The Brewers just beat us in a series, looking...a lot better than us in the process. I also have zero faith we can win 2 of the 6 against the Phillies in August, let alone take 4 or 5. The Pirates are surging. The NL West has both the Dodgers and Diamondbacks; the Wild Card looks even more daunting than the division.
Brewers just beat us in a series in which we had our 3-5 starters, and game 2 could have been a win and we beat the crap out of them yesterday. I haven't seen anything that tells me the Braves & Phils are that much better than us in the games vs them this season. We've basically played both teams evenly and several of the Nats losses in those games could have gone either way. The WC isn't relevant to me because the division is a much better path anyway.
We can re-load in 2019 - what, using all free agents? That sounds awesome and in no way risky! We could, on the other hand, punt this season when our chances at the postseason realistically are low and our chances at a World Series are almost zero, and get some decent-level prospects who will buoy our dog crap of a farm system.
Actually yes, free agents and trades are what the Nats and other top teams usually do over the winter.
$82 million is coming off the books with Gio, Murphy, Madson, Bryce, Wieters, Kelley and Herrera among others. Plenty of $$$ for Rizzo to pursue free agents this winter and keep in mind he's never really had to part with top prospects to make good trades. Can't think of any of the other prospects he's traded who have panned out elsewhere other than Felipe Vazquez. Plus who do you think we're getting by trading off the FAs? The answer is a bunch of A or AA 18/19 year olds who won't be ready for 3-4 years, that is if they're actually talented enough anyway. Plus Soto is already up and Robles could be next year, and Fedde could be a #5 in the rotation next year, so there are your prospects who can contribute in 2019. You wouldn't be getting guys in their 20s who are good enough to help this team in 2019. The Nats current system is hardly "dog crap."
Unless you're getting a 2019-ready #3 or #4 starter in return, there's no point because the lineup is basically set next year sans 2B and C. Now if they could get a top catching prospect who would be ready next year they could move a reliever, but that would be about it. Wouldn't be opposed to moving Madson or Kelley right now but they wouldn't bring back much.
We've been listless, boring, and non-competitive for almost six weeks. Our offense is inconsistent at best, lifeless at worse - and the latter has been the standard for a long time. Our MVP hitter shows 0 signs of breaking out. Murphy has no legs. Soto is carrying us but he's 19 and showing kinks in the armor. Eaton looks good but he's just a leadoff guy. Turner is hot and cold. We have one starting pitcher we can trust to throw 5 innings. The only reason we're even close to the playoffs is because of one hot stretch that, right now, looks more like an anomaly than our actual ability. We were awful to start the year, got hot for about 3 weeks, then got ice cold. Something tells me we aren't breaking out and becoming division champions for no reason.
Not going to disagree with any of that other than to say that this team needs the opportunity to turn things around. This is still a group that has won 95+ games the last 2 years. We have 4 games with the struggling Braves and 6 with the Phillies in August, plus a hot couple of weeks for the Nats combined with a cold spell for the Braves (which they're already having) and the Phillies gets the Nats right back in the race.
[/quote]
