Dibble Still in the Penalty Box

Bill Ladson just tweeted that Rob Dibble will not be in the booth for the Nationals today or Sunday. Two things to take from this:

1. Dibble is clearly in danger of losing his job. If you haven't already, send the good people at MASN a note (and really, in my experience outside of Dibble, they're all pretty good people) encouraging them to keep doing what they're doing and move on from Dibble now. Or Tweet you can tweet it at @MASNSports.
   
2. This team really likes to let people twist in the wind before firing them! Jim Bowden, Manny Acta, now Dibs... (and make no mistake, the team is making the call here). I don't know if this is a pattern that Stan Kasten has demonstrated in other jobs, but it's not the cleanest way to do business.

Anyway, I think they're on the right track, so let's not be too critical. Just take a moment and let MASN and the team know that you prefer the Dibble-free broadcasts.

Turn Off MASN (or at least hit mute)

With apologies to the many great people who work at MASN, it's time for all Nationals fans to pledge to go 100% Charlie and Dave until MASN gets rid of Rob Dibble and his insufferable act.

Today, in what I guess is his first public appearance since we learned that he'd been taunting the best pitcher on the planet to "suck it up" and pitch with a torn ulnar collateral ligament, Dibble went on Jim Bowden's XM show to attack the people foolish enough to actually listen to what he had to say. (Somehow the combined amount of assholery in that broadcast didn't spontaneously tear a hole in the universe and plunge us all into a different dimension of time and space).

What his comments (summarized on the Bog) show is that Dibble has learned nothing from this episode, and the only solution is to take him off the air.

But since all indications are that Dibble will be back tonight, it seems the only way this is going to happen is for fans to shut him off ourselves.

Look people, we have a great radio team in Charlie and Dave. Just hit mute, go to 1500 AM, and enjoy a lovely broadcast without the non-stop obnoxious self-aggrandizement. Shoot, even on MLB.tv the radio broadcast is now synchronized.

Now, if you're one of the poor souls who can't get the game on the radio, you don't have only that options. You can turn off the sound and put on some music. Or you could try closed captioning and only look when there's some bit of information you want to find out. Or you could just "suck it up" and try to enjoy the broadcast despite Dibble.

But for everyone else, do yourself a favor and go with Charlie and Dave. You won't be sorry, and maybe by the time Strasburg comes back, Dibble will be gone for good.

• @kevinreiss also reminds us that you can click here and tell MASN what you think of Dibble directly.
  

Enough Mourning... Now Back to Rebuilding

Almost exactly a year ago, Nationals fans got the worst possible news: Tommy John surgery for Jordan Zimmermann, then emerging as one of the top 25-30 pitchers in baseball. Today, it's deja vu all over again.

But guess what? (Here comes the positive spin--you know I'm always here to find the silver lining.) A year goes by pretty fast. And you just don't lose that much sleep when there's nothing to play for and your team is in no position to compete anyway, as the Nationals were in 2010 and will be again in 2011.

Seriously, how much time did you spend this season fretting over the games the Zimmermann didn't start? If you're a prospect hound or a season-ticket holder, you probably noticed the difference. But if you're like the vast majority of Nationals fans, you're thinking, "well, they weren't going anywhere anyway..." (And that's before you even think about how the guy who filled Zimmermann's spot in the rotation is sporting a fine 3.36 ERA in 169 innings pitched.)

So Strasburg won't pitch in 2011, and there's a new risk factor increasing the likelihood that he doesn't fulfill the otherworldly expectations we all had after watching him blow away 14 Pirates in his debut.

But assuming that Strasburg, like most Tommy John survivors these days, comes back as good as new, the Nationals are no further from contention today than they were two days ago. The year 2012 now becomes the optimist's target date for a breakthrough, with 2013 more realistic still.

In fact, that season--the final year of Ryan Zimmerman's contract and Bryce Harper's age 20 season--is really the year the team has to be gunning for, and all their assets should be managed with that season in mind.

That means the most important question when it comes to Adam Dunn is whether you believe he can maintain his current level of solid, sub-all star value through his age 33 season. It's possible, but it's a bad bet.

