Barry, glad to see you posting again. Thanks for all that you're doing!! Are we going to see a guide to Spring Training from the Post? Also, what's the status of Zimmerman being signed to a long term contract?

Hope that's "juicy" in a meaty, substantive sense rather than the PED sense...

---

We'll get you some actual juicy stories here coming up.

But seriously that sounds good, thanks.

So I guess Redding's in the million dollar club. He's buying lunch at ST. "A Million Dollars is good. In Viera, even better."

Speaking of Redding. I always think of this play when I think of him: http://tinyurl.com/3cq7v4 (internet explorer only) when I think of him.

(BTW, Tin Yurl brought the URL down from 372 characters. Great find 1a).

Also...I swear. If someone calls "cheapskates" on this one, I'm going to scream. If the team offered any closer to the players' asking prices, they'd be chumps.

I'm glad they're ponying up and avoiding arbitration, which doesn't sound like a pleasant process for either side.

A few more arbitration bits:

Ryan Church asked the Mets for $2.45M, and they offered $1.75M. I was really fond of Ryan Church; I hope he gets his money, then performs significantly worse than Lastings Milledge.

Endy Chavez asked $2.075M on crutches, and the Mets offered $1.725M (he deserves neither, but then look at what Felipe Lopez is getting).

These figures are from MLB.com.

A few more arbitration bits:

Ryan Church asked the Mets for $2.45M, and they offered $1.75M. I was really fond of Ryan Church; I hope he gets his money, then performs significantly worse than Lastings Milledge.

Endy Chavez asked $2.075M on crutches, and the Mets offered $1.725M (he deserves neither, but then look at what Felipe Lopez is getting).

These figures are from MLB.com.

"Also...I swear. If someone calls "cheapskates" on this one, I'm going to scream."

I'm going to scream because after phoning in his performance for the entirety of 2007, Lopez is going to get a minimum of $1M raise. Grrrr. Obviously I have the wrong attitude. Maybe I should start f***ing off more at MY job. Grrrrr again. On this (and not much else) I bet JayB and I agree.

I hope the Nats and Lopez can agree on a contract without going to arbitration. If he has to hear from the front office yet again about the lousy season he had, that may just keep him the funk in which he played during all of 2007. As for Rauch, he deserves every penny he can get, not only for all of the appearances he has made the past three years but for all the times he's warmed up during that time. Just thinking about it makes my arm hurt.

leetee1955-

Good point. Felipe does seem fragile.

Let's take the money saved on F-Lop arbitration and build a parking lot and pedestrian bridge at Anacostia Park.

$4.9 million or $5.2 million seems a lot of money to pay Lopez, who management has consistently said is BEHIND Ronnie Belliard at second base and BEHIND Christian Guzman ar short on the organizational depth chart. That's a lot of money to have sitting the bench. And if Nick Johnson does come back and is the full-time first baseman, F-Lop (flop?) and Da Meat Hook can both say "We Live for This" as $10 million will begin most games on the pine.

Right On 419, we can agree for the second time this winter!

Man this FO sucks for keeping Lopez.....Think of the Starting Pitching we could have added for 5 Million. Jennings, Livo....you pick it but NO.........Nats want to pay PLOP 5 Million to sulk again.....Nice Plan Stan!

Nats Fan beat me to it on the Zim question. I would be surprised by a long term deal. If I was his agent, I'd want him to have one more year at least and put up better power numbers, maybe win a gold glove. Both very possible this year.

Glad they ponied up on Rauch, not bad for 1st year arb on a relatively new set up man. He'll get a bigger raise for '09 when he does well again in '08.

Shocked they offered Lopez a $1m raise. Would love to know what they were thinking. Why offer $4.9 for a guy who will only compete for a starting job??? Above average 2b, weak bat and shaky attitude. Aren't those qualities easily found in minor league free agents for $1m? Sometimes I don't understand the market at all. Am I the only one thinking fondly of Jamey Carroll right now? The tribe will have him for $2.15.

F-Lop is still around because JimBow this winter kept going for 3-4-5-6 hitters in trades and on the cusp of Spring training, the club STILL lacks a role-player leadoff hitter. And if Lopez is brought back, he STILL doesn't have a middle infielder who's an adequate leadoff man.

Avar,

Great Point!

Jamey Carroll would be such a better choice for half the money than PLOP. Water under the bridge and clearly nobody at the Post is able to write a opinion piece about these types of decisions but they are the ones that build a franchise.

What the #$@$ does Boz do all day? For that matter what does Barry do all day?

Felipe Lopez had a lousy 2007 season and a bad attitude as well - BUT...

Let's not forget his career numbers look pretty good. I'd bet his numbers pre-Nats were inflated by the Cincinnati ballpark and then deflated by a full season at RFK, where line drives to the gap went to die in outfielder's gloves.

If he goes back to his average performance and Nationals Park is more hitter friendly than RFK, he may help the team a lot, more than an old starting pitcher with a 4.95 ERA (although, personally, I really hope the front office shells out for Livo, just to have him eat up innings if the fragile guys go down and the youngsters aren't quite ready) and maybe even more than Guzman or Belliard.

What I'm saying is, I'm glad they kept Lopez, but I hope they still sign a decent veteran starting pitcher to shore up a shaky staff. I don't think us fans can count on the bullpen being as great as they were last year if the starter's put as big a strain on them.

Why not both? There's still plenty of room to increase payroll - if the old vet pitcher doesn't work out or the team is out of contention, they can deal them for some prospects at (or after) the deadline.

But, let's see if Felipe can do some good this year...

natswriter nailed it. lopez' upside potential exceeds his downside risk.

I agree there is plenty of money to do PLOP and LIVO and more....but that is not how the Nats Role is it.

PLOP did not only have a bad year, he committed cardinal sins in baseball. Those who played the game at any level be especially at top levels just hate what PLOP did last year. It is not something I am able to forgive. Nobody gets a pass on giving up on pop ups or breaking up double plays both times that would have won games for the 24 other players on the team. They worked hard and he did NOT! Unforgivable Period.

You're not the only one, Avar. I'm also a Carroll booster.

Barry had FLop's salary pegged all along. Kudos.

I had thought that money would have been better spent by signing Eckstein (who could lead off) and non-tendering FLop. Middle infield is a gaping problem for 2009 and, I fear, 2008. Both Lopez and Guzman can walk after this year if they play well, or, if they don't play well, really can sink the offense. We can't give up 3 slots in the batting order in addition to the pitcher (subpar leadoff and weak 7 and 8). I wish we had bitten the bullet and moved talent for a middle infield prospect).

As for Dmitri, he's Nick insurance. If both are well, one can be easily moved to the AL as a DH. Dmitri was not a bad signing.

Oh, and as for Redding - he'll be 30 in February. If he does pitch well, he'd be an asset to a contender precisely because he is cost controlled, too. Given the upside of Detwiler et al, a hot Redding is the type of guy you sell high on to make room for your prospects (Lannan, Mock, Detwiler, Balester) mid-season. Just hope he has a good first half.

I think FLOP should have volunteered to take a cut in pay due to his lack of productivity last year. That at least would have shown good faith and might have taken a little pressure off him from the neck up. I know it was reported that off the field troubles were somewhat responsible for his downturn last year, but so what, we all have off the job problems. Deal with it. I don't get raises for sub par job reviews. Oh, but thats in the real world, sorry, I forgot.

natswriter, the switch from RFK to the new stadium probably won't help flopez all that much. a ball in the gap in the new stadium won't be much different than a ball in teh gap in RFK. the difference is the balls that died on the warning track (or shorter) in RFK could now be homers, and flopez ain't a home run hitter. RFK hurt the power guys, not guys like flopez. the new park itself won't help his hitting much at all. the only thing that can help him is a better attitude.

maybe he'll get his head out of his posterior this year, i hope he does, but he's realistically gotten worse each of the last two years after his one career year in 2005 (which was his first full-time season).

