MLB Trade Deadline deals

[madducks]

Nats dumping alert!

Daniel Murphy to the Cubs
Matt Adams to the Cardinals

What a disappointment this has to be for Nats fans. To have arguably the best team on paper for several years now and nothing to show for it.

[Pauly]

What a disappointment this has to be for Nats fans. To have arguably the best team on paper for several years now and nothing to show for it.

Strasburg 2012.

[DMT]

What a disappointment this has to be for Nats fans. To have arguably the best team on paper for several years now and nothing to show for it.

And multiple managers... It's gotta be rotten at the top.

[Ken]

And multiple managers... It's gotta be rotten at the top.

How so? The front office has assembled the talent necessary, the whole premise of this discussion was that they have had arguably the best team on paper (i.e. talent assembled by the front office) for several years running.

[B-Fly]

How so? The front office has assembled the talent necessary, the whole premise of this discussion was that they have had arguably the best team on paper (i.e. talent assembled by the front office) for several years running.

Per Jayson Werth, it must be the nerds' fault.

[Mithrandir]

After hitting like shit since he came to the Brewers, Schoop finally homers... but wait, it was as a Pinch Hitter as he didn't start, so daily lineup teams probably did not get it. Fuck Schoop.

[DMT]

How so? The front office has assembled the talent necessary, the whole premise of this discussion was that they have had arguably the best team on paper (i.e. talent assembled by the front office) for several years running.

That's not all a front office does.

[Ken]

That's not all a front office does.

True, however it's their main responsibility.

But I asked "how so" and got no response

[DMT]

True, however it's their main responsibility.

But I asked "how so" and got no response

How would I know? I'm not in the organization, but clearly something is not right and multiple managers have failed. Maybe it's just bad luck. I'm no Dusty Baker fan, but in his recent interview it was pretty clear to me at least that he thinks the front office has issues impeding their ability to win.

[B-Fly]

I think it's mostly bad luck.

[Ken]

I think it's mostly bad luck.

Pythag would agree

[YourPalChrisMal]

How would I know? I'm not in the organization, but clearly something is not right and multiple managers have failed. Maybe it's just bad luck. I'm no Dusty Baker fan, but in his recent interview it was pretty clear to me at least that he thinks the front office has issues impeding their ability to win.

I lost focus after I read "Dusty Baker..."

I don't see how a front office "impedes a teams ability to win" once they have assembled that team. Sure, they can set the tone for morale issues to a degree, but that's mostly the job of the coaching staff to provide a good environment. And regardless, I tend to believe that 95% of what a team does is based on how the players themselves perform. The Nats have had a lot of bad luck the last few years. In baseball when the best team in a division generally only wins 55-60% of their games, there isn't a lot of room for error when it comes to luck. Sometime things just don't work out in this game, and it's human nature to blame someone for it when in reality most of time shit just happens that's out of anyone's control.

[pitbull]

How would I know? I'm not in the organization, but clearly something is not right and multiple managers have failed. Maybe it's just bad luck. I'm no Dusty Baker fan, but in his recent interview it was pretty clear to me at least that he thinks the front office has issues impeding their ability to win.

The Nats are similar in regards to the Tigers. It seems like they should have won one WS and came up empty. Dombrowski put together a damn good team Miggy, Verlander, Scherzer, V-Mart etc. They had solid great starting pitching, solid hitting line-up but the one area he couldn't figure out was getting a closer with a good bullpen. That played a big part in not getting that WS ring.

[pitbull]

McCutchen cleared waivers so he can be traded to any team who wants him. If he is traded then where to? Clev? Yankees?

[chancellor]

I think it's mostly bad luck.

I've been out of the loop a while, so I'm not sure if this is sarcastic. I'll take it as serious, and answer from there.

I think the team management has failed in a number of ways:

1. Internally developed pitching has failed to deliver quality results on a consistent year to year basis. Roark and Gio are both, at best, third-quartile SPs. RPs through the organization have contributed very little to team success.
2. RP signings and trades, particularly prior to this year, have carried much too high of an injury risk given their inability to deliver RPs from their minor league system. Benoit, Madson, Doolittle, and Miller all came with significant age and/or injury issues.
3. Team management has chosen to not pursue pitching staff/bullpen construction similar to other highly successful or improving teams. I believe recent results - 2017 and 2018 - have proven this to be a bad choice. Not only has the Nats failed to achieve results in line with what appeared to be exceptional talent elsewhere, they have now fallen behind rising teams like Colorado, Milwaukee, Philadelphia, and Atlanta.