Franchise in Focus: Washington Nationals

The Past

The Washington Nationals were inaugurated in 1969 as the Montreal Expos, the first MLB team to play outside of the United States. It would not be until 1979 when the team enjoyed its first winning season, which set off five in a row. However, only once, in 1981, did Montreal make the postseason, and that year they lost in the NLCS.

It would not be until the mid-1990’s when the team got back on its feet, but they then came crashing to a halt, because the franchise’s best season was cut short by the strike. When the season came to an end on August 12, 1994, the Expos were 74-40 and led the NL East by 6 games. Before the beginning of the next season, however, the stars on the 1994 team such as Larry Walker and Pedro Martinez were told to find new homes. This led to a downward spiral that did not end until the team relocated to Washington prior to the 2005 season, after an extensive battle with the city council and the Baltimore Orioles.

The Present

In 2005, the Nationals surprised everyone by finishing 81-81. During the off-season, they traded for Alfonso Soriano, who gave them a career season. However, the team fell to 71-91 in the 2006 season. The Nationals made what turned out to be a fatal error as the trade deadline approached, retaining Soriano, whose contract ran out at season’s end. Soriano would leave for the Chicago Cubs, leaving the franchise with no real star player. The team would also fire manager Frank Robinson and replace him with Manny Acta.

The Future

The Nationals’ financial situation limits their options with no foreseeable end. The only bright side is the success of small market teams such as Minnesota and Oakland who have similarly limited financial resources.

The team does have solid players, but unfortunately many of them, such as Nick Johnson, Jose Vidro, and John Patterson, are injury-prone. Third baseman Ryan Zimmerman, however, is a rising star, who, hopefully for Washington, can produce many fruitful seasons in the future. However, a pitching staff that finished with an NL-worst 5.03 ERA in 2006 has very few good players, essentially Patterson and closer Chad Cordero. Tony Armas Jr. and the tallest player in league history, Jon Rauch, are also solid. The Washington area got its team but will have to be patient for a contending one.

Segment Scheduling

Schedule for the next 5 weeks of "Case for the Hall" and "Franchise in Focus." As the current NFL season is still in progress, heavy emphasis will be placed on Major League Baseball.

"Franchise in Focus"

• December 2: Washington Nationals
• December 9: New York Yankees
  
• December 16: Chicago Cubs
  
• December 23: Atlanta Braves
  
• December 30: St. Louis Cardinals
  

"Case for the Hall"

• December 8: Mark McGwire
  
• December 15: Bert Blyleven
  
• December 22: Jim Rice
  
• December 29: Goose Gossage
  

No NBA Review

Cancelled before its first episode. Grounded before it took off.

Today will feature no installment of NBA Review, and neither will any other Friday.

Starting next Friday, "Case for the Hall" will be posted weekly. Placed in the plans originally, this is the segment that looks at a prospective Hall of Fame player in any sport and examines his case for inclusion or exclusion.

Week 13 NFL Predictions

Ravens at Bengals
Both teams are hot, but you almost have to go with defense. Almost. Baltimore annihilated Roethlisberger and the Steelers, but Palmer and the Bengals are better, and Cincinnati’s defense has recovered since their performance against the Chargers. Bengals 22, Ravens 21.

Cardinals at Rams
This could be the game where Edgerrin James breaks out of his season long funk, considering the recent struggles of the Ram run defense. St. Louis barely escaped a five game losing streak last week. Here, folks, is an upset. Cardinals 24, Rams 17

Falcons at Redskins
Washington’s D has solidified the past couple weeks. Is Jason Campbell already a better passer than Mike Vick? Unfortunately for Atlanta, the Falcons are in freefall. Redskins 20, Falcons 13

Lions at Patriots
Detroit is playing like the worst team in the NFL. The Patriots are playing like one of the best teams. An easy pick here. Patriots 31, Lions 14

Colts at Titans
The Titans are playing like nobody’s business right now. Indianapolis barely pulled it off in their dome. These two facts might mean upset, but I would not bank on it. Indy’s only loss thus far was to the hottest team in the NFL right now. Colts 23, Titans 20

Chiefs at Browns
This is not shaping up to be the week of great games. I don’t even know what to say here. Chiefs 30, Browns 10

Vikings at Bears
Minnesota’s offense woke up against the Cardinals; the Franchise in Phoenix (how’s the for alliteration?) will do that. Don’t expect it to continue. Bears 17, Vikings 3

