Sully Baseball Daily Podcast - August 3, 2013

The Red Sox-Dodgers blockbuster from last season may have worked out for both teams.

Meanwhile the Washington Nationals can not escape their legacy.

 Those topics and more on The Sully Baseball Daily Podcast.

Cody Ross, A. J. Pierzynski, Jose Fernandez and Doug Fister all owned baseball on August 2, 2013.


To see the up to date tally of "Who Owns Baseball?," click HERE.
Subscribe on iTunes HERE.

Sully Baseball Daily Podcast - August 3, 2013

      

Sully Baseball Daily Podcast - July 22, 2013

The Royal Baby is on its way and I will NOT make fun of people who are obsessed with it.

Meanwhile the Red Sox are giving me a heart attack and the Nationals should consider trading Rafael Soriano.

Those topics and more on today's episode of The Sully Baseball Daily Podcast.

Bartolo Colon, Mike Napoli, Matt Kemp and Matt Harvey all owned baseball on July 21, 2013.


To see the up to date tally of "Who Owns Baseball?," click HERE.
Subscribe on iTunes HERE.

Sully Baseball Daily Podcast - July 22, 2013

 

Sully Baseball Daily Podcast - March 7, 2013

The Washington Nationals seem to be the trendy pick to win the 2013 World Series. If the past few years are any indication, that is bad news for the Nats and their fans.

 That’s the topic for today’s podcast.

Subscribe to The Sully Baseball Daily Podcast on iTunes.

Sully Baseball Daily Podcast - March 7, 2013

Sully Baseball Daily Podcast - January 16, 2013

Who is calling the shots in Washington?
GM Mike Rizzo? Or superagent Scott Boras?

In the latest podcast, I make the case that it could very well be Boras.

Sully Baseball Daily Podcast - January 16, 2013

 

Sully Baseball Daily Podcast - December 31, 2012

In the last podcast of 2012, I urge my listeners to not make a New Year's resolution and I use the Washington Nationals as an example why not.

Sully Baseball Daily Podcast - December 31, 2012









 

Tweeting the disaster in Washington

There is so much to say about last night's debacle and soul crushing loss by the Washington Nationals. And frankly I don't have the energy to write another post.

So here is a sampling of things I wrote on Twitter right afterwards. I guess there is wisdom in some of stream of conscious observations.

WHAT THE HELL JUST HAPPENED?

Seriously.
Did I just witness the Washington Nationals blow a 6-0 lead and then implode in the 9th inning?
Did I just witness the St. Louis Cardinals demonstrating why they are the baseball equivalent of Jason Voorhees of the Friday the 13th movies?

There are so many emotions to process.
This has to be one of the great cataclysmic disasters in the history of baseball and a potential crusher for a franchise.

Remember when the Red Sox were one strike from winning the 1986 World Series and lost the game and the Rangers were one strike from winning the 2011 World Series and lost the game, there was still a Game Seven to be played.

This was a lead lost and a bottom of the inning was all they had to turn things around.

And unlike '86 and '11 or even the Francisco Cabrera game or the final Game of the 2001 World Series, this was a collapse at home.

There was silence. Crushing silence.

I couldn't help but think of Davey Johnson. He was in the other dugout in Game 6 of the 1986 World Series.

I bet he thought at one point "So THIS is what the Red Sox felt like that night."

But even the 1986 Red Sox did not blow a 6-0 lead.

Meanwhile I am guessing the Giants will be favored in the NLCS. Why?
Exactly how many times do the Cardinals have to win series that nobody gave them a chance in before someone gives them a chance?

So the city of Washington still hasn't had a post season series victory since 1924.
The Montreal Expos/Washington Nationals franchise is still without a pennant.

And those damn Cardinals are still alive.

Nats... want to shut up all of the Strasburg talk? Win tonight

You know if Edwin Jackson and Jordan Zimmermann pitched as well as Ross Detwiler did yesterday, nobody would be complaining about Stephen Strasburg being shut down.

So it is up to Gio Gonzalez. He needs to shut down the Cardinals, end their reign as World Champions and move the Nationals to the NLCS.

Once there, Strasburg complains are off. This team making it to the NLCS would be quite an accomplishment no matter what.

Win today and the complaints will at least die down.
Lose today and be prepared for the what ifs all winter through the next fall.

