Torii Hunter wants to be a Nat?

Kasten seems to know what he's doing. The NL East is going to be lot's of fun for the foreseeable future. The Phillies, Mets, Braves and, in a couple years, the Marlins and the Nats, are going to have some very competitive division races.

 

I doubt it. The Red Sox actually seem to like him. I'm guessing Crisp stays and Ellsbury ends up playing a lot at all three outfield spots, taking most of his time from Drew in right.

 

Pitching optional most days.

 

The fact that the Nationals won 73 games -- which I would describe as mediocre -- when they were supposed to be historically bad (I've seen projections of 50 wins or fewer) without the personnel you mentioned was no mean feat. That alone should give Manny Acta serious street cred as a manager.

The fact you're adding in a new stadium is a plus. Opening the wallets for the RIGHT veteran or two can help. If the Nats could get an unquestioned number one starter, it'd be awesome. I'd settle for a solid two who can be a mentor for a young pitching staff and help anchor a playoff winner down the road.

But I doubt you're going to see Steinbrenner or Angelos-style spending from this team. That's a good thing in my book. Build the team around the guys you expect to be cornerstones (right now it's Ryan Zimmerman and the crickets, but you get the idea).

Signing Torii Hunter is not going to turn the Nats into a .500 ballclub overnight. It may help spur a strong future for a Nats ballclub if it can get a healthy Nick Johnson or Dmitri Young and some kids develop.

I'd consider a team like Baltimore "moribund." That's a team that's down in the shitter and sees no way up, at least for now. A team that plays the game the right way and wins enough games to be mediocre under a young manager with a great sense of perspective (call a sweep "tough" and he'll say "tough" is cleaning the stadium after the game) is not "moribund."

 

There is no such thing as a healthy Nick Johnson.

 

Drew is the guy out there for at least another year. They need that much time to find someone to take that $14 million albatross off their back.

Sox also have Brandon Moss ready to go, so even if they dump Drew, they also might be willing to move Coco.

 

Remember, Shawn Green left Toronto because he said it didn't have a strong enough jewish community, too.

 

PWNED!

 

I don't think bargain basement is the way they'll go. Just not long-term. I think whoever lands there will be viewed as a place holder until Jordan Schafer is ready. It just seems unlikely Hunter will accept a two-year deal and have to go through this again in 2009.

 

So the Nats now have two options for center fielders next year. They can either go after Aaron Rowand, who was rumored to be the Nats hope and now Torii Hunter. Each play a great defensive center field, but who knows if this year was Rowand's flash in the pan. We'll see who they land.