Jets at Packers
The AFC’s dominance and the Packers’ latest struggles suggest a win for the visitors. Jets 27, Packers 17

Chargers at Bills
Losman is playing well and Rivers just had his first poor game of the season. Tomlinson’s 3 touchdown runs outdo Losman’s 3 touchdown passes thanks to a little push from Rivers. Chargers 28, Bills 24

49ers at Saints
Brees is on fire. Of course, so is Frank Gore. San Francisco’s defense has surprisingly been pretty darn good of late (that last drive last week drops the performance from “terrific”), but Brees can not be stopped. Saints 27, 49ers 14

Texans at Raiders
Run away, run away… from this game. But take the Raiders after their near upset over the Chargers. Raiders 17, Texans 16

Jaguars at Dolphins
Jacksonville is an odd team. For the second straight year, Miami is getting hot late. Pick the team on a streak over the streaky team. Dolphins 24, Jaguars 19

Cowboys at Giants
The Giants are falling, and injuries are no small part. Their starting cornerbacks are no match for the Dallas duo of Glenn and Owens. Eli Manning managed to connect on 64% of his passes last week, but the last one was costly. He’ll need to be perfect, but we can’t expect that from him. Cowboys 24, Giants 17

Buccaneers at Steelers
Two struggling teams with two struggling quarterbacks. This is yet another great match-up, isn’t it? Big Ben can’t be Bad Ben much longer can he? Steelers 20, Buccaneers 10

Seahawks at Broncos
Jay Cutler debuts. I don’t think this will be a good thing. Hasselbeck looked great in the second half last night and Alexander, though he needed a week, seems ready. Seahawks 21, Broncos 20

Panthers at Eagles
The Eagles are falling. Garcia won’t get it done. Don’t expect a second straight team to hold Steve Smith. Panthers 27, Eagles 10

MLB Offseason Review: Free Agency Signings

A comprehensive list of free agent signings in the offseason can be found here.

The Cubs and Mets have been most active thus far, but will they improve? The Mets big landing is 40-year old Moises Alou, and the Cubs landed Alfonso Soriano for 8 years and the hefty price tag of $136 million. Whatever offense the Mets pick up in Alou and Damion Easley could be erased by pitching concerns, as Tom Glavine is on the brink of departing and nobody knows how healthy Pedro Martinez will be. As for the Cubs, Soriano is quite a player, but there are major questions as to his suitability for hitting leadoff.

The Astros also made a big play in acquiring Carlos Lee. For $100 million, perhaps he's not worth it, but short term at least, this is a good move. Of course, if Clemens and Pettitte don't come back, this and any other moves Houston makes could be for naught.

The Dodgers have also made a couple moves, welcoming Juan Pierre and Randy Wolf to the ballclub. Again, no matter how good the players might be, money is a big issue, and they probably got too much of it. Signing Wolf to a one-year deal isn't much of a risk. But giving Pierre a five-year deal, let alone for $8.8 million a year, is going overboard.

American League teams have been pretty quiet. The biggest addition is Frank Thomas to the Blue Jays ($9 million per year), but despite Thomas's 2006 campaign, questions linger as to how much longer he can be effective.

The Orioles are going crazy for bullpen help, picking up Danys Baez, Chad Bradford, Jamie Walker, and Scott Williamson. All these guys have shown ability to play in the past, but one gets the feeling that Mazzone will still have to work on this staff a bit.

The Angels picked up Gary Matthews, Jr. for $50 million because of a career year. This is the case of an overpaid player that sticks out most as a thorn. Matthews' career has not been one you reward with $10 million per season.

A final newcomer is Frank Catalanotto to Texas, for relatively cheap. For Texas nothing's a risk since the mammoth A-Rod deal.

It is the season of giving, but this time of year in baseball almost always results in a lot of giving to players.

Best Signing: Almost no risk picking up Randy Wolf to a one-year contract, and he could provide LA with a good season.

Worst Signing: Gary Matthews Jr.

Next Wednesday: Additional signings; players yet to be signed

NFL Power Rankings Week 12

Well, the game is over, and I'm still up, so here they are.

