Sometimes I hate being right. During both the Redskins and Nationals' games I had the feeling and the thought that these weren't teams leading they were teams waiting to lose. Maybe it is all due to past experience or I am a witch, but either way I was right and I hate it.
Drew Storen blew a save yesterday and it wasn't pretty. Of course it was also against the Phillies and no offense can explode like they can. --Ben Goessling from masnsports.com
This of course brings about questions of if Storen is ready to be the Nats full time closer. --Adam Kilgore at washingtonpost.com
It also doesn't help that the rotation hasn't been getting the job done lately. --Ben Goessling at masnsports.com
At this point in tims it appears that Riggleman will manage the team again next season. --Bill Ladson from nationals.com
Nyjer hosted the guy that he accidently hit with the ball at a game over the weekend. --Adam Kilgore from washingtonpost.com
For the Nationals signing Adam Dunn it isn't so much about a philosophy, but more about the money and more specifically how long they have to spend more money*. --Dave Nichols at natsnewsnetwork.com
Two things. First I do hope that there actually is an organizational philosophy in place. Mike Rizzo is trying to build a team and not just a collection of talented guys that may or may not work well together. Secondly we have seen recently a move for teams league wide to be very concerned about value and paying players what they are really worth. There have been bigger and bigger name players having to wait until January or February, and sometimes, as in the case of Jermaine Dye, not signing at all.
Interesting news here. Adam Dunn says talks have picked up and he expects to stay in Washington. --Adam Kilgore in The Washington Post
If Dunn continues on the pace he is at and doesn't succumb to age then he could be a Hall of Famer. --Dave Cameron fangraphs.com
With guys like Crawford, Werth, and Lee* as the top free agents this winter Dunn can't make much headway in this poll. --William Yoder from thenatsblog.com
*I think Crawford is the top free agent because I feel more teams have a shot at him. I think he would consider coming to a team like this because he has been a part of taking a team from last to first before and would want to do it again. I obviously can't read minds, but I don't see him as a mortal lock to play for the Yankees or Red Sox next year.
News on Harper and more after the jump.
Bryce Harper is where he wants to be. It sure sounds like Harper really loves baseball. Guys with as much talent as he has and that level of passion are a special breed. --Byron Kerr from masnsports.com
The case for and against Harper playing in the AFL. --Mark Zuckerman from natsinsider.com
For Bryce Harper a lot of things are easy, and his coaches believe he should have no trouble switching to the outfield. --Byron Kerr at masnsports.com
There is a lot to not know when it comes to baseball, and most people outside of us don't know that Ryan Zimmerman might be one of the best gloves in baseball. This link is a must click. --Jeff Passan from yahoosports.com
General Baseball
The Mariners can't score and the Diamondbacks can't make contact. --Joe Posnanski at si.com
Joe Torre won't be back managing the Dodgers next year. I question if this is real retirement or if he just wants to escape the mess of the divorce out there. --Tim Brown from yahoosports.com
The Rockies are really good at home and really good in September, Carl Crawford might not fit in with the Yankees culture, and the Phillies top three starters are really good. --Tom Verducci from si.com
Nothing from Team Felix or Team C.C. today, but Team anti-CarGo is just getting cranked up*. --Eriq Gardner II from bloombergsports.com
I wonder something here. Do guys that have higher batting averages really need to have the same walk rate as guys with lower batting averages? I wonder if there is less opportunity to work a walk when a player is putting so many balls in play with solid contact. I also think his power might be more sustainable than he is given credit for. Gonzalez is more of a line drive hitter, and because of this I would have to think he hits more line-drive homers than fly ball homers (of course it should be noted that I don't know if a homer is automatically called a fly ball in the statistics for FB% or not).
Tyler Colvin yesterday took a broken bat to the chest. --AP via si.com
If Buster Posey had been up since the beginning of the year the Giants could be well ahead of the Padres right now. --Neil Paine from baseball-reference.com
I have been convinced for some time that in game management is the least of what a manager does, and while some question Ron Gardenhire's ability as an in game manager he still must be doing something right to win year after year like he does. --Joe Posnanski from si.com
Tonight the Nationals start a series with the Astros, and while I think they should be able to at least get a split the Astros have been hot lately and are showing that they have hope for the future. The Nationals all season have struggled against teams that are as bad or worse than they are. We will find out soon enough what happens. I just don't know if I should get my hopes up about anything these days.