Why the Braves “TOTALLY Need” A New Stadium

The new Braves Stadium will have Luxury Waffle Houses (Waffle Homes)

There comes a time in every team’s life when it must throw off the shackles of its dilapidated, rapidly aging stadium, and move on to bigger and better things.  For the Braves, now is apparently that time.

When it was built, Turner Field (then known as Centennial Olympic Field) was a jewel of the baseball world, truly the Marlins Park of its era.  But of course, that time was ages ago – 1996.  Of course, times change.  Back in those primordial days, people used to listen to music on something called Walkmans, performing some sort of ancient mating ritual called the Macarena.   Al Gore had only recently invented the Internet.  My, how times change.

In the decades since Turner Field was constructed (actually, just one decade), the city has changed dramatically.  No longer is the location of the park, in the heart of downtown Atlanta and accessible for all who live in the city, tenable for the Braves.  They must move closer to the suburbs, where fans who can afford to buy the luxury boxes (the only fans that matter) will be able to show up (in fairness, it does appear the center of the Braves fanbase is closer to the new stadium than the old).  Plus, Turner Field doesn’t have nearly enough luxury boxes to court this elite clientele; only 64 luxury suites.

Now, of course, this new stadium won’t be cheap — nothing that’s worth it ever is.  The Braves estimate it will cost 672 million dollars.  But In order to make the Turner Field location even remotely playable for the Braves (according to the team, and what reason would they have to exaggerate?), they will need to pour in 150 to 350 million dollars — hey, it costs a lot of money to clean up all that trash.  But as the old saying goes, ’tis better to end than mend; why make do with the old when you can get something shiny and new for a mere $400 million more?

Plus, the taxpayers didn’t even have to pay for Turner — private companies and the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games, looking to build a stadium for the 1996 Atlanta Olympics (made famous, of course, for when Perseus threw that discus that killed his father), picked up the 207 million dollar tab.  So Atlantans didn’t get to feel the joy of building a stadium of their own, that someone else will profit from.  They missed out on all the joy that Marlins fans feel today, watching Jeffrey Loria make millions on his 634 million dollar taxpayer-funded stadium.  A shame, really.  A new stadium will remedy that.

Of course, the Washington Nationals should look to their neighbors in the NL East as a model.  After all, it has been 6 years since they moved into Nationals Park.  Why, in those simpler times, Instagram hadn’t even been invented yet — people had to take their photographs without a filter!  It’s time for the Nationals, and indeed all franchises in the MLB, to lobby their government for brand-new stadiums.  Because, god forbid, taxpayers should keep their money and use it on something trivial, like feeding and educating their children.

Washington Nationals Offseason Checklist (Bullpen Edition)

Will Tyler Clippard be here in 2014?

Before last season even started, everybody had high hopes on the 2013 Washington Nationals. Many people had them winning the NL East, and some people even had them winning the World Series. Davey Johnson had very high hopes for this team, saying the the now infamous phrase, “World Series or Bust” during spring training. However, a lackluster offense and key injuries to Bryce Harper, Jayson Werth, and Stephen Strasburg had the Nationals far from the numerous “World Series” predictions, finishing at 86-76. This offseason, the Nationals will try to become favorites once again by doing several key things. We will look at these thing as part of a three day breakdown of the Nationals offseason:

2. FIX THE BULLPEN

Like the bench, the bullpen was not the same from 2012 to 2013. Many of the key pieces from 2012 (Ryan Mattheus, Drew Storen) regressed, and new players (Rafael Soriano, Zach Duke) didn’t turn out the way we hoped. Lets evaluate each member of the 2013 Washington Nationals bullpen and see if they should stay in 2014.

Tyler Clippard (2013 stats) 6-3, 2.41 ERA, 73 K’s, 1.8 WAR

Tyler Clippard has arguably been the Nationals best bullpen pitcher over the past three season. That could be the reason that he might not be in out bullpen in 2014. If the Nationals want to trade for an ace like Max Scherzer, Clip might have to be one of the pieces the Nationals give up. Clippard’s versatility also make him an extremely good trade piece. He has shown that he can be used as a closer, set up man, or just someone to get your team out of a jam. However, I don’t think the Nationals will end up trading him.

SHOULD HE STAY OR SHOULD HE GO: STAY

Rafael Soriano (2013 stats) 3.11 ERA, 43 SV, 51 K’s, .9 WAR

Rafael Soriano looked like a totally different pitcher than the Nats had hoped he would. His fastball was down a few ticks, and his normally devastating slider was all over the place. While Soriano had one of the highest saves total in 2013, he was also in the top 5 in the MLB in blown saves with 6. And often times he would put himself in very bad situations, only to be bailed out by his defense. Unfortunately, Soriano is under contract for one more year, and unless Mike Rizzo could pull out a miracle, Soriano will be our close again in 2014.

