This is one of  a series of posts in which we rip each team for their offseason blunders and laud them when necessary for the occasional savvy move.

Since 2002, as I have alluded to previously in this space, the Washington Nationals have let more major league talent slip throught their fingers than probably any other three teams combined.  And unfortunately this horrendous record of mismanagement shows no signs of abating.

Nothing symbolizes the Nats’ utter directionlessness and total lack of a game plan than their foolish and futile pursuit of free agent first baseman Mark Teixeira earlier this winter.  As good a player as Teixeira is, the Nationals are probably the team in major league baseball that would stand to *least* benefit from his acquisition.

Adam Dunn, no doubt explaining to his son why playing baseball sucks.

Given that they already have two other first baseman signed to big contracts, are nowhere near contention, and need to rebuild at almost every other position on the diamond.  But the Learners and Stan Kasten were all pressing for the signing of a big-name free agent, and happy-go-lucky cowboy/GM Jim Bowden was happy to try to oblige.

Ironically, then, the failure to sign Teixeira may well have been the single best thing that happened to the the Nationals in what was otherwise a disastrous offseason. In addition to missing out on Tex, the team found out one of their top prospects was actually 23 rather than 19 (and therefore that they had essentially flushed $1.4 million down the drain), saw their GM embroiled in a Federal Investigation, had to close down their camp in the Dominican and fire Jose Rijo, and now is reportedly plotting the firing of Bowden right in the middle of spring training.

Not to mention that none of the moves the Nats made this offseason are any good.  The trade of three prospects for this years Florida Marlins arbitration victims Scott Olsen and Josh Willingham looks okay on the surface. Well, except that Olsen got lucky last year thanks to an unsustainably low BABIP, and now we find out that his fastball velocity mysteriously dropped over the course of the last two seasons, from 91 mph to 87 mph.  And that Josh Willingham has not been able to stay healthy, has never built on the promise he showed in his 2006 rookie year, and is already 30 years old, making it increasingly likely that 2006 was his peak rather than a hint of his upside.

Moreover, while I personally have never been sold on Emilio Bonifacio – the young infielder who was the centerpiece of the package sent to the Marlins – at least lots of people around the game think he can be a good player, and it is baffling to trade him now because he is a second baseman which is currently a gaping hole in the Nats lineup, whereas the Nats had no need for yet another outfielder in Willingham, or another 5th starter-type in Olsen.  But most of all it just makes no sense at all for the Nationals to take on overpriced, mediocre players during their highly expensive arbitration years when they are nowhere near contention.

The other big move the Nationals made was the acquisition of free agent 1B/OF Adam Dunn.  While I personally think Dunn is a great player, this move possibly makes even less sense for the Nationals than signing Teixeira would have, in that at least giving an eight year deal to Tex might have held the possibility that he would someday play on a contender, whereas giving Dunn $20 million over two years where the Nats have no hope of contending is just flushing money down the drain.  It doesn’t even make sense from the perspective of getting more fans to come out to the park, given that 50 percent of people passionately believe that Dunn is a lazy bum who strikes out too much and hates baseball.

What we are left with is an incredibly unbalanced team that seems to have been assembled with the help of a random number generator. The Nats are paying $25 million this year to three different first baseman and have 6 starting outfielders in Willingham, Elijah Dukes, Lastings Milledge, Wily Mo Pena, Austin Kearns, Willie Harris. But meanwhile they have no second baseman, I challenge you to name their shortstop without looking, their bullpen is in tatters, and with the losses of Odalis Perez and Tim Redding the composition of their pitching rotation behind Olsen and lone bright spot John Lannan is largely a mystery.

The good news is that the slight improvements the Nationals made at the hefty pricetag of about $25 million in added payroll are likely to ensure that they will improve on their MLB-worst 59-102 record last season.  But that is where the good news ends, as it will be a struggle to win 70 games.

Overall the Nationals’ payroll is projected to be about $75 million this year. Is any team doing less with more?