The funny thing about the Lopez feeding frenzy is that we generally were piling on Guzman this time last year, but quickly forgave him when he had a turnaround (partial) year. It's almost as if there is no reason to say, "Give Lopez a chance," because we all will, and will embrace him if he plays better.

As for Dmitri and Nick? It is so much better than contemplating whether Larry Broadway or Travis Lee would be our first baseman. Remember that Dmitri wasn't in the mix right away; he came at right about the start of Spring Training, and the other two slunk away quietly.

FMWeeks,

That is a good point about Guzman last year and I was one who what really done on him but for different reasons. As I recall he never phoned it in during that really bad 2005. I still question his range and talent in the field but he got his eyes fixed and shoulder (even his bad teeth as I recall) over 2006 and those were physical tool improvements.

When PLOP gets his head fixed,(recall this is not a new problem, he is on his 3rd team in 4 years) then maybe there could be hope. Honestly, I will never forgive this lack of effort on about 25 plays last year several that cost games. Jimbo said as much in the recent interview.

"The player that wants to win is the one that will play" or something to that effect from Jimbo was a direct shot at PLOP.

ops...was really down on him.....sorry more coffee please....

Puzzling about Flip, echoing some others:

1. Does Lopez have mechanical / health issues of which we're not aware, as Guzman did in 2005? I'd be inclined to doubt it. (I'd be more likely to believe that of, say, Langerhans, whose performance never came within a sniff of projections.) That said...

2. Is Lopez the best the Nats can do? As a starting 2B, no. As a starting SS, no, if Guzman's healthy (ignoring leather for the moment). However...

3. At the moment, the Nats are a wee bit shallow at SS. God forbid Guz should go down again, but if so, we need to have someone healthy and ready. And lest we forget...

4. This system, taking MLB and the farm together, is stretched woefully thin. I know I keep harping on that, because it's true. Even so...

5. There are prospects coming along in that attenuated farm system. Ian Desmond is on track to be MLB-ready as soon as 2009. (And could Brandon Powell be reinvented as a SS?) In the meantime...

6. As SC Nats Fan reminds us, "I don't get raises for sub par job reviews. . . ." Same here, but part of our salary potential is predicated on how easily we can be replaced. In my own case, I shudder to think about it, but in Lopez' case, mediocre or not, he's apt not to have to consider a career change for a few years. Still...

7. Do the Nats need to upgrade in the middle infield? Oh, yes.

"What the #$@$ does Boz do all day? For that matter what does Barry do all day?"

JayB, haven't you been paying attention? Boz is now a full-time Gibbsologist. He was a hobbyist at that for 25 years, unbeknownst to those of us who were reading his baseball prose. But this year he turned pro. Unfortunately, the results have not been pretty. I'd love to be a fly on the wall when his annual performance assessment takes place at the Post.

Barry makes his money writing game stories and notebooks (he led the entire Post in bylines in 2007, according to Washingtonian magazine), and to give him some credit, unlike Eli Saslow he does know which clubhouse to go into for quotes when the game is over. But in the offseason it seems all he's capable of is starting pointless arguments about team payroll on his not-well-tended blog. He seems incapable of critical analysis about the team, and right now is probably busy studying Chinese for his upcoming assignment at the Olympics and polishing his resume for submission to ESPN The Magazine upon his return. Apparently his old sparring partner Jorge is getting bored there with no one to bicker with.

And here's my prediction of how the Boswell performance assessment will go this year.

BOZ: I want as big a raise as Felipe Lopez is getting.

POST: No f***ing way. He had a much better year than you did.

Boz the baseball historian will at least have to appreciate the echo of the famous Babe Ruth salary negotiation with the Yankees as he slinks off with his tail between his legs.

419+1: Boz the Gibbsologist has a lot to live down, I grant you, especially having brought it onto himself.

But "ill-tended blog"? I don't agree with that, especially as a lot of the news hits here first, even at this fairly dead portion of the season. (Four posts this week seems a pretty fair clip.)

Short of Barry morphing into Jay Mariotti -- or Mariotti taking Barry's job when Barry goes to Beijing -- how, in your opinion, could the blog be better tended?

2001 Tor
2002 Tor
2003 Cin
2004 Cin
2005 Cin
2006 Cin/Was
2007 Was

jayb, he's not really on his 3rd team in 4 years... he did do 3 teams in 5 years at one point, but 2 yrs in toronto, 2.5 in cinci, and now 2.5 in DC (counting 08)... that's not really all that much of a "journeyman" career. and the first four of those years weren't as a starter. he was only a starter in from 05 in cinci and on. he never had more than 85 ABs before that.

not defending the guy, necessarily, but we don't need to get carried away when attacking him. there's plenty of legit stuff to complain about.

Railing on Barry seems odd, given that he is our only real source of info at the Post. It is as slow a time as we'll get- even the really high-volume blogs have been mostly silent for lack of material. Truth is, we diehards mostly just have each other for a few more weeks.

For extra material you may not have seen, I suggest Nationals Farm Authority. They're counting down the top 25 pitchers and hitters in the system, and have gone 25 through 23 so far. It will at least get you thinking about some of the prospects who are a few years out, and distract you from grumpiness at Boz.

Maybe we need something like a few rounds of "Nationals Island" to channel folks' rancor.

Were we to start today, methinks that -- fairly or no -- Stan, JimBow and Flip would be sharing the same boat out. (Before voting, remember that Cam Bonifay still has a job in baseball.)

Hendo-

I'm still happy to keep Stan and JimBow. I want to see that outfield, and get to Potomac to see their draft picks play. I also can't imagine that Bowden won't do one more move before Spring Training. i bet he's even more stir crazy than the rest of us, or at least just a little crazy.

Maybe we need to put a Spring Training deadline on gripes on old news. Spring Training is all about possibilities, about every team having the same record, and leaving past disappointments behind. The Post was light on coverage last year, but maybe Mike Wise wants to spend some time at the new ballpark. Maybe the Nats play well enough that coverage late in the year doesn't highlight a still-contending opponent.

Last year's disappointments are over. When Barry reaches Viera, let's give everybody a clean slate. Except Nook Logan- let's not see him anymore.

i also think its absolutely absurd that FLop thinks he deserves a 30% raise for hitting .245 last year. if anything he should get a 30% cut in pay from last year! what a waste...

I want to encourage the regulars (and any newcomers) to play "guess the rotation" as per the tail end of the last post, in case you missed it.

I agree that Balester should have been on my list of candidates.

Also worth noting that Barry is a beat reporter, not a columnist who is "paid to have opinions." Like it or not, his job is to give us facts, not "critical analysis." And I concur with Hendo's point that four posts per week in mid-January is not too shabby. Many bloggers don't post at all in the offseason.

Finally, when did FLop become PLOP, or even FLip? Now, FL$p, that one I could see ...

And another thing -- you have to hope Chico and Lannan make the rotation and, in fact, pitch in that order, because then we can refer to the pair as ... wait for it ... "Chico and the Lann."

I often try to avoid "Guess the Rotation," but this time I'll bite: Hill, Patterson, Chico, Bergmann, Redding.

That's to start the season. To end the season is another matter. By September I expect only two of those names (I ain't sayin' which) to remain, and the rest to be replaced by three out of this list: Detwiler, Mock, Clippard, Lannan, Balester.

Mike Bacsik will be our ever-dependable swingman and will be tuning his cords for his next career in the Nats' broadcast booth.

"Short of Barry morphing into Jay Mariotti -- or Mariotti taking Barry's job when Barry goes to Beijing -- how, in your opinion, could the blog be better tended?"

Here's what I look for in a blog, and how Barry comes up short.

