The Nationals were a little more competitive than expected into late summer. They’ve improved on last year’s 107-loss showing but are likely headed for a fourth straight last-place finish in the NL East. The rebuild continues.
Guaranteed Contracts
- Stephen Strasburg, RHP: $105MM through 2026 ($80MM in deferred payments between 2028-30)
- Keibert Ruiz, C: $48MM through 2030 (deal includes club options for ’31 and ’32)
- Patrick Corbin, LHP: $35MM through 2024 ($10MM in deferred payments between 2025-26)
- Trevor Williams, RHP: $7MM through 2024
Option Decisions
- Victor Robles, CF: $3.3MM club option (no buyout); would remain eligible for arbitration if team declines
2024 commitments: $85MM
Total future commitments (not including deferrals): $195MM
Arbitration-Eligible Players
- Victor Robles
- Dominic Smith
- Kyle Finnegan
- Lane Thomas
- Tanner Rainey
- Michael Chavis
- Ildemaro Vargas
- Victor Arano
- Hunter Harvey
- Luis García (potential Super Two)
- Carter Kieboom (potential Super Two)
Non-tender candidates: Robles, Smith, Chavis, Vargas, Arano, Kieboom
Free Agents
The Nationals may have already made what’ll be their most consequential decisions for the upcoming season. With manager Dave Martinez and GM Mike Rizzo in the final years of their respective contracts, the possibility existed for large-scale organizational changes. Instead, Washington has locked in leadership stability in recent weeks. Martinez signed a two-year extension with a team option for 2026; Rizzo inked a multi-year pact of unreported length not long after.
Rizzo has been at the helm for nearly a decade and a half, a tenure exceeded only by Brian Cashman (Yankees) and John Mozeliak (Cardinals) among current baseball operations leaders. Martinez will be headed into his seventh season leading the dugout. Both have had success in Washington before their ongoing rebuild — highlighted by their 2019 World Series victory — offering reason for optimism they can lead the franchise back to success.
That’s unlikely to happen in 2024, however. The Nationals have made progress this year, as their win percentage is up from 34.5% to 43.9%. After finishing as the worst team in the majors in 2022, they own the game’s 24th-best record this season. Yet there’s still a wide discrepancy between the quality of the current roster and one that’s capable of competing for a playoff spot.
It’s most evident in the rotation, which is allowing exactly five earned runs per nine with the league’s fourth-lowest strikeout rate. Washington has had rare stability for a rotation performing at that level. Only six pitchers have logged even 30+ innings as starters.
On the plus side, their best performers have been a pair of young players who could be key pieces on the next competitive Washington club. Josiah Gray (4.00) and MacKenzie Gore (4.42) have the best ERAs of the group. Neither pitcher has developed into a top-of-the-rotation arm. They each still issue a few too many walks, while Gore has battled the home run ball. Gray’s production has tailed off in the second half. These issues aside, both hurlers have performed as big league-capable starters over a full season. They’ve done enough to secure spots in next year’s rotation, when the club will hope at least one takes a step forward to solidify himself as an above-average starter.
There’s not as much optimism for the rest of the group. Jake Irvin doesn’t miss bats and looks best suited as a depth option. Joan Adon has never found big league success. Veterans Patrick Corbin and Trevor Williams are each under contract through 2024 and have taken their share of innings but without great production. Corbin is on his third straight season with an ERA above 5.00 as he plays on a lofty free agent contract that went awry after one year (albeit one in which he was a key contributor to the World Series win). The signing of Williams to a two-year deal last winter hasn’t panned out.
Stephen Strasburg remains on the roster after the surprising reversal of course on his planned retirement. Continuing to devote him a 40-man spot when he’s unlikely to ever pitch again is a bizarre decision on the organization’s part, though it’s not particularly consequential at this point of the rebuild.
Washington could run things back with the same rotation group, as everyone is either under contract or club control. Former first-round draftee Cade Cavalli could break back into the mix midseason after undergoing Tommy John surgery in March. The Nats have options to plug innings, which isn’t true of every rebuilding team. Still, aside from a step forward from one of Gore or Gray, they couldn’t project much better results than they received this season. It’d be a surprise if they didn’t bring in at least one starter who could push Irvin back to Triple-A or Williams into the long relief role he’s had for the bulk of his career.
