I am sure by now you know that Stan Kasten has resigned as the Nationals' President. Before the game yesterday he made the media wait for nearly an hour and then had this to say. --Dave Nichols from natsnewsnetwork.com
But what does it all mean. Most likely Mike Rizzo will run the baseball side of things and Andrew Feffer will be in charge of the business operations. --Ben Goessling at masnsports.com
With Kasten leaving and the rise of youth it truly feels like the Nationals are at a crossroads. --Adam Kilgore at washingtonpost.com
If you have been paying attention then you would have noticed that Kasten was less and less important to the Nationals daily operations and his stepping down now just makes sense*. --Mark Zuckerman from natsinsider.com
*I realized this last night. If Stan Kasten has been telling the Lerners to spend more and they have been ignoring him then nothing changes with Kasten leaving. If the Lerners truly are committed to not spending money then they will just ignore whoever is telling them to spend more. On the other hand if it was the plan that Kasten laid out which was partly to not spend money on free agents and to build from within then things could change. But in my opinion either things stay the same or get better.
In my opinion the Zuckerman article is the best one, but for the super negative, glass isn't just half empty but contains broken shards of glass and dengue fever, here you go. --Thom Loverro in the Washington Examiner
If you look at what Kasten's main job was, which was to promote the product and put butts in seats, then he failed. --Steven from FJB.com
On the other hand Kasten at times ventured through the stadium and was good with the people. --Kristen Hudak from masnsports.com
Kasten better hope this pipeline he talks about is more than a pipe dream or the Phillies invasion will be his lasting legacy. --David Brown from yahoosports.com
No more Kasten news after the jump, but notes on the game, Bryce Harper, and more.
The game yesterday was wonderful. Michael Morse hit a homer and go ahead double, and Danny Espinosa had a homer and an amazing diving stop. --Dave Nichols from natsnewsnetwork.com
The players that have something to prove in September didn't hurt their cause in yesterday's game. --Ben Goessling at masnsports.com
The Nationals have released season ticket prices for the 2011 season. --Maury Brown at bizofbaseball.com
Bryce Harper is still trying to get his timing back as he Ks twice and catches two fly balls in instructional league action. Jesus Flores hit a homerun in the same game. --Alden Gonzalez at nationals.com
We know Harper didn't ingratiate himself with many D.C. area sports fans with his professed love of the Cowboys, but that doesn't mean he is just like Lebron and we shouldn't give the kid a chance. We probably won't mind his wOBA, HR, WAR, and (insert yet to be invented 2012 stat) when the time comes. --Holden Kushner from csnwashington.com
With all our soft tossing starters is it any wonder that the difference between the bullpen velocity and starter velocity is one of the highest in baseball. --R.J. Anderson fangraphs.com
General Baseball
Team Felix's greatest victory. Important mainstream media members starting to see reason. --Ken Rosenthal from foxsports.com
I still remember exactly where I was when I found out that Nick Adenhart had died, and I can say that I hope the prosecutor is successful with the conviction as the trial nears its end. --AP via si.com
David Wells thinks Joe Torre is a coward and terrible manager. 'Duk at yahoosports.com
Nothing to do with Baseball or D.C. Sports
This is a very important column and a must read for any sports fan or non-sports fan. We still have a lot to learn about the human brain and we should learn that we still have a long way to go in regonizing symptoms of depression from the death of Bronco's WR McKinley. --Woody Paige in The Denver Post
The Nats can get back to the role of spoiler tonight and this series is suddenly the most important series the Braves will play all year.