Breaking news. Okay, Barry gets some, but hell he's on the Nats' e-mail list for press alerts and he has clubhouse access, for God's sake. I've read more breaking news about the team (all aspects: stadium, parking, STH and other customer service matters, team/player stuff, FO stuff) on the Nats320 blog than I've seen from Barry over the past two years. And Nats320 is an amateur blogger, not getting paid to do it like Barry is. Nats320 often seems to have better access to Kasten and Bowden than Barry does. I give Barry the edge on access to Acta, but then again Barry is in the clubhouse while Nats320 isn't.

A bit of edge to the blog commentary, moreso than what is typical of a pure beat reporter. Barry claims to do snark, but Capitol Punishment - another amateur blog - has him totally beat on that aspect.

Interaction between the blogger and commenters. Barry rarely does this. How many times are questions directed toward Barry in the comments and he never even addresses them or even acknowledges them? Real bloggers like Nats320 and Capitol Punishment react to readers' comments all the time.

Frequency of posting. Okay, Barry posts a lot, but did you know that Nats320 posted 600 times in 2006-2007? I bet that's right up there with Barry, and again Barry is getting paid to do this while the others aren't.

Although I really don't read them all that often, Steinberg and LaCanfora seem to do a much better job on their blogs than Barry does on his. Especially Steinberg.

Is that enough?

The Post sports section has always been about its columists not news. ST is less than a month away and baseball is still just a few lines on page 2 in the WaPo and Barry only shows up on the blog every 2-3 days.
Look at he Baltimore Sun even with all that is going on with the Ravens coaching you still get multiple page speads on the Orioles and other baseball related stories.

Oh PUH-LEASE! Don't even TRY to compare Barry to Nats320.

320 is a great fan and his blogs are heartwarming as are his pictures. But he IS NOT A JOURNALIST. I won't even get into his spelling and grammar.

320 does not post "breaking news". He gets stroked by the team because he's such a die-hard fan and has an audience on his blog and was probably a full-season ticket holder from day one. Whatever. He panders to them and he is their free marketing tool.

I think 320 is a great guy, but I'll say it again. He's not a journalist. If Barry started "reporting" like 320, we'd be in big trouble.

I never said 320 is a journalist. He's not. He's a blogger. Never said Barry wasn't a good journalist either. I criticized his blogging, not his journalism. Bloggers aren't journalists. But last I looked, this Nationals Journal thing claims to be a blog, doesn't it? That makes it fair game for criticism in comparison with other Nats blogs, IMHO anyway. And it comes up short.

As for your comments about Nats320, I agree his spelling and grammar are atrocious. He's been known to ramble. He's a homer, no doubt. But whenever he interviews Stan Kasten, Jim Bowden, Manny Acta or any player, he prints every single word of the interview (down to the "Hi, Stan, how are you?" Thus there is no slant being applied, and the reader can make his/her own choice as to whether the interview subject is talking straight or not. Can't say that about Barry's interviews. You always have to wonder what was left out when they went to print. And Nats320 _has_ broken stories that the Post has missed. Latest example: Monument has declared that the work on the Navy Yard Metro station will be completed ahead of schedule. Nats320 reported this several days ago, but there has been absolutely nothing in the Post about this - despite the fact that they were all over this story last fall when Monument was supposed to be seven weeks behind schedule. Also, I know more about CenterPlate's plans for Nationals Park from reading Nats320 than I've ever read in the Post. Haven't seen anything in the Post about the parking options yet, either. But I have in Nats320. I could go on with this, but I won't.

Just because the Post and Barry can run spell-checker and write with good grammar, it doesn't necesaarily mean they're doing a good job.

i just read that the cubs want a right handed hitting out fielder. i thought maney jimbo could trade Austin Kearns with money for felix Pie. we get want we want another young toosley out fielder for Kearns who will play center for them. then Pie in left Milliage in center and Pena in right then Dukes compets with Pie for the starting job in spring traning what do you think?

419, I agree with you yet again. Scary.... but truly Barry restates Nats News releases for the most part and often after CP, 320 and NFA get off work from their full time jobs and still beat him to the punch.

I for one enjoy Barry but facts are facts. I have been reading more about the Nats in Online versions of the New York and Tampa papers than Barry seems able to get into print this winter.

Hey Barry,

Example....Nats are going to pay PLOP 5 Million Dollars and Washington Post can not be bothered to report what personal problems caused him to tank a whole season. PLOP gets a 30% raise and we get no information what the problem was and evidence of a solution?

I love Nats320, but he's got nothing on Barry. This is not even a serious discussion - if you had to do without one of them, the answer is obvious.

Nonetheless, the beauty of it is that this is not a competition. They do different things and complement each other.

P.S. Barry - nonetheless, the Post is *really* behind the curve on this parking thing right now.

I don't tend to read any of the fan blogs at all often (forums yes, blogs no) so I can't compare them to this blog, which I do read regularly. That said, IMO comparing a fan blog to that of a professional journalist is apples and oranges. I've enjoyed this blog (Barry's contributions along with those of the commenters) from day one and will continue to do so. Just my 2 cents.

419 - You make some good and welcome points. Sounds like your complaint might be about the Post's coverage in general and Barry's in particular, rather than just about NJ as a blog.

That might sound like a nuance, although I'm trying to discern a useful clarification (insofar as I'm able, having just climbed off yet another delayed arrival into Dulles).

First of all, bloggers are generally not journalists. My favorite non-Post Nats news blog is the Farm Authority, but Brian is under no deadline or journalistic agenda. And he, too, recycles some Nats and MLB PR feed. (There's only so much to go around.) Capitol Punishment and Nats320 are largely opinion blogs although I'll grant that CP has the "edge" a lot of us like.

While I'm at it, I'll tip my hat to Just a Nats Fan. And I'll acknowledge that Brian, Miss Chatter and others are welcomely interactive. Whether Barry should be is a matter of opinion; I'll abstain from judging him on that, given my admiration of his devotion to digging into the stathead stuff that I happen to enjoy.

To the degree that NFA and other bloggers report genuine news, good on 'em. To the degree that the Post and other legacy journalistic outlets don't, shame on 'em.

If the latter is our beef, we can be consoled that the independent blog-type format is the wave of the future. At the same time, whether and how that wave -- not to mention our accustomed news outlets -- will maintain journalistic quality is indeed something we all should be a bit concerned about, or maybe more than a bit.

shawn hill
jason bergman
matt chico
tim redding
john lannan

patterson is done, everyone else is helpful insurance.

the end

Yea, sure, this is a blog. But it's for the Washington Post. And it's part of Barry's *job*, not his hobby. He absolutely has to maintain his journalistic integrity for the Washington Post audience, but especially for the team. It's why he wasn't helping with food program and why he doesn't talk to the players in the lobbies of hotels. 320 can yuk it up with the players all he wants, buy them beers and then come back and blog for pages about it. Barry would get fired for it.

Besides space limitations on the hard copy, he also has to make dozens of decisions on what is *news* based on limitations placed on him by the industry, the paper's readership, and his editor. "Hi Stan, how are you?" isn't news, even on this newspaper's blog.

In fact, if Barry's such a great baseball (and Nats) fan (he does have season tickets), he's to be commended for holding back on his personal opinions. If it were me, I'd go crazy not being able to spout off my opinions about the team.

And for the record, we do get extra stuff here that the hard copy doesn't have space for, and we do get most things first and in a little more casual, person-to-person language. That Barry can walk up to that line and still maintain his integrity is also commendable.

Nats320's including that stuff is delicious for die-hard fans like us so I know what you're saying. But we should go to his blog to get that stuff, not here. Tagging on what natsfan1a said, Go to Nats320 for the apples and come here for the oranges.

If I were Barry, I wouldn't relish jumping into the conversation going on now.

As for the starting rotation:

Locks

Hill
Bergmann
(Patterson is a lock to be on DL)

Likely

Chico
Redding

Possible

Lannan
Livo
Clippard

I can't see Detwiler or Mock sticking, and I know nothing about Enrique Gonzalez, other than that he pitched badly in parts of two seasons for the Diamondbacks. I would give Clippard more of a shot than Lannan, honestly. I think Lannan has to have a good Spring Training to make the team, and Clippard has spent more time coming up through the minors in installments. Chico and Redding would have to stink in Spring Training not to make the team. Finally, I realy do think the Nats will sign Livan Hernandez.

