Boz

Today's column is good, stabilizing and sobering. I particularly like the point he raises about the '09 team being what they should have been last year.

Mike Rizzo!

Barry's back on the beat

He really is a good writer, our Mr. Svrluga. Here's his story on the Dominican kid who will take down Trader Jim. BTW, looks like Rijo is a goner. One of the commenters over at Nats Journal referred to it as "Blame it on Rjo." If only Jimbo were as charming as Michael Caine.

It has begun...

'Nats v 'Stros. Spring training. And it's warm in DC. Looks like AK is volunteering to be the outfielder to be traded later by going 0 - 2 and stranding 5.

Fire him

Sports Illustrated story on the bonus skimming scandal.

He's got to go. I don't care if he's 100% innocent. This is too much of a distraction. It's bad for the team, the city and the fans. We need a(nother) CHANGE.

the natosphere

So we didn't make the cut for the WaPo's Nats Journal blog roll. The ink-stained wretches found us unworthy - I reckon because the sole reason for this blog is to bellyache. Anyway, here's the A-list of Nationals blogs according to one Chico Harlan. Funny, my porn first name is Chico. I wonder what the DC Sports Bog is? Redskins Park?

Official Site

Washington Nationals Fan Forum

Nationals Farm Authority

Federal Baseball

Nationals Enquirer

Ballparkguys.com Board

Nats320

Nationals Inquisition

Nats Triple Play

Oleanders and Morning Glories

We've Got Heart

Planetary Nats Blog

Nationals Pride

NationalsFanboyLooser

Fire Jim Bowden

D.C. Sports Bog

Smile

Oh, lordy. Please tell me this is it for Trader Jim.

I Miss Aramark

Remember that final year at RFK? When you could get a hot dog and a beer with no waiting? OK, maybe a short wait if it was a 30K+ night, but it was negligible. And even then, there were always some go-to stands who had it down. Remember the lovely women who staffed the Guinness stand behind home plate? Ah, good times.

From WaPo's Nats Journal: New Vendor for Nats Park

So just when - we hope - last year's vendor had ironed out their kinks and were going to launch the new season running as a well oiled machine, they pull the plug. Ugh. Maybe they just don't want this blog to go away.

The company is Levy Restaurants. They do the food at Wrigley, Dodger, PNC and a few more. It's been ages since I was at Wrigley and was too engrossed in the "game" to pay attention to the food & beverage service so I open it up to the peanut gallery. Is this a good thing? Is it a sign to go with the Dunn signing that the Lerner's are starting to get it? Or is it as I fear, another service disaster to suffer through for an entire season?

Why we want Nick to stay if he's healthy

WaPo's Chico Harlan has a great bit on Johnson's work on his swing. If the baseball gods are willing to give him a year off the DL and he stays on the team, good things could happen. A healthy NJ and his usually superb OBP batting in front of Dunn, Dukes and Zimm? 70 wins here we come!

Coming soon: marketing suggestions in response to bellyaching commenters.

Chico's Top Ten

Is this the second year for Barry Svrluga's replacement? Anyway, he's got a pretty good top ten list of questions we hope are answered before that first trip to Miami in April.

In other news, Omar adds another Nats cast-off to the squad by signing Livan. Now, I was always a big fan of Livo when he donned the curly W and hope he does well at Shea v2. Is it not the perfect sign that they named their stadium after a corrupt and now semi-disgraced financial institution? If congress had a sense of humor, they would have written a provision in the stimulus plan mandating Citi to change the name to TARP Field. Just think of the endless jokes during rain delays!

This has got to mean Pedro's done in NY. Trader Jim? Don't even think about it.

Over at "Fire Jim Bowden", they've got a good list of the other Nats/Expos Omar has added.

No Hudson-on-Anacostia

Bill Ladson writes Trader Jim says no O Dog for us this year. The injury issue added to the fact he probably won't sign more than a one year deal makes this a good move. So let's play lineup, shall we? But first, can we have Dunn take BP in RFK to see if he can hit one of Hondo's chairs?

Hernandez - 2B
Guzman - SS
Johnson - 1B
Dunn - LF
Zimmernam - 3B
Kearns/Dukes - RF
Milledge - CF
The Jesus - C

If Hernandez replicates the way he ended the year and God willing Nick stays healthy (and stays on the team), this looks better than

Guzman - SS
Vidro - 2B
Wilkerson - CF
Guillen - RF
Castilla - 3B
Johnson - 1B
Church - LF
Schneider - C

and those guys won 81 games.

Holy Cr@p!

They signed Dunn. The Nats have a clean up hitter. They're going to rename the Red Porch/Loft/Whatever after him.

This is great. They may win 70 games this year.

Nats Town

By now I imagine many out there have seen this...the new marketing pitch from our friends on Half St. It fails on a couple levels. First, it's indicative of both Red Sox Nation and Wrigleyville which shows an utter lack of creativity. I guess they're trying to grow their marketing department internally instead of going out and hiring free agents. Secondly, it rips off the Caps, currently the only successful sports team in town. And I mean that, Hoyas. And finally, what $40 hr. designer did they find on craigslist to do this? It breaks so many fundamental design and typography rules, it hurts my eyes.

I think the last time DC had something this sad was when the Bonus Army set up Hooverville.

Upside to the recession

Given the current economic climate, I think we can safely assume that Nats Park will remain unblemished by a crummy corporate name for at least one more year so I'll stop referring to is as "Soon to be Named Gaylord Nationals Park," or STBNGNP. It may actually be longer. After the economy recovers, A, B and C-list corporate sponsors may be as wary of signing deals with the Nats as A, B and C-list free agents have been. But such an average park for such a horrible team needs a moniker befitting their circumstances. So I open it up to those of you who may be trickling back after a long off-season.

Suggestions?

PS - Pitchers and Catchers in 7 days.

Two weeks

Now that football's Yankees have won their six Super Bowl, it's almost time to get down to business and welcome Adam Dunn and Orlando Hudson to STBNGNP. Oh wait, never mind.