Nationals (Expos) All-Time Team v.2012
Last year's team can be seen here.
As of today, the Nationals are tied with the Reds for the best record in Major League Baseball, inching closer to a division title (with a magic number of 5) having already clinched a spot in the postseason. The Nationals are oozing with young talent but their success this season has been one of the biggest surprises in baseball. Most people recognized the level of talent on that roster but I think that it would be fair to say that most baseball analysts expected the franchise ascent to take a couple years. Their strenght of their team has been their pitching - Gio Gonzalez, Jordan Zimmermann, Stephen Strasburg and Edwin Jackson have all been great while the bullpen has been adept at keeping leads. Adding Bryce Harper early in the season was a strong indication that the Nationals were going for it and it's very clear that the Nationals seem poised for years of success.
The 2012 Nationals is the best team in franchise history; their postseason berth this year represents the second postseason appearance in franchise history. Success has been a word that has largely eluded the Nationals (and Expos) so it's safe to say that this All-Time team will look much different down the road. That being said, we weren't ready to make dramatic changes to this team so you won't see Strasburg or Harper yet (or Ian Desmond or Danny Espinosa). We did add an infielder, an extra outfielder and two starting pitchers to last year's team as part of our reformatting process but none of those guys are on the current roster. Instead, we were able to add the all-time franchise hits leader and the only Cy winner in franchise history.
Here's our team.
C - Gary Carter
1B - Andres Gallaraga
2B - Jose Vidro
SS - Orlando Cabrera
3B - Ryan Zimmerman
IF - Tim Wallach
OF - Tim Raines
OF - Andre Dawson
OF - Vladimir Guerrero
OF - Rusty Staub
SP - Steve Rogers
SP - Dennis Martinez
SP - Pedro Martinez
SP - Bryn Smith
RP - Jeff Reardon
As of today, the Nationals are tied with the Reds for the best record in Major League Baseball, inching closer to a division title (with a magic number of 5) having already clinched a spot in the postseason. The Nationals are oozing with young talent but their success this season has been one of the biggest surprises in baseball. Most people recognized the level of talent on that roster but I think that it would be fair to say that most baseball analysts expected the franchise ascent to take a couple years. Their strenght of their team has been their pitching - Gio Gonzalez, Jordan Zimmermann, Stephen Strasburg and Edwin Jackson have all been great while the bullpen has been adept at keeping leads. Adding Bryce Harper early in the season was a strong indication that the Nationals were going for it and it's very clear that the Nationals seem poised for years of success.
The 2012 Nationals is the best team in franchise history; their postseason berth this year represents the second postseason appearance in franchise history. Success has been a word that has largely eluded the Nationals (and Expos) so it's safe to say that this All-Time team will look much different down the road. That being said, we weren't ready to make dramatic changes to this team so you won't see Strasburg or Harper yet (or Ian Desmond or Danny Espinosa). We did add an infielder, an extra outfielder and two starting pitchers to last year's team as part of our reformatting process but none of those guys are on the current roster. Instead, we were able to add the all-time franchise hits leader and the only Cy winner in franchise history.
Here's our team.
C - Gary Carter
1B - Andres Gallaraga
2B - Jose Vidro
SS - Orlando Cabrera
3B - Ryan Zimmerman
IF - Tim Wallach
OF - Tim Raines
OF - Andre Dawson
OF - Vladimir Guerrero
OF - Rusty Staub
SP - Steve Rogers
SP - Dennis Martinez
SP - Pedro Martinez
SP - Bryn Smith
RP - Jeff Reardon
Larry Walker over Rusty Staub. Harper by the end of next year. Jordan Zimmermann over Bryn Smith.
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