Interesting speculation re Pie, jarred. Looks to me, though, as if only Spring Training will tell whether Pie has the CF job at Wrigley. Also, moving him to LF and/or Kearns to CF might or might not work, either on paper or in real life.

Plus, if I were looking to move Kearns (which I happen not to be, given the ungelled nature of the Nats' OF at present) I'd be wanting to pick up some help at SS. Which is scarce enough in this market, perhaps, that a team would have to offer a Kearns to compete at the trade table.

I could see that happening when the Nats need that one extra push to go over the top in the NL East, but not now. Perhaps I'm unduly cautious?

Let us not forget the post game podcasts that Barry gets on most game nights. Those are very enjoyable, especially to us out of towners who don't get interviews like that anywhere else. I'm very thankful for all he does in season and I'll give him a rest in the off season. If there was anything relevant to report, I'm sure he would do so. The rotation...Patterson - Hill - Bergman - Hill - Lannan. I'm an optomist on Patterson. Livo wants way to much $ to sign him. If the price drops, sign him then and only then.

Hill twice, I don't think so, please insert Redding in that second slot...lol. Also, Chico...spot starter.

I like the potencial of our pitching staff. At least, I like it better than anything out there that the Nats might pick up. (read Hernandez). To pitch 200 innings and give up 5 runs a game is not the answer. I'd rather take my chances on a Ballister, a Lannan, a Deitweiler,a Mock, a Clippard than anything available out there. My starting five would be Hill, Bergman, Redding, Chico and one of the above. Or if Bowden could pull a big one and land a SF pitcher such as Cain or Lincecum, that would be good. How about giving up Kearns, Rauch, Lopez, and a top prospect such as Ballister for Lincecum and 2nd baseman, Velez. SF could use the bats, but then I don't think they'd (SF) make that trade, so I'm all for status quo. Or maybe a shortstop. Oh right, no good ones available either. All I'm really asking for is good health for the team and I think they will do well. Remember, with practically the whole team decimated with injuries last year, they played 500 ball from the middle of May on. And why would we want another outfielder. I love the potencial as it is now.

NR Barry's Mom,

Barry needs to follow through on promises to win back my respect.

Explanations of WPost rational fpr Nats coverage (poor), how we got a Phils locker room game story, Why Boz or Wise ignore Nats, Some real investigating on the cost of Player Development, Marketing Nats story, Nick Johnson, Ray King, D Young Weight stories....just goes on and on....

Barry says these are interesting topics that deserve some work on but we never get it here where space is not an issue or in the paper that is dying fast. As a good mom I know you want Barry to do what he says he will do.

JayB, we all want Barry to be a model citizen. But the last I looked, he was neither the sports page editor nor the chairman of the Post board.

Which is to say, irrespective of what he says he will do or would like to do, he does have others to answer to. We can give him grief, but we don't pay his salary (except insofar as we do or don't buy the paper and/or patronize Post advertisers; your allusion to the state of the Post's business, while grim, is not unworthy of discussion).

Here's something else to mull over: When Barry jets off to Beijing for the Olympics, someone's going to pick up the Nats beat. Who do you think it should be? And, in your opinion, would they -- and could they, given editorial and business constraints -- do a better job?

"Yea, sure, this is a blog. But it's for the Washington Post. And it's part of Barry's *job*, not his hobby. He absolutely has to maintain his journalistic integrity for the Washington Post audience, but especially for the team. It's why he wasn't helping with food program and why he doesn't talk to the players in the lobbies of hotels. 320 can yuk it up with the players all he wants, buy them beers and then come back and blog for pages about it. Barry would get fired for it."

Well, Dan Steinberg in his DC Sports Bog does all this kind of stuff that you say would compromise Barry's journalistic integrity. And Dan Steinberg is a Post employee (or maybe it's post.com, but really what's the difference there?) who both blogs for the paper and writes stories for the print edition that appear under his byline as a "Washington Post Staff Writer." Obviously, Dan Steinberg's journalistic integrity has been compromised. Should the Post fire him?

Clearly you folks here (with the exception of JayB) think that Barry Svrluga is immune from criticism, even if it's constructive criticism. You seem to think that he's under editorial control when he blogs, when I seriously doubt that this is the case. Obviously if he violates the rules of decorum he'll face sanctions post facto, but otherwise he's free to write as little or as much as he'd like here. So I think it's very telling when JayB points out the many cases where Barry has promised to address a topic here and then not followed through on that promise. No one is stopping him from doing that other than himself.

It's pretty obvious to me that Barry could do a better job on this blog, and it's becoming just as obvious to me that he won't be doing so no matter how much you folks continue to suck up to him. I wouldn't say that Barry's blog is not worth reading (after all, I do seek his writing out, which I don't do for the likes of Bill Ladson), but it's nowhere near as good as you folks make it out to be. He could do a better job on this blog.

This is the very same space where scores of fans eviscerated Bowden and Christian Guzman last year. After a bad year, fans are always ready to thrown the baby out with the bath water. Perhaps FLop wll not rebound, but statistically his chances of doing so are quite good. He could easily trend up to .260 and .340 OBP with 15 and 30 SB if he gets significant playing time. He is likely to have a higher SB % of success closer to 75% than last years 62%. He is 28 (or there about). Far from too old to bounce back. He's already had two very productive years in his career - one with over 20 HR and one with over 40 HR. He is not an exceptional fielder, but he is average. Average doesn't suck. Give the guy a break. Fact is players with his qualifications get paid $5M. Throwing him away would be folly. Spending his salary on older/higher risk/mediocre pitchers would be unwise. I loved watching Livan pitch, but I would not block Detwiller, Lanan, Balester, etc... for the right to spend 5-7Million on him. But that's not an either/or situation anyway. Long live the plan! Give Flop another chance!

I can't wait for spring training.

For what it's worth, Dan Szymborski's ZiPS computer at Baseball Think Factory projects Lopez at .264 / .344 / .383. (Szymborski is careful to footnote "uncertainty about how the new park will play." Also, no fielding projections are made.)

Even so, a 20-30 point hitting improvement across the board would be most welcome, and would cover a multitude of sins. As noted by various posters, the denizens of Planet NJ are a forgiving lot.

natsbiscuit... which flopez are you talking about that hit 40 HRs? not the one on our roster.

he had one good year, one. in 2005 he hit 23 HRs and had 15 SBs with a 291 avg and an 838 OPS. the next year it dropped to 268, 9HRs, 23 SBs, and 749 OPS. and it trended downward the next year as well.

i hope he does better and trending up to his career average (258/328/396/724, avg/obp/slg/ops) would be welcome (after last year's abysmal 245/308/352/660). it's possible he will. it's not impossible he could regain the 2005 type of numbers, but that's very unlikely. 2005 was the anomaly. 2007 may have been the opposite end anomaly, too. thing is, he's been remarkably inconsistent if you look at his seasonal stat lines.

I hope that Lopez gives us a nice turnaround like Guzman did last year. But when I saw that the Nats are offering a $1M raise (and Lopez wants more than that), I just about fell off my chair. If I were Lopez, I'd be happy with the $4.9M and get my butt to Viera.

Starting rotation:
Hill
Bergman
Chico
Redding
Lannan

Detwiler and Clippard in the minors, with the first call up if anything happens to the above. Patterson - gotta prove it b/f I believe in him again.

One distinction that I can think of is that Steinberg is not a beat reporter. He covers more than one sport, and the premise of his blog is to be humorous (as I understand it) rather than to amplify coverage of the single team on which he focuses.

"One distinction that I can think of is that Steinberg is not a beat reporter."

