MY RANT: Yesterday, after seeing a few posts on social media of players disbursing to their offseason homes, you look at the calendar — and it was only September 30th. These 130+ day offseasons stink. We all hate it, and that reality has to change to meaningful September games, and Octobers with watching the Washington Nationals in the playoffs.
Today, 18 teams are making tee times at the golf course while 12 teams will shortly be whittled down to 8 teams to move to division series playoff games. The quick exits for playoff teams is part of the postseason process. At the end, only one team will hoist the World Series trophy. But you play the game to become one of those 12 teams for a shot at it. The team that gets the bounces and is hot at the right time wins it all. Look at Texas. They finished with a losing record after winning it all last year. It ain’t easy.
I agree 100% with those that want a no BS offseason to build this team to contend. The time is right to feel like you have a chance to finish with a winning record to win at least 11 more games than the 2024 season. A few tweaks and some internal improvement and a few key free agents could easily turn this team like the Diamondbacks of last year and the Kansas City Royals of this year.
All of that will take some key offseason acquisitions and spending some big cash. And I feel that I can say this since TalkNats pays for 4 season tickets and spends over five-digits on their tickets.
While I don’t think the needs are many in this next phase — I also know you don’t build a World Series team overnight. This team has needed a legit 1st baseman since Zim retired, a good front end starting pitcher since Max was traded, and a veteran leader who will be signed for more than ONE year.
While I am cautiously optimistic that the Lerners understand what needs to be done, they need to put their money on the table. They need to give Mike Rizzo the resources with no strings attached.
On the other hand, if they don’t want to do that — then it is time to sell. Ted Lerner understood it. He wanted to win more than people gave him credit for, and he spent more than his revenues as was reported by former Miami Marlins team President, David Samson. Yes, Samson went on DC radio and said that the Nats were losing money. That isn’t creative accounting. Their revenue was well below what they were spending. Well, part of the problem is the team has been poor at marketing coupled with an horrific TV deal (MASN) with their rights owned by an opposing team which is the only deal like that in sports. On top of that, the Nats are the only team in the NL East with no jersey patch sponsorship and a stadium naming rights deal. So yes, some of the Nats’ revenue problems are self-inflicted.
If the Nats wanted to spend $40 million, they should be spending $60 million and getting the other $20 million from selling the jersey patch sponsorship and stadium naming rights deals. Sure, many will complain just like fans complained when the Commanders sold stadium naming rights to a credit union named Northwest. Leonsis reportedly just sold the Capitals jersey patch sponsorship to TikTok who a source said the Nats would not do a deal with. Who the bleep cares. You need that money to spend on better players. Those who complain are the same people who complained about the World Series parade route.
Be it Truist/Quikcrete (Braves), CitiBank/NY Pres Hosp (Mets), Citizens Bank/IBX (Mets), or loanDepot/ADT (Marlins), the Nats need to find their match for a dual sponsorship deal for stadium naming rights/jersey patch sponsorship. That money could change everything. Also when you win, attendance goes up. That’s just the way it goes. So if you tell me that the Nats have a 0.5% chance of getting Juan Soto — I want to know why that isn’t 25.5% or greater?
Sometimes the best deal you make in free agency is the one you didn’t get. Ted Lerner was fortunate that his Mark Teixeira “highest bid” wasn’t accepted after the 2008 season. That was too early. Maybe last season wasn’t the right time for adding a top player. Maybe it was. But it sure feels like now is the time for one-to-two key moves. This team needs veteran leadership.
Like with signing Jayson Werth free agent signing, and trading for Gio Gonzalez, the Nats had time before they added other key pieces like Max Scherzer and Trea Turner. You don’t have to do it all at once. James Wood and Dylan Crews just got here, and others like Brady House, Seaver King, Caleb Lomavita, Travis Sykora, and Jarlin Susana are all getting close. There are more top prospects getting closer too.
For me, I would not make any big trades so that the farm system stays elite. That is how the Dodgers have won long-term. The Braves are seeing that way also. You trade pieces that you know you don’t want because you know the flaws that others do not know. You move forward with a youth movement to keep a sustainable winning team for the long-term so you don’t have to spend when the farm dries up.
The fans should expect to buy tickets with the expectation that their team has a good chance to win the game in the majority of the games. DC fans have proven in the past that they will support a winner. So let’s win by doing what needs to be done.
