Less to complain about than we're used to

I don't think "spoiled" is an appropriate description of Nats fans right now, as our team is still way in last place, but the month of August has been a fun time to cheer on the boys wearing red, white and blue. And with Logan Kensing being DFA'ed today, there's less to complain about.

But that being said, what's a blog without some whining? Here are a few things on my mind:

Strasburg will sign a "fair offer." There is still no doubt in my mind that if the Nats really did offer him a contract with a $17 million signing bonus, he'll sign it. I don't mind him holding out till the last second to squeeze a little more out of the Lerner's pockets, because it keeps the Nats from pitching him too much this year. He's not ready for the majors, and him holding out until mid-August pretty much guarantees he won't be here in September.

Riggleman should not be the manager beyond 2009. I love Riggleman as a guy and as a bench coach, but we can find a better manager. I don't want to get nit-picky and blame everything that goes wrong on him, but in a game like yesterday the Nats basically won in spite of his managing. I'm not begging for Manny back...I just think the "interim" should stay on Riggleman's title.

Rizzo should be the General Manager beyond 2009, but will he be? We've been telling ourselves that Rizzo's handling of the Strasburg negotiations will be the make or break point of his audition for full-time GM. Once tomorrow strikes and Strasburg is officially a National, it's time to name Rizzo GM. If they don't remove the interim within the next week, I don't believe he'll be back becuase if that's the case, I don't think he's their guy. After tonight, he's got nothing else to prove...either commit to him now or let him loose.

Bill Ladson is a pretty good reporter. I've been harsh on him in the past, but I'd like to point out publicly that his blog is becoming a must-check for breaking Nats news. Now, this doesn't mean I'm retiring my inbox/mailbag answering post...it really means I'm having trouble being snarky, as Bill has been leaving me with nothing to snark at!

Chico Harlan is a really good reporter. Reading his stuff almost makes me feel sophisticated and well-read...but then I remember that I am neither. Still, Chico is well on his way to being the food critic or whatever it is that he has always wanted to be. I will be happy for him but sad for the Nats coverage the day he leaves the beat.

Stances on a few things

First of all, I'm sure most (if not all) of you have seen and heard about Chico-gate by now. My stance: I agree with Mike from Nationals Fanboy Looser-Chico made a mistake, apologized for it and we need to get over it. He didn't choose this beat (in Soviet Russia, beat chooses you), but still is a good writer (with the potential to be a great one) and does a fine job, considering covering baseball is a 24/7/365 event.

Lastings Milledge has been named the leadoff hitter. My stance: AGAINST! FJB had a nice post up today concerning optimizing the batting order, and while I do disagree a bit with some of it, I wholeheartedly agree with batting the OBP monsters at the top. Putting Milledge and Guzman, two of our three most undisciplined starters (the other being free-swingin Flores), 1-2 is just plain stupid.

Cutting Shawn Hill: A necessary evil. It seems that with guys like Hill, the only way to quit the whole "he's so good, but he's always hurt" mantra is to cut bait completely. I still believe Hill can be a great #3 starter, but I think it was time for him to go.

Signing Joe Beimel and Josh Bard: Both good moves. Beimel provides steadiness in the pen-he's more or less a known quantity. Not flashy, not as good as his 2008 line, but good enough to be worth $2 mil. Bard is solid and you can't argue with the price ($600k), especially when you consider the fact that he might end up being the starting catcher. From the looks of things, he's either awesome or terrible every year. Hopefully this is one of those awesome years.