It also means that Mike Rizzo should be building the team with a close eye on the anticipated free agent classes of 2010 and 2011. First base is loaded over the next two years, so there's an easy back-up plan in case Dunn flops or the team decides to trade him or let him go for the draft picks.

The draft is another area that again becomes relevant to the team's strategy for building a contender. Since the team is headed for likely another top five draft pick in 2011, maybe the #3 overall, they have another great chance to land a premium talent through the draft. And the early scouting of the 2011 draft says it's a class stacked with college bats--exactly the class of players most likely to be able to contribute quickly.

The Nationals have a lot of problems to solve. But now, they have a clear timeline for addressing them. By opening day 2013, the team must solve the following list of problems. They have plenty of tools to do it, but it's going to require a very strong run of player management decisions--the very list of decisions that will define Rizzo's tenure as GM:

• Find out if Ian Desmond and Danny Espinosa can be the double-play combo for a contender
• Find at least two more top-40 starting pitchers, either through trades, player development, or free agency, to go with Zimmermann and Strasburg. No one else in the organization--not Lannan, Detwiler, whoever--should be counted on for more than one rotation spot at most.
• Identify the catcher of the future from among Wilson Ramos, Derek Norris, and Jesus Flores.
• Find an outfield. Gotta pencil in Harper for one of those spots, but Josh Willingham is running out of team-controlled years, and Nyjer Morgan won't be any better at age 32 than he is now.

Flags at Half-Mast

Nothing can make me feel better today. Or tomorrow. I'm so depressed, I'm ready to vote for someone I've never heard of. Still, firing Dibble might be a good start to rebuilding morale. Dude better never set foot in Nationals Park again. Suck it up, he says. Unbelievable.

Chicken Shit Rob Dibble Hides in the Face of Criticism

Remember the last time a loud-mouth no-talent jackass from Cincinnati decided to make scarce from this franchise? When Dibble "resigns" do you think he'll blame the media? Either way, Zuckerman might have to update that list of the best days in franchise history:

Nats announcer Dibble requested time off

WASHINGTON (AP)

Washington Nationals announcer Rob Dibble will take some time off two days after making comments critical of rookie pitcher Stephen Strasburg.

MASN spokesman Todd Webster said Dibble would not work Wednesday night's game against the Chicago Cubs and is ''taking a few days off.'' Webster said Dibble requested the time off but did not say whether the absence was related to the comments about Strasburg.

Dibble on Monday lashed out at the young pitcher, who has been placed on the disabled list twice in the last month. Dibble said on Sirius XM Radio that ''You can't have the cavalry come in and save your butt every time you feel a little stiff shoulder, sore elbow.''

What Brings Nationals Fans Together?

When you're the fan of a team that never wins and has no real chance to win, it's hard to get real excited. There's no real point in hoping for a winner, so there are other things you have to get riled up about. And it's doubly hard as a fan base to find things other than wins and losses to really be passionate about as a united group. Everyone has their own opinions about what the team should do and what brand of beer they should sell at the park.

But from time to time, we as Nationals fans have been able to come together passionately around certain causes. Firing Jim Bowden. Loving Ryan Zimmerman. Spoiling the Mets. Hating the Phillies. Clint.

Now, we have another: Rob Dibble. Dibble has for a long time been a polarizing figure. Some love him, some hate him. Charitably, I'd say he's a big personality and inspires strong opinions. That's not a bad thing.

But now that Dibble has put himself squarely on the side of hating Stephen Strasburg--he started by bad-mouthing him last summer during his contract negotiation and amped it way up this week by criticizing his toughness--I predict that Dibble will be the next cause celebre to bring Nationals fans together.

You didn't hear it here first, and this won't be the last, but for the love of god, Stan Kasten: fire Dibble.

Boz, Meet Context. Context, Meet Boz.

For chrissake, a home run in 1968 is not the same as a home run in 2003. A home run (or an RBI) in the Great American Small Park in 2003 is absolutely not the same thing as a home run in Candlestick Park in 1968 or Yankee Stadium in 1960 when runs per game were three runs lower than they are today. This is self-evident to any half-wit paying the slightest bit of attention.