It’s hard to envision the Nats spending at the top of the market. They could offer a rotation spot to a rebound candidate like Luis Severino, Frankie Montas or Alex Wood in the hope that player could serve as a midseason trade chip. If they wanted to secure some stability over multiple years without making a huge financial commitment, they could consider the likes of Michael Lorenzen or Mike Clevinger.
They’ll probably also add an arm or two to the relief corps, as Washington has the lowest bullpen strikeout rate in the league. It’s not time to play at the top of the market for Josh Hader or pursue a veteran closer in the Craig Kimbrel mold. There are a number of middle relievers who’ll be available on one or two-year deals that could add swing-and-miss to the group. Ryne Stanek, Shintaro Fujinami and Keynan Middleton are among the power arms available in free agency.
Any free agent pickups would join a relief corps led by Kyle Finnegan, Hunter Harvey, and quietly effective waiver pickup Robert Garcia. The Nats could listen to trade offers on Finnegan or Harvey, though they’re not under pressure to make a deal with both pitchers eligible for arbitration through 2025.
There’s more reason for optimism on the other side of the ball. Washington has the potential for a strong future position player core, most of which was acquired in trades of their last group of stars. Keibert Ruiz and CJ Abrams are already playing regular roles on the big league club. Abrams has had a solid season to secure the shortstop job. Ruiz hasn’t broken through, but he’ll get every opportunity behind the plate after last winter’s $50MM extension that runs through 2030.
Riley Adams is a good complementary backstop, so there’s no need to add a catcher. They’ll likely look to bring in infield help around Abrams. They’ve closed the season giving regular run to Dominic Smith, Luis García and Ildemaro Vargas around the infield. Smith has hit .254/.324/.361 in 571 plate appearances after signing a $2MM deal last offseason and could be non-tendered.
García turns 24 next May, and may be young enough to get another shot at second base. It might be his last chance. The left-handed hitter owns a .265/.299/.382 line with nine homers over 466 trips to the plate this season. He’s now a .265/.292/.394 hitter in 1229 PA and 320 MLB games over parts of four seasons. While García has plus contact skills, he hasn’t shown a discerning plate approach nor much power. The profile is built around a largely empty batting average right now. That’d be more tenable if García were a plus defender, but public metrics have graded him as a below-average second baseman over his career.
While García has youth and prospect pedigree on his side, there’s no argument for giving Vargas the third base job. The journeyman infielder has a .251/.305/.363 slash over a career-high 274 plate appearances. He’s a versatile defender with contact skills but limited offensive upside, much better suited for a utility role. He has held down the hot corner since the Nats traded Jeimer Candelario at the deadline. They’ll need to look outside the organization again this winter.
Last year’s signing of Candelario to a $5MM deal after he was non-tendered by Detroit worked out perfectly. They’ll have a hard time repeating that level of success — most free agent rebound fliers don’t bounce back the way Candelario did — but the Nationals will probably take a shot on a similar style of player. Candelario himself has likely played his way into a three-plus year deal that’ll take him out of Washington’s price range. Players like Isiah Kiner-Falefa or Joey Wendle should be available on a one-year pact, or Nick Senzel or Santiago Espinal could be non-tendered or traded for minimal return.
A one-year stopgap is probably all that’ll be required. Former first-round pick Brady House played his way to Double-A, where he hit .324/.358/.475 in 36 games at age 20. While it’s too soon to count on House as a key contributor for 2024, he could debut late next year and hopefully seize the third base job headed into ’25.
Washington also has high-end prospects approaching the big league outfield. James Wood (acquired from the Padres in the Juan Soto deal) and the 2023 draft’s #2 overall pick Dylan Crews are widely regarded as top 10 minor league talents in the sport. Wood joined House in reaching Double-A before his 21st birthday. Wood ran an impressive .248/.344/.492 line with 18 homers across 87 games, and while the power-hitting outfielder struck out a fair amount, that’s to be expected for a 6’6″ hitter facing far older pitching. Crews shredded SEC arms at LSU and reached Double-A by the end of his draft year.
