No Blog this Week

Due to a hectic schedule, there will be no blog this week.  Check back next week for a new post.  Until then, follow me on Twitter:  @TheDC_Sportsguy

Nationals Looking Good Going into the All-Star Break

We have reached the midway point of another MLB season, but things feel remarkably different in DC.  The Nationals have the best record in the National League and is sending three players to the all-star game.  The team has not been in this position since 2005, but while most felt that team was destined to fall, now the team has its sights on a strong finish and their first playoff berth in the Nation’s Capital.

“I mean, we should make the playoffs. There’s no doubt in my mind,” said manager Davey Johnson.  With a four game lead in the division, the Nationals are not looking at merely being a wild card team, but division champions; no small feat for a team that has never finished with a winning record.  But the Nationals currently find themselves atop the standings with a four game lead in a division that includes perennial powerhouse Philadelphia, consistently formidable Atlanta, the surprisingly resilient Mets, and the high-spending Florida Marlins.  So far, against the stiff NL East competition, the Nationals are the only team surpassing their own expectations.

How have the Nationals managed such an impressive turnaround?  One need look no further than the team’s all-star representatives for the answer:  homegrown young talent, and formidable pitching.  Stephen Strasburg and Bryce Harper were both drafted by the Nationals and are making a splash in the majors.  Strasburg is quickly becoming one of the best pitchers in the MLB and Harper the most electrifying.  Gio Gonzalez was brought in during the offseason, as well as Edwin Jackson, to help the rotation along, but it’s hard to deny how well the Nationals have drafted.

Amid all the losing seasons, the Nationals did their homework and brought in the best prospects out there.  Now, we are beginning to see the results.  The Nationals drafted Strasburg, Jordan Zimmermann, and Ross Detwiler, all currently part of the Nationals’ dominant rotation.  In addition, the Nationals drafted position players Harper, Jesus Flores, Ian Desmond, Danny Espinosa, Tyler Moore, Ryan Zimmerman, and Stephen Lombardozzi.  Any of these guys sound familiar?  They should, they all play on DC’s NL-leading roster and only one, Desmond, was drafted before the team moved to DC.  The Nationals have built this team into a contender with young talent, meaning they are only going to get better.

This year, while watching the all-star game in Kansas City, you will see the Nationals’ players in the spotlight with the other stars, rather than dismissed as merely token representatives of their struggling franchise.  Even with Strasburg’s looming innings count, there is a lot to be optimistic about.  Will this team finish better than the 2005 team that yielded first place and fell to a .500?

That’s a clown question, bro.

Are the Wizards Destined for Another Era of Mediocrity?

Last week, the Wizards took Bradley Beal with the number 3 overall pick and addressed a severe need for perimeter shooting.  For many Wizards’ fans, things are starting to look up.  Most likely the Wizards will start Nene and Emeka Okafor up front, Trevor Ariza at forward, Beal at guard, and of course John Wall at point guard.  By no means is this a joke roster anymore, but how far can they go?  In today’s NBA, are the Wizards already approaching their ceiling?

This may sound ridiculous, but think about it.  Lebron James and the big 3 changed NBA free agency.  The NBA is driven more by its stars than any other sport, and Lebron showed how they can group together to win a championship.  Now the stars come together and pick storied franchises or big markets and the smaller markets have to cross their fingers and hope for a superstar in the draft.

The Knicks, the Heat, the Celtics, the Bulls, and the Lakers will always be relevant.  GMs can always make these teams attractive to free agents.  Other teams struggle to bring in big names unless they’ve drafter a superstar already.  Nobody cared about the Cleveland Cavaliers before Lebron came and no one has cared about them since he left.  There is no question that the Wizards have gotten better this offseason, but how will they continue to build?

Let’s say next season the Wizards finish in the top ten in the conference.  They play better, but in the end, finish just out of the playoffs.  The year after, they do even better.  Maybe they aren’t up there with Miami or Chicago, but they finish as a middle playoff team.  Perhaps they even make it out of the first round.  Then what?  I see this roster developing in much the same way as the Wizards of the Gilbert Arenas error, oops, I mean “era”.  Only once did that team make it past the first round.  Some of you may say that’s not fair as the Wizards kept coming up against the Lebron-led Cavs, but that’s my point.  The Wizards could not beat a team with a major superstar.  They put together a solid roster that did well in the regular season, but they never truly competed for a championship because they did not have their own major superstar.  Arenas was good, but he was never one of the elite; he was never a Lebron, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant, Dirk Nowitzki, Tim Duncan, etc.  He was not good enough for them to build around and he was not notable enough to bring in top free agents.

