Mark Zuckerman
Mark Zuckerman

DH position has not been kind to Nats through the years

Nationals
DH position has not been kind to Nats through the years
Whether the lockout ends later this week, later this month or just some time way later down the road, we do already know one significant change that appears to be coming to all of Major League Baseball. For all the rancor between the league and the players over a host of issues, the one hot-button topic they seem to agree on is the designated hitter. Despite more than 120 years of established history with pitchers batting for themselves, the National League is poised to make the DH a permanent...
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Mark Zuckerman

What would a condensed spring training look like?

Nationals
What would a condensed spring training look like?
We've tried to stay optimistic around here for the last 2 1/2 months, so until someone gives us legitimate reason not to be, we'll stay optimistic and hope Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association work out a deal within the next week and ensure opening day will proceed March 31 as planned. Even if that happens, though, it's going to be a wild scramble for everyone to get ready for spring training, open camps and get the proper work in to prepare players for the regular...
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Mark Zuckerman

Spring training games delayed until at least March 5

Nationals
Spring training games delayed until at least March 5
What had already been widely understood was made official by Major League Baseball this afternoon: Spring training is delayed due to the ongoing labor battle that has yet to produce a new collective bargaining agreement. With camps across Florida and Arizona supposed to open earlier this week, and with the Grapefruit and Cactus league schedules set to commence Feb. 26, a postponement had become inevitable. In its formal announcement today, MLB - which enacted a lockout of the players when the...
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Mark Zuckerman

Missing the simple pleasures of spring training

Nationals
Missing the simple pleasures of spring training
An old tweet of mine popped up Thursday. Exactly two years old, to be precise. It featured a slow-motion video of the Nationals holding their now-infamous "Cabbage Race" outside their spring training clubhouse. Sean Doolittle, designated closer for the team captained by Max Scherzer, was last to receive a head of cabbage that made its way all the way down a line of teammates and slammed it to the ground just before Daniel Hudson, closing for Stephen Strasburg's team, slammed his. It set off...
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Mark Zuckerman

Nats' offer was reasonable, but so was Soto's response

Nationals
Nats' offer was reasonable, but so was Soto's response
The 13-year, $350 million offer the Nationals made to Juan Soto shortly before the lockout began was a reasonable move by the organization. And Soto's decision to turn down that gargantuan offer was just as reasonable a move. What does all that mean in the big picture? It means it's going to take a historic contract to keep Soto in D.C., and it's probably not going to happen until he has the opportunity to field offers from 29 other clubs as a free agent following the 2024 season. And a...
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Mark Zuckerman

Face of franchise stayed true to himself through the end

Nationals
Face of franchise stayed true to himself through the end
The Nationals drafted Ryan Zimmerman on June 7, 2005, making the lanky third baseman from the University of Virginia the No. 4 pick in the country. The Nationals also signed Zimmerman on June 7, 2005, immediately agreeing with the 20-year-old on a $2.975 million signing bonus that would allow him to begin his professional career right away and ultimately allow him to reach the big leagues for good only three months later. "I didn't want to be one of those guys that sits out the whole...
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Mark Zuckerman

Zimmerman announces retirement after standout career

Nationals
Zimmerman announces retirement after standout career
Ryan Zimmerman could've kept playing. But after 17 years with the Nationals, countless franchise records, a World Series title and a fitting farewell on the final day of the 2021 season, there really was nothing left to prove. So the face of the Nationals since the franchise made him its first draft pick in 2005 made it official today: He's retiring after a remarkable career with one organization that has become increasingly exceptional in the modern sports world. "Although my baseball...
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Mark Zuckerman

Was Adon's impressive debut a sign of things to come?

Nationals
Was Adon's impressive debut a sign of things to come?
As the lockout drags on, we're taking this opportunity to break down some players in the Nationals organization who haven't garnered as many headlines. Today we look at right-hander Joan Adon, who spent most of 2021 in the low minor leagues but made a big impression in his major league debut on the season's final day. ... RHP JOAN ADON Bats/Throws: R/R Height/Weight: 6-foot-2, 242 lbs. Age on opening day 2022: 23 How acquired: Signed as international free agent, July 2016 Service time: 1...
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Mark Zuckerman

Despite issues, MLB still has more parity than other leagues

Nationals
Despite issues, MLB still has more parity than other leagues
The National Football League crowned a new champion Sunday night, the Rams winning their first Super Bowl in 22 years (when they still played in St. Louis), making this their first Lombardi Trophy while representing Los Angeles. And they did so by beating a Bengals franchise making its first Super Bowl appearance in 33 years, a franchise still seeking its first title after this heartbreaking loss. The NFL, with its salary cap and even distribution of television money (something it can do...
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Mark Zuckerman

Will latest offer spark talks or leave them stagnant?