Nationals win! I can't deal with another Cardinals title

Going to the bottom of the second inning in Washington and the Cardinals are up 4-0.
The Cardinals would be up 2-0 in the series if not for the Nationals 8th inning rally in game one.

But the wonderful Nats seasons would probably go up in smoke if they lose today. Their great season would be torpedoed by yet another OK Cardinals team that caught fire in the post season.

And I can't deal with that!
I have nothing against the Cardinals, although I confess I tended to root against them in the playoffs because I was never a Tony LaRussa fan.

And sure, a great franchise with a dedicated fan base deserves a World Series title, even with a not so great team like the 2006 Cardinals.

But they had another "Good but not elite" team win the title last year.

Now here they are looking to wipe out the Nationals. If they do who would they face? A Reds team who could be without Johnny Cueto or a Giants team who forgot how to hit.

If the Nationals don't win this series, we might be looking at ANOTHER St. Louis World Championship.

And people would look at 2004 to 20012 and say "Man, they won four pennants and three World Series titles. They must have been a dynasty."

And I guess they would be. A dynasty that coasts on a B- report card until October.

I don't want a champion like that.
I wouldn't mind seeing a team like the Nationals, great all season, win. Or the Giants who struggled against the Dodgers before turning it on or the Reds who were underrated all year represent the National League.

Remember the 2006 Padres and Mets? They had great regular seasons but they were clotheslined by that odd 2006 Cardinals team.

Remember last year's Phillies team that had visions of being the greatest sports team in Philadelphia history?

Remember the 2011 Brewers who looked to finally get back to the World Series?

History won't.
They'll remember a Cardinals team that got hot.

So now here we go. A Cardinals team that was the second Wild Card team is lining everything up for another World Series.

The Dodgers couldn't stop them.
The Braves couldn't stop them.
The Nationals are putting up a feeble defense.

Someone please stop them.

Nationals End Stephen Strasburg's Season and Move on - A Bleacher Report Article

The madness of the Stephen Strasburg season has come to an end.
The Nationals, on the verge of the first post season that Washington has seen since 1933, have made the decision to weaken their team with the expectation that they will be great in 2013 and beyond.

And as I wrote in Bleacher Report, that is a very risky bet.

You can read the whole article HERE.


 

Nationals vs. Giants Could Be an NLCS Preview. That's a Good Thing for TV - A Bleacher Report Article

The Giants and the Nationals are about to start a series in San Francisco tonight. Fox Sports should be watching closely.

As I wrote in Bleacher Report, these two teams are young, exciting and play with both style and substance.

In terms of marketing a new brand of stars, remember Melky Cabrera, Buster Posey, Pablo Sandoval, Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Madison Bumgarner, Ryan Zimmerman, Ian Desmond, Bryce Harper, Jordan Zimmermann, Gio Gonzalez, Tyler Clippard and Stephen Strasburg are all 28 years old or younger.

You can read the entire article HERE.


 

Stephen Strasburg Bullpen Strategy for Washington Nationals - A Bleacher Report Article

OK, the Washington Nationals could go into the playoffs as the best team in baseball and make the decision to not use their best pitcher, Stephen Strasburg.

Kind of crazy, right?

In my latest article for Bleacher Report, I try to figure out a way to still use Strasburg and stick to an innings limit under 180 from now to the end of the World Series.

It is thinking outside of the box. If the Nats win it all, they can thank me later.

You can read the whole article HERE.

 

Nationals Need to Use Stephen Strasburg in the Playoffs - A Bleacher Report Article

The Nationals may shut down Stephen Strasburg soon, regardless of their position in the standings. He is a once in a generation talent, after all.

But as I wrote in Bleacher Report, a Washington pennant could be a once in four generations event. And the perfect combination of events for a post season run might be converging for the Nats. And removing Strasburg from that scenario could be a big mistake.

You can read the whole article HERE.






 

Maybe the Nationals just don't like John Lannan

So much for my John Lannan piece.

I thought the Nats were going to slide him right into the rotation, especially after his momentum shifting start the other day.

Instead it is back to Triple-A.

I don't doubt he will be back this year, but man. The Organization just doesn't seem to like him this year.

