{"id":1556,"date":"2009-11-10T06:17:09","date_gmt":"2009-11-10T13:17:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/2009\/11\/10\/a-mike-rizzo-team-we-could-remember\/"},"modified":"2009-11-10T06:17:09","modified_gmt":"2009-11-10T13:17:09","slug":"a-mike-rizzo-team-we-could-remember","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/2009\/11\/10\/a-mike-rizzo-team-we-could-remember\/","title":{"rendered":"A Mike Rizzo Team We Could Remember"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Washington Nationals\u00c2\u00a0ended the 2009 season much as they began it, the worst team in baseball.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0Yet here in DC\u00c2\u00a0dogged faith abounds in new GM Mike Rizzo.\u00c2\u00a0 After signing Stephen Strasburg and becoming GM, he has\u00c2\u00a0put together much of the personnel <\/a>to build the organization.\u00c2\u00a0 But what of the major league team in the 2010 season?\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0It’s his team now.\u00c2\u00a0 Will he have a budget to\u00c2\u00a0field a respectable team in\u00c2\u00a02010?<\/em><\/p>\n

The question of financial commitment confronts many of the\u00c2\u00a0GMs meeting this week.\u00c2\u00a0 Which ones\u00c2\u00a0really have the backing to build a competitor?\u00c2\u00a0 With revenue sharing teams\u00c2\u00a0can spend much less and\u00c2\u00a0field a marginally competitive team while ownership\u00c2\u00a0walks off with a tidy profit.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0They can keep trotting out the same old promise every off-season.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0“Success is just around the\u00c2\u00a0corner.”\u00c2\u00a0 But\u00c2\u00a0every April the same-old, same-old trots out to their positions on opening day.<\/p>\n

Jim Bowden belonged in that group, but does Mike Rizzo?\u00c2\u00a0 The Nationals spent big money on\u00c2\u00a0Stephen Strasburg, but is he really\u00c2\u00a0the promise of something new?\u00c2\u00a0 Fans are anxious for the day he takes the mound in Washington.\u00c2\u00a0 We have seen too many seasons when the only\u00c2\u00a0talent to push Ryan Zimmerman\u00c2\u00a0at Nationals Park was the Pope or “Opera in the Outfield.”\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Nationals carry over a payroll of\u00c2\u00a0around $40 million in commitments.\u00c2\u00a0 They dropped $20 million from what it took to produce the worst team in baseball.\u00c2\u00a0 For a paltry\u00c2\u00a0$35 million increase–a total payroll of less than\u00c2\u00a0$80 million–Mike Rizzo can put\u00c2\u00a0a\u00c2\u00a0competitive team on the field in DC, one that will overshadow the three sopranos.<\/p>\n

When Mike Rizzo travels next month to Indianapolis for baseball\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s 2009 winter meetings, he will be completely in charge.\u00c2\u00a0 He will have a budget for filling the large and gaping holes in the Nationals roster, but will it be enough?<\/p>\n

The team needs a quality starter, dependable closer, a middle infielder and a right fielder who plays good defense and can hit.\u00c2\u00a0 Everyone in Washington believes <\/a>there will be pitching help and someone new in the middle infield.\u00c2\u00a0 But\u00c2\u00a0the team was so bad in 2009 it is doubtful a competitive team can be built that easily.\u00c2\u00a0 A longer\u00c2\u00a0shopping list is a must.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0Fans don’t expect an NL East Champion,\u00c2\u00a0but when you are as bad as the Nationals getting to\u00c2\u00a0.500 is a big step forward.<\/p>\n

I would have four names at the top of my list if I were going to Indianapolis with Rizzo.\u00c2\u00a0 I would want Marco Scutaro to be my\u00c2\u00a0shortstop, Jason Marquis to head my rotation, Raphael Soriano to\u00c2\u00a0close and Rick Ankiel in right field.\u00c2\u00a0 There is nothing magical about those four names.\u00c2\u00a0 They are just the best examples available that meet the crying needs of a team too painful to watch\u00c2\u00a0often\u00c2\u00a0in\u00c2\u00a02009.<\/p>\n

After more than forty years of hapless baseball by the old Senators and three recent ones, the fans of Washington, DC deserve more than excuses and shell games?\u00c2\u00a0 Excuses would have us believe\u00c2\u00a0Elijah Dukes will put in a full season or play with focus for the time that he is healthy.\u00c2\u00a0 Shell games\u00c2\u00a0project Mike Macdougal as the 2010 closer despite his inability\u00c2\u00a0to put together more than partial seasons in that role heretofore.<\/p>\n

I don’t mean to demean either player.\u00c2\u00a0 Each has talent and could play an important role, but Washington baseball fans endured four seasons of listening to Jim Bowden put Rosy Scenario’s name in half the roster slots.\u00c2\u00a0 If Mike Rizzo is to retain his credibility, he needs to stop the charade.<\/p>\n

He has one type-A free agent he can sign and it should be a middle infielder.\u00c2\u00a0 He needs three strong players to fill in behind him.\u00c2\u00a0 Giving Rizzo a budget to fill the holes, to field a reasonably competitive team would send a great signal to DC fans.\u00c2\u00a0 The era of Bowden and false promises would be at an end.\u00c2\u00a0 No more snake charming feats of magic that vanish before the kids are out of school.<\/p>\n

Mike Rizzo needs the latitude to build a real baseball team, not just one that turns a profit for the Lerners and Stan Kasten.\u00c2\u00a0 It needs to be a team that remains competitive\u00c2\u00a0through the long hot months of July and August.\u00c2\u00a0 And if the ghosts of the Senators are truly to be exorcised,\u00c2\u00a0Rizzo’s team\u00c2\u00a0has to last through Redskins training camp.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0That would be baseball history, something not seen in more than\u00c2\u00a0forty years.\u00c2\u00a0 It would be a Mike Rizzo team locals would\u00c2\u00a0remember.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Washington Nationals\u00c2\u00a0ended the 2009 season much as they began it, the worst team in baseball.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0Yet here in DC\u00c2\u00a0dogged faith abounds in new GM Mike Rizzo.\u00c2\u00a0 After signing Stephen Strasburg and becoming GM, he has\u00c2\u00a0put together much of the personnel to build the organization.\u00c2\u00a0 But what of the major league team in the 2010 season?\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0It’s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":73,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1556","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-a-view-from-the-capital","category-general"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1556","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=1556"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1556\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1556"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1556"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1556"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}