I think they have a good line up. The addition of Guillen helps (especially if he can keep his head in the game). I expect Vidro to bounce back. They need Nick Johnson to be healthy also. What is hurting them right now is starting pitching. Hernandez is consistent and Day is a solid starter. You don't know what your getting with Armas due to the health status. He's a huge question mark. They need to either sign or trade for another quality starter. I like the bullpen. I think Cordero will emerge. Bottom line - if they can get more starting pitching, they could compete.
Four very good hitters in Wilkerson, Vidro, N. Johnson and Guillen.
John Patterson should have a good shot at the rotation as well. He had a high ERA last year but was battling injury and showed nice potential. K>IP is nice too.
They may win 80 games with their current team.
There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness."
BumpWills wrote:Four very good hitters in Wilkerson, Vidro, N. Johnson and Guillen.
John Patterson should have a good shot at the rotation as well. He had a high ERA last year but was battling injury and showed nice potential. K>IP is nice too.
They may win 80 games with their current team.
Possibly. After the All star break, they played .480 ball.
Exchanging Guillen for Rivera (who played regularly in the second half) might even be a net loss, rather than a gain. Batista is SO bad, that even a non-Coors Castilla is worth 2-4 wins. Cabrera was SO bad last year, that even an average year by Guzman is a win or two. No one really had an outstanding season last year, so you shouldn't be finding any huge drops in other guys.
In addition to the pitching questions, the big issue is what do they do when (not if) Johnson gets hurt. If they are smart, they use Ryan Church and Val Pascucci along with Sledge and Chavez in the OF, moving Wilkerson to 1B. If they are dumb, they continue to play guys like Ron Calloway. That will give them another 2-4 wins. I'd say 75 to 82 wins, probably, with an outside chance of 85 with some luck.
The New York Daily News is reporting that the Mets may have interest in Nick Johnson for first base. Their story read that the Expos may have reciprocal interest so they can fit Wilkerson, Guillen, Sledge, and Endy Chavez all in their lineup.
If they do that, Wilkerson would switch to 1B. Seems to me though, that you would rather have Johnson playing moreso than Chavez.
I'm really gunshy over Vidro going into next season. In '04, Vids hurt me.... hurt me bad. Inconsistent numbers PLUS a lotta days off postponing what became an eventual season-ending injury.
Even though players DO bounce back, I tend to avoid the guys who hurt me the year before. I'll be looking elsewhere for a 2B in '05.
By the way -- off topic -- heard this one the other day -- made me laugh out loud (for real) :
I'm curious about this Viagra stuff, so I go down to the local drug store to talk to my pharmacist about it.
I ask the pharmacist "Can I get it over the counter?"
They do have a dcent lineup in real life and for fantasy. Wilkerson, Vidro, Guillen, and even Johnson are pretty good players in deeper mixed or NL-only leagues. I don't think .500 ball is out of the question for this team, but some more pitching would definitely help.
This team is awful...
No way this group wins 80 Games...
Vidro is clearly there best player, but outside of him, I cannot see the Nationals competing in the East.
1. Wilkerson (LF) - Career .259 BA - 2/1 K's to BB's
2. E. Chavez (CF) - Career .264 BA - .303 OBP - 2/1 K's to BB
3. Vidro (2nd) -
4. Guillen (RF) - Career .274 BA - 4/1 K's to BB's
5. Castilla (3rd) - Career .255 BA away from Coors field
6. Johnson (1st) - Career .255 BA
7. Guzman (SS) - Career .266 BA - .303 OBP - 3/1 K's BB
8. Schneider (C) - Career .252 BA -
9. Pitcher (P)
BumpWills wrote:Cabrera was SO bad last year, that even an average year by Guzman is a win or two.
An Guzman-average year, and not a national league shortstop-average year from Guzman is all Washington is likely to get. He had one fluke half-season to start off 2001, other than that, he's been consistantly among the worst offensive shortstops in baseball. If a sub-700 OPS is the Ex-Spos thing, Guzman is their man.
And does Castilla bat infront of Johnson? That seems like a mistake. Castilla over the past three years has been without question, absolutely horrible away from Coors.
Agree with the previous two posts--this will not be a good team. Guillen basically makes them better than a AAA team, but their offense is still crap. Anyone who goes near Castilla this year should familiarize themselves with Coors/non-Coors splits--hw will be entirely worthless. The bullpen stinks too--Cordero has not proven he can get it done and gives up too many walks, and it all tapers off from there. It will be another season where Guillen, Herandez, Vidro and a few other of the core parts will be around at the end but anything of value, especially in the bullpen, will be shipped off to contenders in July.
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by chinch sacs » Sat Nov 20, 2004 6:06 am 
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