitching has been this year, the Padres’ bats have been just as bad.  Outside of Adrian Gonzalez, there is nobody on the Padres roster that should strike fear into the hearts of our inexperienced staff.  And inexperienced is the key word this weekend. 

So it appears that the weather has a serious vendetta against the Nationals and Cardinals.  In Thursday’s rescheduled contest from a May 3rd rainout, the Nats and Cards only managed to go a rain shortened six innings before finally throwing in the towel.  Despite giving the Nationals every opportunity to win by keeping Albert Pujols out of the lineup, the Cardinals still managed to win 4-1 in the abbreviated affair.  Collin Balester, in his first start of the season, never really got things going, only managing to make it through 3 innings before Jim Riggleman turned to the bullpen.  His [...]

Instead of getting the day off today like the schedule makers had originally planned, a vengeful Mother Nature decided that May 3rd was not an acceptable day to play baseball so the Nationals and Cardinals have to face off today instead.  Luckily for the Nationals, they are riding a two game winning streak and actually have seen their bats, arms, and gloves all come together for the first time this year.  Unfortunately, they look to keep momentum going against the St. Louis Cardinals and one of the NL’s best starters in  Adam Wainwright.  To make things worse, NatsTown has decided to leave [...]