As with House, it’d be optimistic to expect either player at Nationals Park in the first half of next season. A promotion towards the middle or tail end of the year seems attainable, again offering hope they could be everyday players by 2025. It’s unlikely all three hit the ground running at the MLB level — even a lot of top prospects struggle out of the gate — but it’s an enviable collection of approaching talent.
When Wood and Crews arrive, they’d likely join Lane Thomas in the everyday outfield. The 28-year-old owns a .270/.319/.472 slash with 27 homers through 658 trips to the plate. He has destroyed left-handed pitching while hitting at a league average clip versus righties. While Thomas may be more of a complementary piece on a first-division club, he has proven an excellent find for Washington — which acquired him from the Cardinals for the final half-season of Jon Lester’s career in 2021.
Thomas is under arbitration control through 2025. His name surfaced in trade speculation this summer, though there’s no indication the Nats got all that close to making a deal. While they’ll surely find interest again, he doesn’t seem any more likely to move next winter than he did at the deadline. The organization’s long-term financial slate is clear enough that Thomas makes sense as an extension candidate. A guarantee in the $25-30MM range that buys out his remaining two arbitration seasons and first free agent year (2026) with a club option for a second could be mutually beneficial. It’d lock in some financial certainty for a relative late bloomer while ensuring Thomas doesn’t hit free agency before Washington is ready to contend.
As with third base, the Nats will probably bring in a veteran outfielder to hold the fort for a season. Former top prospect Victor Robles has missed the bulk of the year and seems a non-tender possibility. Neither Alex Call nor Jake Alu have provided any offense. Stone Garrett was a solid right-handed platoon option but suffered a gruesome leg injury that ended his season. Jacob Young doesn’t bring much offensive upside to the table in center field.
Washington guaranteed Corey Dickerson $2.25MM to add a veteran bat to the outfield last offseason. They’ll probably aim a little higher this time around. The likes of Hunter Renfroe and Adam Duvall could secure an annual salary in the $6-10MM range (perhaps for two years in Duvall’s case). Ramón Laureano or Seth Brown could be available following a non-tender. A corner outfield acquisition could take some DH at-bats from Joey Meneses — who has hit at a league average level in his follow-up to an excellent small-sample showing as a 30-year-old rookie — if Wood or Crews force their way to the big leagues early on.
There should generally be some short-term flexibility for Rizzo and his front office. Strasburg, Corbin, Williams and Ruiz are the only players with guaranteed contracts for next season. They have a deep class of arbitration-eligible players but none who are going to break the bank individually.
It’s less clear if there’s any appetite for a notable multi-year commitment. The franchise’s financial picture has been a question for a few seasons. The MASN rights dispute with the Orioles interfered with the Lerner family’s efforts to sell the club last year. It’s possible the Lerners again try to explore offers, though the TV situation isn’t much clearer now than it was 12 months ago.
The organization has sliced player payroll over the past few years. That’s standard procedure for a team amidst a rebuild, yet the ownership uncertainty takes on more significance as the club gets closer to contention. While the Strasburg and Ruiz contracts are the only ones running beyond next season, they’re on the hook for deferred payments of $15MM annually to Max Scherzer through 2028 and owe Corbin another $10MM in deferred salary over two more seasons. Strasburg’s contract won’t be paid in full until 2030.
Against those financial questions, the roster is beginning to take shape. The Nationals could have a viable position player core in place by 2025 depending on the progressions of Crews, Wood and House (as well as Abrams and Ruiz at the big league level). The pitching is less impressive overall, though Gray, Gore and Cavalli offer some intriguing individual pieces. Washington isn’t ready to compete yet, but things could be a lot more exciting at this time next year.
In conjunction with this post, Anthony Franco held a Nationals-centric chat on 9-26-23. Click here to view the transcript.
The A’s are gonna go after Victor Robles
Kieboom is in fact *not* eligible for Super Two even if he’s in the majors for the rest of the season. He’d make the time service time cutoff, but he wouldn’t meet the other requirement of spending at least 86 days in the majors this tear.
Rendon for Corbin. Come on Nats, you know you want him back
Sure, if the Angels throw in the cash to even it out.
