Wednesday, January 16, 2008

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1) Baseball Prospectus sez (based on nothing, really) that Ryan Zimmerman's going to be a breakout candidate. A reasonable enough statement. But then as that particular author is wont to do, he takes it a step further to say that he'll outproduce David Wright, who was a legit MVP candidate last year. Um, yeah. Possible, I suppose, but then so is the possibility of me being elected Pope. (Wily Mo Pena gets an honorable mention)

Somewhat-related discussion (though not as much angst from Mets fans as I was hoping) at Baseball Primer.

2) Someone somewhere passed along the UniWatch link (complete with screenshots of the questions) that indicates that the Nats are sniffing around the uniforms, seeing whether people like them. Somewhere, there's a W-clad blogger crying silently inside.

posted by Chris Needham at 10:26 AM

10 Comments:

  • Not sure why you deem it all that unlikely; it's not as if the claim was that Felipe Lopes will out perform Jose Reyes.

    Zimmerman will get an significant boost by moving from the most pitcher friendly park in the NL to park that is at least nuetral if not offense friendly. Also, Zimmerman is two years younger than Wright; Zimmerman is only 23 (pretty amazing). So, he still should be improving every year. Also, Zimmerman is bigger than Wright and has the frame to be big-time power hitter while Wright at 6 feet looks to have topped out his power potential.

    As long as Zimm's wrist is a 100%, not sure why you would dismiss out of hand the possibility of Zimmerman having a bust out year that is equal to or better than Wright's.

    Pilchard

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 1/16/2008 11:19 AM  

  • As long as Zimm's wrist is a 100%, And as long as John Patterson's healthy, I like his chances of out-producing John Smoltz.

    /cheapshot.

    It's not completely impossible... I just don't think it's very likely, even if he's healthy. The park, for sure, is going to help.... if some of those doubles do turn into homers, it'll be something.

    If Wright 'regresses' back to what he did in '05/06, then yes, Zimmerman's likely as valuable as Wright is.

    I guess that I just have more faith that Wright's ability is closer to what he did in '07.

    The one thing that Zimmerman must learn from Wright is how to take a walk. He needs to have more patience at the plate and better pitch recognition if he's going to get to that level. Perhaps the stronger lineup will help him in that he won't feel that he has to pick the team up on his shoulders.

    By Blogger Chris Needham, at 1/16/2008 11:23 AM  

  • Given Zim's broekn wrist, "breakout" is an alarming word to use.

    I hope the wrist heals according to plan. I emphasize "hope" because I have zero confidence in the trainers and medics the penny-pinching Nats use. It's just as easy to predict that they'll screw up the treatment and cause either delay or a second injury.

    If the wrist does heal OK, I would guess a good month or so of the season will involve Zim getting his strength back and then he'll have to work on timing. Let's see how he's doing in June or July before musing about "breakout" years.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 1/16/2008 2:24 PM  

  • Are merchandise sales that bad? Or, rather, are does anyone think they are bad as a function of color and design? Seems like everybody has a Nats hat. Once they start winning those people will start buying jeries, etc, but only when they start winning.

    Thats not to say merchandise sales is directly tied to performance, (Redskins, Washington) but the Nats need to have a presence before alot people feel cool in Nats jerseys and the like. And the only way to do that really is win.

    By Blogger Ironic Goat, at 1/16/2008 2:44 PM  

  • i would love to vote against the "nationals" font, which was one of the options presented in the uniwatch link. the funky, retro-ish curly W has always clashed with the generic, blocky, modern font of "nationals". the "dc" is in the same blocky format.

    they should keep the unis essentially the same but definitely upgrade/change the primary font.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 1/16/2008 4:52 PM  

  • I've always thought that a simple white and navy blue uni with the curly "W" logo on the upper right or left side and maybe even the number on the front would be simple, classy and cool. Maybe even the vest look would be interesting.

    It's no wonder the Nats merch sales stink. The only thing that isn't boring about the current unis is the curly W logo. It is timeless and should never be replaced.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 1/16/2008 5:04 PM  

  • Zimmerman will be a better hitter when he stops getting suckered into swinging at those low outside pitches. Further, he needs to eliminate his fixation with hitting to the opposite field, which seems to dilute his power.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 1/16/2008 5:54 PM  

  • Just curious, but who would actually WANT to buy a Nats jersey in the 1st place? There are so many stars to choose from, what name would you want on the back?

    Considering the lack of star power and the turnover on this team, not many people are going to be shelling out $100 for a MLB authentic GUZMAN jersey, regardless of how it looks. The Mets uniforms are ugly as hell, but they sell plenty of those, because they have players like Reyes, Beltran and Wright to drive sales. Unless you wait for the turnover sale and pick up a Guillen jersey for $15 at Modells, like I did for my daughter, what's the point. Stick with the blue curly W cap for now and pray the team develops like we've been told. Now that's more like it.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 1/17/2008 10:05 AM  

  • Good thing I didn't get sent the Nats uni survey...because I would have trashed the home and red alt unis (just don't like red) and would have beat the drum for the road uni's---those I really like.
    Especially with the DC logo.
    Maybe add pinstripes?

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 1/17/2008 1:05 PM  

  • Avoid Kearns and Milledge. Stick with Young, Lopez, or Johnson. That way when they depart the team there's still a chance we'll get another player with the same last name ;-)

    Chris thanks for the uniwatch link. Surprising to see, but I have been wondering why they chose to paint the seats blue in the new ball park...

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 1/17/2008 1:13 PM  

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