If the Wizards climb in the standings, they will fall on the draft board.  Yes, the draft lottery allows for the possibility that the Wizards could still land a top player, but I think it is a safe bet that John Wall will be the key player for this team.  It is pivotal that he continues to develop or the Wizards will continue to struggle to bring in free agents.  The best players simply are not looking to DC.  If Wall establishes himself as a top player, the Wizards may be able to continue to build.  If not, then the Wizards will reach their ceiling a lot faster then we all are hoping.

Wizards, Caps Make Moves to Bolster Roster

As most people looked towards the drafts and the future, the Wizards and Capitals made moves to make their teams better in the present.  On Wednesday, the Wizards traded the oft-injured Rashard Lewis and a second round draft pick to New Orleans for center Emeka Okafor and forward Trevor Ariza.  The Capitals, meanwhile, traded center Cody Eakin and a second round draft pick to Dallas for center Mike Ribeiro on Friday, prior to the draft.  Seems like Ted Leonsis might be a little tired of always looking toward the future.

It became clear by the end of the season that Lewis would not be a part of the Wizards’ future plans.  The veteran forward played only 28 games in 2011-2012, but was set to earn $23.7 million next season in the final year of his massive contract.  The Wizards could either pay  $13.7 million to buy him out, or try to dump him on somebody else.  Enter the Hornets.  With the number one overall pick, New Orleans is expected to bring in Anthony Davis, meaning that Okafor was suddenly expendable.  The Hornets needed to free up cap space and playing time for their new star, so they were willing to ship out two starters and take on Lewis’ contract.  The Hornets are expected to buy him out sometime in the next few weeks.  The Wizards, on the other hand, now have two big men in Nene and Okafor, a productive forward in Ariza, a budding star in John Wall, and the number three overall pick in which they can gain some perimeter shooting.  Suddenly, this team does not look so terrible.

Granted, the Wizards still have a long way to go.  They just obtained two starters from a team that won only one more game than the Wizards.  The addition of Okafor and Ariza does not suddenly make this a playoff team.  It will still be an uphill climb to reach the postseason, but the Wizards managed to add to their roster while dumping dead weight.  At the very least, this team is no longer a punch line.

Among all the failed Stanley Cup runs, the Capitals have had one blaring, consistent weakness; they have lacked a true second line center.  With Ribeiro, general manager George McPhee may finally have found his man.  In 2011-2012, Ribeiro had 18 goals and 45 assists in 74 games.  The talented set-up man finally gives the Caps some flexibility at center.  The position does not start and finish with Nicklas Backstrom anymore.  With 11 picks, the most of any team in the NHL, the Caps could afford to throw a pick into the mix.  I think with this return, it was well worth it.

The trade does come with risk, however.  At 32 years old, Ribeiro’s career is undeniably on the downhill.  While his stats have remained consistently high, I hope the transition to Washington will not precipitate a massive fall in production.  He also has only a year left on his contract.  He could potentially walk at the end of the season even if he does well.  I had hoped for a longer term solution at the position, but there is no reason why the Caps couldn’t sign him if he does fit in.

It was an exciting time for DC sports’ fans last week with two big trades.  Both teams pulled off great trades and are better for them.  The Wizards added two legitimate starters to their roster and the Caps may finally have added a vital piece to their championship hopes.  Anybody else excited for the fall?

Wizards "Settling" with Wittman?

On June 4, the Wizards held a press conference to announce what everyone already knew; that Randy Wittman would return next season as their head coach. While he only mustered an 18-31 record since taking over midseason, the move was not a surprise after the Wizards’ late season surge. The Wizards finished out the campaign winning six straight and eight of their last 10. The team finally seemed to respond to their coach which earned him at least another year. But with all the other candidates available, did the Wizards truly think Wittman was the best man for the job or did they just settle for the easy candidate?

In his career, Wittman has gone only 118-238 as a head coach. Any way you may look at it, a .331 winning percentage is not good. What’s more is that the team’s final eight wins may not be as impressive as they appear. They beat Charlotte twice, the worst team in the league, and Cleveland once, another bottom feeder. They beat Chicago once and Miami twice, but at first and second in the conference respectively neither team had much to play for and did not give their stars much playing time. Orlando was a complete mess without Dwight Howard and fell to Washington as well. So really of those final eight wins, there is only one that you can really point to as a legitimately impressive win, that against Milwaukee who desperately needed every win in their fight to climb into the playoffs. I’m not saying that winning eight of ten is meaningless, I’m just saying we should not be planning any parades just yet.

