And Another One Gone

Greetings, my fellow port swillers!

Ol’ Robbo admits that he was genuinely horrified to learn late yesterday that Trea Turner, arguably the best shortstop in all baseball, has signed an eleven year deal with the Philthies.

It’s bad enough that I watched him grow up as a player only to have my Nationals squander him away like so many other superstars. But when, like Bryce Harper, he winds up with a career-cementing deal in Philly? That especially hurts.

There’s been a lot of combination happy-talk/scolding coming out of the front office lately regarding Ol’ Robbo’s beloved but hapless Nats. On the one hand, it’s “Ooh, we’ve got some great prospects coming up, just you wait!” On the other, it’s “Hey, just think of all those titles and pennants we brought you last decade, you ingrates!”

Ol’ Robbo never made it past little league softball in his own managerial career, but even I know that this kind of roller-coaster is unhealthy for a franchise.** Maybe if we learned to hang on to a few folks not named Zimmerman over the long term, things would even out somewhat.

Ah, well. What else is there to do but say

“GO, NATS!”

** I have in front of me my favorite kawfee mug, which features the Nats’ 2019 World Series-winning roster. Of the twenty-five names on it, all but three (including Trea) are now gone. And of the three remaining, pitchers Strasburg and Corbin are useless and center-fielder Robles is probably gone before the next spring training. Humph!