Being a D.C. sports fan and a U.Va. student is just a bundle of fun right now.
Saturdays, you get to watch Virginia get smooshed in football. Sundays, you can watch a completely helpless Washington Redskins offense give coach Jim Zorn nightmares - one of which came to reality last Sunday, when the Skins gave the Detroit Lions their first win since 2007.
And five to six days a week, the Washington Nationals spar with baseball teams that can actually call themselves worthy of being professional. Sometimes the Nats put up a fight, but in the end, the "curly W's" are far outnumbered by the not-so-curly L's - to the tune of 55-103.
It is these Nationals, though, for whom I hold the most hope. Perhaps it is because the end of one season approaches, which always spurns the hope for success in the next. Or perhaps it is because the Nats still have that fresh, "new organization" smell, such that you can say, "They're still building," as opposed to, "These guys always stink."
What I think gives me the most hope that the Nats are on the mend, though, is that - to use the "sinking ship" metaphor - the ship has already hit rock-bottom. The Nats already fired former coach Manny Acta this season as they were on-pace to break the 1969 Mets' record for losses in a season. After Jim Riggleman took over, though, the Nats have won enough games to mathematically avoid such a travesty. (Believe me, if it were still mathematically possible for the Nats to get to 120 losses, I would never count them out.) Virginia football and the Skins, on the other hand, can still sink to deeper depths, and there's no telling where or when the crash landing might occur.
So, with a more optimistic view of the Nationals, I can at least foresee a time when Washington might be - heaven forbid - a playoff team. Some of the pieces are already in place, some will come in time. For all you Nats fans out there, here are the pieces that are already set and the voids to fill for Washington to be a playoff team by 2012.
First, the obvious. Every Wahoo's favorite National, Virginia alum Ryan Zimmerman, is the cornerstone of the organization. He's having a career year offensively (.286 average, 33 home runs, 104 RBIs), and would be a shoo-in for a gold glove at third base if it weren't for some midseason throwing errors on routine plays. Zimmerman is fourth-worst among third-basemen in the National League with 15 errors but he also appeared on the "Web Gems" segment of ESPN's Baseball Tonight on 13 occasions as of Sept. 7.
Adam Dunn is the next most prolific offensive player with 38 home runs and a .400 OBP; whether the Nats can afford to keep him until 2012, though, is debatable, because his contract runs out in 2010. But let's assume they do, so Dunn holds down the fort in left field.
In center stands Nyjer Morgan, who the Nats acquired in a trade midseason. Morgan is a speedy centerfielder, and although he strikes out more than a leadoff man should, he makes up for it with a .307 average and 42 stolen bases in 120 games, before a broken hand put him out the rest of this season. In right, the Nats have Elijah Dukes, an exciting prospect who has looked good of late after getting sent down to the minors early in the season; in his last 22 games, he's hitting .290 with an OBP of .417.
So the outfield is set. The infield outside of Zimmerman gets trickier. Josh Willingham is 30 years old but he's the kind of well-conditioned athlete who still will be able to play in four years and he'll give the Nats 20 to 25 home runs as he did this year - that will do at first base. Catching is 24-year-old Jesus Flores, who has been missing from the Nationals' lineup for four months with a torn labrum. Flores, though, has all-star potential. In his time before the injury plus a few pinch-hit ABs since, Flores is hitting .301 and is solid defensively.
Left in the infield, then, are a second baseman and a shortstop. Right now, those positions are occupied by Cristian Guzman at short and Alberto Gonzalez at second. Guzman, a 10-year veteran, likely will be washed up and off the team by 2012 and isn't much good to begin with, at the plate or defensively. Gonzalez, after starting hot when he was called up from the minors, has hit steadily worse since, dropping his average to an unhelpful .262, and is an average-at-best fielder. Both of those spots will need new faces.
Now, what has killed the Nationals all season: pitching. Here's where prospects come into play. By 2012, I envision a youthful starting rotation: the ace is the No. 1 pick from the 2009 Draft, Stephen Strasburg, who boasts a 97-mph fastball and a filthy breaking ball. Behind him is Jordan Zimmermann, who doesn't yet have the command but certainly has the stuff. Then, you put John Lannan at No. 3; his 3.93 ERA makes him the best pitcher on the Nationals right now but puts him as a solid No. 3 starter on a playoff team. After that, two more prospects: Ross Detwiler, the sixth overall pick in the 2007 Draft, should be a contributing starter. Craig Stammen, a 12th-round pick in 2005, has begun to emerge as a potential contributor and perhaps can be a No. 5 starter if he can stay healthy. He is currently out for six weeks after undergoing elbow surgery to fix a bone spur.
The starting rotation has a shot at being legitimate with the pieces in place. But the bullpen also needs help. Reliever Tyler Clippard is really the only player on the active roster worth holding on to, as he is the most reliable reliever with a 2.91 ERA. The Nats' current closer, Mike MacDougal, throws 95 to 96 miles per hour but doesn't have a clue where the ball is going. And the rest of the bullpen ... Well, an MLB-worst 5.23 bullpen ERA and a league-worst 39 losses charged to the bullpen pretty much speaks for itself. No other MLB bullpen has lost more than 29 games this season.
In sum, the Nats need the following: a second baseman, a shortstop and a bullpen. Pretty important positions. Pretty daunting.
Well, not that daunting. Washington has some players in its farm system that it can either develop or use as trade bait. It has the No. 1 pick in the 2010 MLB Draft, which it will almost surely use on Bryce Harper, a 16-year old prodigy catcher.
Yeah, OK. The Nats might be just as bad in 2012 as they are now.
But then again, I've almost forgotten what it's like to root for a winning team anyway. And who doesn't, in some small way, enjoy watching a sinking ship?
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