Ok, who would like to give me a data dump of the past 3 mo?

[kimnat]

Hey Guys!

I've been swamped since early November.  I signed up to sub here in ole Fairfax County and have been on a long term assignment teaching 8th grade Physical Science since 12/7.  And I mean "teaching".  Gotta get kids ready for SOLs now and that's gonna be dicey w/ all this snow!!! 

My kids have been really busy and therefore keep me busy, too.  Andrew is this year's local chapter Leukemia-Lymphoma Society's Boy of the Year in the Man & Woman of the Year fundraising campaign.  His story (and a little girl's story) is/are being used to help 10 men and 10 women compete for the title.  Whoever raises the most money wins the title!  That means, we go to events and help them!

I'm also a unit leader for my girls' scouting troop and will be the troop co-coordinator next year.  My dad had hernia surgery.  His wife is a total wacko and split.  So my plate is pretty darned full!

So what have I been missing in the Nats world??

[CALSGR8]

Compared to yours?  Not much.   

Lets see, we've Signed Pudge Rodriguez, and a bunch of pitchers who may or may not work out.

A NATS CARAVAN AND NATSFEST has come and gone.  I got Nyger Morgan's and Tony Plush's autograph!  One is on that cool Inside Pitch cover they gave out at a game last year.  I also got Dunn's auto at a CAPS game which was one of the Caravan stops.

I got a job in November and was off all week but got paid!  This is as opposed to being off and unemployed and NOT paid!   

I also haven't heard from my friend and her kids (all 4 of them  ) in quite awhile and was wondering what was going on.  (If you're wondering who the 4th kid is, you're married to him).

[Nathan]

Don't forget the most important news:

Sportsfan lost a bet and will be known as ASSCLOWN for 6 months.

[nats2playoffs]

The 3 most significant events on WNFF have been:

1) The Chief lost a bet and had to change his screen name and avatar as some kind of sentence to Dunnkey.



 Since I hadn't been here much either, I thought for sure that a new user had been given moderator powers.

2) sportsfan882 announced early in the season that the New Orleans Saints had no shot at making the Super Bowl, let alone winning it.  He had agreed to be banned for life, but his sentence was reduced to a 6-month term of now being known as ASSCLOWN:



sportsfan882, I mean ASSCLOWN, got a girlfriend, and was repeatedly advised to NEVER tell her that he has over 45,000 posts on this forum, or triple that of The Chief, I mean Dunnkey.

Somebody had some kind of avatar deal during the season about Dunn, but I never understood that one.

3) JMadIV had the closest prediction to the New Orleans Saints winning the Super Bowl.

The Nationals picked up some free agent pitchers, but I don't know much about the team either, since I haven't been here much.  The promotional emails from the Nationals, (to get you to buy season tickets), probably has some summary, but I haven't been reading them either.



Somebody tell me if Guzman leaves, since he's in that bar below my posts, and it's getting a little crowded with rookie pitchers who will lead us to the World Series while the elder owner is still alive.
 

[Nathan]

Somebody tell me if Guzman leaves, since he's in that bar below my posts, and it's getting a little crowded with rookie pitchers who will lead us to the World Series while the elder owner is still alive.
 

You haven't heard!?  Guzman has transformed into a GIANT bunion!!!

[KnorrForYourMoney]

You've missed a pretty busy offseason!

-Strasburg pitched pretty well in the Arizona Fall League, although he got knocked around in one of his starts.  He was supposed to have two televised starts but got hurt both times.

-Everyone else did pretty well in the AFL, especially Chris Marrero, Danny Espinosa, and Drew Storen who was just lights out.

-The Nats signed Pudge Rodriguez to split time with Flores, Adam Kennedy to play second base, Jason Marquis to the top of the rotation, and Matt Capps, Eddie Guardado, and Brian Bruney (through trade) for the bullpen.

-There was a faint rumbling that Collin Balester and/or Craig Stammen could be tried out in the bullpen if they don't make the rotation (although Balester doesn't seem too complacent with that idea).

[Minty Fresh]

Other forum related news: 

hammondsnats seems to have relinquished his crown as king of the LAC crowd - in fact, he may have outright defected.  In his place are Dave B and Hondo (a relatively quiet member of the LAC until recently when he saw a chance to sieze the throne) are caught in a steel cage match to the death and the winner is the new king of LAC.

JCA-Crystal City is challenging tomterp for king of the stat dorks (and both seem to be turning PatsNats09 into their prodigy).

JMad needs a job in the worst way.  He's waist deep in the techno-babble threads and I get the sense that when the kids are sleeping he's researching the latest gadget to hit the market.

But the greatest thing you've missed is that we got to rename sportsfan "ASSCLOWN" - in all capital letters    - and get to address him as such for six months.  I know it's already been said, but it's still the greatest moment in WNFF history and it's all thanks to LintyFresh.

