Okay, so at a time when most people are debating whether or not the Washington Nationals can even break .500 next season, this is going to sound more than a little crazy, but I think the Nats have an outside chance at contending next season.

I’m not saying it’s going to happen, but I am saying that it could.

Let’s look at the positives.  First of all, the Nationals definitely have a high-powered offense. By most measures they’ve had the fourth or fifth-best offense in the National league this season, right up there with hard-hitting teams like the Phillies, Brewers, and Dodgers.

Second of all, the Nationals finally have a real GM. Mike Rizzo has just recently had the “interim” label removed from his title, and deservedly so, as he has done just about everything right since taking over for the hilariously incompetent Jim Bowden. Rizzo also has a track record of success as the scouting director of the Diamondbacks during the period they developed many of their current stars, and has a proven eye for talent.

Third, the Nationals have actually been quite “unlucky” this season by several measures, not least of which is their run differential, which suggests that they should actually have about 10 more wins than they’ve actually recorded.

Fourthly, the areas where the Nats most need to improve – the bullpen and on defense, are the areas most easily improved from season to season. In this way, it is possible to make a comparison between the 2009 Nationals and the 2007 Devil Rays. Both were terrible teams with terrible defense and terrible bullpens that drastically underperformed against an already terrible run differential. As you will recall, that Tampa Bay team went to the World Series the following year.

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So the news broke today that the Washington Nationals have just signed lefty relief ace Joe Beimel, which begs the question, why in the heck did the Washington Nationals just sign lefty relief ace Joe Beimel???

The contract is for one year, $2 million, and with the Nationals having no chance in hell of contending this year, it is clear that interim GM Mike Rizzo is just as intent on flushing money down the toilet as Jim Bowden was, because this $2 million is a total waste.

Not that Joe Beimel is not a decent pitcher.  More than just a situational lefty, Beimel actually held right-handed batters to an even lower OPS than lefthanders last year, and could easily be slotted in as a setup man on a contending team.

Which means that another good question is why the heck Joe Beimel had to sign with the Nationals.  Nobody else would give him even $2 million?  Something odd is going on here, or there is something we don’t know about.  Everyone kept saying that Beimel was asking for too much, but heck, even Dennys Reyes got $3 million.

Maybe Beimel overplayed his hand and waited too deep into the offseason, after all the jobs were filled?