There are things in fantasy baseball that can perpetually frustrate a manager. None more frustrating than banking on a hot rookie and eating crow for it later. That being said I’m here to help. Because for every sensation (Craig Kimbrel, 2011) there are bound to be misses (seriously? What happened Brandon Belt?). Lets take a look at some who will help you in your quest for fantasy supremacy and bragging rights with your friends. Continue reading “2012 MLB Fantasy Baseball 101: Top Five Fantasy Rookies To Watch”
Tag: Washington Nationals
MLB Spring Training 2012: Thoughts On Playoff Expansion, Yu Darvish Debut And A Johan Santana Sighting
Spring is upon us and that means baseball. The Locker will be bringing periodic articles and notes from the Grapefruit and Cactus leagues until the start of the 2012 baseball season.
I’m one of the biggest Major League Baseball fans around and I have to tell you this expanded playoff format doesn’t make me happy. You have a 162-game schedule and if that isn’t grueling enough the winners of the three divisions in each league now have to worry about not one wildcard, but two. That means a third place team from a division could make the playoffs without truly deserving to be there. Continue reading “MLB Spring Training 2012: Thoughts On Playoff Expansion, Yu Darvish Debut And A Johan Santana Sighting”
The Thing About Culture Is, For It To Be New You Have To Lose The Old
It’s a funny thing culture. We talk about it all the time in sports regarding teams and franchises. We talk about what their philosophies are regarding the way they want to do things and the type of culture they’re trying to breed. Yet as often as it is stated it is also an afterthought in the list of things needed for a successful organization.
Looking back at this past weekend in football (college and the NFL) and the week in sports in general I saw a lot of teams and franchises going in a different directions. I noticed some things regarding culture and the way its being handled by storied teams and franchises. You, obviously, can’t talk culture without starting in Dallas. The Cowboys need something completely different. This past week, leading up to the game against the New York Giants owner/general manager Jerry Jones sounded almost desperate for a new way of running business. Jones, who spent the entire week pumping up Tony Romo and making him sound like he was going to have an historic run through the playoffs that would begin in New York, couldn’t have foreseen his teams would end like it had in Carolina (twice), Arizona, Minnesota, New York and Seattle in the years since their last Super Bowl appearance back in 1996. Only this time before making the playoffs.
Their division mates and rival Washington Redskins have looked forward (Spurrier) looked back (Gibbs) and looked lateral (Mike Shanahan) to find a winning culture in Washington DC. Yet for all the millions spent on players somehow Dan Snyder never spends much on a legitimate quarterback. No disrespect to Donovan McNabb, Mark Brunell, Todd Collins, John Beck and whichever warm bodied lamb they run out there, but you have to have someone capable of playing the position to have a shot at championships. Those names aren’t going to cut it and it has been proven. Mark Brunell and McNabb lost a combined five conference championships before arriving.
In college there were a few teams that made some changes to breed a new culture for their programs as well. While that was nice it seemed the same ugly vices reared their ugly head.
Lets start in Georgia.
Mark Richt has won two SEC championships, over 100 games and two BCS bowls in his time as head coach of the University of Georgia. He’s run into some hard times of late. First it took him a little too long to realize Willie Martinez was not his guy as defensive coordinator and that led to Georgia going from a perennial top-10 team defensively to being sandwiched between the likes of San Jose State and Ohio. This year they were third nationally behind a 3-4 scheme led by Todd Grantham and looked great. The culture was finally changing at Georgia. Until we realized coach Richt’s old penchant for not placing enough emphasis on special teams would bite him a few times. There were missed tackles on punt returns and an All-American kicker who lost his ability to kick. Their were adjustments, but the lack of a special teams coach was apparent in a big way. Especially when it mattered the most. This year they went 10-4. Their last loss in a bowl game to Michigan State. On a missed field goal.
There are rumblings in New York that the Jets are getting tired of the culture brought by brash head coach Rex Ryan. Yet, no one was complaining when he took his team to two straight AFC championship games. for those of you who say that means nothing I pose this question: When was the last time your favorite NFL team went to a conference championship game? I can tell you the last time mine did. 2004-2005 season. Seven years goes by very quickly. Bigger picture? Before Rex Ryan arrived the last time the Jets participated in a conference championship Curtis Martin played running back, Vinny Testaverde was the quarterback and John Elway was preparing his super bowl swan song.
That was 1998-1999. How quickly we forget.
Culture is something that gets overlooked so often in sports It confuses me. We look past it like the minimal signing of a guy we don’t know, yet it is the most important thing when determining the success and failure of your favorite team. Don’t believe me? Ask the Detroit Lions, Atlanta Falcons, and even the Washington Nationals how important positive new change can be. While some are moving forward with a new direction others such as the Dallas Cowboys and Washington Redskins need to start looking for something new.
That starts by changing the old.
Washington Nationals Quietly Putting Together A Contender
We’ve all joked about them before. Either because you live in the DC/Metro area or because you remember them as that team who spelled their names wrong on their jerseys. You poked fun at them for finishing dead last and playing the kind of baseball that makes you wonder how on earth this team is still in the league. How bad was it? Baltimore, a team that hasn’t been competitive in their own league for 15 years was considered the big brother of the beltway. That is how bad it was, folks.
The Washington Nationals were the very definition of a joke. I remember the punctuation on that sentiment, for me, was a game I attended back in 2007 at RFK when the Nationals still considered it home. They were playing the Detroit Tigers who had gone to the World Series the year before but were showing signs of scuffling heading into the All-Star break. They lost 15-1 and I’ll never forget the two thoughts I had as I left the stadium.
RFK should never be considered a baseball facility, and the Nationals will never contend for anything besides best between inning entertainment.
Then came 2008.
Nationals Park opened and was a very exciting achievement. They played the Braves on opening day and won it on a walk-off home run by their franchise player Ryan Zimmerman. From there things began looking up for this franchise. A lot can happen when you get a new stadium. A lot can also happen when you string together a few bad seasons. You can supplement that new stadium with a few number one picks such as Stephen Strasburg and Bryce Harper. Then when revenues come in from the new park you can start adding pieces like Jayson Werth (although he is overpaid). You have to have people who know what they’re doing as well right? Enter Stan Kasten, Mike Rizzo and Davey Johnson. Now you have the makings of something special.
Rumor has it the Nationals are the front-runners to acquire Prince Fielder. If this happens two things will be true. Miami’s move will be nullified by this one signing (and trade of Gio Gonzalez with the impending arrival of Bryce Harper and return of Stephen Strasburg) and Washington will have the best top to bottom lineup in the National League. Can they win their division? I don’t see it just yet with the Phillies, although old, still bringing their rotation to town and the Braves, despite their collapse, putting together an impressive young nucleus of their own. Washington stands at the time to be the beneficiary of an expanded playoff courtesy of the new CBA ratified at the end of last year. if rumors are true of the set up I would not want to see one of their top three starters in a one game playoff to decide if I move on.
That 2008 season a buddy of mine took me to a game and we sat field level next to the dugout of the Braves (Braves won that game). I remember thinking to myself how different the atmosphere was from the game I attended the summer before. The stadium was beautiful and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. It is a testament to how quickly things can change for a franchise. If the rumors are true, and Prince Fielder does sign on to join the Nationals the landscape of the National League East will change just as quickly.
Bryce Harper, first-round #1 (overall) pick of the Washington Nationals in 2010, swinging a 47 ounce bat. Watch how fast his hands are when he switches back to the 34 ounce. Not sure what to expect from him just yet but he does have the tools to be great.
(Source: http://www.youtube.com/)