Well, Steinberg was one of many Post sportswriters who filed sidebar stories from each and every Redskins game this year. And those stories were not focused on peripheral fan stuff like tailgates, they were focused on aspects of the game that occured on the field or in the locker room. So, in other words, he filed at least part of the gamer for every Skins game this year. So I'd say he's at least partly a beat reporter in addition to his full-time blogger duties. You could almost say he's about as good a beat reporter as Barry is a blogger, couldn't you? Oh wait, that's been my point all along...

OK, I really want to talk some baseball instead of coverage of baseball. One point that easily comes to mind is how happy I am not to be a Florida Marlin fan. I can't imagine what the equivalent would be to the Marlins trading Cabrera and Willis away. Like trading Zimmerman twice?

If you want to talk cheap, catch this from the Miami Herald on the Marlins avoiding arbitration with one player:

On Friday, the two sides came to terms on a one-year deal for a base salary of $2.5 million, making Gregg the highest-paid Marlin.

As you all noted with bile, that is about half of what Felipe Lopez will be making. Florida does not deserve the Marlins, and no team deserves to have the Marlins owner. The Nats had better well finish far ahead of the Marlins this year.

that was a typo of course. over 40 SBs was what I meant to type. I believe that is accurate (2006). over 20 HR in 2005 and over 40 SB in 2006...

Here's another point of optimism. The following story from Pittsburgh discusses how the Pirates were the worst in the NL this year, but did almost nothing. The Nats finished at .500 only 3 years ago, and Jim Bowden and crew seem to have improved the team for the coming years. The Pirates can't say the same:

Huntington: We'll win with what we have
ADVERTISEMENT

By John Perrotto
Published: Sunday, January 20, 2008 1:23 AM EST
Neal Huntington admits the temptation has been there since the day he became the Pittsburgh Pirates' general manager.

Realizing the Pirates lost 94 games last season and haven't had a winning season since 1992, there are times when Huntington has considered gutting the roster and starting over.

Yet, Huntington has stayed disciplined since taking over for Dave Littlefield on Sept. 25. He has refused to make trades just for the sake of making trades.

"I really believe one of my strengths and one of the strengths of our organization is that we try to take emotion out of decisions and try to make rational moves that will benefit the Pirates," Huntington said. "It isn't always easy. I want to improve our club and organization as soon as I can. We all want to make this organization better as soon as possible.

"Yet, you don't want to make moves that are potentially going to weaken the organization. Unfortunately, there haven't been many trade scenarios that have been presented that really would make us better not only for 2008 but for 2009, 2010 and 2011."

Huntington has made only one trade, shipping reliever Salomon Torres to Milwaukee for two minor-league relievers in December. Huntington's other moves concerning the major-league roster have been claiming five players off waivers, taking a player in the Rule 5 Draft and signing utility infielder Chris Gomez to a one-year, $1-million contract as a free agent.

The lack of player movement doesn't seem to dovetail with the changes Huntington has made to the Pirates' basic organizational structure. He fired manager Jim Tracy, the entire coaching staff, player personnel director Brian Graham and scouting director Ed Creech while demoting assistant GM Doug Strange.

Yet, barring an unexpected major move between now and the March 31 opener in Atlanta, the Pirates will go into the season with a roster nearly identical to the one that had the worst record in the National League in 2007.

Huntington does not have a problem with that.

"I think almost any analyst you talk to would tell you the 2007 Pirates underachieved," Huntington said. "I'm not about to say we're going to win a championship or a certain number of games with the team we have. However, I do feel this team should be more competitive than last season if for no other reason than it would be hard to believe so many players would underachieve for a second consecutive season."

While the law of averages may work in the Pirates' favor in 2008, a poor 2007 has left many players without a lot of value on the trade market.

More baseball discussion:

John Sickles, getting ready to release his "2008 Baseball Prospect Book," has been releasing some previews. Here was what he says about our prospect Michael Burgess:

Michael Burgess, OF, Washington Nationals
Bats: L Throws: L HT: 5-11 WT: 195 DOB: October 20, 1988

The Nats drafted Michael Burgess in the supplemental first round last year, out of high school in Tampa. This could end up being a steal: he was considered a possible Top Ten pick heading into his senior year, but an erratic spring dropped his stock. He looked great after signing, dominating the Gulf Coast League (led the circuit in OPS) and doing well in a late trial against older competition in the New York-Penn League. Burgess isn't a big guy, but he has a big bat, with excellent power potential. His strike zone judgment is very good, and he's a solid defensive outfielder at either corner, though he lacks the speed for center. The main complaints about him are that he strikes out a lot, and that his swing mechanics get unglued sometimes. This could hurt his batting average at higher levels, but I imagine that the power and walks will carry forward. Grade B+.

Four more weeks: We'd be talking baseball if the WaPo was reporting on it.
The good news for WaPo id the Time hasn't figured out how to blog yet.
How about the NJ having more than one host?
Barry doesn't have to do it all! DS & TB could add substantial to this blog.

Tom-

I understand, and I have a feeling that a lot of us who want year-round coverage grew up in the NY area (like I did) or near Boston. I really hoped for that, too.

Still, you know it has to be slow when subscription-based Baseball Prospectus has as many chats devoted to football and basketball as they do to baseball. I don't know how shows like "The Show" (Rob Dibble and Kevin Kennedy) could have made it though the off-season without the steroids mess to beat to death.

I am happy that my NY Giants have given me 3 extra weeks to have another sport to pay attention to (I know- it ends tonight). The next two weeks will be lost to the Super Bowl, but then it is essentially baseball time.

4mw - Don't forget the Caps, who are trying mightily to morph into something to make us forget we ever had a player named Jagr.

Talking baseball... I look at that Accelerated Development Program roster every so often and think, whoa, some of these guys are scary good. Between Vermont pitchers headed for Hagerstown and Potomac hitters headed for Harrisburg -- not to mention Detwiler -- the Nats should be able to start feeding well-developed, home-grown players into the MLB team with regularity this summer.

It will be nice not to have to just pray for a Cordero or a Zimmerman in the draft every year.

Hendo-

I admit that what interest I had in hockey once went away after the year off. But hey, Ovechkin is as good a person to make this area interested as anyone, and he essentially around until they decide to trade him, what with a 13-year contract. I wish Zimmerman had a 13-year contract, but of course in baseball that would have to be guaranteed.

I am looking forward to the Baseball America 2008 Prospects book. I had the 2007 edition, and just ordered a used copy of the 2006. I want to enjoy the improved assessment of the farm system over time.

natsbiscuit, he did have 40 SBs in 06. still, is that the real him? his other two full-time years were 15 and 24. just like HRs, he had 23 one year, then 11 and 9 the other two. so is his HR norm 10 or 23? is his SB norm 44 or 20? i would argue that there's more evidence that his norms are 10/20 and not 20/40.

Hmm, that Baseball America Prospects book sounds like a good idea that I can't account for overlooking in years past.

I'll put that onto the shopping list right next to Baseball Prospectus. (Whose authors I hope will be coming to Politics & Prose again this year, but no word yet.)

Lopez is in his last year before free agency, and Guzman is in the last year of his contract. I have to believe neither will return in 2009 unless the Nats want to pay market rates. Perhaps Guzman's new eyes mean his offensive success last year is his new normal and Lopez can approach his pre 2007 averages, but neither is even average in the field. Second worst of the 24 SS to play 2/3 of his team's games, 3 worst in Zone Rating, and bottom half in range factor. Guzman's fielding % was actually worse but his zone rating was very good last year (would have been in the top 1/3 if he played enough games).

As for "who is better who is available," I'd be very tempted to take a run at Jed Lowrie if he is not in a Santana package. Sickels rates him as an A- prospect if he stays at SS, B+ as a 2d baseman. He was on Baseball America's minor league All Star team last year. Extra base hits in half his games last year, and he doesn't turn 24 until 4/17. Great OBP skills. Maybe can be league average in terms of range at SS (split opinions) but a very strong arm who, worst case, should be a regular at 2d base.

