Washington Nationals

The Montreal Expos were the best team in the National League back in 1994. Their roster was the perfect mix of up-and-coming youngsters and experienced veterans.

Cliff Floyd, Mike Lansing, Marquis Grissom, Moises Alou, Larry Walker, Rondell White, Pedro Martinez, Ken Hill, John Wetteland, and Darrin Fletcher were just some of the names dotting the Expos' major league roster.

The Expos got off to a fast start and when the player's strike began on Aug. 12th, the Expos had the best record in all of baseball at 74-40 and were on pace to win 106 games.

When the Washington Nationals selected Chris Marrero with the overall 15^th pick in the 2006 amateur draft, the team hoped they were drafting a high school slugger who was polished enough to make it to the majors quickly, possibly by 2011.

Were they right? At this point, it sure seems like it.

As much as I love the Washington Nationals, I think it’s fair to say that they haven’t done much right since moving to D.C. five seasons ago.  Too many of the team’s personnel decisions have backfired, leading to several very long, very ugly, very bad years.

One of Jim Bowden’s first moves was to trade a part-time outfielder and a poor-hitting shortstop to the Angels for the volatile Jose Guillen.  At the time, it seemed like a steal.

And it was, but not for the Nationals.

Francisco Rodriguez has been a premier closer (perhaps the premier closer) in all of baseball over the last six years. Since 2004, "K Rod" has saved 206 games and crafted a stunning 2.20 ERA during that span.

Justin Maxwell has shown flashes of brilliance around his periods of ineptness, but hasn't indicated any real ability to become an everyday major leaguer.

Since being recalled from "AA" Harrisburg in 2007, Maxwell has a 162-game average of just .245-13-26 with a .317 on-base percentage.

"We made too many mistakes. A lot of bad things happened that we can't continue to allow. We've got to do a better job of handling the details of the running game."-- Jim Riggleman, Sept. 16, 2009.

THE RESULT: Poor baserunning, yet another botched squeeze and a meatball from a reliever for a grand slam resulted in the Washington Nationals 95th loss of the season. They haven't all come at the hands of the Philadelphia Phillies, but it seems like half of them have.

The Washington Nationals are 19 games away from securing the top pick in baseball’s amateur draft for the second straight season.

You can decide if congratulations or condolences are in order.

The Washington Nationals are on a pace to finish the season at 56-106, four games worse than last year’s woeful effort.

Their wish list for next year, however, is not nearly as long as their record would suggest.

The MLB All-Star Game is one of the greatest games in sports. It is a time when both leagues put forth their best players and play to see who's better.

But most of all, it is a time to reflect on the first half of the season as well as look ahead to the second half.

In this "Great Debate", the top teams of the NL East have put forth their top writers to discuss what will happen in the second half of the season.

Mets top writer Richard Marsh and I have selected the participants.

For the Philadephia Phillies, we have Scott Eisenlohr and Cody Swartz.