 

John Lannan helps the Nats avoid a trade

Virtually every contending team is looking to add an experienced starting pitcher. The first place Washington Nationals (looks odd typing that) need some pitching depth, especially if they are going (insanely) limit Stephen Strasburg's innings.

So yesterday they added a 27 year old left hander who last year won double digit games with a sub 4 ERA. And what did it cost the team? A 33 year old outfielder batting .157 with an OPS+ of 31.

That's a hell of a trade. Especially since the pitcher they got went seven strong innings for the win last night.

Except of course it wasn't a trade. The Nationals designated struggling Xavier Nady for assignment and brought John Lannan up from the minor leagues.

What it really cost the Nationals was humiliation and anger from Lannan at the beginning of the season. And that may have been the most brilliant part of this roster move. With no room in the rotation when the season began, Lannan was the odd man out.

The Nationals sent him to Syracuse and Lannan was angry about it, demanding a trade. They did not trade him, no matter how tempting it would have been. And Lannan did not exactly light Triple-A on fire.

But now he is back, inserted into the rotation partially to give some relief to Strasburg. And Lannan might have a chip on his shoulder, eager to prove that he belongs on THIS level.

If the first game was any indication, humiliating an established pitcher in March might have been the best move in July.

Either way the Nationals got better without sacrificing a player who was even going to be on the roster.

I wonder if they have any more humiliated former big leaguers on the payroll.
 

Still think baseball lacks parity?

People who claim that baseball lacks parity of the other sports are quickly losing any legs to stand on. Take a look at baseball at the All Star Break.

Three American League teams have losing records.
Three. TOTAL. Not three in the AL East.

If your definition of a bad team is one that has lost more than it has won, then only the Twins, Mariners and Royals count as bad teams. (The Twins were division champs as recently as 2010.)

As recently as, oh... last spring, the Nationals and Pirates usually fought for "Who was drafting #1 overall this year?"

This year, they are the two best teams in the National League.

And while there are only three sub .500 teams in the American League, there are more in the National League.

Guess who is below .500?
ALL THREE DIVISION WINNERS FOR 2011!

A year ago, the Phillies, Brewers and Diamondbacks were the tops of their divisions.
This year all three go into the break in the red.

And once the All Star game is over, 24 of 30 teams will be within 10 games of a playoff spot to start the second half.

And as we saw last September, a team in front could collapse and a team could skyrocket out of nowhere to make the post season. The Cardinals took advantage of the Braves misfortune and squeezed another World Series title out of it.

If that isn't parity, I don't know what is.

I've been talking about that since 2 Super Bowls ago...

The Second Best Team in the National League plays in Pittsburgh

We are officially past the half way mark of the season.
Nobody can use the "It's early" line anymore. There are fewer games left to play than they have already played.

So when a team is in first place now, you have to take them seriously.

Well the Pirates are in first place.
And if the standings stay the same for the playoffs, the Pirates would not only be in the playoffs but actually would have home field advantage in the Division Series.

They trail only the Nationals (who stole a game from the Giants today) for the best record in the National League. At this date only the Nationals, Yankees and Rangers are better than the Pirates.

Forget 82 wins and a winning record. The Pirates are on pace to win 90 games at this point.

I'm sure a lot of you went into this year saying "I bet the NLCS will be a Nationals - Pirates showdown."

I'd love for that to happen, if for no other reason than to hear people STILL try to say that it is the same teams in the playoffs every year.

Keep an eye on the Reds game tonight. The Pirates magic number is getting smaller.

Gio González Should Be the Cy Young Front Runner Now - My latest for Bleacher Report

The National League is filled with preseason Cy Young favorites. If you picked Cliff Lee, Tim Lincecum, Roy Halladay, Clayton Kershaw, Zack Greinke or Matt Cain before the season began, you would have probably felt good about your prediction.

Not a lot of people probably had Gio González of the Nationals as their pick.
But at the 30% mark of the season, I make the case that he should be in the lead on Bleacher Report.


You can read the whole article HERE.

   

Should Nationals Fans Be Called 'Long Suffering'? - The latest for Bleacher Report

There hasn't been a Washington DC World Series title since 1924.

That should be enough to label DC fans as "Long Suffering" right?

But does the 30 year absence of baseball and the success of the Orioles relieve it?

These are the burning questions I asked in my latest article for Bleacher Report.

You can read the article HERE.