Kuzul

What every young, building franchise needs is a vocal leader.  One who isn’t afraid to call a player or two out.  Whether that be in the clubhouse, or through the media.

The future of the Washington Nationals franchise, and right now Major League Baseball’s most marketable player, Stephen Strasburg, seems like he is quite comfortable in that role.

For the most part, Strasburg has been described as a pretty humble guy.  Even as he had his brief developmental time in the minors, at both the double A and triple A levels he was described as “just one of the guys.”

For all accounts, it was said of him that you would have no idea what his contract was just by talking to him or being around him.

As for being a vocal leader, with the deadline to sign number one draft pick Bryce Harper looming on the horizon, Strasburg told ESPN.com, “If he doesn’t want to play here, then we don’t want him here.”

It might have come off as harsh, but for a young franchise trying to find its identity it is exactly what needed to be said.

This is a team that needs all 25 guys buying into their philosophy if it’s ever going to be a contender.  It needs a leader to stand up and say, “if you want to be here, great, if not, there’s the door.”

Strasburg did just that.  He did what I’m sure everyone in DC was hoping he’d do eventually.

As you all already know, Harper signed a contract worth $9.9 million with the team just before the deadline, and honestly I don’t think Strasburg’s words had any influence on it what so ever. 

But as I said, it was refreshing to hear the young phenom stand up and get vocal about his team.

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Last night Nationals’ Ballpark had an atmosphere that is usually reserved for September Pennant Races or October’s post-season.

But last night was a special night in Washington D.C. as Stephen Strasburg, the savior of the franchise, made his debut, And what a debut it was.

Strasburg struck out 14 while only surrendering two earned runs, both of which came off of Delwyn Young’s fourth inning home run. In seven innings of work he would throw 94 pitches and no walks–his final ERA was 2.57.

All night the Pittsburgh Pirates struggled to keep up with his fastball and it seemed each players’ knees buckled at the sight of Strasburg’s breaking ball.

All in all I couldn’t think of a better debut for the young pitcher. With all the baseball world watching and all the pressure on him he simply did what he loved to do, and that was pitch.

And to make sure that the young pitcher’s first start was a win Ryan Zimmerman, Adam Dunn, and Josh Willingham all homered to help contribute to the 5-2 victory.

What does all this mean for the franchise?

In the short-term it could mean a run at the play-offs. Currently the Nats sit six games out of the National Leagues East and five and a half games out of the wild card. With such a long way to go those deficits are hardly insurmountable.

Also, it means that the Nationals might be buyers at the trade deadline and could grab a piece here or there to challenge the Braves and Phillies.

For the long term it gives high hopes for a city that hasn’t seen a championship in one of its four major pro sports in almost twenty years. With the drafting of Bryce Harper we could be seeing the makings of a budding powerhouse much like what happened in Tampa Bay that past couple of seasons.

Last night was as pressured packed as it’s ever been for the Nationals and the kid put it all on his back and blew everyone away.  Despite the Expos moving to our Nation’s Capital a few seasons ago, last night was the night that baseball returned to Washington D.C.

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By the time many of you read this, Baltimore Orioles manager Dave Trembley may already be one of the many Americans without a job.

The Orioles are hands down, the worst team in baseball, and are well on their way to a 100-loss season.

Is that all Trembley’s fault?

Not really. 

First off, the Orioles have the unfortunate luck to play in the same division as the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, and Tampa Bay Rays.

The first two teams, especially the Yankees, have no problem overpaying players in order to compete. The Rays, on the other hand, were so bad for so long that they gathered several high draft picks who, for the most part, have panned out and are all signed long-term.

The Orioles, on the other hand, have been bad, but not bad enough to get a really high draft pick, but nowhere good enough to have anyone care.

Just look at beautiful Camden Yards on any given night. It isn’t hard for someone from home to take a head count of fans. I’m willing to bet on some nights there are more players in both dugouts than there are fans in the stands.

That is, of course, unless the Yanks or Sox are in town. Then the place will be sold out. Unfortunately for the home team, it isn’t their fans packing into Camden.

My second reason you can’t blame Dave Trembley for the awful state of the Orioles is that his players just aren’t that good. 