Offseason Grade: D-

Acquisitions: 1B Adam Dunn, LHP Scott Olsen, OF Josh Willingham, P Daniel Cabrera, C Javier Valentin, IF Alex Cintron, OF Corey Patterson, P Wil Ledezma, P Josh Towers, P Terrell Young

Losses: P Chad Cordero, P Odalis Perez, IF Emilio Bonifacio, P Tim Redding, IF Aaron Boone, P Jesus Colome

Projected Starters, Rotation, and Closer:

C Jesus Flores
1B Adam Dunn – hit exactly 40 homers in each of the last 4 seasons
2B ???
3B Ryan Zimmerman
SS Christian Guzman – an out-making machine, his ‘08 “comeback” was all batting avg.
LF Josh Willingham/Wily Mo Pena
CF Lastings Milledge/Willie Harris
RF Elijah Dukes/Austin Kearns

SP1 John Lannan
SP2 Scott Olsen
SP3 Daniel Cabrera – The modern master of the art of base-on-balls
SP4 Shawn Hill?
SP5 ???

CL Joel Hanrahan

- Hot Offseason Index -

Last week, we here at umpbump gave you our hard-hitting MVP picks, so this week, we’ve decided to unveil our picks for NL and AL Rookie of the Year picks. I’ll get things started today, with picks from Alejandro, Coley, and Sarah to follow over the weekend.

National League

3. Ryan Zimmerman (.289/.354/.475, 20 HR, 109 RBI)

2. Hanley Ramirez (.292/.353/.481, 17 HR, 51 SB)

1. Josh Willingham (.277/.358/.494, 25 HR, 78 RBI)

I’m as surprised as anyone that I ended up picking two Florida Marlins as my top two picks. The Rookie of the Year race in the NL this year was bursting with potential contenders, and it was up and down all year, and I really thought someone like Andre Either, Prince Fielder, or Ryan Zimmerman would come out on top, but now here we are with four games left to play, and it seems clear that Josh Willingham was the best young rookie on the Senior Circuit in 2006.

True, Zimmerman’s RBI total is impressive, but as we know, RBI is the mainstream stat least indicative of a player’s actual performance. Meanwhile, Willingham bested Zimmerman in both OBP and SLG, and hit five more homers than Zimmerman in more than 100 fewer at bats.

Hanley Ramirez proved he is a complete player this season, showing the ability to hit for average and power, and steal loads of bases, but Ramirez’s totals were bolstered by the numerous extra at bats he had as a leadoff batter. Meanwhile, Willingham showed the killer combination of both power and patience at the plate, leading all batting-title qualified rookies in OPS and establishing himself as a legitimate heart-of-the-order threat down the stretch for the Marlins.

American League

3. Kenji Johjima (.291/.334/.455, 18 HR, 76 RBI)

2. Jonathan Papelbon (35 SV, 0.92 ERA, 75K/68.1IP)

1. Justin Verlander (17-9, 3.63 ERA, 186 IP)

Orioles outfielder Nick Markakis and Mariners catcher Kenji Johjima put up remarkably similar numbers in this year, but Johjima gets the nod for third place because he plays catcher.

Jonathan Papelbon was an absolute revelation as the closer for the Red Sox in the first half of the season, but faded down the stretch and ultimately had to be shelved due to an impingement in his shoulder. Still, his first half performance was so dazzling, it was enough to earn him second place on my ROY ballot.

The clear winner in the American League has to be Justin Verlander. Not only did he provide nearly 200 IP and 17 wins to his team, but he also served as de facto staff ace for much of the year when Kenny Rogers was struggling, and helped lead the Tigers to their first pennant since god knows when. Basically he pitched like a Cy Young candidate in his rookie season.

It’s too bad Francisco Liriano got hurt and the Angels ridiculously sent Jared Weaver down to the minors for five starts. Otherwise, the AL top three would have almost certainly been all starting pitchers.