Washington Nationals

Previous Team Analyses

The Nationals enter a new ballpark and a new season with new hope. They were an okay team last year, and they've made some roster adjustments, but haven't done enough to get beyond the title of "okay." Here's the roster manager Manny Acta will take into Nationals Park in 2008.

Lineup:

• SS Christian Guzman
• CF Lastings Milledge
• 3B Ryan Zimmerman
• 1B Dimitri Young/Nick Johnson
• RF Austin Kearns
• LF Wily Mo Pena
• 2B Ronnie Belliard
• C Paul Lo Duca

Rotation:

• Shawn Hill
• John Patterson
• Jason Bergmann
• John Lannan
• Matt Chico

Closer: Chad Cordero

Thoughts...

I'll begin this analysis the way I always do: Chad Cordero is a good but not great closer, will probably get traded at midseason and end up in middle relief for a contender, but is worthy of drafting as your number two closer. Handcuff him with Jon Rauch, especially because Cordero's walk rate has been increasing over the past three seasons. 

Lastings Milledge was the Nats' big acquisition this offseason, and it's a mystery how he fell out of favor so quickly in New York. I'd imagine he would look good in the New York outfield while Moises Alou recovers from injury, but he's in Washington nonetheless. Still, if he can get his personal act together, he is the kind of guy who can captivate fans and go 15/15. He won't carry your outfield but has plenty of upside. Don't write him off the way New York did.

The rest of the Washington outfield provides some power potential at the end of the draft. Austin Kearns has never lived up to the billing since coming from Cincinnati, but maybe leaving RFK will help him bump up to a 20 HR season. Wily Mo Pena, another former Red, took a longer path to Washington, but finally has a starting job. We'll see if he can put it all together this year in our nation's capital - I have been grabbing him in 5-OF leagues.

John Patterson had an excellent 2005 season before being bit by the injury bug. All reports indicate he will be healthy this year, and he can be had for nothing in most fantasy leagues. Facing the Mets and Phillies isn't a recipe for stardom, but the 3.13 ERA and 185 strikeouts from 2005 indicate that he knows how to pitch. In deeper leagues, don't forget about him.

Ryan Zimmerman is the one member of this team worth owning. He's only 23 years old and still learning how to play at the major league level, but he already can be counted on for 20 HR and 90 runs and RBI as a floor. He may not steal many bases while hitting third, but Zimmerman can be counted on for four category production. If you miss the third basemen in the early rounds, Zimmerman could give you great value later on.

Zimmerman and Cordero are worth drafting in just about every format, but take the rest of the roster at your own peril. There's some potential, though it's hard to say whether Nationals Park will be better for hitters or fielders, which makes it that much more difficult to determine which sleepers will pan out. They ought to be "okay" again this year, but there's not a lot of fantasy potential for even "okay" from these guys.