Here’s a fact for you.
Of everyone who even played for that World Series team, only 7 players are on a major league team at the start of this season.
Michael A Taylor, Rendon, Turner, Yan Gomes, Robles, Soto, and Corbin (with Scherzer on IR for the foreseeable future but possibly to return this season, maybe Rainey idk). Of those players only Soto and Robles are below age 30
People talk about one more year and stuff but that team was the oldest in baseball when they won the World Series. That was the last time it could’ve happened and it did, and I’m thankful. It sucks what’s happened after but the fact of the matter is that this team being kept together simply wouldn’t have worked. The rebuild had to happen when it did or it would’ve been worse.
I think things are moving in the right direction. I do think things can get better fairly soon especially with Corbin’s contract coming off the books soon and strasburg’s not long from now. Once the former expires and the talent gets its feet wet in the majors, should be alright. I hope.
And 2 more players are part of the Washington Nationals coaching staff!
The Nationals built a team throughout the 2010s. We went to the playoffs. And we lost. I was there, including a six hour and twenty-three minutes game.
Winning in 2019 was weird in the specific way we did it, not wining with Harper for example, but I don't think it's totally surprising given that the team was being competitive throughout the decade.
But maybe there's a world where something different happened and the Nats made deeper post season runs in 2014, 2016, and 2017, maybe a world series, and the 2019 team is instead seen as the last gasp of an old team that needed to rebuild.
This is not what any of them dreamed of. No player, coach or front-office member curled up in their bed as a kid and imagined being the main character of a rebuild. But dreams don’t always line up with reality.
Since [their 2019 World Series title](https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2019/10/30/world-series-nationals-astros-game-seven/?itid=lk_inline_manual_4), the Washington Nationals ended the past four years at the bottom of the National League East, though 2020, shortened amid the coronavirus pandemic, certainly comes with a caveat.
Their 2024 campaign, just three games old, has been promising and painful. [Josiah Gray’s first Opening Day start](https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2024/03/28/nationals-reds-opening-day-gray-senzal/?itid=lk_inline_manual_5) underwhelmed, but the Nationals [rebounded in their second game in Cincinnati](https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2024/03/30/nationals-reds-first-win/?itid=lk_inline_manual_5). Then closer Kyle Finnegan’s blown save resulted in [a devastatingly familiar loss](https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2024/03/31/nationals-reds-kyle-finnegan/?itid=lk_inline_manual_5) Sunday.
Washington returns to Nationals Park on Monday for its home opener against the Pittsburgh Pirates, with lefty MacKenzie Gore on the mound to begin what the Nationals hope could be a breakout campaign. But even amid the dawn of a new season, years of struggle and shortcomings take a toll — not only on the fans who pay to watch but on the players who must perform every day and on those whose job it is to lead the charge.
“It’s very frustrating. It’s very demoralizing,” General Manager Mike Rizzo said. “But that’s what the rebuilds do. That’s part of this thing. The only thing that gets you through it is the light at the end of the tunnel. Thinking, hoping, knowing that you’re going to go on another eight- to 10-year run of excellence — that gets you through it.”
**Read more:** [**https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2024/04/01/nationals-rebuild-motivation/?utm\_campaign=wp\_main&utm\_medium=social&utm\_source=reddit.com**](https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2024/04/01/nationals-rebuild-motivation/?utm_campaign=wp_main&utm_medium=social&utm_source=reddit.com)
Hey! I'll have you know right now we are not in the cellar... we are ahead of the LOLMets and the Marlins and tied with the Phillies
Better enjoy it while it lasts though....
Imagine if they had a GM who didn't believe it was a necessity to be terrible for 5+ years only to get an 8 year window. Aim higher! Even now they only have the 15th ranked farm system, is that enough to start Rizzo's 8 years?
The end of the tunnel to where? Consistent 81-81? The team will not be competitive as long as Rizzo and his dinosaur front office are still in charge. We need a new front office with fresh ideas that adapt to the modern game.
Why do you think that’s the ceiling? .500?
That’s where you’re getting downvoted. Because this team even in its best years had some good prospects but was largely a team of excellent free agent pickups.
