Planetary Nats Blog

They never really had a choice.

For all of the reasons that people have quoted, including Jim Bowden’s comments in the most recent Nationals Journal posting,Mark Teixeira was the perfect free agent candidate for the Nationals. He addressed virtually every one of the Nationals major needs: he plays a position that the Nats are now desperately trying to fill, he can hit, he’s a local product. The magnitude of his contract dispels (at least partially) the notion that the Lerners are unwilling to spend money on payroll. By making a credible offer to Teixeira, the Nats have helped change the perception of the organization in the eyes of the public and the media – though I would say that there is still a long way to go there.

Only one problem – Teixeira now wears pinstripes.

And what a problem it is. The Nats really needed to sign Teixeira, but for more esoteric reasons than simply the performance of a player on the field.

Bear with me for a moment – I want to perform a mental exercise. Suppose you could wave a magic wand and make two things happen: First, you would make Nick Johnson impervious to injury, and second, make sure he performed at the level he has during his healthy times with the Nats. Would Nick Johnson be all that different from Teixeira?

Not that different. Comparable OBP. Less power. Similar average. Similar fielding. Nick Johnson isn’t Mark Teixeira. But he isn’t bad. An injury-free Nick Johnson (the logical equivalent to a calorie-free cheesecake – nice in principle, but a fantasy) would solve the Nats on-field problems for a quarter of the money. But what the magically-enhanced Nick Johnson doesn’t do is this: He doesn’t have local roots. He doesn’t have star power. He doesn’t send a message to the clubhouse that today is the day to win, not next season. He doesn’t send a message to all of Major League Baseball that the Nationals have come to play, create a baseball dynasty in Washington, compete perennially, and be a force both on the field and in the marketplace.

Teixeira does.

But nobody else does, even with a magic wand.

There is nothing in the free agent market that the Nats need the way they needed Teixeira. That’s not to say that there are not free agents out there that the Nats might pursue. But the scope of the Nats need is very different with respect to the remaining marketplace. Signing Dunn (or, heaven forbid, Manny) will be a hollow acquisition unless either can be had a fire sale prices. Both have significant flaws and pose problems for the organization in terms of making them fit. And sure, lots of people can make arguments about this player or that one, but again, which of them puts fans in the seats and makes Nationals Park a line of pride on the back of a baseball card? None of the free agents address that issue, and honestly, I believe that is the most important issue that faces the Nats – credibility.

Do you need proof? We only need to look at the pursuit of Teixeira, and how it turned out. Could the Nationals have kept a low profile, as the Yankees did and then swoop in at the last minute? Of course not. The only reason the Nats were even in the running is that they substituted cash for credibility – and apparently Teixeira left some cash on the table in order to play for the Yankees.

Need another example? Free agents don’t walk away from Redskins money, regardless of how poorly they play. And it isn’t like the Yankees tore up the AL East last year. No reputation and no track record equals the Nationals. Fix the reputation and the need for a track record goes away.

If the Nats are significant players in the remaining free agent market, it will be like sending the kids off in a toy store with $20. They’ll spend every penny and have nothing to show for it in a week. On the other hand, not making a significant expenditure will rile the portion of the fan base that has only a one-dimensional view of player personnel, where payroll is correlated with quality.

So the Nats lost in their quest to land Teixeira. But there was a lot more at stake than the obvious. Fixing the hole on the field will be relatively trivial. Fixing the hole in the baseball world will take time.

The withdrawal of the Angels from the Mark Teixeira sweepstakes adds some important philosophical clarity to the ‘haves’ and the ‘have-nots’ in baseball.

There are really only two players left – The Red Sox and the Nationals.  Maybe the Orioles, but maybe not… they probably don’t have the money or the stomach to be at this table.

To me, Teixeira’s choice comes down to being a cog in a corporate juggernaut, or the cornerstone of an up-and-coming franchise. About the choice between buying success and building success. About the choice between being a hired gun and a hometown hero.

It is about good and evil.

OK, not really about good and evil… but the old adage of “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” just doesn’t hold with the Red Sox. It is possible to hate the Yankees AND the Red Sox. They’re both on the evil side of the ‘Evil Empire’ continuum. They’re more alike than different.

The stakes are vastly higher for the Nationals than for the Red Sox. Signing Teixeira doesn’t transform the Sox the way it does the Nationals. Collin Balester, Willie Harris and Ryan Zimmerman have all weighed in on the pursuit of Teixeira, and all three agree that it changes the entire focus of the team. It at very least starts the clock for respectability, which until now was just a vague notion of some goal in the future.

It also transforms the Nationals in the eyes of the league, and the public in general. Numerous articles and blogs have been written about the perception of the Nats now that they’re serious players in the pursuit of Teixeira. The disciples of “The Plan” (myself included) have either seen through this misperception – or kidded ourselves into believing that the Nats austerity was part of a larger view – but my opinion is in the minority. For the doubters, here is the proof… but for at least some of the doubters, being in the game is not the same as winning. For them, anything short of a contract would be as if nothing happened at all.

