I'm on it, Barry. Thanks.

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2. Charlie Slolwes will be working the Nationals Winter Tour (or at least part of it) without a contract, apparently. Club said yesterday they have no announcement. Slowes still staying mum. This might be an opportunity for fans who are concerned about this to tell Charlie how they feel -- or the Nats, for that matter.

CHAR-lie SLO-owes!
boom boom boomboomboom

Char-LIE, CharLIEcharLIE CHAR-LIE, CHA-AR-lie.

Whadda we gotta do, Kasten, paint you a picture?

Aww, man. They're trying to make him promise not to ask out loud, on air, what they were thinking, ever again. I just know it.

Whoops, I seem to be missing a "Char-LIE" in there.
That had better be the only place I'm missing one...

Nuh-uh, that was me and I'm long gone...

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Aww, man. They're trying to make him promise not to ask out loud, on air, what they were thinking, ever again. I just know it.

What the ell?

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Slolwes

why not write to some slice of corporate DC and suggest that they need to be getting themselves in bed with the team, for the long-term benefit of the community?

Posted by: eeewww | January 11, 2008 10:24 AM

Does anyone have Stan's email? I think Slowes' contract should be in the 13 year range of Ovechkin's - it'd be worth it.

I think the fact that Charlie is on this tour is good news, and evidence that he will back. Good show.

But the interesting thing for me is the two position changes for the young guys. Marrero going to first seemed inevitable. I think there are two years left on both Nick and Da Meat's contracts (this year and next), so hopefully Chris will be ready to take over in 2010. And King moving to second hopefully means that Gonzalez is doing well and they are trying to pair the two up as the double play combo of the future. It will be interesting to see if they end up at the same stop this season. Can't wait to get down to Viera. Although we have Panera's up here, they just don't taste the same. Maybe everything IS better???

I found this update on Craig Heist:

WTOP's Craig Heist Remains In ICU - 1/10 - DCRTV hears that WTOP sports reporter Craig Heist remains in Washington Hospital Center's intensive care unit on a respirator. Still no official medical word about what caused his collapse Tuesday night while covering the Wizards at the Verizon Center. "Doctors don't know," we're told. We get the following quote from Heist's wife Suzie, via a WTOPer: "The main thing is that he is out of the woods and will get better, though it will take some time".....

I recently moved here from Philadelphia, but have been listening to Charlie Slowes for a few years on XM. He is an excellent game caller - better than most, and better than Harry Kalas in Philadelphia - and management would be stupid not to sign him up for a longterm contract.

Go Nats! (But I'll still be rooting for my Phils, too!)

So we could have an all-Peacock battery! That would be quite a display.

Also, while Stephen King is reportedly strong defensively, he's apparently "not in the same defensive class as Esmailyn Gonzalez or Ian Desmond," according to Baseball America. BA goes on to say that some scouts think he will "outgrow" shortstop but that he has enough bat to play third or OF. Given the Nats situation it should be no surprise that they have moved him to second instead.

@Chris:

I moved to DC from Philly seven years ago. I was a Phillies fan all my life but am now a Nats fan and season ticket holder. Let me tell you, calling ANYONE better than Harry Kalas is straight up blasphemy!

Marrero to 1B seems like a good move to me. Nothwithstanding all the other young outfielders the Nats have, Marrero didn't seem that comfortable in the outfield. If he can develop into the hitter the want, I don't think it's too optimistic to think he'll be 1B sometime in 2010.

They moved Marrero to first when he went to the instructional league last fall. It's the right move given his offensive talent and defensive shortcomings, and the Nats' positional needs.

... Jhonotan, ... Jhonny. Fer gawd's sake, somebody knock the "h" outta these guys, or at least rearrange 'em.

"Pitchers and catchers report February 15." - one of Barry's greatest quotes. It's like musical manna from heaven to my ears.

Couple of good Bowden articles on why The Plan is what it is:

http://www.examiner.com/a-859285~Braves_GM_shows_why_he_s_the_best.html

http://www.examiner.com/a-960080~Taking_stock_of_the_Nats__progress.html

Hey, natscan, it's wonderful to "see" you! I agree with both of your comments... :)

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... Jhonotan, ... Jhonny. Fer gawd's sake, somebody knock the "h" outta these guys, or at least rearrange 'em.

