Believe me, I prefer this to the earlier days of this site’s existence when WAY TOO MUCH attention, hopes, and pent-up desire for a contender was projected onto players who could only have gotten a shot on a losing team with a farm system that had been stripped for parts by the team’s first GM, then run into the ground without changing the oil, filter, or tires by the team’s second GM.
I don’t miss those days… or the pseudofans who would reflexively (repeatedly) wail about the team’s spending (“The Lerners Are Cheap!”) who I now refer to as the Lieutenant Dans (because they don’t have any legs to stand on), though I believe they’re now lurking in the comments section of MASN and WaPo, where there’s so much stupid, I wouldn’t advise visiting without a dumbrella.
I rather like the folks who’ve stayed here past the meteoric rises of Strasburg and Harper and enjoy following the development of guys who might replace today’s Washington Nationals in a few seasons, but also understand they might be traded away, too. (If we’re honest, it may be more of the latter than the former ☹)
About the only thing I can add to what our diligent commenters have beaten me to the punch in the previous post is the almost fait accompli of the Nationals renewing its PDCs with Auburn and Potomac this month, joining Hagerstown last month. This ensures that all five affiliates that the team doesn’t own will remain in place through the 2018 season.
I know this doesn’t sit well with some folks, who’d like the AAA and AA teams to be closer, but Bowie isn’t going to open up without an apocalypse (Richmond is both farther away in miles and drive time, not to mention its stadium is AA’s analog to the Pfitz) and Norfolk might only be a shorter drive if you’re willing to go there in the middle of the day and the middle of the week.
In my opinion, the substandard facilities in Hagerstown and Potomac notwithstanding, the current arrangement is about as good as we can reasonably hope for. It’s better than it was 10 years ago, when Washington’s AAA affiliate was in Louisiana, Low-A was in Georgia, and SS-A was in Vermont. Maybe you could ask for a switch in the NYPL to State College from Auburn or for Washington to make an arrangement with an Appy League team, I suppose.
That’s about it for now as we shift from daily posts to weekly posts before the AFL starts up. Enjoy your dumplings! 😉