The PadNats are set up nicely for the future; Rizzo is a good to excellent GM and sooner or later the Stras and Corbin contracts will be off the books and they can shift into high gear.
Liked for “PadNats”
gnats have so much deferred money contracts, bobby bonilla may not outlast them all.
Hand
Corbin
soriano
lester
scherzer
strasburg
+
some $25-45mil year.
payroll limited to 2030.
Like Goodwill,.making an effort.or.hedge.that the dollar is devalued.
Not.good.
maybe the gnats are deferring the money and putting it in investment accounts for themselves, like most employers do when paying every two weeks.
If I’m
Rizzo I go sign candy back for 4/55 candy and lane plus those prospect it would be cool to see next postseason
The Nationals would be foolish to pay Jeimer that. 1, he’s not worth that money over that length of a deal. 1 year for 10-12? Maybe. Amd 2, we have multiple prospects ready to reach the bigs in ’24. Blocking them for years is not smart.
I’m open to signing Jeimer to a 1 year deal, starting him at 3rd, and shifting to 1st once House or Lipscomb comes up. But blocking House, Lipscomb, or even Morales at 1st long term just isn’t wise.
’24 is the were going to have the kids come up. Lipscomb, House, Crews, Wood, and possibly Morales or Hassell will reach the bigs next year. You see what they’ve got because you sign fielders to long term deals.
Pitching on the other hand, go get someone. There isn’t a ton of immediate impact help on the horizon. Cavalli will be up eventually but on an innings limit and Jake Bennett is out for the year.
Why no mention of Rutledge?
Agree. He’s definitely going to be in the ‘24 rotation barring injury.
I wouldn’t be too quick to write off Jake Irvin. He posted quality starts in 4-5 starts from mid Aug to early Sept, including the Phillies and Dodgers, before running out of gas in his last two, facing two more playoff lineups (Brewers and Braves).
Jackson Rutledge showed some promise during his cup of coffee. Not out of the realm of possibility that he competes for a spot in the 2024 rotation as well.
St Elmo’s Fire was about Georgetown but Georgetown wouldn’t let them film there so they shot at the University of Maryland. This tells you all you need to know about DC and the Nats which is nothing
There are no likable characters in St. Elmo’s Fire. But the theme song by John Parr is outstanding!
What is contract status of pitching coach (Hickey) ?
It’s funny that nobody who has ever speculated about what a Lane Thomas extension would look like has come up with a deal befitting the every day All Star — who has yet to reach his ceiling! — that Mike Rizzo says this 28 year-old — with his stark splits! — is.
My guess is that Rizzo’s offer, if it comes, won’t look much like that deal either.
He’s 27 and under two more years of control via arbitration. The Nats aren’t going to extend him when they don’t have to. Especially with other promising young outfielders in the pipeline.
I was trying to be sarcastic.
Thomas this year achieved about what Victor Robles did in 2019.
It’s not a performance that merits an extension.
I was also trying to poke fun at Mike Rizzo’s ridiculous circus-barker appraisal of Thomas at the deadline. When rivals execs complained about few sellers and ridiculous prices this August, Rizzo was one of the guys they were complaining about.
Team is for sale. MASN debacle nightmare. No new ownership takers. Can the team really move forward on the field until this gets figured out?
MASN i believe is done where the nationals got an extra 100M but yea the rest is still ongoing.
MASN is still very much an issue. New owner knows he will have a minority % of it with Orioles a majority. Brutal.
Its not an issue in the fact nothing can be done about it. Its the cost of the nationals moving to DC area which was entirely Orioles tv rights. They had the right to refuse the team outright if i remember right. This was the agreement MLB and Lerners agreed to so they could move to DC. The team could petition that the nationals move back to Montreal i guess and get full tv rights again unless Toronto owns that area now. Would be alot of deals that would have to be bought out im sure and a lot of costs to rebuild and move back.
They could try and move somewhere else as i think the carolinas was somewhere they considered but then you would have the same issue with the Braves TV rights and probably more costs or try Oakland. i do believe the braves had a hard no on it last time but dont quote me on that.
