2020 -  After an eight year run where the Nationals were ranked, year in, year out,

amongst the top teams in baseball, they plummeted to a 26-34 record in '20.

In the previous eight seasons, they had topped ninety wins five times, and were

over .500 the other three, they won four Division titles and in their fifth ninety

win season, they won the World Series from the Wild Card position. That was

in '19. 2019 also broke the streak of four out of four post season series losses

by the Nats as they won four series all in one post season.

□   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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

have done.

Mark got off to a horrific start letting go of both Bryce Harper and Anthony Rendon

and has shown no propensity for being able to recover from that.

□  Mike Rizzo has been GM since '10 and obviously has done an excellent job.

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

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

□  Dave Martinez has been Washington's field manager since '18. That breaks the

longevity record for Nationals managers. If there was to be a knock put on Rizzo

it's that he changed managers as often as he changed his laundry. This lead to a

lack of continuity and long term vision from the field manager's end.

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

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

2020 - The drop from World Series champs to last place is not an aberration.

This is now who the Nationals are - a last place club.

It started in '19 when the Nationals let superstar twenty five year old outfielder

slip thru their fingers and escape in free agency to the Phillies.

Despite the loss, there was a temporary stay of execution as Washington

finally won the world series.

In '20, Anthony Rendon, 29, superstar 3B was the next not to be re-signed.

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

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

Sean Doolittle, 32, losing his effectiveness.  But the ending of the mini-empire

was the loss of Harper and then Rendon.

2021 - Washington finishes last at 65-97. There is no replenishment of lost talent.

A weak farm system combined with a reluctance to spend.

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

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

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

trade deadline. This was the final nail in the coffin. The cupboard was now bare.

2023 - Rumor has it that the Nationals are up for sale. Not surprising seeing

that Mark Lerner couldn't have less interest in running the club or trying

to put a winning team on the field. The Nats finish 71-91.

2024 - The Nationals were 71-91 last year and actually overachieved their runs

totals which indicated a 67-95 mark. The hitting was bad, 48 runs scored less

than the league average. But the pitching was twice as bad, 97 runs given up

more than the league average. There was no attempt over the off season to

improve the team either thru free agency or trades. Ownership is looking to

sell and has no interest in winning at the moment. GM Rizzo is building up the

farm system, but we're talking years here before we see anything come of it.

Offense:

□  C Keibert Ruiz, 25, '21 trade from Dodgers, 18 67 .260

□  2B Luis Garcia, 24, '16 IFA, 9 50 .266

□  SS CJ Abrams, 24, '22 trade from San Diego, 18 64 .245

□  OF Lane Thomas, 28, '21 trade from St Louis, 28 86 .268

□  OF Dylan Crows, 22, '23 2nd overall pick, primo prospect

□  OF James Wood, 21, '23 trade from San Diego, 6'7" power and speed

□  3B Brady House, 20, '21 1st round pick, battling back problems

Pitching:

Most everybody is back, not a good thing.

□  LHP Patrick Corbin, 34, '19 FA from Arizona, 10-15 5.20

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

□  LHP MacKenzie Gore, 25,  '22 trade from San Diego, 7-10 4.42

□  RHP Trevor Williams, 32, '23 FA from Mets, 6-10 5.55

□  RHP Dylan Floro, 33, '24 FA from Twins, 5-6 4.76

□  RHP Jake Irvin, 27, '18 4th round pick, 3-7 4.71

□  Righty Reliever Kyle Finnegan, 32, '20 FA from A's, 7-5 3.76 28 saves

□  Righty Reliever Hunter Harvey, 29, '22 waivers from Giants, 4-4 2.82 10 saves

□  Righty Reliever Jordan Weems, 31, '22 FA from A's, 5-1 3.62

2025 - Another year, another useless season from an organization that has

lost interest in competing. That being said, it may be that they have only lost

interest into competing for the next couple of years as GM Mike Rizzo is

developing a core that he hopes will be in contention by say 2027-28.

The core of that team would look something like this to the best of our knowledge

C-Kelbert Ruiz, 1B-?, 2B-Luis Garcia, SS-CJ Abrams, 3B-Brady House,

OF-Dylan Crews, OF-James Wood, OF-?

LHP-Mackenzie Gore (the ace),  LHP-Mitchell Parker, LHP-DJ Herz,

RHP-Travis Sykora, RHP-Cade Cavelli (if healthy), RHP-Jake Irvin (maybe),

They are not there yet. The team may improve towards .500 this year but,

more importantly for GM Rizzo and Manager Dave Martinez, is to get the

youngsters to continue moving in the right direction.