Sure, Brian Roberts and Nick Markakis are good enough players, but they’re average when you compare them to players of the same positions on their division rivals.

The O’s pitching (starting, relievers, and closer) is terrible.

There is only so much Trembley could have done with the talent he was given. Maybe the team underperformed under him, but even with a guy like Joe Torre, I doubt the O’s would be out of the cellar of the American League East.

That brings me to my third and final reason you can’t blame Dave Trembley for the woes of the franchise.

He may have worked for American professional sports’ worst owner. Not baseball, mind you, but all of sports in this country. That’s saying a lot considering just south of Baltimore is Washington, D.C., where Dan Snyder runs the Washington Redskins.

However, the difference between Snyder and Peter Angelos is that at least Snyder tries to make his team better. I have never seen any evidence of Angelos doing anything in the offseason to make me think that he is even thinking about competing with the Sox or Yanks.

Angelos can fire all the managers he wants from here to eternity, but until he realizes that he’s the problem, the O’s won’t come anywhere close to competing for a playoff spot.

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In 2008, when the New York Yankees did the unthinkable and missed the postseason, team co-owner Hank Steinbrenner made an off-the-cuff comment about the best teams being shut out of the playoffs because of their tougher division, while a team like the Los Angeles Dodgers (with an paltry 84-78 record) made it in.

It was humorous because he was comparing his team to one in a different league, where his argument would have held a little more water had he complained about the Chicago White Sox making the postseason even though they finished a half-game worse than the Bronx Bombers.

However, upon looking at the current American League standings through play last night,  I’m starting to think Steinbrenner was on to something.

Currently, the top four teams in the American League East (Tampa Bay, New York, Boston, and Toronto) have the four-best records in the AL.

I don’t expect this be the case the entire season, I mean we are only on the cusp of June here, but it raises an interesting point.

Should the top four teams make the postseason regardless of the division winners, or should MLB create more wild card spots to accommodate teams that are deserving?

I’ll answer my second question first.

No, MLB commissioner Bud Selig shouldn’t even think about adding spots to the playoffs. Major League Baseball, in my opinion, has the best postseason, because you have to be really good to make it in. There aren’t eight spots like in hockey or basketball, where teams with below .500 records routinely make it in.

Rather, I come to my minefield of a question: Should the top four MLB teams regardless of their division be awarded a playoff berth?

In all of the big four of American sports, the regular season division winners clinch an automatic postseason bid. It’s tradition and principle, it’s fair and correct, as it’s that team’s reward for vanquishing its rivals.

However, unlike baseball, the other sports have plenty of wild card spots to reward those teams who were good, but not quite as good as the divisional winners.

In baseball, you have one wild card spot, which means only the best of the non-division winners make it. It seems fair enough.  Well, that is unless you play in the AL East.

It doesn’t happen that often, in fact the last time it happened was in 2008, but the AL East has consistently had two teams in the postseason—six of the last nine to be exact. 

And this year the top four teams thus far are all from the East. I doubt it will stay that way, but what if it does? What then?

I think if MLB wants to have a more competitive postseason, they should allow the top four teams, regardless of division titles, make it into the postseason, or simply disband the AL East.

Move Tampa and Toronto out (sorry Baltimore you have to stay), and bring in a team(s) that is normally competitive, and that spends money. It could be from another AL division, or from the National League.

Maybe by moving the Blue Jays to the NL East, you give them a fighting chance at the postseason, while moving Tampa to say, the AL Central, gives MLB the opportunity to have the Yankees, Red Sox, and Rays in the postseason at the same time.

Who would I pluck from the NL? The Mets of, course. They already, unofficially at least, compete with the Yankees every year for the hearts and minds of NYC dwellers, so why not have them compete in the same division?

As a baseball fan, I want to see the most competitive postseason possible—even if it flies in the face of tradition. I mean, let’s face it, we do it all the time in sports. 

It used to be tradition to only play day games, not to travel to the West Coast, not to play indoors, and the list goes on and on. But we bucked those traditions for the betterment and advancement of the game.

I know most years the three division winners will normally be amongst the the top four in the league and make the postseason, but for those off years that they aren’t, should we really punish really good teams because they are in a tough division, and reward average teams because their division is terrible?

Let the debate begin.

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