Coming into 2008, everyone expected the Nationals to be pretty bad...and they were as they finished the season with the worst record in MLB at 59-102. Injuries to Ryan Zimmerman, Elijah Dukes, and Lastings Milledge forced the Nats to use fringe players for a large amount of the season. A few weeks ago, word broke out about a scandel involving GM Jim Bowden and illegally signing Dominican prospects. On the bright side, Christian Guzman finally showed what he can do when he's healthy.
Projected Lineup:
C - Jesus Flores
1B - Adam Dunn
2B - Anderson Hernandez
SS - Christian Guzman
3B - Ryan Zimmerman
LF - Josh Willingham
CF - Lastings Milledge
RF - Elijah Dukes
Projected Rotation:
#1 - John Lannan
#2 - Scott Olsen
#3 - Daniel Cabrera
#4 - Jordan Zimmermann
#5 - Shaun Martis
Closer - Joel Hanrahan
Position Battles:
2B - Veteran Ronnie Belliard will fight with Anderson Hernandez for time at second base; it should come down to who had the better spring.
2009 Outlook: The Nationals had a controversial yet productive off-season, the signing of power hitter Adam Dunn should pay immediate dividends. Milledge, Zimmerman, Dukes, and Flores are all another year older and another step closer to becoming productive regulars and all-stars. They will still probably end up near the bottom of the offensive catogories, but that is to be expected from such a young lineup. Most of the hitters will need another year or two to deveolp, but once they blossom there could be a new power in the NL East.
As for the pitchers, Washington can make a very good case for having the absolute worst hurlers in the game. Their rotation will be "anchored" by Scott Olsen, the former Marlin who posted a 4.20 ERA last year and struck out just over 100 batters in 200 innings of work. Daniel Cabrera comes over from Baltimore; he has never posted an ERA less than 4.52 and is notorious for walking as many batters as he strikes out. There are two potential bright spot for the rotation, John Lannan posted a 3.91 ERA in 182 innings last year, while it was probably artificially inflated thanks to a .270 BABIP he is only 24 and expected to improve. Top prospect Jordan Zimmerman has pitched great this spring and profiles to be a #1 or #2 starter once he reaches his prime. The bullpen is also afwul, achored by Saul Rivera and Joel Hanrahan, who are above -average at best.
Projected FInish: 5th Place, NL East.
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