SHOULD HE STAY OR SHOULD HE GO: STAY

Craig Stammen (2013 stats) 7-6, 2.76 ERA , 79 K’s, 1 WAR

Apart from Tyler Clippard, Craig Stammen has been the best bullpen pitcher for the Washington Nationals over the past two years. That would also make him a good trade piece, if the Nats were to make a trade. Also, similar to Clippard, Stammen is versatile, being able to pitch one inning, two innings, or even make a spot start if needed. However, Stammen seems to be a solid part of the bullpen and I don’t think he will be moved this offseason.

SHOULD HE STAY OR SHOULD HE GO: STAY

Fernadno Abad (2013 stats) 0-3, 3.35 ERA, 32 K’s, .4 WAR

Abad was one of few happy surprises with the Nationals bullpen. Coming into the 2013 season, the Nats only had one left handed bullpen pitcher on their Opening Day lineup: Zach Duke. Once the Nationals realized that Duke wasn’t turning out the way that they had hoped, they called up Abad, who was signed to a minor league contract in November. After Abad was called up, he tossed 6.2 scoreless innings with 9 K’s. Abad went on to be a key part of our bullpen in 2013. However, look for Abad to move on to greener pastures in 2014.

SHOULD HE STAY OR SHOULD HE GO: GO

Drew Storen (2013 stats) 4-2, 4.52 ERA, 58 K’s, -.7 WAR

Drew Stroren’s season was a tale of two halves. His first half of the season was like a re-run of Game 5. From April until July, Storen’s ERA was almost 6. Then, after a game against the Mets where Storen gave up 3 runs in .2 innings, the Nationals sent him down to AAA to get things “sorted out”. Whatever he did in AAA worked, because in the 19.1 innings after his brief stint in the minors, Storen gave up a TOTAL of 3 runs. That would look enticing to a team in need of a bullpen arm. Of any pitcher in our bullpen, Storen could be the first to be traded.

SHOULD HE STAY OR SHOULD HE GO: STAY

Ryan Mattheus (2013 stats) 0-2, 6.37 ERA, 22 K’s, -.8 WAR

As the famous Crash Davis once told a young Nuke LaLooshe, “Never punch with your throwing arm.” Ryan Mattheus had never heard this when he broke his right hand after punching it against his locker after a bad outing. That basically describes Mattheus 2013. One giant bad move after another. Even a trip down to the minors couldn’t fix Mattheus, as it seemed he only got worse. Don’t expect Mattheus to be with the Nationals at the start of the season.

SHOULD HE STAY OR SHOULD HE GO: GO

Xavier Cedeno (2013 stats) 0-0, 1.50 ERA, 6 K’s, .2 WAR

It seemed like Cedeno was called up and down so many times that he had frequent flyer miles from DC to Syracuse. However, from what we saw from Cedeno was very impressive. In his time in September, Cedeno was used mostly as a LOOGY, a position in the bullpen which I like. If it were up to me, I would keep Cedeno in 2014. He wont cost much, and could bring in a lot.

SHOULD HE STAY OR SHOULD HE GO: STAY

Ian Krol (2013 stats) 2-1, 3.95 ERA, 22 K’s, .1 WAR

Acquired this offseason as the PTBNL in the Michael Morse trade, Ian Krol showed that he could pitch at the major league level. Krol gave the Nationals 3 good months of left handed, relief pitch. However, towards the end of the season, Krol started to scuffle, so much so to warren a trip back down to AAA. While he did look good in September, Krol may be starting the season in AAA.

SHOULD HE STAY OR SHOULD HE GO: GO

So that leaves us with 4 righties and one lefty. That would mean the Nationals would have to dip into free agency to find some relievers. There are some relievers like Fernando Abad and Xavier Cedeno who could be signed to minor league deals and turn out to be good choices. However, some options that intrigue me are Eric O’Flaherty, JP Howell, Henry Rodriguez (Just Kidding), Joe Smith, and Oliver Perez. With O’Flaherty, we would have to wait until mid season to see him because he is coming off a torn elbow ligament. Any of these pitchers would be a good addition to the bullpen.

Hopefully for the Nationals, the bullpen can turn back into the shut down form that it was in 2012. If not, we might be in for a long season.

Prospect Profile: Reviewing the Year for the Nats’ Top 10 Prospects (Part 1)

The Washington Nationals, as you may have heard, had a disappointing season.  Projected by many to win over 100 games (and compared by at least one writer to the 2001 Seattle Mariners, winners of 116), they instead slogged through a season where their pitching regressed from previously otherworldly levels, and the offense laid dormant until mid-August.  Yet, the future looks bright for the Nats, in part due to the talent at the major league level, but also because of the collection of talent coming up through the minor leagues.  This year, Nats’ affiliates went 420-344 (a .550 winning percentage), led by the 49-9 GCL Nationals, who set a record for the best winning percentage for a domestic minor league team.  Let’s take a look at how the year went for the Nats’ preseason top 10 prospects, as rated by Baseball America.  Today, we’ll look at the first 5 – part 2 will examine prospects 6-10.

