After 102 losses, will Nationals spend to improve?

By HOWARD FENDRICH

Published September 29, 2008 at 12:24 p.m.

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WASHINGTON (AP) _ Fans, of course, will keep tabs on what the Washington Nationals do after a 59-102 season that made them the worst team in the major leagues.

Ryan Zimmerman, the young third baseman who's the face — and, presumably, the future — of the franchise, will be paying close attention this offseason, too.

Will there be trades for established major leaguers? Free-agent signings? Increased payroll?

"The fans are going to start wanting to win. This whole new stadium, and just having a team back here, is going to wear off a little bit," Zimmerman said. "We're going to have to start competing every year and putting a winning team on the field."

When does he expect to see more money spent to upgrade the roster?

"I don't know if it'll be this offseason or the next offseason," said Zimmerman, a 2005 draft pick who hasn't signed a long-term deal. "But the players aren't dumb. We sit around and see what all the other teams are doing."

Pretty much everything the Nationals did this season went wrong — and not merely because they were the first NL team since 2004 to lose 100 games, or because they produced the franchise's worst record since the 1976 Montreal Expos. Not the ideal way to inaugurate $611 million Nationals Park, which drew about 29,000 spectators per game, the lowest average attendance in 26 years for an existing team at a new ballpark.

There is more that looks bad.

Local TV ratings were so low Major League Baseball is investigating. Team owners are fighting with the city over millions of dollars in unpaid rent. Despite the need to add talent, the Nationals failed to sign their No. 1 draft pick. General manager Jim Bowden met with FBI investigators as part of a probe into the skimming of bonus money from Dominican prospects.

The night of the final home game, president Stan Kasten felt the need to throw his arm around owner Mark Lerner's shoulders and make light of the perception that they don't get along. The day before, a team spokesman was dispatched to deny a report that Kasten and Bowden disagreed over whether to fire a scout. Players spoke openly about being thrilled to see some bad attitudes removed from the clubhouse.

"There were times this year when the makeup of this team — it just wasn't a great atmosphere," infielder Aaron Boone said. "I feel like in the last month and a half, two months, that's changed."

Set all of that aside for a moment. What matters most is wins and losses, and there is a lot of work to be done.

Only two clubs in the 16-team NL had a higher team ERA than Washington's 4.66; only two NL clubs had a lower team batting average than Washington's .251.

No member of the Nationals hit more than 14 homers; no one accumulated more than 61 RBIs. Only one pitcher won 10 games: Tim Redding went 10-11. Only one everyday player finished with a .300 average: All-Star shortstop Cristian Guzman hit .316.

And yet, Bowden insisted, "We've made really good progress."

That's because while a striking number of injuries — eight members of the opening day lineup, plus others, went on the disabled list — helped lead to the poor statistics, the absences also provided playing time for inexperienced building blocks such as catcher Jesus Flores, converted reliever Joel Hanrahan and outfielders Lastings Milledge and Elijah Dukes.

"Obviously, it was a down year for us in the big leagues this year," said right fielder Austin Kearns, who batted .217 with seven homers and 32 RBIs in 313 at-bats, "but there are still some pieces here to help build a winner."

No one — not the Lerners, not Kasten, not Bowden, not manager Manny Acta — is willing to declare how long it will take for the team to be competitive.

"We're determined to get good here as fast as we can, but not at the expense of our long-term plan. We want to get it right the first time. We want to be good for the long haul," Kasten said. "We don't want to be a team that has to rebuild and fix mistakes year in, year out. That's why we've been careful with our contract commitments so far."

Which just might be another way of saying: We haven't spent much so far.

Only four major league clubs had lower payrolls on opening day than Washington's, which was about $55 million.

And some of that yielded very little, such as the $5 million for catcher Paul Lo Duca (.230, 12 RBIs), the $4.9 million for infielder Felipe Lopez (.234, 25 RBIs) and the $1.25 million for catcher Johnny Estrada (.170, four RBIs) — all released July 31.

That began a housecleaning that extended to Acta's staff Sunday: Everyone but pitching coach Randy St. Clair was fired.

Asked about his offseason wish list when it comes to new players, Acta quickly began with a left-handed power hitter.

"We need at least one bona fide hitter to help our kids — a guaranteed 30 (homers), 100 (RBIs), regardless of who's surrounding him," Acta said. "Somebody who strikes fear."

What else?

"Another hitter," he added with a smile.

And then?

"Probably a No. 1 guy in the starting rotation," Acta said. "Probably a No. 2 guy in the starting rotation."

And the list goes on.

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After 102 losses, will Nationals spend to improve?