It’s messy. If I was looking to buy a team, I’d steer clear of this sale. I’d want full control over how televising games works.
An option. Indication is Os are also selling. So have one entity owning both teams; like a Jeff Bezos. The MASN fiasco would be no longer. And how and where this entity allocates revenue is private.
The O’s did NOT have the right to block the Nats from moving, but Angelos threatened litigation and Selig caved. The deal would have gone through, but Selig was afraid that a lot of the shenanigans that the league pulled in getting Loria ownership of the Marlins would come out. And it worked! There was litigation, but it focused on the terms of the MASN agreement and not the shenanigans.
The MASN dispute was solved with the extra $100M … but that was for the five year period from 2012-16. They have yet to agree on a figure for 2017-2021, much less for 2022-26. Those disputes should at least go much faster because the core issue (the dispute resolution process) has been upheld.
The Nats aren’t going anywhere. If a team moves from the mid-Atlantic region it will be the Orioles. They’ve already used Nashville as a threat to try to pony more money out of the city. Their attendance isn’t good. Despite making a playoff run last year and debuting some of the most exciting prospects in MLB on their way to a likely 100 win season this year their attendance at OPACY is 23,382/game. In contrast, the Nationals, coming off a franchise-worst 107 loss season and having no chance at contending this year at all, averaged 23,291/game at National Park. And OPACY has a larger capacity (44,970 vs. 41,399)! It’s embarrassing for the O’s, but it’s reality.
To update the final numbers, on average the 71-91 Nats, coming off of a horrendous 55-107 season, drew a grand total of 619 fewer fans/game at Nationals Park than the O’s did at OPACY. Notwithstanding that the O’s were coming off a surprising contending season and featured some of the most exciting prospects in MLB on their way to a 101 win season. With OPACY having a larger capacity. Like I said above, that’s embarrassing for the O’s.
Yeah, if a team is leaving, it won’t be the Nats.
mlbtraderumors.com/2023/09/orioles-agree-to-30-yea…
They own the majority tv rights as is well known … they are locked into a new 30 year lease … also the angelos got 600M bond to renovate the stadium along with the city revitalizing around the stadium which should bring in more fans.
the nationals own less of the tv rights its well known the lerners want to sell, the team is halfway through their lease on the stadium and the taxes are higher in DC than surrounding areas and i have not heard of any investment into the stadium or surrounding area.
also attendance wise the orioles are 2.5 times their attendance from 2 years ago. Just because you wanted to throw win loss in there, the year the nationals won the world series the attendance was down almost 300k for the year. vs prior year.
The year that the Nationals won the WS they outdrew the O’s by more than 11,000 fans/game. And that’s when the Nats were coming off of a disappointing season and the departure of Bryce Harper AND got off to a terrible start (19-31; you could look it up). The attendance surge that teams normally get from a WS win got wiped out by COVID. That had nothing to do with the quality of the fan base. The O’s have an exciting young team that should be competitive for the next couple of seasons. The fact that they are essentially drawing the same crowds as the rebuilding Nats is an embarrassment for the team and the city.
And if you haven’t heard of any investment in the area surrounding Nats Park, your concern is misplaced. The neighborhood has undergone a tremendous surge the last ten years, with both commercial and residential development. The biggest problem facing the area around Nats Park isn’t a lack of economic development/activity. It’s how to manage the continuing development without gentrifying the locals out of their homes.
The surge you speak of does not happen atleast not regularly in the last decade of play.
Look at the both the red sox ws wins and the cubs and kc ws wins.
The red sox had a minimal increase right after the world series but the year before the world series in both instances, the had higher attendance than the world series years and the “surge” years
The Cubs and KC have been decreasing in attendance since their world series win. The attendance actually increased this year for KC with one of their worst records yet.
so thats half the world series teams over the last decade as per the covid erasing two World Series seasons. SF is a push as they stayed at near full capacity during their runs so they could really only go down or stay even.
If anything this “surge” nowadays is more the exception where you will see maybe a slight increase or actually lose attendance than have a big surge.
Im also curious with how dc is run, if those tickets are more gift attendances where they are from/for politicians or lobbyists that dont actually attend the games but here is a gift for you and your kids. Other areas like new york and la do it as well but dc i think it would be more common.