I don't disagree with those who argue that Lopez and Guzman are limited players, but I do disagree with those that think the Nats are wrong to pay/keep Lopez this year. No team should be giving away 28 year old healthy talent. I can't think of another team that has released their arbitration eligible players with the history of success that Lopez has had. The cubs did release Prior, but he has not been healthy. Who else was released (in the 28 year old range) this year while still under team control?

Wow! The Giants gave me two more weeks to be a little distracted from baseball.

Couple guys I can think of that were non tendered...Estrada, Marcus Giles, Barrett (resigned at a cheaper salary), Ensberg, Koskie, Mench.

I imagine Carlos Pena had been DFA'd a couple times in his career, too.

Happens all the time to arbitration eligible guys that underperform/are overpaid.

The risk/reward is tough to determine for the Nats. Do you waive him and hope to resign him at a cheaper salary?

What happens if another team scoops Lopez up with a multiyear deal (and at the beginning of the offseason there were plenty of teams looking for either a SS or 2B).

Whats the plan if Lopez is gone and Guzman or Belliard become injured? Plug in a non roster invitee? A starting caliber SS or 2B isnt going to sign with the Nats to be a backup either. Trade for a prospect? Who do you give up? Minor league pitching? Marrero?

Lopez is overpaid, sure, but its a one year deal. No long term risk. Hes not blocking a prospect from advancing. He adds quality depth by playing multiple positions. He may be a viable trade candidate around the deadline.

It will be interesting to see how the Nats handle the 2009 middle infield because outside of a few guys like Hudson, O Cabrera and Renteria there wont be much available.

Doce Ocho-

Good analysis. I look forward to Felipe having a better year and making this all go away, but we have to remember that the team has not solved all of its depth problems yet.

When you consider who the Nats have drafted, including in the Rule 5 draft, it is apparent that they draft the best person available, and not for positional need. It also seems that shortstops or second basemen who have an upside worth gambling on don't get released so readily. We have to give Bowden credit for recognizing the value in Ronnie Belliard as a FA, and the idea that not trading him at the deadline was the right thing to do.

Honestly, Belliard is making less than $2M per the next two years, if I remember correctly. That certainly seems like a bargain to me.

Belliard's salary is $1.6M in 2008, $1.9M in 2009.

Check out the first item in Ladson's mailbag on the team site...

I am hoping for the new park to be a benefit for Austin Kearns, as I had hoped it would be for Ryan Church. I think that the shorter field will give Kearns a chance to be an even better right fielder. I think that Milledge's speed can also help on that side.

Ladson mostly seems to be a "company man" when it comes to writing about the Nats, but I have to say I am glad that someone is taking that role. In time I hope we have a number of journalists with different takes who can add their voices to the bloggers.

on mlb trade rumors tim is saying that Khalil Greene dose not want to be in Sandeigo anymore i got a felling that he will be in a nats unifore this season. and Lopez and Kears in a padres unifome. what do you think

So what's this I read about Barry leaving the Nats beat? Say it ain't so.

i sure would hope we'd get more than just greene back for both lopez and kearns. i'd like the idea of a lopez for greene swap with us adding something to the equation to make it happen, but kearns is probably a bit too much on our end.

green's OBP is lower than lopez. a little bit last year and a whole lot career wise. he makes up for it some with the power, which puts his career OPS above lopez, and his defense is significantly better.

i'll echo earlier comments (and i've said it many times before), no matter what you think of flopez, you can't even begin to entertain getting rid of him until you have a replacement either as part of that deal or already done. he's the only ML capable backup at SS. and maybe 2B as well.

I should have put this in before, but here's the link on Barry (and others at WaPo): http://www.observer.com/2008/washington-post-beat-reshuffling

aargh...just what the post needs, another Skins beatwriter. Dissing the Nats again. Say it ain't so Barry!!

From the Observer, as linked above:

"In sports, the Post is changing hands on all its major beats. Marc Carig, formerly a sports writer, is the new Orioles beat guy; Barry Svrluga will become the 'Skins third beat reporter for the paper, which leaves an opening for the Nationals."

This is a joke, right? If not, it just confirms everything I've said over the past three years about the Post Sports department:

(a) They still (wrongly) think of the Orioles as a home team. You would think that after three years they'd realize there is no need for an Orioles beat writer at the WASHINGTON Post.

(b)They hate the Nationals and want the team to fail. Otherwise, why would they leave the Nationals beat empty less than one month before spring training starts? Now is when they should be ramping up their coverage of the team, not trying to hire some newbie off the street and get him trained. Hey, maybe the Post can steal the Baltimore Sun's Nationals beat writer to fill the gap. Oh wait....there is no Nationals beat writer at the Baltimore Sun.

(c) The Post thinks of everything other than Redskins coverage as filler anyway. Otherwise why would they take their most prolific byline in the entire newspaper (according to Washingtonian magazine, Barry Svrluga led the entire Post staff with over 500 bylined pieces in 2007) and demote him to NUMBER THREE Redskins reporter?

Geez. And the Post wonders why their circulation continues to drop by the day.

Heh. Can a saint be un-canonized?

Keep in mind that, as far as the Post goes, this is actually a promotion for Barry. It doesn't please me, but congratulations, Barry.

The Nats job will not be left empty, of course. Whether the new beat writer's job includes Nationals Journal will remain to be seen, I guess. As far as circulation goes? I imagine the Post has a handle on what sells papers around here, if they can be sold at all anymore. Maybe the stinking Redskins dominate the Sports pages becuase most people want to read those stories.

I personally think there is some chicken and egg going on here. The paper could do a lot to boost the Nationals around here, but they do not. Still, they can't ignore the team like they were the Mystics (relegated to page 6 forever).

Be of good cheer. We are still less than 4 weeks from Spring Training.

perhaps some of this is because he'll be in china for the olympics for the first part of the baseball season--and that's not a very good location to attempt to be a nats beat writer--and when he returns, it'll be training camp time for the skins. which seems a logical place for him to start writing at that moment.

besides, only a fool would believe that the skins beat might not be a step up from the nats beat in general careerwise, it's not like he's being switched to be the caps beat writer. and just because the observer calls him the "third skins beat reporter" doesn't mean he's necessarily #3 in the pecking order. just means there are three of them.

i'll agree, tho, that since the post has known about this for a while, i can't quite understand the logic behind not having figured out (and announced) his replacement a month before P&C report.

regardless, i'll wish barry well wherever he goes.

"I imagine the Post has a handle on what sells papers"

Really, I am just one person but I cancelled this September due to lack of Nats coverage. Don't miss it in the least.

Thanks for the early years Barry but this past year was not much to put on a resume was it?

The Post is failing because they do not gives readers what they want - in-depth, regular insightful reporting and analysis - this is especially missing from the sports page. They cater to the same people sports radio does; others who want intelligent material to read don't get any.

The Nats are not covered well, IMO, due to the bias of the sports editor, Emilio Garcia-Ruiz. I found him on the radio to be mean-spirited, too quick to judge, and a closet Baltimore sports fan - don't know where he's from.

The Post sports pages are almost unreadable now -- except for Mike Wise, who is excellent.

Unless and until the Nats make the play-offs and more, the Post will never cover them as much as we would like.

HOWEVER - if you want change, write down all the sports' sections major advertisers for the week, especially Sunday, and tell them:

(a) Why bother advertising here if the circulation is so low and all the stories are about teams that play in Baltimore or beyond? No one from these cities is going to travel to purchase your product.

(b) Until the Post changes its editorial ways and editorial staff, you will not purchase their products and you will tell your friends to do the same.

Hit the Post in the pocketbook and you will see change - but it will take real letters and real commitment, not posting to blogs (so I am guilty as well!)