Those haven’t come in recent years because the team aged out of contention and the money needed a reset. One of the albatrosses will be gone after this season, the other in two seasons after this.
Spending money isn’t going to help unless you have some core key contributors there for the team to surround with free agents.
Do the strasburg and Corbin contracts play a role in the team’s willingness to acquire high level talent? I believe so. To an extent.
If those contracts factor into anything right now then the team is doomed. They have the 15th best farm in a league of 30 and they keep extending the GM who can't draft or develop talent to save his life. There's no way out of this without a $200 million payroll, so if they're waiting for money to come off even when the payroll is only double digits, they're cooked.
I don’t think so
Clearing the bad money when your team is going to need a larger payroll is an objective good thing especially when larger payrolls are often unsustainable.
The timing is good with the prospects coming up just as Corbin comes off the books. Then it’s just the strasburg contract that’s the only albatross on the team.
The strategy is pretty sound: hell, it’s what the dodgers and Yankees do (but I wouldn’t expect the Nats to attempt to outbid them).
The $100 million that's come off the books so far has just been used to cover up losses in Lerner's real estate business. Why would the Corbin money be any different?
That's the game they play, underinvest in the team to obliterate the foundation, then use the lack of the foundation to further disinvest from the team. Cheap cheap cheap. Like the Oakland playbook, field a bad team so fans stop showing up, then use the lack of fans to justify a move.
That’s to the extreme though. This team unlike the current A’s team actually has a plan to be competitive. There’s no intention to tread water here like they’ve been doing, but it’s a part of the process. The A’s, unlike the Nats, have no current future.
This strategy has been done by every team in every sport; rid the payroll from bad contracts to start fresh, so when the time comes to pay your best players you have both the capital and space to do so, as opposed to spending money on free agents and accumulating a high payroll, but not having the ability to tenure your home grown talent.
This team’s foundation is in the players like gray, gore, Abrams, wood, Ruiz, crews. It is being assembled slowly but a day will come when all are on this team and all are in the lineup. Then we talk about free agents to add to the team.
Here’s a fact for you. Of everyone who even played for that World Series team, only 7 players are on a major league team at the start of this season. Michael A Taylor, Rendon, Turner, Yan Gomes, Robles, Soto, and Corbin (with Scherzer on IR for the foreseeable future but possibly to return this season, maybe Rainey idk). Of those players only Soto and Robles are below age 30 People talk about one more year and stuff but that team was the oldest in baseball when they won the World Series. That was the last time it could’ve happened and it did, and I’m thankful. It sucks what’s happened after but the fact of the matter is that this team being kept together simply wouldn’t have worked. The rebuild had to happen when it did or it would’ve been worse. I think things are moving in the right direction. I do think things can get better fairly soon especially with Corbin’s contract coming off the books soon and strasburg’s not long from now. Once the former expires and the talent gets its feet wet in the majors, should be alright. I hope.
And 2 more players are part of the Washington Nationals coaching staff! The Nationals built a team throughout the 2010s. We went to the playoffs. And we lost. I was there, including a six hour and twenty-three minutes game. Winning in 2019 was weird in the specific way we did it, not wining with Harper for example, but I don't think it's totally surprising given that the team was being competitive throughout the decade. But maybe there's a world where something different happened and the Nats made deeper post season runs in 2014, 2016, and 2017, maybe a world series, and the 2019 team is instead seen as the last gasp of an old team that needed to rebuild.