[PANatsFan]

The bullpen is completely overhauled, that's the biggest development I think. My(and Tom's) boy Mike "The Klej" MacDougal was let go, but Matt Capps, Brian Bruney, and Drew Storen seem to be poised to be much more effective. The only "old guy" in the bullpen picture is Guardado, and he's had a pretty good track record. As nice as Villone is, Guardado is a much better choice for old guy lefty. Saul Rivera is on the Indians, and even the Marlins don't want Luis Ayala, so we are safe from those dorks. Some of the other terrible relievers like Steven Shell and Levale Speigner are on the Mariners, who seem to be collecting ex-Nats despite other great moves this offseason.


Klej still has no job. I'd like to think that a guy with a groundball ratio that high could get an incentive laden deal here.

After the 5-6th inning, you should be able to count on Major League level pitching at worst, and very good pitching in the best case scenario.

Adam Kennedy is going to have a very good year, I can feel it. I have a serious avatar bet with Linty that Marquis will outperform Joel Pinero, so you can bank on that.

Mike Rizzo is everything Jim Bowden wishes he could be, basically.

[PatsNats28]

Other forum related news: 

hammondsnats seems to have relinquished his crown as king of the LAC crowd - in fact, he may have outright defected.  In his place are Dave B and Hondo (a relatively quiet member of the LAC until recently when he saw a chance to sieze the throne) are caught in a steel cage match to the death and the winner is the new king of LAC.

JCA-Crystal City is challenging tomterp for king of the stat dorks (and both seem to be turning PatsNats09 into their prodigy).

JMad needs a job in the worst way.  He's waist deep in the techno-babble threads and I get the sense that when the kids are sleeping he's researching the latest gadget to hit the market.

But the greatest thing you've missed is that we got to rename sportsfan "ASSCLOWN" - in all capital letters    - and get to address him as such for six months.  I know it's already been said, but it's still the greatest moment in WNFF history and it's all thanks to LintyFresh.

Definitely trending towards JCA... Only use FanGraphs for my advanced stats.

[Obed_Marsh]

We got old. Our starting middle infield now has an average age of 34.

[PANatsFan]

We got old. Our starting middle infield now has an average age of 34.

What are the odds Guz moves to 2nd willingly if they trade Kennedy?

[Obed_Marsh]

What are the odds Guz moves to 2nd willingly if they trade Kennedy?

Directly proportional to the cost and duration of his extension. Until it is signed; at that point the willingness goes back to 0%.  

[kimnat]

Wow!  SF really messed up!  I'll abbreviate it to AC now.  Hope he doesn't take on any more ludicris bets!  LOL!!  That really is funny! 

So, about these trades, acquisitions and whatnot.  What are your opinions of these folks and what type of team do you expect us to have this season, more of the same, marginally better or loads better?

[PatsNats28]

Most of us are happy with the way Rizzo has conducted this offseason. We're looking at the team to win about 70-75 games.

[CALSGR8]

You have to redo your banner pictures.  Half of them aren't with the team any more.  

Modification to post:

Here's our 40 man roster.  Then click at the top for NON-ROSTER INVITEES.  That may help too!

http://washington.nationals.mlb.com/team/roster_40man.jsp?c_id=was

[Obed_Marsh]

You have to redo your banner pictures.  Half of them aren't with the team any more.  

It is retro. Man you are seriously lacking in hipster style.

[Nathan]

It is retro. Man you are seriously lacking in hipster style.

She doesn't have your kind of style with the awesome hairdo, Mollari.

[PatsNats28]

Speaking of the Klej, has he signed anywhere yet?

[Vega]

Speaking of the Klej, has he signed anywhere yet?

Nope.

[KnorrForYourMoney]

Most of us are happy with the way Rizzo has conducted this offseason. We're looking at the team to win about 70-75 games.

And then some of us haven't fallen into that trap.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

JCA-Crystal City is challenging tomterp for king of the stat dorks (and both seem to be turning PatsNats09 into their prodigy).

PatsNats09 is such a prodigy he needs multiple sensei.  It's like he learning several different styles of martial arts.  The boy will be lethal. 

As for the signings, there's a bit of a split opinion on Pudge.  Several think he has declined on the field to the point where he's not that much better than other, cheaper options, but I think even a number of the doubters like his intangibles, such as the confidence he gives the staff and the credibility he brought to the team in the eyes of other FAs.

[Obed_Marsh]

Hope springs eternal...

[tomterp]

JCA-Crystal City is challenging tomterp for king of the stat dorks (and both seem to be turning PatsNats09 into their prodigy).

Hah, JCA's doing a great job of advancing the sabermetric study of Nationals Baseball, which allows me more time to support Mathguy's important investigative work on the subject of beer.

[PatsNats28]

And then some of us haven't fallen into that trap.

True

[kimnat]

You have to redo your banner pictures.  Half of them aren't with the team any more.   

Modification to post:

Here's our 40 man roster.  Then click at the top for NON-ROSTER INVITEES.  That may help too!

http://washington.nationals.mlb.com/team/roster_40man.jsp?c_id=was

HAHA!  I know.  It just took me over an hour to make that one!  And I'm not sure I even remember how I did it!  Zimm & Bergie are the only ones still with the team and Bergie is the last one from the Expos time (albeit he was in their farm system).  But he was on our original roster! LOLOL!  Too funny.