The “Let’s try changing cities again.” Nationals Fan.

Not to say that a new city would solve the Nationals “playoff missing” syndrome, but since the move to Washington nothing’s really changed, except their team name and the stadium they play in.  Although, I’m not sure another city change is going to help out the Nationals.  They seem to play the same just about anywhere they go.  It’s not all bad I guess; they did have their best season in six years last year, and were two games away from a winning record.

The last time the Nationals made the playoffs (1981), they were called the Montreal Expos and there were only two divisions in the National League.  This past October they celebrated their 30^th anniversary “we almost never made it” golf outing, and by the outlook of the N.L. East and their team, it looks as if they will be celebrating another year of regular season disappointment.

Surprisingly, things are looking a little more on the bright side for the downtrodden franchise, at least compared to their 102 and 103 loss seasons in 2008 and 2009.  Last year they notched 80 wins and were able to snag third in the N.L. East, something they hadn’t been able to accomplish since adjusting to the new team name and city.  They have been making some moves to gradually improve the team over the past couple years, and I would expect to only see them improve in 2012.

The Nationals have essentially just set their starting rotation for the next 3 or 4 years through a five player deal with the Athletics.  They add the 16 game-winner Gio Gonzalez to their starting rotation in 2012.  Add him to a healthy Steven “let me pitch for a full-year” Strasburg and Jordan “I need runs” Zimmerman, and the Nationals rotation is looking a little more promising than it did in 2008 and 2009. 

Where the Nationals will rise or fall in the N.L. East standings is in run production.  Besides Michael Morse, no one in their line-up really contributed much of anything when it comes down to providing run support.  Perhaps the biggest bust in the line-up was the 125 million dollar acquisition of Jayson “so far worthless” Werth last year.  The team doesn’t lose much with Hairston Jr. and Nix leaving, but they still can’t piece three competent hitters together in their line-up.   If they don’t find some hitting this season, they’ll be carrying on their annual October golf tournament again this year.