A Nationals Pastime: Introduction and Owner Goals

[ballerguy13]

The new I’m going to do will be with the Washington Nationals. The Nats are in a really tough spot with two bad contracts and guys in the farm being years away from any type of contribution. As such I think they are a prime candidate for a rebuild that would be a lot of fun. Lets jump in and look at the Owner Goals for this season. Honestly after looking at all of these, I'm not sure the ones set for 2023 are possible. This team is not going to play anywhere near .500 ball and fan interest is going to plummet after some deals I make. I hope we can get the top farm system goal done in a few years and make a playoff caliber team by 2026.

Here are my assessments of the hitters and pitchers.

Hitters
Kevin Plawecki (C)

Ratings: Average hitting ratings with below average HR power. A decent catcher ability.

Contract: $720,000 is not bad at all for a one-year backup catcher

Overall: As I said, for a backup catcher on a 1 year deal this is no problem.

Keibert Ruiz C:

Ratings: Average ratings except for an 80 avoid K. 55 catcher ability is fine. Would like it a bit better though.

Contract: I don’t love this contract for 10 years that increases salary every year. I think this is going to be a bad contract fairly soon.

Overall: For now he’ll be our starting catcher. AT 24 he’s a good young option. I may however look to move on from this contract though because I can’t imagine this is going ot be good in a few years and I like my catchers to have a bit better catching ability.

Dominic Smith 1B

Ratings: Average(ish) batting ratings. For a first baseman I would like them to be a bit bitter though.

Contract: Not bad right now. He’s making 2 million in arbitration and is projected to make 3.8 million next year.

Overall: Another guy who’s fine for this season. Long-term I would want a better hitter at 1B but for now he’s fine.

Michael Chavis 1B

Ratings: A below average hitter with a bit of pop. He doesn’t have a real position on the field though. He most likely would slot in as a 1B or 3B.

Contract: I don’t understand how but somehow he has a minor league contract. I’m guessing this will convert to a league minimum one.

Overall: He’s barely passable as a backup infielder since he can only really play 2 positions and neither very well. For this year it’ll be fine, but he’s not a long term plan.

Luis Garcia 2B

Ratings: A decent hitter with good fielding ratings, slotting in as either a 2B or 3B.

Contract: Minimum contract guy for the next few years.

Overall: Garcia is good and I could see him being part of our next good team.

Ildemaro Vargas, UT

Ratings: Not a great hitter except for a good Avoid K. He’s got 55 or 60 in his infield ratings making him an ideal utility guy.

Contract: An arbitration guy who is going to make 2.2 million next year.

Overall: This is what I would call a utility guy. He’ll be our infield utility guy this year for sure.

Jeimer Candelario 3B

Rating: An ok hitting profile with a nice 60 infield arm.

Contract: $5 million for this year only.

Overall: Kind of just a guy. I wouldn’t mind freeing up some of that 5 million but for one year I think this can do.

CJ Abrams SS

Ratings: A slightly above average hitting profile with great running stats and infield ratings.

Contract: Minimum guy with 2 more years of minimum contract time.

Overall: This guy makes me excited. I think he could be a good young player. Probably looks more like a 2B but he will probably take his reps at SS this year. Another cornerstone piece to build on.

Alex Call OF

Ratings: An ok hitter who looks to be a decent corner outfielder.

Contract: Minimum guy for the next few years.

Overall: He’s fine. He seems kind of just like a dude. He’s nothing to get excited about.

Corey Dickerson OF

Ratings: A below average hitter who really isn’t much of an outfielder.

Contract: 2.25 for one year

Overall: I mean I can’t even see this guy as a 4th outfielder. He doesn’t do anything well. I’d rather move him and get that money elsewhere.

Victor Robles OF

Ratings: Not much of a hitter but his 70 OF range is great.

Contract: 2.325 for 2 years with a team option next year for $3 million.

Overall: I love my centerfielders with a bunch of range so I’m a fan of Robles. At 25 I’ll pay him that money and keep him next year.

Joey Meneses OF

Ratings: Pretty average all around.

Contract: Minimum guy for the next 3 years.

Overall: The best player in the Juan Soto trade looks average in OOTP. He’ll be good as the 3rd outfielder.

Lane Thomas OF

Ratings: An average hitter with ok outfield ratings

Contract: 2.2 million in arbitration with 4.2 million estimated next year.

Overall: Lane Thomas is fine. He’s kind of just a guy.
Pitchers

Corey Abbott SP

Ratings: Below average movement and control with 4 decent pitches.

Contract: A minimum guy for the next few years.

Overall: There is no reason Abbott should be our 4th starting pitcher. He’s not really much.

Patrick Corbin, SP

Ratings: Just below average with a 55 control. He’s got 3 decent pitches.

Contract: You know the contract. 24 million with 35 million next year.

Overall: It needs to be our mission to get rid of this man.

Mackenzie Gore, SP

Ratings: Just ok with good stuff and 3 decent pitches.

Contract: Minimum guy for the next few years.

Overall: Again this guy shouldn’t be in our rotation.

Josiah Gray, SP

Ratings: Nice stuff and 3 really good pitches but nothing else.

Contract: Minimum guy for the next few years.

Overall: Gray honestly looks more like a shutdown reliever. He shouldn’t be our top guy.

Trevor Williams, SP

Ratings: Nice control and 3 decent pitches.

Contract: 6 million this year and 7 million next year.

Overall: Another guy who we should probably move. He’s a good 5th starter but at 30 years old that isn’t going to fly here.

Anthony Banda, RP

Ratings: Average ratings overall with 2 good pitches.

Contract: Another guy on a minimum deal.

Overall: He’s just not going to be an effective reliever to me. We’ll keep him this year.

Matt Cronin, RP

Ratings: A decent overall pitching outlook with 3 solid pitches.

Contract: Going to be making the minimum this year.

Overall: I like Cronin’s look as a pitcher. I wish he had more stamina to be in the rotation.

The rest of this group I’m going to classify as “They’re a bunch of guys”. They’re all pretty inoffensive and making either minimum or a negligible amount. They’ll do for the year but none of them are in our long-term plans here.

Cade Cavalli, RP

A real shame that this guy is going to miss this year. He’s got a decent profile but he’s not going to be the same I think when he comes back in the middle of next season.

Stephen Strasburg, RP

I like the guy because he was a stud when he came up. We need to trade him though. That contract is absurd and already isn’t good.

Tanner Arano, RP

A decent reliver.

Tanner Rainey, RP

Another decent looking reliever that’s going to be gone the whole year.

So after going through all of these guys and contracts I’ve come to my season goals. We need to trade Stephen Strasburg. I know Patrick Corbin is worse, but the problem is Strasburg is going to be making 35 million over the next few years. With Corbin we can at least ditch that contract after next year. Ideally I would be able to move this contract before opening day but with him injured for a while that may not be possible. Honestly as long as I can do it before next year I’ll be fine.

The main troubles with this team seem to be money as they have too much tied up in two mediocre players. I have my owner goals and I have my goals for a successful season. 1) Move the Strasburg contract 2) See some noted improvements in our top farm system guys. Extra goal is to move the Corbin contract.

Another thing I want to mention is that I usually like to bring in my own staff but the money situation here is kind of dire so I won't be able to bring in my own staff until I free up some cash.