There’s also this: Mark Whicker’s piece in the Orange County Register about the departure of Teixeira from Anaheim. Between the lines in this piece is the argument that there is a lot of pressure in being the “Final Piece” of the puzzle – the very thing Stan Kasten suggested that the pursuit of a major free agent would be for the Nats. Clearly, Teixeira isn’t the final piece for the Nats, but in fact, he’s something more. He’s a necessary piece. He answers questions on the field, but he also answers questions about the Nats future, and for the cynics among us, he answers a huge marketing question, too. Teixeira will not draw fans to the park like Soriano did, but the acquisition of Teixeira will draw fans because the fan base will finally believe that “The Plan” is a viable path to perennial success.

I don’t envy the Lerners. They probably see the acquisition of Teixeira to be as much about  a referendum on their commitment to excellence as improving the on-the-field product.

I like the Nats’ world view a lot better than Boston. Sure I am biased. But it doesn’t matter. Failure isn’t an option.

Use the force, Ted.

This is one of those things that seems, on the surface, for which there should be universal support – and certainly, in my head, that is how I feel. As evidence, I direct you to the planetnj online petition – hondo.planetnj.net. Mike Henderson also has a Facebook ’cause’ you can register with to show your support – Bring Hondo Home!

All of this started, thanks to Dave Sheinin’s post in Nationals Journal, where he informed the world that Frank Howard is no longer employed by the Yankees… and then advocated that the Nats hire him.

What a grand idea! Howard would link Senators history to the Nationals, who are admittedly struggling on the team culture front. I was a kid in the 70’s and Hondo was my hero. I even carried a 36 ounce bat, just because I saw myself as Hondo when I played ball. I could barely lift it, much less swing it. On opening day in 2005, I sat in the upper deck of RFK just above the left field foul pole as Howard took the field, and then handed his position to Brad Wilkerson.

Tears streamed from my eyes as I watched the Senators take the field that night, and surrender their positions to the Nats players… and then the Nats went on to win that night and start an amazingly magical season. It was a great way to bridge 34 years of empty summers in Washginton.

Frank Howard was the hero, and the face of baseball in Washginton for an entire generation of baseball fans. He needs to be a part of baseball in Washington once again.

But there’s a problem with all of this. The rationale for hiring Hondo is almost entirely an emotional one – at least from the perspective of the fans.

Comments in Nationals Journal yesterday were monolithic. Everyone wants Howard back. But what would he do? Quite a few Nationals Journal readers commented that it would be great to see him “. . . in a Nationals uniform.” But that is unlikely. Certainly there is room for him as a scout. But in some respects, that defeats (at least some of) the purpose of having him in the organization in the first place – the fans want to see him. Scouts rarely get to chill in the home park – and this is what made Howard valuable to the Yankees. Howard lives in Loudon County, and could head up to Camden Yards to scout the Yankees upcoming opponents. He certainly wasn’t a fixture at Yankee Stadium. I am sure he was at Nationals Park quite a bit more often.

In some respects, Hondo’s sudden availability poses some problems for the Nats. The “Lerners are Cheap” crowd would argue that the organization is unwilling to commit money to anything worthwhile, including Frank Howard’s salary. But clearly this isn’t the case – I think it would be safe to say that the fanfare over Howard’s hiring would generate enough revenue in season ticket sales to cover whatever it might cost the Nats in salary. It isn’t a revenue issue. But if you remember, it also wasn’t a revenue issue with Frank Robinson. The Nats seemed ready to retain Robinson in some semi-ceremonial capacity – one with a salary – but without any real responsibility. This wasn’t what Robinson wanted. While nobody has suggested that Hondo would feel the same way, it should be a real concern for the Nats. And not to take anything away from Frank Robinson, but Robinson is an icon of baseball history and tradition, while Hondo is an icon from our history and tradition. Getting this right – assuming it happens – is important.

The fans seemingly universal craving for adding Howard to the organization hints an important nutritional deficiency in the Nationals’ organizational diet: the need to connect deeply to Washington and its baseball traditions. Clearly, hiring Hondo does that. But it needs to be done in a way that respects and celebrates Howard’s talents and all that he meant (and still means) to Washington baseball fans.

So what would be the proper position for Frank Howard? One where his efforts make a real contribution to what happens on the field. After all, in addition to his greatness on the field, he has coached, managed and scouted (among other things), and this will be his 50th year in baseball. And second, but almost as important, kids of all ages should be able to walk into Nationals Park, and know that there’s a chance that when they stand in line for a half smoke, they might be standing next to “The Capital Punisher”.

Hire him for his baseball skills and knowledge. Celebrate him for what he did for baseball in Washington, and all he meant for Washington baseball fans.

(and by the way, sign the petition!)