1. Colts 10-1 The offense got back on track. Addai was terrific, and that's an understatement.
2. Ravens 9-2 What a dominating performance on both sides. Since Billick's taken the playcalling duties, this team has soared.
3. Chargers 9-2 What a close one that was, almost losing to Oakland.
4. Patriots 8-3 They beat the Bears for their first big win of the season, but it was quite a win.
5. Bears 9-2 The defense is terrific but the offense has gone backwards of late.
6. Cowboys 7-4 Red hot team, but if Romo falters so will they.
7. Saints 7-4 Drew Brees needs 1,622 yards in the last 5 games to break Dan Marino's single season yardage record. A stretch but possible.
8. Bengals 6-5 That loss to the Chargers woke up the defense. That was brutal for Frye and the Browns.
9. Chiefs 7-4 As Trent Green gets back into the swing of things this team will only get better.
10. Seahawks 7-4 Hasselbeck made a nice recovery in the 2nd half, and Alexander was phenomenal for the first time this year.
11. Panthers 6-5 The talent is there, but do they want it enough?
12. Broncos 7-4 With Cutler thrown into the fire, things can only go further downhill.
13. Jaguars 6-5 What a strange, inconsistent team.
    
14. Jets 6-5 They're setting themselves up for bigger and better things further into the season.
15. Giants 6-5 Reeling doesn't even describe it.
16. Dolphins 5-6 Joey Harrington? Succeeding?
    
17. Bills 5-6 J.P. Losman? Succeeding?
    
18. Titans 4-7 I had them tagged for the #1 pick this year. They're proving me wrong.
19. Vikings 5-6 Broke out of a funk but nobody can have confidence in continued success from that offense.
20. Rams 5-6 Snapped a skid in dramatic fashion. They've got the best wide receiver, a top 10 QB, and a top 10 RB, so it's somewhat of a surprise they've been struggling.
21. Redskins 4-7 Since they met the Eagles a few weeks ago, the two teams have both switched QBs (one by injury, one by choice). Only one is working out.
22. Eagles 5-6 It's slipping away. McNabb off the field equals the O off the scoreboard.
23. 49ers 5-6 Just when we thought this team was in the midst of something special, they lose in the last 30 seconds.
24. Falcons 5-6 You think things are bad in some places (say, New York), this collapse has been a horrifying experience.
    
25. Steelers 4-7 Brutal, brutal loss. Roethlisberger is getting the snot beat out of him the past couple weeks.
26. Packers 4-7 They almost pulled this one out, but they got torched in the second half
    
27. Texans 3-8 Really, the teams with 3-8 records or lower are interchangeable at the moment. Of the three 3-8 teams, they were the least humiliated in week 12.
    
28. Raiders 2-9 That upset would have been a stunner.
29. Buccaneers 3-8 They were playing a better team than Cleveland, so I guess it was less embarrassing.
30. Browns 3-8 Charlie Frye regressed big time in that game with 4 picks.
31. Cardinals 2-9 They ran just six times, no wonder Leinart got 405 yards. But he looked decent.
32. Lions 2-9 Horrible. Just horrible.
    

Another Blog/MLB Prediction Review

been awhile for me. August 9 was the date of my most recent post, located at my first blog. I tossed in a couple sports opinions in that one, but I have decided to create this one solely for sports purpose, with heavy emphasis on professional football and professional baseball.

Here's the plan, at least until the conclusion of the NFL regular season.

Tuesday: NFL Power Rankings
Wednesday: MLB Offseason Review
Thursday: NFL Game Predictions
Friday: NBA Review
Saturday: "Franchise in Focus"
Sunday: NFL In-Game Comments
Monday: "Thought of the Week"

• "Franchise in Focus" will pick a sports franchise with a review of its past, present, and future.
• NFL In-Game Comments may not be posted
  

I'm not following the schedule until tomorrow, so as a start:

In my first blog, before the 2006 MLB season, I published the following baseball predictions.

Got the Yankees right, but flopped on the rest of the AL. The Tigers came out of nowhere, the Indians flopped despite their great finish to 2005, and though Toronto did improve to second in the AL East, past Boston, they missed out on the playoffs as well. Anaheim of course also failed. And, making the AL Central prediction even worse, the Wild Card came out of that division (and it wasn't the Indians!).

Meanwhile, the Braves division streak came to an end. St. Louis did indeed win their division. San Fran flopped, though as two NL West teams not from that city (Los Angeles, San Diego) made the postseason.

As for the World Series, I almost got that right (sort of), by virtue of the Cardinals coming one game from winning it all in the prediction. Of course, the Yankees fell to eventual AL flag winner Detroit, who represented the AL in the World Series.

As for awards (0 for 4), A-Rod flopped, Pujols almost won, Halladay got hurt, and Zambrano walked anyone who wouldn't swing.

Predicting sure is an inexact science.