Wire Taps: Washington Nationals’ areas of need; former Nats in the postseason; Carter Kieboom future value...

Davey Martinez’s club wasn’t able to dig out of the hole they put themselves in with a bad start to the 2020 campaign, and though they did in 2019, when they recovered from their 19-31 start to win the World Series, the Washington Nationals’ skipper does not like to hear the 19-31 talk. Like really doesn’t like it.

“19-31, it happened, it was there, but I don’t like that number,” Martinez said.

“I don’t want to be 19-31 anymore, I want to be 31-19, or 31-10, whatever it may be,” he added at another point in the press conference to announce his long-term extension with the club over the weekend.

“I’ve got plenty of those t-shirts, so we’re good with that, 19-31,” Nats’ GM Mike Rizzo chimed in. “We’re good with that.”

Go read your links...

NATS BEAT:

Nationals fans’ October rooting guide for the 2020 MLB postseason - (NBC Sports Washington)
"Here’s a list of every team in the playoffs broken up into categories based on their appeal to Nationals fans."

Change is coming for Nationals, but how much? - (MASN)
“'We had a lot of bumps on the road this year,' manager Davey Martinez said over the weekend after signing his contract extension. 'But I really believe we’ve got the core guys here that we need to win another championship.'"

Is the new extra-inning rule part of the MLB postseason? - (NBC Sports Washington)
"The Nationals played 10 extra-inning games in 2019 (6.2 percent). Of those only four made it beyond the 10th inning. Only one made it past the 11th inning."

NATIONAL(S) BEAT:

Ranking rookies: Who has most future value? - (MLB.com)
"While Kieboom didn't seamlessly replace Anthony Rendon at the hot corner for the defending World Series champs, he still profiles as a plus hitter with similar raw power and a quality glove."

Taylor Swift’s Baseball Magic Is Back - (The Ringer)
"Wait, what about Lover, the album she released *last* year? You are asking. Are you just skipping an album entirely? Did her 2019 tunes bring about the Nationals’ victory?"

A case for Francisco Lindor as the MLB Latino Face of the 2020s - (ESPN.com)
"The results produced a ballot that stands at four candidates: Lindor, the Atlanta Braves' Ronald Acuna Jr. from Venezuela, and Dominican players Juan Soto of the Washington Nationals and Fernando Tatis Jr. of the San Diego Padres."

MLB Starting Pitchers Will Have Less Rest This Postseason - (FiveThirtyEight)
"For instance, en route to a World Series championship last fall, the Washington Nationals’ top three starting pitchers — Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg and Patrick Corbin — started 13 of the team’s 17 postseason games."

Doubledays dropping general manager position at end of October - (auburnpub.com)
"Due to unknown circumstances surrounding the future of Minor League Baseball and the New York-Penn League, the Auburn Doubledays will not retain their general manager."

MLB playoff preview: Dodgers, Rays have the arms to win - (Sports Illustrated)
"Six outs away from being eliminated against Clayton Kershaw and eight outs away from elimination against Zack Greinke, Washington flipped games against Cy Young winners on home runs by Anthony Rendon twice and once by Juan Soto."

NL EAST UPDATES:

MLB rumors: Phillies won’t fire GM Matt Klentak - (nj.com)
"Philadelphia Phillies general manager Matt Klentak can take a deep breath, because he won’t be receiving a pink slip this offseason."

MLB’s Rob Manfred ‘hopeful’ owners will approve Mets sale to Steve Cohen - (nj.com)
"Earlier this month, billionaire hedge fund manager Steve Cohen completed a deal to purchase the New York Mets in a transaction which puts the value of the franchise at more than $2.4 billion."

MLB postseason: Are the Marlins respectable under Derek Jeter? - (Yahoo!Sports)
"The Miami Marlins, across the same 17 years — so since beating the New York Yankees in that World Series — have, doing the math here, hired Derek Jeter as their CEO."

Healthy and happy, Freddie Freeman hopes to overcome one more hurdle in 2020 - (AJC.com)
"Freeman missed almost the entirety of camp, battling a fever that peaked at 104.5, leading him to pray for his life while enduring intense aches and pains."