Washington Nationals - The Covid-19 Years (2020-2029)

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2020

Decade

107

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Titles:

Top Nationals Players of the Twenty Twenties

None

Pitchers:

Ballpark:

Kyle Finnegan (3.5) - 28

Nationals Park

Patrick Corbin (-2.5) - 20

McKenzie Gore (5.8) - 15

Team Name:

Jake Irvin (3) - 15

Nationals

Max Scherzer (5.43) - 10

Josiah Gray (3.6) - 10

Owner:

Mitchell Parker (-0.59) - 9

Mark Lerner

Erick Fedde (-0.25) - 7

Tanner Rainey (0.19) - 5

General Managers:

Brad Hand (0.27 - 5

Mike Rizzo (2020-2025)

Trevor Williams (1.9) - 5

Paul Toboni (2025)

Catchers:

Managers:

Keibert Ruiz (4.79) - 12

Dave Martinez (2020-2025)

Riley Adams (2.63) - 6

Blake Butera (2025)

Yan Gomes (2.87) - 6

Hall of Famers:

First Basemen:

None

Josh Bell (6.97) - 22

Joey Meneses (1.49) - 7

Rookie of the Year:

None

Second Basemen:

Luis Garcia (3.2) - 18

MVP

Josh Harrison (3.01) - 5

None

ShortStop:

No Hitters:

CJ Abrams (10.13) - 36

None

Trea Turner (6.76) - 21

Third Base:

Jeimer Candelario (2.9) - 8

Cy Young:

None

Outfield:

Juan Soto (13.28) - 25

Lane Thomas (6.64) - 21

Notable Events:

Jacob Young (4.5) - 15

James Wood (4.8) - 14

Washington won the World Series as recently as 2019, Unfortunately, things have

Alex Call (3.85) - 7

been exceptionally ugly since then. GM Mike Rizzo who build that squad and

Jesse Winker (1.9) - 6

Dave Martinez who managed that squad completely dropped the ball since.

Daylen Lile (0.7) - 6

Ownership mercifully got rid of them after six years of abject futility.

The new guys are GM Paul Toboni and manager Blake Butera.

Notable Events:

They literally can't do any worse than Rizzo / Martinez during this decade.

Meanwhile, the Nationals are a very bad team and there is very little to be

2020 - After an eight year run as a contender culminating with a World Series

excited about this season if you are a Nationals fan.

title in 2019, it all comes crashing down in 2020 with a 26-34 mark. And stays

The pitching numbers are absolutely brutal, 179 more runs given up by

down as Washington will average a 65-97 record for subsequent five years

Washington than the league average. The offense was bad, but compared to the

pitching, they looked like all stars scoring only 34 runs less than the league average.

Ted Lerner officially bought the franchise in '06 a year and a half after it had

been moved to Washington from Montreal. The National League had owned

Starting Pitchers:

the franchise since '02 when it bought out the club from then owner Jeffrey

□ RHP Cade Cavalli, 27, '20 draft 1st round pick, '25 3-1 4.25

Loria and gave him the Florida Marlins franchise in a complex and not

□ RHP Miles Mikolas, 37, '26 FA from STL, '25 6-11 4.84

particularly transparent set of transactions. Somewhere between '02 and '06,

□ RHP Jake Irvin, 27, '18 4th round pick, '25 9-13 5.70

probably '02, Lerner had expressed interest in purchasing the franchise, but

□ LHP Foster Griffin, 30, '26 FA from Toronto, '22 0-0 8.53

only if it were moved to Washington. Four years and several resolved lawsuits

□ RHP Brad Lord, 26, '22 draft 18th round pick, '25 5-10 4.34

later that happened and Lerner was now owner of the Washington Nationals

□ RHP Travis Sykora, 22, '23 3rd draft round pick, '25 3-1 1.79

ballclub. Lerner had deep pockets and was a lucrative prospective owner for

□ RHPJarlin Susana, 22, '22 Trade from SD, '25 1-4 3.51

the franchise and he didn't disappoint. Washington has been a well funded

□ RHP Josiah Gray, 26, '21 trade from Dodgers, '23 8-13 3.91

and well run organization. Lerner's son Mark took over running the

Very bad. Very, very bad. Solid contender for worst rotation in baseball.

franchise in '18. He's dropped the ball, so to speak. The odds were against him

as most inheritors don't have nearly what it takes to match what their fathers

Relief Pitchers:

have done. And Mark has certainly been a classic case study of why

□ RHP Cole Henry, 26, '20 draft 2nd round pick, '25 1-2 4.27

inheritance laws suck. While his father obviously knew how to run a business,

□ RHP Clayton Beeter, 27, '25 Trade from NYY, '25 0-2 2.49

the son is either totally disinterested or totally clueless or both.

