The last two days have shown the Washington Nationals are planning for short-term pain, long-term relief. Fans can only hope they’re right.
Drafting six straight high schoolers with their opening picks, two in the top 22, proves the Nationals incoming owners are indeed thinking more about 2008 in their new stadium than the next couple seasons in the RFK dungeon. It’s not a bad strategy despite operating in a town where everything is about the last five and next five minutes.
The first pick could be a power-hitting outfielder. The second has three good pitches. The third choice is throwing 95 mph before he can vote. If those three reach their potential in a Nats uniform, this is a Hall of Fame draft.
You gotta love a 50-round draft. The Nats grabbed everything from phenoms to the son of a former major leaguer to a shortstop from a vocational school. Short of the best Russian first basemanavailable, they covered the draft.
But is Washington any better today or even five years from now? There’s no way of really knowing. I once covered a pitcher from Surrattsville High who pitched well for South Carolina in the College World Series and was Baltimore’s top draft pick. He never made it past Class AAA. There were a handful of other local high school pitchers that were nothing special who went on to fair major league careers. You just never know.
The Nats’ first of a two-prong strategy under incoming owner Ted Lerner and president Stan Kasten seems sound. They have committed to stocking the minors and General Manager Jim Bowden ran the draft smartly.
Phase Two comes next month when the Nats must decide whether to blow up the roster for even more prospects. Here’s where it gets really tricky for both the team and fans.
The Nats can deal a veteran or two for prospects and fans won’t mind much. They understand what the team is doing. But if the Nats just have a yard sale like Florida did twice and dump everything, they’ll have gone too far.
Remember when Cal Ripken Jr. retired, Brady Anderson departed and Baltimore’s 2002 roster was a bunch of unknowns who stunk? There was just no reason to look at the box score because the team lost and you didn’t have anyone to follow. The Orioles still haven’t completely recovered from that debacle.
The Nats will have third baseman Ryan Zimmerman to follow no matter what next month brings, but that’s not enough. Washington desperately needs to resist trade offers and re-sign Alfonso Soriano because he is the franchise and can be for the next few years. If the team must regroup, at least keep someone to watch like Frank Howard and Harmon Killebrew. Nothing masks bad teams like a home run hitter.
If Livan Hernandez, Chad Cordero or Nick Johnson are all traded, fans can endure. Not Soriano, though. It’s as simple as that.
Meanwhile, this commitment to the farm system fuels the need to move the minor league teams to the area. If the Nats aren’t worth watching in the next couple years, fans can at least look to the minors. They can’t do it if the clubs are in Savannah (Class A) and New Orleans (Class AAA).
If Montgomery County officials are truly serious about building a stadium near the Shady Grove metro or Gaithersburg fairgrounds, they need to call Lerner right away. Fans would flock to the minor-league park to see this new power-hitting outfielder and fireball pitchers. It’s time to weigh moving Savannah and New Orleans when their contracts expire in September.
Meanwhile, let’s give the Nats a good grade for the draft based on potential. The real pass/fail of this franchise working for the future comes next month, though. That’s when the high stakes are really raised.
Rick Snider has covered local sports for 28 years. Contact him at [email protected].
