Thursday’s News & Notes

14 Commments

1. Great to see a solid bounce back from Voth. Also another solid start from Raquet. I was skeptical of the pick of him in the 3d round last year, but he’s been solid and looks close to ready for promotion. He isn’t dominating and striking out a lot of guys, though, which was expected from a guy with an upper 90s heater.

2. “Seth Romero reassigned from Oblivion.” Sorry, but I’m going to have a real hard time rooting for this guy. I know he could be a great “asset” if he lives up to his “potential,” but let’s face it, if he had been a 14th-round pick and pulled whatever he’s been pulling, the Nats would have already cut him loose.

   The minor leagues are filled with guys who have sacrificed everything to chase their dreams. A couple of days ago, I highlighted Tyler Mapes, a 30th-round pick who made it to AA, only to lose a year and all his momentum to an injury. He’s about to turn 27, but he’s still at it, riding the buses in the Carolina League. That’s the kind of guy it’s easy to root for. A privileged prima donna like Romero, who doesn’t seem to take any of it seriously? Nope, no respect for him at all. I hate to say that, as I do try to pull for all of “our” guys and be positive about them. But this one will have a long way to go to win my respect. I imagine he’ll have teammates who feel the same way.

   1. No disputing that Romero has conducted himself like a knothead for the last few years.

      That said, this is professional baseball. It’s a meritocracy . Either he stays on the field and puts up numbers or he is gone. Hope he finally gets his act together. Even if he does, he will always be one bad night away from going back to square one.

      Romero is a Nat, and it benefits the organization if he performs. Hope he crushes it at H’town, and climbs the ladder quickly. Maybe the Nats will trade Romero for a key piece in the future, maybe he will decide to stop f-ing around with his immense talent and become an anchor of the Nats starting staff. Hope Romero succeeds, not because he is a good person, but because it benefits the organization.

      It does bother me how Romero keeps getting another chance (and has a couple of million in the bank) and for the last two years, and no organization will even give Luke Heimlich a chance. I know the allegations against him are horrific, but he denies them; he was 16 at the time, and by all accounts he has lived on the straight and narrow for the last 6 years. His record has now been expunged. Do not understand why no MLB team will give him a chance.

      1. Except they’re not allegations: they’re facts that he admitted to in a legal affidavit. You can’t credibly claim that you were lying then but telling the truth now. As for his age, that’s old enough to be charged as an adult and if he was so mentally deficient at 16 as to not understand the consequences of admitting to pedophilia, he had no business going to college, either. That he is not in prison and has not had his anatomy altered is his good fortune.

      2. Because he would be a nightmare for the team that had him. He would have to register as a sex offender everywhere his team visited. The PR of having him on team would be massive.

         1. Heimlich does not have to register as a sex offender. His juvenile record has been expunged. Except for the “unwritten rule” that no MLB team can sign him there is nothing on his record.

            Also, to be clear. Heimlich admitted to allegations as a juvenile. He claims (and I understand he is now trying to minimize the impact) that he admitted to the allegations upon the advice of his attorney and as part of the healing process for his family (the victim was his niece), and a trial was not in anyone’s interests at the time. If it had been known that admitting to any type of sex offense would result in life-time ban from baseball, Heimlich may not have decided to accept the plea, and force the accuser and the State to prove the allegations.

            Where does the line get drawn? Anyone admitting to committing of a sex offense, even as a minor, is now banned from baseball for life? Convicted felons (Ron Leflore — armed robbery; I’m sure there are others), as adults, have played MLB baseball. Drug abusers and wife-beaters played and the play the game (they pay their debt to society and then get a second chance; this isn’t a bad thing). If baseball is going to take a stand against Luke Heimlich, at least set a bright-line policy that makes a sex offense different than every other possible crime.

            1. Actually he does. That was what got him into trouble last year. He didn’t register in Corvallis. I know a little bit about this I live in Corvallis and support OSU.

            2. Guy, that’s factually inaccurate.

               As Pilchard said, this charge was expunged from his record. In the past, he did have to register, but after good behavior for 6 years, it would be removed from his record, and it has.

               From the NY Times if you’re still doubtful (https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/07/sports/luke-heimlich-sex-crime.html)
               “Heimlich’s case might never have been made public if not for the fact that, years later, while pitching for Oregon State, he failed to update his whereabouts for a state registry of sex offenders, which led to a police citation, which in turn tipped reporters to his case.

               Heimlich’s court records were sealed last August, two months after the first news stories broke. That month, five years after the date of his plea, he said, the records were expunged. He no longer has to register as a sex offender.”

3. I am with Luke 100% on this one. Heimlich’s retraction is about the worst thig he could have done from a character perspective, let alone from the reference point of risk mitigation going forward.

   As for Romero, are we really comparing him to a molester? His issues will sort out in the locker room. Locker rooms and teams weed out the players who don’t prioritize team needs. The Nats place high regard on this, and I view what has been happening as Romero being essentially forced to submit to “The Nat’s Way.” If he’s on the field, he’s earned it. If he’s on the field in Hagerstown, he’s given them reason to think he won’t flop.

   1. How do you or how does anyone know the circumstances that led to Heimlich admitting to the allegations?

      In our system of criminal jurisprudence, the accused often admit to crimes that did not commit; particularly juveniles. So, if Heimlich really did not molest his niece, but admitted to the allegation with the understanding that the crime would be expunged when he reached 18, should he not explain the reasoning behind his admission?

      There is a reason why minors can have a criminal record expunged when they turn 18. Among them is that admitting to a crime as minor is not supposed to carry the same weight as admitting a crime as an adult. As there are other circumstances that may dictate a plea other than actual guilt (or the commission of a provable offense).

4. I haven’t followed the Heimlich case that closely and don’t particularly want to. Yes, what he apparently did, and admitted to, was much worse than Romero’s issues.

   That said, if anyone has ever coached a team or supervised a group where one person consistently defies authority, is confronted multiple times, and still continues to break the rules, you know that such a person is a cancer on the whole team or group. This has nothing to do with the “Nats Way.” Romero broke curfew multiple times in West Palm, was confronted and told of the potential punishment, and kept doing it. One suspects he already had a history of such things last season, and he certainly did at U of H. No, you don’t lock people up for being a-holes who won’t grow up, but you sure don’t hire them for your business, either, or keep them around for very long if they’re on the payroll. And if you’re involved with a team with one or two of them on the roster, it’s torture, for the coaches and the teammates. There’s a reason the U of H coach finally kicked his biggest star off the team.

   Yes, it would be good for the Nats if Romero pitches well. But that doesn’t make him an easy person for whom to root. If he doesn’t get his life together and his priorities straight, it really shouldn’t matter how well he pitches.

5. I don’t recall anyone referring to him as a cancer, at any point in his career, and even when he was kicked off the team.

   College football in particular is replete with athletes who violate team rules enough to get disciplined or even dismissed. They are sometimes cancers and sometimes just need to grow up. Why would I not root for the latter, if someone is part of the team I am loyal to?

   I don’t get the extreme hostility. It’s not like he molested Drake LaRoche.

   1. How would you feel if one of your relatives had been a victim and you had to play with him. How would you feel if one of your relatives had been a victim and he was on the team you support. You are making the wrong person the victim.

6. And as far as what happened, WaPo is a prestigious, but not credible, source. When the team makes an announcement, I’ll believe it

   If in fact Romero is a continuing liability, I would root for him to succeed and establish enough trade value to be part of a Realmuto bundle.

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