{"id":1397,"date":"2009-07-21T05:55:15","date_gmt":"2009-07-21T12:55:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/2009\/07\/21\/it-hath-the-primal-eldest-curse-upon-it\/"},"modified":"2009-07-21T05:55:16","modified_gmt":"2009-07-21T12:55:16","slug":"it-hath-the-primal-eldest-curse-upon-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/2009\/07\/21\/it-hath-the-primal-eldest-curse-upon-it\/","title":{"rendered":"“It Hath the Primal Eldest Curse Upon It”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Polonius thought Hamlet had it bad, but that was before the Nationals.\u00c2\u00a0 New Washington manager Jim Riggleman went 0-for-4 against the Cubs at home this past weekend .\u00c2\u00a0 Then with the Mets playing sans Beltran, Reyes and Delgado, Riggleman pulled Zimmerman and Willingham to even the odds.\u00c2\u00a0 Cha-ching!!\u00c2\u00a0 Zero and five.\u00c2\u00a0 The only rational explanation is a curse, a bad one.\u00c2\u00a0 But so far no self-respecting haint will lend their name to it.<\/em><\/p>\n

It is easier to find an analyst to predict a rosier future for the economy than someone who believes in the Nationals.\u00c2\u00a0 However, Sports Illustrated’s Ted Keith<\/a> recently took the leap of faith in an on-line article.\u00c2\u00a0 He has written nothing since then, so it may have cost him his job–that’s what happens when you mess with a curse.\u00c2\u00a0 But Keith believes the signs of renewal are there even if the Nationals themselves are having none of it.<\/p>\n

In the SI article, Keith puts his money on Mike Rizzo the “acting” GM in Washington who says in the article that he is treating the job “like it is mine long term.”\u00c2\u00a0 Rizzo’s\u00c2\u00a0personal portfolio is rich in positive long term potential despite the\u00c2\u00a0serious downside in the short term.<\/p>\n

In the short term he has to sign Stephen Strasburg in the next month, trade Nick Johnson in the next two weeks, and hire a manager to sort through it all for next season.\u00c2\u00a0 Neither of those tasks is going to be easy.\u00c2\u00a0 Boras is threatening to take Strasburg to Japan.\u00c2\u00a0 Nick Johnson’s power numbers are down and\u00c2\u00a0his glove needs oil.<\/p>\n

Rizzo\u00c2\u00a0has expressed his confidence in his ability to get the Strasburg deal done.\u00c2\u00a0 Alluding to his successful signings of Schwerzer and Upton–both Boras clients–in Arizona, he has moved forward quietly, but without any of the empty bravado that characterized Jim Bowden’s high profile negotiations.<\/p>\n

Of the Strasburg signing, Keith Law over at ESPN says the signing will happen.\u00c2\u00a0 “Stick your fingers in your ears until they announce the press conference,” said Law recently.\u00c2\u00a0 Law has never been positive about the ability of prior Nationals management to do anything, so the temptation is to believe Law knows something we don’t.<\/p>\n

Trade gossip around Nick Johnson has quieted as well and is ominously like the silence around Strasburg.\u00c2\u00a0 But Johnson is not the only player who is likely to be dealt.\u00c2\u00a0 The Nationals sent Elijah Dukes down to Triple-A Syracuse for the same inconsistent effort that earned Lastings Milledge a ticket out of town.\u00c2\u00a0 At times Dukes looked as though he was on the verge of a break though.\u00c2\u00a0 Can Rizzo find anyone who is looking to shed salary for Duke’s upside?\u00c2\u00a0 Will any of it break the curse?<\/p>\n

When Washington has been willing take on salary–as they did with Josh Willingham and Steve Olsen from the Marlins–they have been able to improve their weak roster.\u00c2\u00a0 Rizzo has a steep hill to climb though, and there are just not that many teams like Pittsburgh and Florida who will trade for what Washington can offer.<\/p>\n

The next month is likely to “spell” whether Mike Rizzo removes the “Acting” from his GM title.\u00c2\u00a0 Getting anything of value for Dukes or Johnson and signing Stephen Strasburg will improve the talent pool in DC and give the faithful something to look forward to next season.\u00c2\u00a0 The Nationals will likely showcase Strasburg for a few September appearances if they can keep him out of Japan.<\/p>\n

Keeping talent away from the Nipponese may provide the Nationals with their manager of the future as well. Bobby Valentine’s<\/a> contract with the Chiba Lotte Marines expires at the end of this season and he has said he wants to return to the States.\u00c2\u00a0 Dave Sheinin handicaps<\/a> the managerial lottery\u00c2\u00a0in the Washington Post with Bob Melvin<\/a>, Bobby Valentine, and Ed Yost getting early consideration.<\/p>\n

Mike Rizzo has links to Melvin, but that will only be a factor if Rizzo can deliver on the very tall order he has on his plate right now.\u00c2\u00a0 If in the next month he can bring Stephen Strasburg and other showcase talents to Washington, the Nationals will become Rizzo’s team.\u00c2\u00a0 He will own it and get a big say in the new manager.<\/p>\n

If Rizzo fails, the Nationals will be in a very deep hole–even deeper than they find themselves now.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s hard to imagine things getting any uglier, but if Rizzo fails there will be voodoo dolls on sale in the team store and they will go like hot cakes, selling better no doubt than the season tickets.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Polonius thought Hamlet had it bad, but that was before the Nationals.\u00c2\u00a0 New Washington manager Jim Riggleman went 0-for-4 against the Cubs at home this past weekend .\u00c2\u00a0 Then with the Mets playing sans Beltran, Reyes and Delgado, Riggleman pulled Zimmerman and Willingham to even the odds.\u00c2\u00a0 Cha-ching!!\u00c2\u00a0 Zero and five.\u00c2\u00a0 The only rational explanation […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":73,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1397","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-a-view-from-the-capital"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1397","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/73"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1397"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1397\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1397"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1397"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1397"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}