Now, humor me if you would for a moment, but it is not too far outside of realm of speculation to say that none of you who live outside of the beltway are picking The Washington Nationals to win the NL East title in 2010. And although the Nats’ popularity within the D.C. Metro area is steadily rising, and barring an utter and total organizational collapse of the NY Mets, The Nationals will most assuredly end up in the basement after the completion of 162 games. But all is not lost! Especially since, as alluded to above, expectations for the success of this team are about as high as Obama’s popularity ratings. This team, however, does have a bright future ahead of them. And this is where the humoring process comes in.
Success in baseball is governed by several factors. Unfortunately, the factor of primary import is revenue. Let’s take a page out of The Nationals first opponents this year. In 1971, The Philadelphia Phillies moved into brand new Veterans Stadium. Concrete warts and all, it was a state-of-the-art facility, seating over 60,000 fans. The revenue earned from ticket sales in their first year, in part, allowed the organization to seek out marquee players. Notables: Steve Carlton and Pete Rose. Using their own template, The Phillies did it again in 2004 with Citizens Bank Park, allowing the team to sign such stars as Jim Thome, and Roy Halladay. Now, obviously, The Nationals are not The Phillies. They are, however, initiating a chain of events that could lead to future success.
Having finished in the basement for the last six years, only making it to the postseason once since the team began playing as the Montreal Expos in 1969, and having had a virtual 100 win season snatched from the mantle of victory due to the infamous World Series cancelling players strike of 1994, The Nats’ are poised to enter into uncharted waters. The revenue generated from their brand new stadium will allow this heretofore abysmally performing organization flexibility in free agent signings. And because of their perennial ineffectiveness, the front office has been allowed the cream of the crop in drafting near the number one spot annually; as we will see before the year has ended whether or not the Strasburg project was a no-brainer.
As with most preseason blogs/articles, it is customary to make predictions for the upcoming season. So here is my shot:
AL EAST
Boston
Boston
New York
Tampa Bay
Toronto
Baltimore
AL CENTRAL
Chicago
Minnesota
Detroit
Kansas City
Cleveland
AL WEST
Los Angeles
Texas
Seattle
Oakland
NL EAST
Philadelphia
Atlanta
Florida
New York
Washington
NL CENTRAL
St. Louis
Chicago
Cincinnati
Milwaukee
Houston
Pittsburgh
NL WEST
Los Angeles
Colorado
San Francisco
Arizona
POST SEASON
Chicago at Boston
New York at Los Angeles
Los Angeles at Boston
Colorado at Philadelphia
Los Angeles At St. Louis
St. Louis at Philadelphia
Philadelphia at Boston
Philadelphia
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