August 21, 2007
Nats Update: Building Blocks
I have a small confession. Months ago, when I agreed to take over Nats coverage for DCist, I was anticipating a historically bad season. The kind of season that I could tell my children about, and allow me to forever hold my head above future bandwagon fans. So imagine my surprise that on my inaugural post there are a staggering seven teams with worse records than the Nats, despite seven Washington losses in their last ten games. Hell, I think that if the Nats played in the NL Central, they would still be in the playoff race.
Pena Comes Out Swinging
Given Jim Bowden's penchant for former Cincinnati Reds and home run hitters who strike out a lot, it is a wonder that it took this long for Wily Mo Pena to join the Nationals. The Nationals acquired Wily Mo from the Red Sox for the mysterious "player to be named later," who turned out to be Chris Carter from the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Diamondbacks are rumored to be interested in some bullpen help, probably from the Nationals AAA team. Pena has announced his presence with authority in his first three games as a National, batting .455 with 2 home runs and 3 RBIs. Pena gives the Nationals a legitimate threat to go deep on every at bat, and the folks over at Baseball Prospectus seem to think he is a good fit.
Nats Ink McGeary
The other big news this week is that the Nationals signed their last draft pick, Jack McGeary, a left-handed high school pitcher from Newton, Mass. Many scouts believed that McGeary was a first round talent, but his firm commitment to Stanford this year caused him to slip until the Nats drafted him in the sixth round. McGeary received a 1.8 million dollar signing bonus, and the Nats agreed to allow him to attend Stanford on the team's dime (McGeary lost his college scholarship when he signed with the Nationals).
As Barry Svrluga points out, this signing is significant because the Nationals paid McGeary 1st round money for a 6th round pick. This shows that the Lerners are willing to go against the wishes of MLB, and that they have a commitment to spend the money to rebuild the team's farm system. The Nationals have now signed their top 20 draft picks, completing what many consider to be a very good draft for the team. While it will be many years before this draft can be accurately evaluated, we are absolutely sure that the Nats' last two signings, Josh Smoker and Jack McGeary, have awesome baseball names.
Briefly Noted
It is official: Nick Johnson will not be playing for the Nats this year. His recovery is taking a lot longer than expected, and now he has to go in for another surgery. While we love Nick, one has to start to wonder what his future with the ball club is at this point... Outfielder Ryan "there are 8 National League pitchers with 50 or more at bats and a better batting average than me" Langerhans has been designated for assignment to make room for Wily Mo Pena...
Useless Statistic of the Week: The Nationals are currently last in the National League in Intentional Walks with 26.
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Wait, huh?
McGeary received a 1.8 million dollar signing bonus, and the Nats agreed to allow him to attend Standford on the team's dime (McGeary lost his college scholarship when he signed with the Nationals).
Um, he won't be allowed to play in the NCAA. The Nats are paying him a salary to attend college and let his skills rust? What am I missing here?
He will be attending school for three quarters a year, and playing with the Nats farm teams in the spring and summer.
He won't be in the NCAA but he will be working on his baseball.
"The Nationals announced Thursday an unusual arrangement in the 18-year-old draft pick's contract that will allow him to attend Stanford while developing in Washington's minor league farm system. "
From http://www.wjla.com/news/stories/0807/448148.html
Can we please drop our Zod look alike-fragile boy-no ups first baseman Nick Johnson? Dmitri is much more reliable, and has an awesome haircut. Now if he would only play a real game (rather than spring training) with his fro popping out of his hat, that would clinch his spot on the roster and in DC fandom.
Damn, I'm glad the Red Sox got rid of Pena. Good riddance!
I think Peña will find success in Washington, if he is permitted to start every game. He's going to be a fan favorite.
And as far as the McGeary deal goes, is there any precedence for this? I've never heard of a player signing a pro contract, while going to school at the same time.
I couldn't tell you the specifics of a similar deal, but I did read at the time of McGeary's signing that it was not the first time this deal had been struck with a player who wanted to go to college.
Well actually they are only 10 games out of wild-card with 36 games left. Yes it would take a major miracle for them to win it. But whatever, at least they are not in last anymore.