□ RHP Jackson Rutledge, 27, '19 draft 1st round pick, '25 4-2 5.77

□ LHP PJ Poulin, 29, 'FA from Detroit, '25 2-1 3.65

2020 - Mike Rizzo has been GM since '10 and obviously had done an excellent

□ RHP Orlando Ribalta, 28, '19 draft 12th round pick, '25 0-0 7.03

job. A potential knock on Rizzo is that he was clearly excellent when the owner's

□ LHP Richard Lovelady, 30, '26 FA from Mets, '25 0-1 8.49

pockets were deep, but he's been floundering when the pockets got shallow.

□ RHP Griff McGarry, 27, '26 Rule 5 draft from Phillies, '25 AA-AAA 2-5 3.44

□ RHP Riley Cornelio, 26, '22 draft 7th round pick, '25 AA-AAA 6-7 3.28

2020 - Dave Martinez had been Washington's field manager since '18.

□ LHP Ken Waldichuk, 28, '26 Trade from TB, '23 4-9 4.36

That breaks the longevity record for Nationals managers.

□ RHP Luis Perales, 23, '26 Trade from Boston, '25 AA-AAA 0-0 7.71

If there was to be a knock put on Rizzo it's that he changed managers as often

□ RHP Gus Varland, 29, '26 FA from Arizona, '25 1-0 3.54

as he changed his laundry. This lead to a lack of continuity and

□ RHP Paxton Schultz, 28, '26 FA from Toronto, '25 0-0 4.38

long term vision from the field manager's end.

□ RHP Andre Granillo, 26, '26 Trade from STL, '25 1-0 4.71

Interesting that the less success the team has had, the more Rizzo has held

□ RHP Trevor Williams, 32, '23 FA from Mets, '25 3-10 6.21 injured

onto his manager - usually it's the other way around.

Nothing to see here. It is going to be a long year in Washington

2020 - The decline actually started in 2019 when superstar OF Bryce Harper

Starting Lineup:

left for Division rival Philadelphia. This was the beginning of the end for the

□ C Keibert Ruiz, 27, '21 trade from Dodgers, '25 2 25 .247

Nationals despite the fact that they won the World Series despite the loss.

□ 1B Luis Garcia, 26, '16 IFA, '25 16 66 .252 14sb

Next superstar 3B Anthony Rendon was not re-signed in 2020 going to the

□ 2B Nasim Nunez, 25, '24 Rule 5 draft from Miami, '25 4 13 .232

Anaheim Angels. That disaster was really the canary in the coal mine.

□ SS CJ Abrams, 25, '22 trade from San Diego, '25 19 60 .257 31sb

The Nats couldn't recover from this one. There were other factors like ace

□ 3B Brady House, 23, '21 1st round pick, '25 4 29 .234

righthander Stephen Strasburg, 30, missing the season with injury and closer

□ OF James Wood, 23, '23 trade from San Diego, 6'7", '25 31 94 .256 15sb

Sean Doolittle, 32, losing his effectiveness

□ CF Jacob Young, 26, '21 draft 7th round pick, '25 2 31 .231 15sb

□ OF Dylan Crews, 24, '23 draft 1st round pick, '25 10 27 .208 17sb

2021 - It keeps getting worse. Ace righthander Max Scherzer, 36, and superstar

□ DH Daylen Lile, 23, '21 draft second round pick, '25 9 41 .299

SS Trea Turner, 28, are dealt to the Dodgers at the trade deadline. This was bad.

□ C Harry Ford, 23, '26 Trade from Seattle, '25 0 1 .167

It's over over after this one.

□ IF Andres Chaparro, 27, '24 Trade from Arizona, '25 1 5 .182

□ IF Jose Tena, 25, '24 Trade from Cleveland, '25 0 16 .243

2022 - Superstar outfielder Juan Soto, only 23, is dealt to San Diego at the

□ IF Abimelec Ortiz, 24 , '26 Trade from Texas, '25 AA-AAA 25 89 .257

trade deadline. The cupboard was now officially bare.

□ OF Robert Hassell, 24, '22 Trade deadline from SD, '25 3 18 .223

□ OF Joey Wiemer, 27, '26 FA from SF, '25 3 12 .236

Obviously, Mark Lerner has no interest in putting a winning product on the

□ OF Christian Franklin, 26, '26 FA from Cubs, '25 AAA 12 64 .272

field. That's his prerogative as owner. But, let's face it, when a company

The offense was not horrific last year. They've got four guys who can actually do

you run depends on the public for the support, you should have some

some damage led by youmg OF James Wood who slugged 31 homers as a 22

consideration for that public as a businessman and as a person.

year old. SS CJ Abrams and 1B Luis Garcia who are both young are both solid

The right thing to do would be for Lerner to sell the club.

big league hitters. And Daylen Lile, another 23 year old outfielder, looks like a

There are millions of Washington fans who are now rooting for a team that

keeper. That's four. You need nine. OF Hassell, 3B House and OF Crews

has no hope, stop being a selfish prick and sell the team if you are not going

are all young and all former high draft picks. It's time for them to step up.

to make any effort to win.

They traded for 23 year old catcher Harry Ford who shows some promise.

Best case scenario is that all of these young guys figure out how to hit big league

pitching and you've got yourself a lineup filled with young studs. Worst case

scenario is they don't