You have to look at other factors as well, such as (1) how well the team was drawing before the WS run, and how that relates to their ballpark capacity. (2) previous seasons. A team that is in a run of success will already be drawing well. A team that is not expected to compete/is coming off of a poor/disappointing season but makes an unexpected WS run will maximize their attendance benefit.
Previously successful (Red Sox) and high attendance clubs (Cubs)
Red Sox. Fenway’s capacity is just over 37,000. And the team had a consecutive sellout streak that lasted from May 2003 to April 2013, and even after that they routinely fill their (small) ballpark. The team drew just over 3,000,000/year through that time. That slipped slightly, but the team has drawn about 2,900,000/season through the balance of the period. The reason that the Red Sox didn’t get any attendance bump from their WS titles was simply because they physically couldn’t sell any more tickets.
The Cubs have a similar “problem” as the Red Sox – they were already selling close to Wrigley Fields’s capacity. Their “jump” was after their unexpected run to the NLCS in 2015. Even so the jump was modest, from 2,919,122 to 3,232,420. “Only” a 10.7% increase, but that’s because they were near capacity already. They stayed around 3.1-3.2M fans for the next few seasons until COVID.
Surprise Teams/Teams coming off of Down Years (Nats analogs)
The Royals had a HUGE surge in attendance after making the WS in 2014, from 1.,956,482 to 2,708,549. That’s a 38% jump in one season! They did slip slightly the following season to 2,557,712, but that was still well over their previous attendance. Has their attendance been steadily slipping since? Well, yes. Have you noticed that they’ve been terrible? They didn’t fall back below 2 million until 2018, after they blew up the team and finished 58-104.
Cleveland, who of course lost to the Cubs in 2016, still parlayed their WS run into a 28.7% increase in attendance in 2017.
The Astros parlayed their 2017 WS into a 24% attendance increase.
Similarly, the Phillies making the WS last year spiked their attendance from 2,276,736 to 3,052,605, a 34% increase.
You get the idea. I mean, it shouldn’t be remarkable that a surprise WS run is going to give a team a significant attendance boost. The Nats were drawing OK before, but after a disappointing 2018 season, the departure of Bryce Harper, and a dismal start to the season their attendance slipped from a steady 2.5-2.6M/year to 2,259,781 in 2019. Still, they hadn’t sunk to the depths of the Royals or Phillies, so expecting a 30-35% bump in attendance isn’t realistic. But even a conservative 20% increase would have put them to 2,711,737. Just under the franchise record 2005 inaugural season in DC, when they were not only a new team that ran out to a hot 51-30 start, they were playing in a larger ballpark (RFK baseball capacity: 45,596 vs. 41,339 at Nats Park). All gone, thanks to COVID. By the time fans were allowed back into the park the team was already spiraling down. Obviously the pandemic is a global tragedy and sports don’t matter that much by comparison. But from a business perspective the timing of the pandemic was particularly brutal for the Nats.
Your sotto voce assumption that the Nats’ attendance is significantly boosted by “gift” tickets for people that don’t attend the game is pretty laughable, but since it’s harder to get the actual stats on that you’re going to believe it no matter what I have to say about it. And even assuming for the sake of argument that this does happen (I’m sure that it happens on the margins for all teams), it doesn’t make the point that you think it does. If there’s more money being tossed around in DC than in Baltimore for movers and shakers, that’s actually a sign of why DC is a better economic market. Which is another reason why, in the unlikely event that one of the mid-Atlantic teams moves, it won’t be the Nats.
so what your saying is the phillies world series appearance made a spike for cincinatti, pittsburgh and cleveland as well this season? … or are you saying their old world series from years ago are sparking this rise because they actually have a larger percent increase than the phillies who played in the worlds series and if memory serves me right none of these teams were in the world series recently.
i believe cleveland made it to the division series and lost but they had a much worse record this year and still had an attendance percentage increase higher than the former world series attended phillies.
also If you want to look into the midatlantic history … in the time baltimore has been there the washington teams moved twice (now the twins and rangers) so three strikes and their out?