1. Anthony Rendon – 2B/3B

In Anthony Rendon’s first full healthy professional season, he was given a chance to display his skills on the big stage.  After hitting .292 with 2 home runs in 14 games with AA Harrisburg, Rendon was called up to replace the injured Ryan Zimmerman.  Rendon struggled in his first tour, with only 6 hits in 8 games, but showed promise, with two hits in his final game before being sent down to AA. All told, Rendon hit .319 with 6 homers in 33 games at Harrisburg, then played 3 games at Syracuse before being called up to the big club for good on July 5th.  Rendon came up to replace the struggling Danny Espinosa, and had to learn a new position, second base, on the fly. He started his second stint in torrid fashion — through June 26th, his triple slash read .354/.402/.485 — but eventually cooled off.  He struggled defensively, making 16 errors at 3 positions, including 5 at his natural position of third base.  Overall, Rendon had a triple slash of .265/329/.396 in the majors, good for a league-average 99 OPS+.  His WAR this year fluctuates wildly between the two sites; Baseball Reference doesn’t like his defense, and therefore he’s worth -0.0 bWAR, while his defense grades out as roughly league-average according to FanGraphs, giving him 1.5 fWAR.  Overall, the year was a success for Rendon, as he proved he could stay healthy, hold his own at the major league level, and handle a position change.

Where he started last year: AA

Where he’ll start this year: MLB

2. Lucas Giolito – RHP

Giolito accomplished a great deal in 2013.  The fireballing righty, who turned 19 in July, successfully rehabbed from Tommy John surgery, and worked his way back into game shape.  Giolito was a key part of the league-champion GCL team, throwing 22.2 innings of 2.78 ERA-ball, with 25 strikeouts.  Giolito, who features a fastball that touches triple digits and a sharp curveball that scouting director Kris Kline said are currently “above-average major league pitches”, got an endorsement from Nats’ reliever Ryan Mattheus, who tweeted of Giolito, “Big time stuff! Wow!” Giolito then moved on to low-A Auburn, where allowed only one run in 14 innings, fanning 14.  Giolito’s impressive return (along with Rendon’s promotion) prompted Baseball America to bump him up to #1 on their 2014 list of Nats’ top prospects.

Where he started last year: rehab, then GCL

Where he’ll start this year: most likely A Hagerstown

3. Brian Goodwin – OF

Goodwin, the Nats’ top outfield prospect and the heir apparent to Denard Span in centerfield, had an up-and-down 2013.  Most importantly, he stayed healthy all year, and while his .252/.355/.407 triple slash was a regression from 2012 (.280/.384/.469), he showed an impressive batting eye as well as a little bit of pop (11 triples, 10 home runs).  The 2011 first-rounder shows remarkable speed, as well as good range in the outfield, but struggles to harness the speed on the basepaths; he was caught stealing 11 times out of 30 tries.  Goodwin displays flashes of all five tools, but he needs to become a more consistent player to take the next step in his development.

Where he started last year: AA

Where he’ll start this year: most likely AA

4. Matt Skole – 1B/3B

A 2013 that started with so much promise for Matt Skole came to an end rather abruptly.  After receiving an invite to Major League Spring Training and getting 6 hits in 24 at bats, the reigning Nats’ Minor League Player of the Year started the year at AA Harrisburg, where he hit a double and walked twice in his first two games.  Then, on April 5th, Skole collided with Bowie Baysox second baseman Ty Kelly on a play at first, and felt a pop in his elbow.  He had torn the UCL in his non-throwing shoulder, and received season-ending Tommy John surgery on April 17th.  However, 2013 was not entirely lost for Skole.  He returned to play in the Arizona fall league and has 3 homers in 14 games for the Mesa Solar Sox.  More good news: Skole says his swing is “100 percent” after rehabbing all year.

Where he started last year: AA

Where he’ll start this year: AA

5. Nate Karns – RHP

After returning to baseball following labrum surgery in 2011, Karns burst onto the scene in 2012, posting a miniscule 2.29 ERA and 1.009 WHIP over 116 innings across 2 levels. Karns had overpowering stuff, striking out 11.5 batters per 9, and managing to pitch around 3.6 walks per 9.  Karns came out of nowhere to become the 5th-best prospect in the Nats’ system, but he struggled out of the gate in 2013.  In his first 9 starts, Karns put up a 4.60 ERA; walks continued to be a problem, as he issued 18 free passes in 46 innings.  However, an injury to Nats starter Ross Detwiler, combined with the Nats’ lack of starting pitching depth, forced the Nats to call Karns up despite his struggles.  While in the majors, Karns displayed the ability to strike even major leaguers out, fanning 11 in 12 innings.  However, Karns walked 6, and struggled with the home run ball, giving up 5.  All this led to a 7.50 ERA in 3 starts and a demotion back to the minor leagues.  Karns righted the ship when he got back to Harrisburg, and ended up with a solid 3.26 ERA in 132.2 innings (the 144.2 innings pitched were his most as a professional).  The 2013 season only marginally diminished the 25-year old Texan’s prospect status, but strong seasons elsewhere in the organization dropped Karns to 9th in the Nats’ system.

Where he started last year: AA

Where he’ll start next year: AAA