- Apparently David Eckstein is not too worried about winning anymore. The 34-year-old middle infielder, who already has two world series rings, had the chance to be traded to the Twins and turned it down. The Twins are hanging in the AL Central race for dear life, so it's not like the postseason was a given. Still, the Padres are far out of anything relevant and are one of the worst teams in baseball.
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.
When Luke Hochevar was summoned to the majors last season, he had started only 13 games at the triple-A level. He had compiled a 2-4 record with a 4.54 ERA in those starts. Translation: It appears the former number one overall draft pick had been rushed -- especially when you consider his ensuing major league numbers. In his rookie year, Hochevar went 6-12 with a 5.51 ERA and 1.47 WHIP. His strikeout rate was well below his capabilities as well.
After failing to come through as the Nationals everyday leadoff hitter/center fielder, Lastings Milledge has been mired in the minor leagues. He's been living out of a hotel in Syracuse since the demotion, and he's only hitting .250 with a .602 OPS. He doesn't have a home run, but he does have 4 stolen bases. He's struck out 12 times and only walked 3.
It's true that Milledge does have loads of talent, and he's only 24 years old. He showed signs of that talent with a decent 2008 campaign -- when he hit .268 with 14 home runs, 24 doubles, and 24 steals. This is the selling point for the Washington Nationals, who need to just trade Milledge and move on.
You decide to break free from Scott and sign a modest, three-year, $68 million deal with Washington. And you're so glad you did. You single-handedly shift the balance of power in the NL East, and team with Cristian Guzman, Ryan Zimmerman and Josh Willingham to create the best lineup in the league. You even forge friendships that will last a lifetime. Anderson Hernandez becomes your best friend, partly due to the fact that you can fit him in your pocket.
But you come home after a long road trip and you stop at Nationals Park to pick up some things. Among your fan mail, you find a crate addressed to you from "a friend." You open it, and you're horrified to find your buddy, Anderson Hernandez, frozen in carbonite.
"Boras!"
You rush out of the clubhouse, pushing the Nationals' traveling secretary out of the way to find your nemesis, who's in an oxygen bar, where the final battle begins. You get your hand cut off by Boras' light saber, which he bought at Brookstone.
"Come back, young Manny. Let me engineer a trade out of here. We can fit you with an artificial hand and you'll still hit .300 ... I can get you riches!"
"I'd rather die than come back to you. Besides, you killed my father!"
"No Manny, I am your father."
"Noooooooooooo!"
With that, you are pushed into an abyss and sucked into an air vent, only to be jolted by a hard landing where you find yourself ...
... in bed. It was all a dream. Your free agency has not been compromised.
Years from now when people look back on the 79th All-Star Game, they'll remember a few things. First and foremost, they'll remember the celebration of Yankee Stadium, one of baseball's last remaining living museums, in its final season. Right alongside that, they'll think fondly of Josh Hamilton. Even if you're sick of hearing about his intense battle with drug addiction, the sight of him launching 500-foot homers into the black New York sky at the Home Run Derby won't soon be forgotten.
And perhaps after that, they'll remember the actual game itself for its record length -- 15 innings over four hours and 50 minutes. It's safe to say nobody will be thinking of the final All-Star Game at Yankee Stadium as a classic.
Part of that was the ugliness of the game. This Midsummer Classic had everything -- blown calls by the umpire, poor baserunning, way too much Aaron Cook, epic offensive squanders and even three errors by poor Dan Uggla.
But the flaws in the structure of the current incarnation of the All-Star Game were also on not-so-sparkling display. Major League Baseball still has the best showcase event in American professional sports, but it's not above a little cosmetic overhaul now and again.
With that in mind, here are four things that baseball should change to improve the All-Star Game. (There was plenty of time to come up with a list Tuesday night).
July 31 is rapidly approaching. Buy or Sell lets each team know where they stand.
The Washington Nationals would seem to fit anyone's description of a seller. They are in last place, sinking fast and desperate to generate some positive buzz to get people interested in the team. Jim Bowden's never been afraid to pull the trigger on a trade, for better or worse, which is another sell sign. One little detail gets in the way, however. The cupboard is nearly barren of the healthy unwanted veterans that could make a difference in a pennant race.
Even the guys who might garner some interest have some serious warts. Cristian Guzman is an All-Star and there are teams that could use help at shortstop. He'll also be a free agent after the season but how much are teams going to buy into a decent first half from a player whose history says he isn't a competent offensive player?
Odalis Perez is the pitching staff's version of Guzman. He's been surprisingly strong this season, 116 ERA+, and lord knows teams always like to add a pitcher for the stretch run. Once again, though, his history says this isn't to be trusted. Even if they did get a bite, neither guy is going to bring them much of value.
The Nationals should have a desire to sell but the demand half of the equation just isn't going to be there. The only saving grace to this season of futility is that no one's paying attention in D.C. anyway.
With nearly a month of the baseball season in the books, the Washington Nationals pretty much are what we thought they would be -- a bad team (9-17) wallowing in the cellar of the National League East. Just why they are struggling so much is more of a surprise.
The starting pitching has actually been very strong. Odalis Perez, John Lannan and Tuesday night's starter Tim Redding all have ERAs under 4.00. The offense, despite battle-tested pros like Ryan Zimmerman and Nick Johnson and young hitters with upside like Lastings Milledge, is really scuffling. Cristian Guzman is the only regular hitting over .300. Milledge is the only other player hitting over .255. Ouch.