This news about rotating reporters is really pathetic if true. It further confirms that the Post's sports editor has no idea what he is doing. The Post's Ombudsman has already confirmed that the Nationals are the second-most followed topic after the Skins. Yet they continue to be treated like a red-headed stepchild. It's not like the news is that Barry is going to replace La Canfora. They're going to make him the THIRD beat reporter for the Skins, which is hardly a step up. And the Beijing Olympics are in August, so that can't be the reason. A temporary replacement for Barry during that time was always planned, as I understand it.

I disagree that this would constitute a "promotion" for Barry anywhere outside the warped world of Post Sports. The only true promotion for a baseball beat writer at the Post is to get a job covering the home team for a paper that actually covers baseball--say, any paper in NY, the Boston Globe, the Trib, the list goes on... The Washington Post...the only major paper without a real baseball beat reporter for the home team, and without a single real baseball columnist. It is just so sad for the Post that baseball had to return to DC and impose such a strain on their budget, my heart aches for them...

Coverage- You started in the right direction when you mentioned the Ombudsman. That is actually our only recourse, because there is nothing we can do to "hit them in the pockets". If anything, we need to show that folks who do read and subscribe to the Post want more coverage, by telling them.

I have to admit that it does seem to come down to Mr. Garcia-Ruiz. I am at a loss to figure how he could make the decisions he has. Write to the Post to complain. Write to the Times to suggest they beef theirs up, or the recently-turned-into-a-rag Examiner. Write into other chats on ESPN.com and the like to show Nats fans actually exist. Don't bother unsubscribing- it wouldn't do a thing.

That seems logical to me, 231.

Generally speaking (and not directed to any particular commenter), we've known for some time that a beat reporter change would be coming, we just didn't know the details. I prefer to reserve judgment until I see some info coming directly from Barry or from the Post.

---

perhaps some of this is because he'll be in china for the olympics for the first part of the baseball season--and that's not a very good location to attempt to be a nats beat writer--and when he returns, it'll be training camp time for the skins. which seems a logical place for him to start writing at that moment.

Given recent discussions of mainstream media and blogs, I thought that this piece might be of interest (found via a link from Steinberg's "Bog":

http://tinyurl.com/3b3rup

What is the term for the period between the moment when one hits "submit" and the moment when one notices a typo in one's posting (such as an omitted end parenthesis)? :)

for those of you with insider access on ESPN, a nice reference to a number of blogs by peter gammons...

http://insider.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?name=gammons_peter

"What is the term for the period between the moment when one hits 'submit' and the moment when one notices a typo in one's posting (such as an omitted end parenthesis)? :)"

That would perhaps be an "ignisecond," also defined on unwords.com as follows:

"The overlapping moment of time when the hand is locking the car door even as the brain is saying, 'my keys are in there!'"

Re Barry's transition, it's not as though we didn't see it coming -- not that it's been trumpeted, but it's been mentioned previously here and elsewhere.

Barry himself alluded to it a couple of years ago in an interview when his book, "National Pastime," was published:

http://www.curledup.com/intbarry.htm

---------------

As to the future, natsfan1a's link contains the following timely observation, which jibes with what quite a few of us have been muttering about over the last several months:

"Mainstream media would be better served by more passion, even at the cost of some objectivity. Blogging would be better served by better reporting, although access often limits the extent to which a blogger can gather information. But as reporting and blogging continue to merge, both would be well served to remember what makes the other successful."

---------------

In a constructive vein, whom would you like to see pick up Nats Journal where Barry leaves off?

Although it's unlikely to happen, my choice would be Marc Fisher, especially if he continues to issue choice stuff like this:

http://tinyurl.com/2qtpo9

I only thought of this now, but probably because I am slow.

Where has the team itself been in trying to get the Post to pay more attention? Answer: We don't know. However, we should also contact them if we want them to make more of an effort. Not only might it make them work harder, but it would make them know we care.

I'll balance the last with a point a bit ahead of the curve;

The Nats have the9th pick in the June draft, but because of the new rules, and the fact that they did not lose compensible free agents, the team will not get their second pick for a while later than we are used to.

Is this bad? Not necessarily. It is the logical outcome from not signing any large free agents last year, and losing them, and from not failing to sign draft picks last year. In short, it is a sign of the Plan going according to plan. Eventually, unless you are the TB Rays, you turn your draft position into better results compared to the rest of baseball.

Good ahead-of-the-curve point, 4mw.

Even further ahead of the curve: What draft pick will the Nats have in 2009? 2010? Etc.

When we have the 30th pick, I'll start to worry. 8^D

Sports coverage of baseball in the WP. Lacking...certainly. I'll be interested to see what kind of advertising the Post does in the new park. Will they have one of those large billboards that surrounds the giant HD board? Will they just settle for a smaller sign located between the decks? Perhaps they'll have signage on the outfield wall, or behind homeplate. Perhaps they're to cheap to pay for advertising and are blackmailing coverage of the team for a better deal. Will we ever know? I doubt it. It baffles me at the lack of attention paid to the Nats by our uh...hometown paper? Maybe they should strike the word Washington from the title and insert World instead.

Remember I said the Post Sports Section is all about the columnists. The beat writers will come and go. Get used to it. The personal life of a baseball beat writer at most papers is non-existant. They live and breath their team for 7-8 months a year The Post gives them scheduled time off every month no matter what is going on with the team. Professional, yes. But, does it give the readers what they want, probably not.
Maybe the Post should just stick to the Redskins and Wizards and give the Nats and the Caps to the Times.
Finally, I don't believe this group dislikes Barry and we all wish him great success on the new beat. Maybe some day you will get the opportunity to grab the WaPo golden ring and become a Columnist!
Good Luck Barry! You surved baseball community well.

Definitely, Tom, I wish all the best to Barry in whatever his new endeavor may be.

Say it ain't so Barry. Say it ain't so.

Good point about draft position between the first and second round. Thats definitely a reflection of the Nats doing what they said they'd do.

I'd counter though, based on the compensation system, that having multiple first/second round picks can be a sign of an improving/proven team with a smart organizational philosophy. The Brewers are this years example with 5 of the top 51 picks (as of 1/21)...traded for Linebrink at the deadline in 2007 to bolster their pen and picked up two top 50 picks when he signed for ridiculous money with the Pale Hose. Another two picks when Cordero signed with the Reds. They are a contending team, traded for a need at the deadline, picked up the comp picks and then signed a boatload of relievers this offseason to moderate deals (either $ or years) to offset the loss of Linebrink/Cordero.

Or the Padres last year with 8 of the first 87 picks (5 comp picks!) thanks to the losses (gains?) of free agents Klesko, Chan Ho Park, Dave Roberts, Embree & Woody Williams.

And sure, it can also be a sign of a poorly constructed team of aging players as well (see Giants, draft 2007).

Personally, the Nats showed a willingness to spend in the 2007 draft. I'd have liked to see them have the ability to draft 8 of the first 100 guys. I know this wasnt a posssiblity, even if they let Dmitri (no comp) & Belliard (supp pick) go.

Doce Ocho-

The Linebrink trade might have netted Milwaukee draft picks eventually, but it cost them three players who were closer to the majors:

"They had to part with three valuable pitching prospects to do it, but the Brewers accomplished their primary trade deadline goal by acquiring reliever Scott Linebrink from the San Diego Padres on Wednesday.

The Padres received left-handed reliever Joe Thatcher, who was expected to join San Diego's bullpen, plus prospects Will Inman and Steve Garrison. Inman, a 20-year-old right-hander, was rated the third-best prospect in Milwaukee's organization by Baseball America. Thatcher was rated 23rd and Garrison was rated 27th."

I think that was more of a case of a team trying to make the playoffs that year, taking the chance of losing prospects to win immediately. The risk was for nothing in the end, because the Cubs overtook them. Still, I could see trying that kind of trade to get to the playoffs for the first time in 25 years. The Nats aren't there, and need to hoard prospects for a while if they can't make lopsided trades with them.