Well, clearly reading comprehension is not your thing. I never said that the ONLY way that a team could have a surge in attendance is after a WS run – so have fun tilting at that straw man. My point is that, unless other factors are present (such as the Red Sox already having an attendance at or near capacity) a WS run results in a significant attendance boost in the following season. If you tried to make the argument that it doesn’t to a person who works in MLB, they’d laugh in your face. But this is the internet, so you can say any old thing you want.
But not to worry – you’ll be able to watch the Nats play in DC for years to come. With any luck, you’ll be able to watch the O’s play in Baltimore for years to come even though their long term foundation is not as strong. Peace out!
Your understanding of basic math could use some help as well. If you are at or near a capacity and there should be an increase you should stay at capacity even if you are not at the capacity you should be close to it not losing a significant number..
you seem to have more exceptions than actual rules or facts on this argument. well how about the rays in their world series appearance they barely had an increase and they were no where near their capacity … how about the marlins and their first world series win when they lost about a 1/3 of the attendance after the world series. Let me guess we need to add an exception for florida teams too.
Also your reading probably needs work too because of course they will be there for a few more years their lease has 15 more years as i stated before but the orioles just renewed their lease for 30 years which i said and linked the article for and just because i know your math skills are lacking 30 is more than 15.
So by strong long term foundation do you mean the fact they dont know if they will have the same owner to end next season? a better farm system than the orioles? A gm that has turned them from a world series team to a consistent 5th place despite having HoF pitchers, Juan Soto and Trea Turner etc etc during some of those years, ditto for coach, owes more to players that arent on the team or cant play (defer payments and strasburg) than entire teams for a few years?
… or maybe you meant they had a strong foundation as in the stadium was soundly built?
well have a good one either way.
It’s absolutely correct that, in terms of the near-term prospects on the baseball field, the O’s are in a better place. In baseball such things tend to go in ebbs and flows (or, in the case of the O’s over the past 20 years, more like a roller coaster ride). When I talk about foundation, I’m talking about the economic foundation for the team. The Nats not only generally draw better than the O’s (the fact that an extremely successful and promising team in Baltimore is, essentially drawing equally with a Nats team coming off of a 107 loss season underlines that point), they play in a more populated and wealthier market. These things matter. Certainly they matter to John Angelos. A few weeks ago he made it clear that he’s not interested in signing the promising players to long term extensions: “[y]ou will quickly see that when people talk about giving this player $200 million, that player $150 million, we would be so financially underwater that you’d have to raise the prices massively.”
So enjoy the kids while you can, and pray that the O’s can maintain success using the Tampa Rays as a model. As for the lease extension, although the O’s announced it, the lease extension has not been done. What the sides have reached is a Memorandum of Understanding that details principles that each party will adhere to, with an intention to have a lease extension agreement signed by Dec. 31. [https://www.wbaltv.com/article/orioles-agree-30-year-lease-extension-camden-yards/45365272#]. We shall see.
Otherwise, I can’t tell if you’re deliberately mischaracterizing my points or you just don’t understand them. Frankly I can’t bring myself to care either way. You can keep thrashing about with non sequiturs all you want. I’ve made my points, and your attempts to change the subject and/or move the goalposts don’t really matter to me. I’m no longer writing for you, because you can’t or won’t get it. I’m writing to anyone else reading this thread. I’d say good-bye, but I know that there is no way on God’s green Earth that you are going to let anyone else have the last word. That’s how the internet works.
Very objective reflections on where the Nats are and are heading in the near future.
I have said it before. Willson Contreras would look very good playing 1B for the Nats. He would offer a legitimate middle of the order bat and professional approach the young players could learn from. His offense might reach new levels without the demands of catching wearing on him.
Helpful Overview of next season.
Except that I want Thomas be traded by midseason next year. Nats have a logjam of OFs in the minors.
Keibert Ruiz, nice player, but does anyone really look at his body of work and say “we need him under contract thru 2030”?
Watching MLB teams bid against themselves can be mind blowing…
The contract terms matter. He signed an eight year, $50M extension. That’s an AAV of $6.25M. Even if he remains at this production level (a 1-2 WAR player), he’s a bargain. If he improves, it’s a steal.