Nationals
Will latest offer spark talks or leave them stagnant?
Nobody really expected Major League Baseball's latest offer to players to bring an immediate end to the lockout, but there was hope it would at least spark more aggressive negotiations between the two warring parties as the clock ticks down to the point of no return. Based on the immediate reaction widely reported Saturday, it didn't achieve that goal. And that's only going to leave more people around the sport worried the season might not actually start on time. We don't have to delve into...
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Mark Zuckerman

State of Nationals bullpen at this point

Nationals
State of Nationals bullpen at this point
We haven't talked much about the Nationals roster in the last two months, because the roster hasn't changed at all in the last two months. So it might be time for a refresher on the current state of things, because it's easy to forget what this team currently has in place for 2022 and what it still needs to address once everyone's allowed to address needs again. Obviously, there will be an opportunity to add players as soon as the lockout ends, though it could be quite a mad rush by all 30...
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Mark Zuckerman

Who's in Nats rotation at this point?

Nationals
Who's in Nats rotation at this point?
We haven't talked much about the Nationals roster in the last two months, because the roster hasn't changed at all in the last two months. So it might be time for a refresher on the current state of things, because it's easy to forget what this team currently has in place for 2022 and what it still needs to address once everyone's allowed to address needs again. Obviously, there will be an opportunity to add players as soon as the lockout ends, though it could be quite a mad rush by all 30...
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Mark Zuckerman

What would Nats lineup look like at this point?

Nationals
What would Nats lineup look like at this point?
We haven't talked much about the Nationals roster in the last two months, because the roster hasn't changed at all in the last two months. So it might be time for a refresher on the current state of things, because it's easy to forget what this team currently has in place for 2022 and what it still needs to address once everyone's allowed to address needs again. Obviously, there will be an opportunity to add players as soon as the lockout ends, though it could be quite a mad rush by all 30...
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Mark Zuckerman

Can Clay show improvement after erratic rookie year?

Nationals
Can Clay show improvement after erratic rookie year?
As the lockout drags on, we're taking this opportunity to break down some players in the Nationals organization who haven't garnered as many headlines. Today we look at left-hander Sam Clay, who spent most of 2021 in the big league bullpen but finished the season in the minors. ... LHP SAM CLAY Bats/Throws: L/L Height/Weight: 6-foot-3, 227 lbs. Age on opening day 2022: 28 How acquired: Signed as free agent, November 2020 Service time: 169 days 2021 salary: $575,000 Contract status: Under team...
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Mark Zuckerman

What needs to happen this week to keep spring training on tap

Nationals
What needs to happen this week to keep spring training on tap
Friday's news of the Major League Baseball Players Association declining the league's request to bring a government mediator into the stalled negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement made for a dour start to the weekend. As a new week arrives, we're all left wondering a seemingly simple, yet perhaps not-actually-simple question: What happens now? We don't have an official answer yet, but the actions of both parties in the next 48 hours or so should give us a good clue about...
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Mark Zuckerman

Friday morning Nats Q&A

Nationals
Friday morning Nats Q&A

Well, here we are. It's February. The Winter Olympics are underway. The Super Bowl is nine days away. And pitchers and catchers will be reporting in ... well, who really knows at this point?

There was some news on the collective bargaining front this week, though apparently not positive news. The clock has nearly run out to ensure an on-time start to spring training, though there is still a little bit of time to ensure the season begins March 31 as scheduled.

In the meantime, we'll keep plugging along here and try to keep the content coming every single day. Today, it comes in the form of a Q&A. If you've got a Nationals question you'd like to ask, go for it! Use the comments section below, then check back throughout the morning for my replies ...

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Mark Zuckerman

Will anyone be elected off controversial Hall of Fame ballot?

Will anyone be elected off controversial Hall of Fame ballot?
The lockout may have drained the life out of this winter, but it can't eliminate one of the most important days of the year on the baseball calendar: Hall of Fame election day. (Well, provided somebody actually does get elected today. More on that in a moment.) The time has come for the Class of 2022 to be revealed, for a ballot of 30 candidates with varying cases for selection to be whittled down to the precious few who receive at least 75 percent of the vote among 10-year members of the...
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Mark Zuckerman

Fans won't have any sympathy if games are lost

Fans won't have any sympathy if games are lost
There is no greater experience in sports than watching a great postseason game, a down-to-the-wire, back-and-forth affair that comes down to one final dramatic moment that instantly becomes part of the very fabric of each franchise's lore, good or bad. And there is no worse experience in sports than watching owners and players decide not to contest games because they're squabbling over money. Guess which North American professional sport just enjoyed the ultimate weekend of great theater and...
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Mark Zuckerman

Catching up after a news-filled week of vacation

Catching up after a news-filled week of vacation
After a long, slow winter with precious little going on, the Nationals at last made news on multiple fronts last week. And wouldn't you know who happened to be on vacation as this all happened? Yep, it never fails. If you want news, all you've got to do is book me and my family on a flight out of town, then sit back and wait for the alerts to drop. Many thanks, as always, to Bobby Blanco and Pete Kerzel for handling the various items in my absence. But now that I'm back to work, I figured...
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Mark Zuckerman

Friday morning Nats Q and A

Nationals
Friday morning Nats Q and A
It's been three weeks since we last did one of these, and so much has happened since then, right? Right? OK, so very little has happened since then, at least in the baseball world. At least the owners and players met Thursday for the first time since the lockout began six weeks ago, so that's a good thing, right? Right? Alas, the entire sport remains very much in a holding pattern until the two sides start to feel a little more urgency to get a deal done, which probably won't be for several...
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