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When Jim Riggleman stunned the Washington Nationals universe Thursday by quitting on a red-hot team that just went over the .500 mark after a three-game sweep of the Seattle Mariners that was their ninth with in 10 games, it left the team without a manager heading into Chicago for a game the next night.  Washington solved that by naming bench coach John McLaren the interim manager. McLaren once managed the Mariners for almost an entire year and was replaced by Riggleman, who was his bench coach at that time.  What irked many Washingtonians was the perceived selfishness of Riggleman, who grew up in the area and knows of the city's struggles to maintain a baseball team the past 50 years. The Nationals, who have been here since 2005, are the third team since 1961.  Riggleman was upset at the series of three one-year contracts he signed in 2009. He admitted he was no Casey ...

After the Washington Nationals’ 11-2 humbling at the hands of the Atlanta Braves, Ryan Zimmerman promised a better effort from the club on Tuesday. Then Zimmerman went out and backed up that promise. Despite Zimmerman’s tremendous effort, a lack of clutch hitting and a tenth inning error by Jayson Werth allowed the Marlins to win 3-2 on a walk-off hit by Donnie Murphy. In the third inning, Florida starter Anibal Sanchez threw Zimmerman a 1-0 fast ball that the third baseman rocketed over the left field wall to put the Nationals up 2-1. Washington was able to maintain that lead until pinch hitter Greg Dobbs drove in Donnie Murphy on sac fly given up by Tyler Clippard. The earned run went to Jason Marquis, who surrendered a double to Murphy to lead off the seventh inning. Marquis pitched well enough to win, giving up two earned runs in 6.1 innings of work. The good ...

Washington Nationals (2010 record: 69-93) The addition of free agent Jayson Werth speaks volumes about the Nationals’ growth in terms of the perception of the team as it continues its journey towards baseball relevance. The trade-off from Adam Dunn to Werth may or may not make an impact on the field in terms of wins and losses, but it makes a clear statement about the possibilities for the future. Sadly for Nats fans, that future is not now. The team improved by 10 games last year, but it faces an uphill battle to hold onto those gains in the upcoming season. The club lost future ace Stephen Strasburg to a torn ulnar collateral nerve and consequent Tommy John surgery last August. He’ll miss most, if not all, of the 2011 season. On offense, Dunn and Adam Kennedy departed via free agency, and the front office traded OF Josh Willingham to Oakland. Considering all ...

When former general manager Jim Bowden compared Ian Desmond to future Hall of Fame shortstop Derek Jeter, his team had yet to play a game as the Washington Nationals.  Fans had never heard of Desmond, a 19-year-old Floridian who was taken in the third-round of the 2004 amateur draft.  Fans thought Bowden was out of his mind. From 2005—the year of Bowden’s comparison—through 2008, Desmond played nothing like Derek Jeter. In fact, he played nothing like a prospect. He couldn’t field and seemed to make up for it by not hitting either. He was still playing for Class-A Potomac in 2007 and injuries took their toll.  In five minor league seasons, he produced a career .248 batting average. When 2009 began, Danny Espinosa—and not Desmond—was the club’s top shortstop prospect. Then, all of a sudden, Desmond “got it.”  Splitting time between Double-A Harrisburg and Triple-A Syracuse, Desmond batted .330/.401/.477 last season, hitting seven homers and driving ...

As good as he is, Evan Longoria is not single-handedly winning your fantasy baseball league for you. Why? Because most of the owners in your leagues are getting fairly off-setting numbers out of their first round picks.However, the players discussed here could win you that championship, because while everyone is getting minimal value from their late-round picks, you could be getting early-round numbers.This doesn’t mean you should reach for them in the rounds where their value might end up, but you should target them late, and enjoy the results. (All projected draft rounds are in a 12-team standard snake draft)Begin Slideshow

As a way to both identify sleepers and help prepare owners in case they miss a player they were targeting, this is another new series of articles that I am going to be doing on the site. Let me know what you think; if you have any suggestions let me know either here or via e-mail. With that, let’s get going. Shortstop is one of the thinner positions for fantasy owners to try and fill in 2011.  There are two premier options then a series of question marks.  One of the mid-level players owners may target is Alexei Ramirez, who has proven that despite a consistent slow start in April, by year’s end his numbers will be more than usable. For a more in depth look at my thoughts on Ramirez, click here for an article I previously wrote. The bottom line with Ramirez is while he has shown 20/20 potential, he isn't quite ...

Lately a lot of the fresh faces in new places are making the most out of their change of scenery. This week it’s time for you to take advantage! Let's stroll though and see who to sit and who to start.Start ‘EmIan Desmond, Washington Nationals, 23 percent ownedAs long as your league doesn't count fielding percentage or errors, then Desmond is your man this week. He's been hot after the break, hitting .304 with a .790 OPS since. All of his games next week are at home where he's hit all but one of his home runs. Against his team's two opponents next week (CHC, STL), Desmond's hitting .500 through 20 at-bats this year.Ryan Theriot, Chicago Cubs, 84 percent ownedYou can expect this new acquisition to pay some major dividends this week for the Dodgers. First up, he plays in Milwaukee against the Brewers, where he has a career mark ...

Ian Desmond is a bit of an enigma to me. He has the potential to be a speed/power combo at the plate, but his defense could eventually cost him playing time. He leads all of baseball with 27 errors. No one else has more then 17. I know, fantasy owners don’t care about defense, but if it starts costing him playing time, it will become a major factor. As far as his ability at the plate, there is certainly a lot that would be attractive to fantasy owners. Just look at his performance thus far: 351 At Bats.262 Batting Average (92 Hits)9 Home Runs48 RBI42 Runs12 Stolen Bases.296 On Base Percentage.410 Slugging Percentage.303 Batting Average on Balls in Play From a shortstop, there’s a lot to like.  At the same time, there are some underlying numbers that raise a few red flags. The first problem is his walk rate: he basically has none. He has ...

  Are you hurting in the RBI category? Here are some reasonably available players that can help you out.   Matt Joyce, OF, Tampa Bay Rays Joyce had 14 RBIs over the past 15 days while hitting .286 with 8 runs and 4 HR. On the year he’s hitting .244 with 13 runs, 5 HR, and 20 RBI in 31 games. Matt is owned in three percent of ESPN and 11 percent of CBS leagues.   Chris Johnson, 3B, Houston Astros Johnson had 13 RBI over the past 15 days while hitting .449 with nine runs, 4 HR, and one SB. On the year he’s hitting .343 with 17 runs, 4 HR, 23 RBI, and two SB in 40 games. Chris is owned in 25 percent of ESPN and 44 percent of CBS leagues.   Neil Walker, 2B/3B, Pittsburgh Pirates Walker had 10 RBI over the past 15 days while hitting .345 with ...

The nation has laid witness to the dominance of Stephen Strasburg and now it’s time for the Washington Nationals to claim their spot amongst the upper echelon of baseball. While it is obvious that this franchise has been in a shambles for years, the Nationals benefited from their ineptitude by getting Strasburg and teenage hitting phenomenon Bryce Harper. These unique talents are once in a generation talents that will become cornerstones of championship quality teams. Having both Strasburg and Harper, in addition to Ryan Zimmerman and Drew Storen, gives the Nationals four players who each solidify specific needs found on dynastic teams (i.e. the Yankees' big four of Jeter, Posada, Pettitte and Rivera). The assets the Nationals have acquired during these years of loss and disappointment situate them to make a serious push in the next few seasons. This push could last for at least a decade. If you look at similar franchises ...