I guess the Nationals found a drawer with $126 million in it

This is one of those strange moments in sport where the collective wisdom of the entire baseball community all has a single opinion of something... and when it will inevitably come true, there will be a "WE TOLD YOU SO" ringing so loud through the land that windows will vibrate.

In 2006, Jayson Werth was an injury prone outfielder who played for the Blue Jays and then the Dodgers. He missed the entire 2006 season after surgery to his wrist.

He was 27 years old. He had only once played more than 100 games in a season. (He had NEVER played 105 games in a season.)

His numbers were ordinary except for a glimpse of things to come when he homered twice in the 2004 Division Series for the Dodgers. I remember seeing one of the homers and thinking "Jayson WHO?"

And now, after 6 full seasons (and parts of 2 others) in the bigs, he is signed for seven years.
The next time he hits .300 will be the first time in his career.
The next time he drives in 100 runs will be the first time in his career.
The next time he finishes in the top 5 in On Base Percentage, Slugging, OPS and total bases will be the first time in his career.

He's had one truly terrific season... his walk year.

Any alarms going off yet?

Plus he is in his 30s and guess what? The age when sluggers get BETTER when they reach their mid 30s are over... and he'll be paid like an elite player when he is in his LATE 30s.

Jason Giambi is giggling somewhere.

I know Werth does all the things right and he is a good teammate blah blah blah.
All that has so much more value (note I didn't make the Werth-Worth pun) when you have MVPs on the team and Cy Young candidates in the rotation.

Kevin Millar was a remarkable cog in the Red Sox wheel... but they had Papi, Ramirez, Damon and a batting champ in Bill Mueller. It's easier to be the "heart and soul" when other people are supplying the firepower.

Now he will be the heart and soul of a franchise whose biggest star is Stephen Strasburg and he isn't playing in 2011.

If they had $126 million to throw around, why not get into the Cliff Lee sweepstakes?
Or Prince Fielder?
Or spread that money around and make improvements.

Or stick it in a drawer and wait to spend it when they... oh I don't know... can put a winning product on the field.

Instead the Nationals tried to make a splash. Well bellyflops make splashes too.

As for Jayson Richard Gowan Werth... I don't blame him.

He's won a ring and contributed big time for it in 2008. He has 13 post season homers and a career .987 playoff OPS. He hit 7 homers in the 2009 postseason alone.

And he was a huge part of one of the best Philadelphia sports teams ever. And if they start to go south in 2011, people will blame it on Werth's departure.

Why not cash it in?
Why not say "Hey, for the next seven seasons, I am going to make so much money that my grandkids will be able to support THEIR kids on it"?

And oh yeah, he should be receiving a thank you note from Carl Crawford.

Werth is off the market but setting the bar high and who is courting Crawford? The Angels, the Yankees and the Red Sox... no big spenders.

THE RANGERS DID IT! Mariners and Nationals... you are on the clock

The Texas Rangers are going to the World Series.
Those words look strange being typed out.

I honestly thought they would never make it in their history. But here they are.

And I am thinking about Washington for several reasons.

The Rangers WERE the second version of the Washington Senators before they moved to Arlington.

The team currently in Washington, the Nationals, are one of only two franchises to never had made the World Series.

The other also plays in Washington... Washington State. The Mariners.

The Nationals got to within one game of the 1981 World Series when they were the Montreal Expos.

The Mariners made it to three ALCS berths and getting to Game 6 in 1995 and 2000.

But alas no pennants.

So you are on notice, Mariners and Nationals.
Everyone else has made it in BUT you. All of the original franchises have won at least one World Series.

The Nationals franchise has been around since 1969. The Mariners showed up in 1977.

The Expansion of 1961 and 1962 gave baseball the Mets (who won the 1969 and 1986 World Series and the 1973 and 2000 pennants) the Astros franchise (who won the 2005 pennant), the Angels franchise (who won the 2002 World Series) and now the Texas Rangers.

The expansion of 1969 gave us the Nationals franchise, the Padres (winners of the 1984 and 1998 pennants), the Royals (winner of the 1985 World Series and the 1980 pennant) and the Brewers franchise (winner of the 1982 pennant.)

The 1977 expansion introduced the Blue Jays (winner of the 1992 and 1993 World Series) and the Mariners.

The 1993 expansions brought the Marlins (winner of the 1997 and 2003 World Series) and the Rockies (winner of the 2007 pennant) to the show.

And finally the 1998 expansion sparked the Diamondbacks (winner of the 2001 World Series) and the Rays franchise (winner of the 2008 pennant.)


Put together a pennant winner and get off this board.
If the Rangers can do it in the sweltering heat, then your team can do it.

Your road to the pennant starts...... now!

Oh come on! Let Livan finish the game!

Hey Nationals Manager Jim Riggleman, I've got a bone to pick with you.
Livan Hernandez was pitching tonight and also hitting quite a bit.

It was a game against Atlanta so it has playoff ramifications for both the Wild Card and the NL East... just not for the Nationals.

The Nats don't have a lot to play for this year anymore. They are trying to avoid 90 losses and probably will reach that total anyway.

But don't blame Livan Hernandez. He's had a nice year (even if the win loss record isn't sterling) and tonight got an RBI double and a homer and threw 8 shutout innings for the win.

So why didn't you have him throw the 9th, Riggleman?
Seriously, was getting an inning of work for Sean Burnett so important that you couldn't let Hernandez get his third complete game of the year?

Don't you see how awesome the symmetry of that would be?
Livan Hernandez hits an RBI double, a homer and throws a complete game shutout. That is total domination of the opponent.

Instead it is merely a win.
Crazy managers don't know to humiliate the opponent when they have the chance.

Adam Wainwright continues to show his amazing generosity

Once again, Adam Wainwright could have taken all momentum of the Cy Young award, put it under his wing and make it his to lose.

Instead he lost his 3rd straight chance to win his 18th.
His ERA jumped from 2.18 to 2.30 and he only lasted 5 innings against the Nats and the Cardinals have fallen to 4 games back in the loss column.

Aces are supposed to face sub par teams and STOP losing streaks.

Instead Roy Halladay, Ubaldo Jimenez, Chris Carpenter and Tim Hudson are all still hanging around with Cy Young ambitions and you are keeping their hope alive.

Man... he is nice, isn't he?

Tony LaRussa should be trying to Restore the Cardinals to the Pennant race

Call me nuts, but maybe the time Tony LaRussa spent coming up with a speech for Glenn Beck's dopey little promotional stunt could have been used in a more productive manner:

Like how about a game plan against the Nationals.

You know when you are the prohibitive favorite to win the division with the best 1-2 punch in the rotation in all the National League and a guy who seems hell bent to win his third straight MVP and you are LOSING ground to the Reds and Phillies... maybe promoting a Fox News talk show shouldn't be priority one.

Oh yeah, the Nats won 14-5... the Cardinals pitchers are letting up an average of 9 runs a game to the Nationals.

Maybe they should have Glenn Beck write THAT on his chalk board.