That's especially hurt the Nationals in the power department. They have 14 home runs as a team, the second fewest in the NL. They rank 14th in the league in doubles (44) and 15th in slugging percentage (.334). And unlike last year, it doesn't appear they can blame the ballpark. Nationals Park seems to play a lot more neutral than RFK, which was a definite pitcher's park.
Manager Manny Acta, one of the more statistically-inclined skippers in the league, isn't worrying too much yet. "The power numbers will come," said Acta before tonight's game with the Braves. "The only reason [the middle-of-the-order hitters] don't have five, six, seven homers is because of the batting averages.
I've got to hand it to Manny Acta. The job he's done with the Nationals, a team that was supposed to lose 125 games, has been nothing short of phenomenal ... especially with the multiple injuries suffered by his pitching staff.
Acta's reward for his patience? Why more injuries, of course. Shortstop Cristian Guzman is out for four to six weeks with a busted thumb (busted on Josh Barfield's helmet, that is), which is note worthy as this has been Guzman's best season as a National by a country mile with a .329 batting average.
But the saddest injury may be the recurring one that put reliever Jesus Colome back on the DL, soft-tissue infection in the right buttocks.
"I don't feel good. I can't talk," Colome said. "I have to wait until tomorrow. I'm going straight to the doctor."
Hey, when does soft tissue infection in your butt cause you not to talk? I guess when you regularly talk out of your ...
Seriously folks, that hurts. When it hurts to sit, go straight to the doctor. Colome has been an important part of the Nats' bullpen at 4-0 and a 2.76 ERA, so these injuries will be most painful for Acta, who will now have to fill more holes and keep the Nats' afloat. That he's kept them respectable this far is an incredible achievement.
Update: Scratch that four to six weeks for Guzman as the news gets worse ... Guzman is out for the season.
No, I'm not going to completely write off the Nationals after two games.
Five? Ten? Maybe. Not two ... that would just be silly.
But not only is the Nationals' starting rotation threatening to mathematically eliminate them by June (Shawn Hill was barely better than John Patterson in a 9-3 loss to the Marlins tonight), but at this rate they may not have enough to field a team by July. First, Cristian Guzman and Nook Logan get hurt on Opening Day (both were placed on the disabled list), but Ronnie Belliard came perilously close to joining them. You wouldn't believe how:
He was in the wrong place at the wrong time, standing in foul territory near the batting cage. Belliard never saw the wayward, 100-foot throw from rookie catcher Jesus Flores that was intended for Brian Schneider. It was several feet off the mark and caught Belliard flush on the left temple He immediately fell to the ground. Manager Manny Acta yelled out, "Trainer! Trainer!" and all eyes turned toward Belliard, fearing something serious had happened. Fortunately, he was all right. Woozy, but all right.
Good news for a team that could use all the good news it could get. But back to the starting pitching, it's one thing to give up thousands of hits to Miguel Cabrera (who's hitting .714) and Josh Willingham (three hits on Tuesday), but when the pitcher gets a couple of hits and an RBI, there's problems. Scott Olsen got the job done with the bat, and pitched relatively well despite five walks, taking a shutout into the sixth.
Those wondering why most experts picked the Nationals to lose over 100 games this season can wonder no more, as starting pitching was indeed the achillies heel for the Nats during their opener. John Patterson, (the ace by default), exited this game with a healthy ERA of 14.73 as the Nats dropped game one to the Marlins 9-2.
Miguel Cabrera, who spent the last days of spring training hitting baseballs to Mars during batting practice, hit one to Jupiter (the planet, not the Marlins spring facility) off of Patterson in the fourth. Cabrera proved that he indeed was ready for the season to start with three hits and four RBI's. Hanley Ramirez made the Marlins happy (along with fantasy owners like myself) with four hits and two stolen bases.
More importantly it was the first major league victory for skipper Fredi Gonzalez, who celebrated with champagne after the game. Nationals counterpart Manny Acta will have to wait for his celebratory champagne ... right now, he'd settle for some ice packs.
Not only is Acta 0-1, but his starter, John Patterson, didn't make it out of the fourth inning, and two position players - a quarter of the starting lineup - left with injuries before the end of the fifth: shortstop Cristian Guzman (left hamstring) and center fielder Nook Logan (left foot).
"That," Gonzalez said, "is freaky."
Acta's take: "It's not frustrating, it's just weird. We went the whole spring training and were pretty much healthy coming out of Florida, and then two guys go down."
Just in time too. I know the Nationals season is supposed to be bad, but that bad? That fast? Yikes!
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the 
After failing to come through as the Nationals everyday leadoff hitter/center fielder, 
You decide to break free from Scott and sign a modest, three-year, $68 million deal with Washington. And you're so glad you did. You single-handedly shift the balance of power in the NL East, and team with 
July 31 is rapidly approaching. 
Our MLB editor provides weekly dispatches from major league games in 
I've got to hand it to 
No, I'm not going to completely write off the Nationals after two games.
Those wondering why most experts picked the Nationals to lose over 100 games this season can wonder no more, as starting pitching was indeed the achillies heel for the Nats during their opener. John Patterson, (the ace by default), exited this game with a healthy ERA of 14.73 as the Nats dropped game one to the Marlins 9-2.