So I ask, will we ever stop getting garbage like this from the Washington Post's supposedly expert baseball columnist?:

For example, Dunn averages 1.61 RBI-per-home run in his career (and 1.5 this season). This measures whether he tends to hit bases-empty homers or when men are on base. This places him above Barry Bonds, Willie Mays, Mickey Mantle, Frank Robinson and Palemiro (among others) who hit 500 homers. He's also well ahead of current stars like Chipper Jones, Vlad Guerrero and slightly ahead of Ryan Zimmerman.

Just retire, please. You're hurting me.

Nationals Break their own Record for Draft Bonuses

We won't have bonus information for all 50 rounds for a while, but we do know that the Nationals spent enough yesterday to break their own record for the most money ever spent on bonuses in a single draft.

Last year, in a draft headlined by Stephen Strasburg, the team spent $10,869,500 on bonuses. This year, we know they've already spent at least $11,178,200. (This doesn't count the full value of the major league contracts given to Harper or Strasburg--just bonuses.)

Here's the run down of where the money went:

Rd	Name	Bonus
1	Bryce Harper	$6,250,000
2	Sammy Solis	$1,000,000
3	Rick Hague	$430,200
4	A.J. Cole	$2,000,000
5	Jason Martinson	$174,000
6	Cole Leonida	$125,000
7	Kevin Keyes	$125,000
8	Matt Grace	$125,000
9	Aaron Barrett	$35,000
10	Blake Kelso	$115,000
12	Robbie Ray	$799,000
	Total	$11,178,200

A.J. Cole, Against the Odds

The Nationals just signed fourth round pick A.J. Cole, who was not only the least likely top ten pick in their own draft to sign, but one of the least likely to sign picks in the whole 2010 draft.

Cole, a 6'5" right-hander, is a high school pitcher with first-round ability. He slid after making a commitment to the University of Miami and showing some inconsistency. Guys like this have a lot of incentive to go to school and improve their stock, so the Nationals probably weren't going to get him without paying him first-round money.

That they did, setting a fourth round record by signing Cole for $2 million. The MLB recommendation for that pick was $258,300.

The team also announced the above-slot signing of Sammy Solis. This is less of a surprise, but also good news. Solis is a left-handed college pitcher and signed for $1 million.

With Bryce Harper still to sign, these deals mean that the Nationals are very likely to be the highest-spending team in the draft for the second year in a row.

Right Track / Wrong Track Poll Results... And a New Poll!

Last month, fan confidence slipped lower than it has at any time since Stephen Strasburg signed. A temporary blip? Or the mark of a long-term slide, as fans realize that 72 wins isn't quite what it was cracked up to be? We'll see. Voting is open for the August poll in the upper right-hand corner of this page.

Dunn and Waivers

Buster Olney tweets that Adam Dunn has been placed on revocable waivers. He also says that Dunn won't clear waivers because numerous NL teams plan to put claims on him, and if any team does claim him, the Nationals can pull him back.

As folks probably know by now, the significance of this is that if he clears waivers he can be traded. Saturday's trade deadline was the "non-waiver" deadline, and any player can still be traded if he passes waivers first at any time this season. Also, any player not on a 40-man roster can be traded, so any minor league prospects the Nationals wanted back for Dunn could still come over.

So basically this means the Nationals are doing their due diligence to be able to trade Dunn, in the event that they get an offer they like. And it doesn't really even imply that the Nationals want to trade him, since players get put out on waivers so often. Jim Bowden used to try to send Ken Griffey through waivers every year, even in his prime.

The one thing about this that's somewhat notable, if it's true (and it might not be, since teams don't have to report waiver moves), is that it means Dunn wasn't sent through waivers earlier in the season. If I understand the rules right (and I might not--if anyone knows for sure, I know you'll tell me in the comments), a player can be traded if he'd passed through waivers at any time in the season. And since they would have presumably had an easier time getting him through waivers earlier in the season, they may have foreclosed some options to make themselves better. (Note--NFA Brian answered my question below, so if you've made it this far, keep reading.)