Does anyone remember who put out the free gameday newspapers they handed out at games in 2005?

It was before I became a die-hard fan and at the time it was great for getting to know the players.

It would be great to have that again this year, when so many new potential fans are going to be showing up.

NatsNut--I think the substitute programs you're recalling from the first season may have been produced by the Washington Post, but that's only a vague recollection. They were convenient, and I miss them.

And today's Post "finally" contains a story on parking, first page of the Metro section, by Daniel LeDuc ("A Top Test for the Nats: Scouting for Parking"). It's okay as far as it goes, but it's solely about the team's planning and approach to the parking issue. There is nothing on fan reaction (more of that actually on WTOPnews.com), which is the key unknown at the moment.

Speaking as both a partial plan holder and a participant in a full-season plan (for which several of us walked the four colored zones of the Nats parking scheme on Saturday), I'm not the happiest camper--costs are high. Still, having surveyed the area with the help of info on the jdland.com website, I think parking will be okay for those who get it.

And progress on both the stadium and the general area is clearly coming along. Workers were busy at the stadium, and clearing one of the lots in the red parking zone . . . I'm optimistic that the ballpark will be ready for us come opening day.

My recollection is also that they were produced by the Post (I liked them, too).

Carl in 306 --

I drove around the colored zones yesterday (would have walked, but my daughter didn't want to walk outside in the cold). Have to say, the Orange and Green zones are ridiculously far away from the stadium. I might as well park at Arena Stage and walk from there as that's almost as close than the Green or Orange zones.

I don't know what to do about getting to the games. If I pay for a parking spot, driving there will be horrendous and the only sections I could afford will be far, far away. If I metro, getting in and out with my daughter will be difficult, at best. I know that next season it will be better as more and more garages will be available for all visitors. But for this year, I just don't know what to do.

e, maybe the shuttle from the free parking at RFK will work out. I know if I had a car I'd be all over that.

(GHF) I'm sure they'll be able to work out the traffic patterns so it would be a really quick trip.

Parking is like so many things (like who should be at short, and will we ever have a natural lead-off hitter), it's in the eye of the beholder. E's experience is probably not unusual--our group saw others about scoping out parking last Saturday afternoon.

I walked the area from the ballpark (N Street north of the outfield, where many of us will presumably enter the ballpark) as far north as N.J. Avenue at 295. I think much of the advertised parking in the Nats materials is reasonably close (except for where the $15 lots are likely to be).

For a frame of reference, consider the following: walking the length of Half Street from the ballpark to the closest Metro entrance is literally only a few minutes (we took perhaps 3 minutes, picking our way through a street presently pockmarked with little puddles, etc.), and to walk to the far entrance of the Metro at N.J. and M Streets (where the green, orange, and blue zones meet) was a total of 8 minutes. That intersection--by the way--is basically all build out now with the Metro on one corner, a Starbucks (in the USDOT building), and CVS on two of the other corners (the 4th corner is I believe a federal agency whose mission and initials may be secret!). I suspect one can walk to that corner in less time than we got used to walking to the entrance of Stadium/Armory from the front gates of RFK; certainly that walk is in keeping with hiking to the back of Lot 3 at RFK.

We were greatly aided by the improvised, unofficial map available on jdland.com (I'm a big fan of Ms. JD). Carrying her map with us, together with the Nats map helped us visualize what we might be seeing come April. [JD has superimposed her best guess of where the parking is likely to be in the four colored zones--it's not authoritative, but it is instructive. I wish the Nats had been as forthcoming on their own.]

I share E's view about traveling to games on Metro with children. I have been attending games since 2005 mostly with my daughter, and I have concluded that driving gives me the right balance of control, assurance, safety, and time efficiency (my daughter often brings a couple of friends that I am also responsible for). So parking to me is a must.

While the Metro will be VERY convenient (big improvement over RFK), I will drive. And I have confidence that getting in and out of the neighborhood (for me, heading north to Montgomery County) will be no worse than getting in and out of the RFK neighborhood.

I just would prefer not to get soaked for parking in reasonable proximity to the stadium.

Barry's departure had been hinted at much of last season. While we were left without any substantiation of these rumors, I think the writing was on the wall.

In DC, this is considered a promotion. Congratulations, Barry.

A word of caution: the Skins bunch is a much more caustic crowd of homers who do not seem to appreciate snark. La Confora, who was a great beat reporter for the Caps before his call up, dealt with a lot of issues on the Skins Insider blog this year for being "critical" of the team. His comments led some readers to believe, incorrectly, that he, the Post, or both were "anti-Skins" and wanted the Skins to fail.

Actually, that kind of sounds familiar.

Barry, your superior writing skills and jounalistic integrity will be a great asset to the Redskins beat. Thank you for your time and dedication to us, the littles, in your time at NJ.

And, Planet NJ, I think it would be a good idea for us to execute an appropriate send-off. Yes, this is a job for Barry. For us, though, it's a community, and Barry has been an important part of it for quite some time. I'm open to suggestions.

John in MPLS-

Thanks. That post has the right tone for Barry's departure and our relationship with him these past couple of years. I'll think about the sendoff, and hopefully can contribute an idea or two.

New post (and thanks for the idea and post, John).

While many of you clearly are looking for more detailed coverage of the Nats in terms of rumors, health, stadium news, etc.... I am of the strongly held position that the qualtiy of the writing is at least as important as the quantity of the notes. I for one will be very sorry to see Barry go if he in fact does leave the Nats beat. His writing is excellent. I thoroughly enjoyed the way he has covered the team - telling a story for each game as opposed to retelling the box score. He has added context, color, and mood to the black and white reports that are common in many other papers. His stories always outshine the AP newswire and the WashTimes. I have nothing bad to say about those who filled in for him when he was not available, but there was a clear difference. I enjoyed Barry's writings more.

Bob L. Head, I know I promised to provide my submission for Guess the Rotation today, and I plan to keep that promise. I'm having a hard time, though, and I was hoping to get some feedback on some of these thoughts first.

(It's okay to call foul for collaberation.)

1. We're talking opening day rotation, right? That means, as I see it, the opening day starter at 1, and the projected starters for the four following games at 2-5. This is an important clarification, because, with as many pitchers as the Nats used last year, one could pick any five from the 40-man and have a decent statistical shot at being right at one point in the season.

2. I think, at least for opening day, Hill is a bigger question mark than Patterson. His surgery was later in the year, and it was on both his right elbow and left shoulder. Problems with either one could lead to him being absent coming out of spring training. If the past is any indication, Patterson will at least say he's ready for opening day - even if he's not - and make the rotation.

3. I think the Nats would love to send Chico to AAA for seasoning. I also think that Lannan's ascension last year does not prove he's MLB-ready. However, Acta wants a lefty in the rotation. Out of the thirteen different starters used last season, five were lefties. That may say more about who was available than Acta's preference for lefties, but I'm not sure. In the NL East, you don't want an all-righty rotation.

4. I think Balester, Detwiler, and Lannan are sent down to start the season. They represent, at least in part, the team's future, and Bowden probably feels like they have some protection in the likes of guys like Bacsik, who can start in a pinch in case of injury.

5. Bergmann's health and Redding's contract lead me to believe that the only locks for the rotation, barring a poor spring training performance or injury.

I'm so lost right now, it's not even funny. And I've been mulling this over for weeks! Any thoughts? Am I completely off on something here?

I would love to know why the Nationals and FMI tolerate FMI retail employees stealing presidential bobblehaeds by the thousands and listing them on Ebay.This was brought to the attention of both Stan Kasten and the CEO of FMI but nothing done.These employees were stupid enough to use their own names on Ebay.Also listed on Ebay by an FMI were baseballs listed for sale down at RFK in 2007 for 450 dollars.

The punchline is that the Nationals are using the giveaway of all 4 presidential bobbleheads to lure people in 2008 season ticket packages.