"Pitchers and catchers report February 15." - one of Barry's greatest quotes. It's like musical manna from heaven to my ears.

Posted by: natscan reduxit | January 11, 2008 11:31 AM

Thanks for the update on Craig Heist, Bob L.

I've been enjoying reading through a few baseball sabermetrics books and noticed a few things worth sharing:

1) As noted in NJ before, Zmimmerman had the best range factor at 3B in the MLB last year.

2) Kearns had the third best range factor among RF regulars. (Church was #1 among LF)

3) Machowiak and Harris have good range and good baserunning skills.

4) Belliard had a relatively high range factor at 2B (and was #1 among Short Right Fielders)

5) Guzman's range was not very good, but his baserunning statistics were excellent. (Lopez's range at SS was also not very good).

The Machiwiak and Harris signings (as well as Aaron Boone) look very promising in terms of bench strength. Neither played as much in the infield last year as they had previously in their careers. But you can safely predict that they would both play 2B at least as good as Carlos Baerga or Jose Vidro. They run better than virtually any of the 05, 06, or 07 bench guys (excepting possibly Marlon Anderson in 06).

Bill James also predicts a rebound year for Felipe Lopez. No great suprise since, he bases his projections on the average of previous years, but 80% plus of the time James is very close in his projections as long as the player he is projecting gets the playing time (i.e., not injurred or benched). Interestingly he predicts good years for Guzman and Belliard too. No way all three meet the projections (2 positions for 3 players), but a career average year from any two of those players would be quite acceptable offensively. Defensively Belliard/Lopez appear to provide the best combination of range (but Lopez would need to throw more accurately to first to make that a better overall defense).

... welcome back, Natscan!

NATSCAN'S BACK!!!

BTW, Thanks for that extra 'n' on Jordan Zimmermann's name, Barry. It already irks me when it's left out.

I agree that Harris, Mack and Boone give us a strong bench, particularly along with Young/Meat and Belliard/Lopez. This does make me wonder how we could possibly fit either of the Rule V picks on the roster though. Garrett Guzman is a lefty OF like Harris, so maybe Guzman has to beat out Harris in spring training in order to get a spot. Matt Whitney is a career 3b who switched to first last year (and made 20 errors), but maybe he's insurance in case Johnson can't go. Bowden's goal seems to be to have competition at every position except third. Should be an interesting spring to watch.

At which level did Ian Desmond play last season? I thought the Nats had let him go.

... good to be with you guys again. Now that my on-ice season is past the half-way point (during which I have once more wowed 'em all with my Ovechkin-like prowess), and now that Mrs. Mitchell's overrated son, George, has wiggled his fingers in the entrails, and the ashes of that sacrifice are decidedly blowing away in the wind like so much chaff, my mind's eyes are slowly but surely turning to the upcoming diamond-vision signs and wonders of Lerners' sparkling new playground.

... oh to be in DC when cherry blossoms abound.

... go Nats!

Desmond was a P-Nat again last year after faring poorly during his promotion to AA Harrisburg in 2006. He hit reasonably well again in A-ball, .264/.357/.432, with 13 HRs, 45 RBIs and 27 SBs.

i saw Desmond was at Potomac last year. That guy has a rifle for an arm. bat was quiet when i saw him but his defense was impressive.

As Dmitri will be otherwise occupied, any ideas which player (if any) might serve as an informal mentor at this year's accelerated camp?

But would they market it, with uniforms with those big tails on them? Noooooooooooooo.

******
So we could have an all-Peacock battery! That would be quite a display.
Posted by: Bob L. Head | January 11, 2008 10:57 AM

That was most foul, but funny! :-D

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But would they market it, with uniforms with those big tails on them? Noooooooooooooo.

******
So we could have an all-Peacock battery! That would be quite a display.
Posted by: Bob L. Head | January 11, 2008 10:57 AM

New post up.