From the world champion we go to the dregs of the division, a team that really does nothing perticularly well, the Washington Nationals. They've been a prenninal doormat, whether that be in Montreal or now in DC and while they have made some decent moves to improve themselves, I think you'd be hard pressed to say this is a team on the rise.
Arguably their most important move of the off-season was acquiring the profilic slugger Adam Dunn. Providing a great deal of pop and plate disicipline, putting Dunn at 1st base makes them instantly a better team, but not enough to make a difference. Pretty much everywhere else around the diamond they're full of guys who are pretty much non-factors at the plate like Austin Kearns Felipe Lopez and pretty much anyone they're trotting out there.
The nats also made a moderate splash acquiring Scott Olsen and Josh Willingham from the Marlins for next to nothing. Olsen, a left hander coming off his first 200 inning season will certainly be useful in that he's durable, but aside from that he's average at best. 2008 saw his fastball diminish markedly and as he is a year older I don't see it getting any better. As for Willingham, he's a nice player, a corner outfielder with some pop, but unfortunately thats't the one thing the Nats have plenty of, his presence only further augments the logjam in the outfield.
The Nats made some other moves such as signing Daniel Cabrera which would pay dividends if the tall and talented young right hander ever gets his act together, but really I equate their moves to painting a dilapidated house, yeah sure its got some new paint, but the house is still shit and bound to collapse at a moment's notice. While I commend them for having the saavy to sign Dunn at a very reasonable price this is still a team with a whole lot of work to do and years away from contention. Instead of investing in a guy like Dunn they should be investing in player development and scouting, where money goes a long way to create a culture of winning and fostering cheap homegrown talent. The Nats get a B because they improved themselves without giving up a whole lot but improving yourself isn't hard to do when you're godawful.
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