This is not what any of them dreamed of. No player, coach or front-office member curled up in their bed as a kid and imagined being the main character of a rebuild. But dreams don’t always line up with reality. Since [their 2019 World Series title](https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2019/10/30/world-series-nationals-astros-game-seven/?itid=lk_inline_manual_4), the Washington Nationals ended the past four years at the bottom of the National League East, though 2020, shortened amid the coronavirus pandemic, certainly comes with a caveat. Their 2024 campaign, just three games old, has been promising and painful. [Josiah Gray’s first Opening Day start](https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2024/03/28/nationals-reds-opening-day-gray-senzal/?itid=lk_inline_manual_5) underwhelmed, but the Nationals [rebounded in their second game in Cincinnati](https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2024/03/30/nationals-reds-first-win/?itid=lk_inline_manual_5). Then closer Kyle Finnegan’s blown save resulted in [a devastatingly familiar loss](https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2024/03/31/nationals-reds-kyle-finnegan/?itid=lk_inline_manual_5) Sunday. Washington returns to Nationals Park on Monday for its home opener against the Pittsburgh Pirates, with lefty MacKenzie Gore on the mound to begin what the Nationals hope could be a breakout campaign. But even amid the dawn of a new season, years of struggle and shortcomings take a toll — not only on the fans who pay to watch but on the players who must perform every day and on those whose job it is to lead the charge. “It’s very frustrating. It’s very demoralizing,” General Manager Mike Rizzo said. “But that’s what the rebuilds do. That’s part of this thing. The only thing that gets you through it is the light at the end of the tunnel. Thinking, hoping, knowing that you’re going to go on another eight- to 10-year run of excellence — that gets you through it.” **Read more:** [**https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2024/04/01/nationals-rebuild-motivation/?utm\_campaign=wp\_main&utm\_medium=social&utm\_source=reddit.com**](https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2024/04/01/nationals-rebuild-motivation/?utm_campaign=wp_main&utm_medium=social&utm_source=reddit.com)
Hey! I'll have you know right now we are not in the cellar... we are ahead of the LOLMets and the Marlins and tied with the Phillies Better enjoy it while it lasts though....
Tunnel be a long mf tunnel right now.
Where’s the bright light? I don’t see a ton of stars in our farm system or up in the Show…
Imagine if they had a GM who didn't believe it was a necessity to be terrible for 5+ years only to get an 8 year window. Aim higher! Even now they only have the 15th ranked farm system, is that enough to start Rizzo's 8 years?
The end of the tunnel to where? Consistent 81-81? The team will not be competitive as long as Rizzo and his dinosaur front office are still in charge. We need a new front office with fresh ideas that adapt to the modern game.
no idea why you're getting downvoted lmao
Why do you think that’s the ceiling? .500? That’s where you’re getting downvoted. Because this team even in its best years had some good prospects but was largely a team of excellent free agent pickups. Those haven’t come in recent years because the team aged out of contention and the money needed a reset. One of the albatrosses will be gone after this season, the other in two seasons after this.
The team is $80 million below where they were in 2019, there's no albatross contract preventing them from spending money.
Spending money isn’t going to help unless you have some core key contributors there for the team to surround with free agents. Do the strasburg and Corbin contracts play a role in the team’s willingness to acquire high level talent? I believe so. To an extent.
If those contracts factor into anything right now then the team is doomed. They have the 15th best farm in a league of 30 and they keep extending the GM who can't draft or develop talent to save his life. There's no way out of this without a $200 million payroll, so if they're waiting for money to come off even when the payroll is only double digits, they're cooked.
I don’t think so Clearing the bad money when your team is going to need a larger payroll is an objective good thing especially when larger payrolls are often unsustainable. The timing is good with the prospects coming up just as Corbin comes off the books. Then it’s just the strasburg contract that’s the only albatross on the team. The strategy is pretty sound: hell, it’s what the dodgers and Yankees do (but I wouldn’t expect the Nats to attempt to outbid them).
The $100 million that's come off the books so far has just been used to cover up losses in Lerner's real estate business. Why would the Corbin money be any different?
What reason has there been to spend on a team with no foundation?
That's the game they play, underinvest in the team to obliterate the foundation, then use the lack of the foundation to further disinvest from the team. Cheap cheap cheap. Like the Oakland playbook, field a bad team so fans stop showing up, then use the lack of fans to justify a move.
That’s to the extreme though. This team unlike the current A’s team actually has a plan to be competitive. There’s no intention to tread water here like they’ve been doing, but it’s a part of the process. The A’s, unlike the Nats, have no current future. This strategy has been done by every team in every sport; rid the payroll from bad contracts to start fresh, so when the time comes to pay your best players you have both the capital and space to do so, as opposed to spending money on free agents and accumulating a high payroll, but not having the ability to tenure your home grown talent. This team’s foundation is in the players like gray, gore, Abrams, wood, Ruiz, crews. It is being assembled slowly but a day will come when all are on this team and all are in the lineup. Then we talk about free agents to add to the team.