Coaches are fired far too quickly in my opinion in all the major sports. How many times have you seen teams fire a good/great coach and replace him with someone who is a clear downgrade from their former bench boss? When teams struggle, the onus always falls on the coach and sometimes organizations will fire him in a complete knee-jerk reaction without considering who will be available to take over. That is NOT what happened this season. Stan Van Gundy, Jerry Sloan, and Patrick Ewing are all available (as well as Phil Jackson, but I’m looking at realistic possibilities). Would any of these coaches be interested in Washington? I have no idea, but neither do the Wizards because they did not look for anyone other than Wittman. There were reports that both Sloan and Ewing were possibly interested in coaching Charlotte, a worse team and organization than the Wizards. If they’re interested in that job, then they could have been talked into at least considering Washington. Sure, Charlotte is owned by Michael Jordan which may be a draw for some, but by all accounts his management of the team is what’s keeping them in the basement. It is easy to foresee conflict between Jordan and someone like Sloan, but that’s not an issue here. Still, the Wizards will never know because they were content with Wittman.

My point is not that Wittman should not have been brought back, I just feel the Wizards never considered any other possibility. It looks like they did not do their homework. What would have been the harm in looking? Would it upset Wittman? He’s an NBA coach. He would have gotten out of coaching after his time in Minnesota if he could not handle criticism. Even if he did feel slighted, one need only point to his winning percentage to silence any complaint he might have. Would it upset the players? Possibly if the team really had rallied around Wittman, but if management explained they were out looking to make sure they had the best head coach available who would argue? It’s not a case of slighting your head coach, it’s doing due diligence to make sure your interim coach is the best man to take over the reins.

Wittman may well be the right man for the job, but I don’t think the Wizards know it. It seems like they just settled for what they had rather than even consider someone else. Part of this may be by design. There’s a difference between developmental coaches and competitive coaches. The Wizards may be keeping Wittman around to develop the players until they become ready to compete and then they’ll find someone else. Owner Ted Leonsis already did this with the Capitals when Glen Hanlon was replaced by Bruce Boudreau. So who knows? Maybe the Wizards know what they are doing after all, but something just doesn’t seem to fit when looking at their extension of an18-31 coach.

Back Next Week

Hey everybody.  I just moved so there will be no blog post this week.  I'm still tweeting though @TheDC_Sportsguy.  Follow me!

Bryce Harper Here to Stay?

Bryce Harper was expected to make an impact, just not in DC.  Not yet.  Though he impressed in spring training, manager Davey Johnson sent him to AAA Syracuse and GM Mike Rizzo was adamant that he would remain in the minors for the majority of the season.  Yet, Harper was called up on April 27 and on the next day, he made his major league debut against the Los Angeles Dodgers.  Since then, Harper has been one of the few consistent bats on a lineup desperate for some offense.

Harper was brought up because the Nationals have been plagued by injuries all season.  When Ryan Zimmerman went down, the Nationals had little choice but to bring in the young star and hope he could manage the major leagues for a few games.  Thirty-two games later, Harper is still here.  Again, perhaps the team would have sent him back to the minors if the injuries did not continue to decimate the roster.  Michael Morse has played only two games, Zimmerman has lingering shoulder issues, and Jayson Werth and Mark DeRosa are both on the disabled list.  Right now, the team just cannot afford to send Harper back down to the minors.

Even if they had the depth, I’m not sure the team would want to send him back.  Harper has made the most of his time in the majors with a .288 batting average, .380 on base percentage, and a .542 slugging percentage, all of which are among the team’s best.  He has also hit five home runs and has two stolen bases, including a home plate steal in the infamous Cole Hamels game.  Perhaps most importantly, he has shown maturity not common of a 19 year old.  With his sometimes checkered past, maturity was a major concern, but he has handled himself well.

So is Bryce Harper here to stay?  It certainly would be hard to send him back, even with a full roster.  While the Nationals have one of the most formidable pitching lineups in the league, they have struggled at the plate.  The team ranks 24^th in the league in batting average and 26^th in runs scored.  Harper is one of the team’s best hitters.  While the team traditionally does not like rushing players into the majors, they would have a hard time justifying sending him back to Syracuse.  Perhaps Rizzo believes he would benefit from more time in the minors, but he’s shown he’s ready for major league pitchers.  No doubt he will have his struggles when pitchers learn how to pitch to him and then we’ll see what kind of player he is.  For now, I’m just thankful the Nationals have found someone who can hit to make sure all of that great pitching doesn’t go to waste.