Nat's Life

I'd like to start this post on those...insanely unlucky Washington Nationals...by talking about the New Orleans Saints. Because they're the closest parallel I can think of with these teams.

The Saints were a 60s expansion team, and they were more focused on wild publicity stunts like throwing Carol Channing on an ostrich or something than actually creating good football. It took them two decades until they were finally able to craft a playoff team, and it took them another decade or so to actually get their first playoff win. And then, nine years after that, they finally won a Super Bowl, established a playoff dynasty, and made their fans happy.

But...it took 40 or so years for anything big to happen. Which is where I bring in the Nationals. They've never won a playoff series, even since Montreal. They only went to the playoffs once as the Expos, in the strike-shortened 1981 season; ironically, during the other strike-shortened year, 1994, the Expos finished in 1st place, and would have been a favorite to win the World Series, had one happened that year. The Nats have only made it as far as the NLDS, even with these fantastic teams with Harper, Scherzer and Rendon.

Next year...it's very likely that Bryce Harper will be leaving, after some fantastic peak seasons with the team. He's probably gonna search for a team with a future who can give him money, and...I'm not sure if the Nats have much of a future without him. Heck, Scherzer only has a few more seasons left himself. The Nats, even with Scherzer pitching to Cy Young perfection every year, could be headed for a major downslope without Harper. Their farm system can only produce so much, and with the disappointing morsels of talent I saw at their AAA squad this year, I can only hope there's better players waiting in earlier rungs of the minors.

The Nationals are a great team. Right now, I can name four team legends on this current squad- Harper, Scherzer, Rendon and Ryan Zimmerman. All four are team HOFers for sure. But I'm just worried that that's all they'll have to show for this leg of the team's history.

Coming Tonight: He's already a lock for the playoffs, which is more than I could have said for him when he was still in San Diego.