What other franchises can match Nats' playoff heartbreak?

What other franchises can match Nats' playoff heartbreak?
There are many different kinds of miseries in sports. There's the misery that comes from repeated losing year in and year out, as any fan of the National Football League's Cleveland Browns can attest. There's the misery that comes from repeatedly coming oh-so-close to winning the big one, as any fan of the Buffalo Bills can attest. And then there's the misery that comes from repeatedly reaching the playoffs and then finding new ways to squander those opportunities, as any fan of the Kansas...
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Soccer stadium opening sets up big All-Star week in D.C.

Soccer stadium opening sets up big All-Star week in D.C.
The Nationals have known for a while now they'd be getting new neighbors down the street from their ballpark. Now they know when those neighbors officially will move in: One day before the beginning of All-Star festivities on South Capitol Street. D.C. United will play its first Major League Soccer game at the brand-new Audi Field on July 14 after spending the season's first 4 1/2 months traversing the country playing 12 road matches and two home matches at other venues in the Washington area...
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Nats like Realmuto, but not if Miami asks for top prospects

Nats like Realmuto, but not if Miami asks for top prospects
It's no secret the Nationals want to get better production from their catchers in 2018 than they did in 2017. Not that it would be easy to get worse production. Nationals catchers - which means almost entirely Matt Wieters and Jose Lobaton - collectively hit .208 with a .275 on-base percentage, .319 slugging percentage and .594 OPS last season. They ranked 28th, 29th, 30th and 30th in the majors in each of those categories, respectively. So there's basically nowhere to go but up. The issue at...
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Nats pitchers and catchers set to report Feb. 14

Nats pitchers and catchers set to report Feb. 14
Need a little something to warm you up on this most frigid day of the winter? Here's some news that might do the trick: Spring training begins in 41 days. The Nationals announced their official reporting dates this afternoon, at which point we learned there are fewer than six weeks to go until we'll be seeing and hearing the sights and sounds of the spring in West Palm Beach. Pitchers and catchers will report to The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches on Feb. 14, with position players set to report...
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Looking at stat projections for the Nats pitching staff

Looking at stat projections for the Nats pitching staff
Yesterday we looked at FanGraphs' Steamer projections for everyone in the Nationals lineup to begin the 2018 season. Today we'll look at the projections for the prominent members of the Nationals' pitching staff ... MAX SCHERZER Actual 2017 stats: 16-6, 2.51 ERA, 200.2 IP, 268 SO, 0.90 WHIP, 6.0 WAR Steamer 2018 projection: 15-9, 3.38 ERA, 207 IP, 257 SO, 1.09 WHIP, 5.0 WAR Comment: While these numbers are still very good, if they came to fruition Scherzer would end up with his worst ERA...
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Looking at stat projections for the Nats lineup

Looking at stat projections for the Nats lineup
The 2018 Nationals are going to look a lot like the 2017 Nationals. With only a handful of exceptions, the same group of players that won 97 games last season is going to be back and making another run at it this season. So while many other clubs' fortunes will be predicated in large part on how much they improved their roster during the offseason, the Nats' fortunes probably boil down more to this question: How much better (or worse) will their returning players be? We won't know the...
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Will new year inject some life into ice-cold free agent market?

Will new year inject some life into ice-cold free agent market?
The new year has arrived. But does that mean all those free agents who are still out there will start picking their employers for 2018? It's been a really slow hot stove league so far. Aside from the usual excitement right before, during and right after the Winter Meetings, there has been precious little action across baseball. And that was especially true over the holiday break, which saw Wade Davis sign with the Rockies, a couple of third-tier relievers sign deals and nothing else. It's not...
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Nationals New Year's resolutions

Nationals New Year's resolutions
Some good things happened in 2017. Some bad things happened, too. No matter how you felt about the previous year, everyone can agree we all want to strive to be better in the new year. That applies to the Nationals, as well. And so without further ado, here are the Nats' resolutions for 2018, which every member of the club was nice enough to share with me for publication (as far as you know) ... BRYCE HARPER: No injuries of consequence in a contract year. MICHAEL A. TAYLOR: Take nothing for...
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Top stories of 2017: Another Game 5 loss

Top stories of 2017: Another Game 5 loss
As we count down the final days of 2017, we're counting down the most significant stories of the year for the Nationals. Some are positive. Some are negative. All helped define this baseball season in Washington. We'll reveal two per day through New Year's Eve, concluding right now with ... No. 1: Another Game 5 loss It has become something of an annual ritual around here, rehashing another gut-wrenching loss in Game 5 of the National League Division Series. But until the Nationals prove...
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Top stories of 2017: Baker fired, Martinez hired

Top stories of 2017: Baker fired, Martinez hired
As we count down the final days of 2017, we're counting down the most significant stories of the year for the Nationals. Some are positive. Some are negative. All helped define this baseball season in Washington. We'll reveal two per day through New Year's Eve, continuing right now with ... No. 2: Baker fired, Martinez hired The question of Dusty Baker's future with the Nationals lurked underneath the surface for most of the 2017 season, but it never truly felt like that much of a question...
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Top stories of 2017: Scherzer wins another Cy Young

Top stories of 2017: Scherzer wins another Cy Young
As we count down the final days of 2017, we're counting down the most significant stories of the year for the Nationals. Some are positive. Some are negative. All helped define this baseball season in Washington. We'll reveal two per day through New Year's Eve, continuing right now with ... No. 3: Scherzer wins another Cy Young Seven-year contracts for pitchers are supposed to be dangerous. Few have ever worked out as initially hoped. Max Scherzer still has four years remaining on his...
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Top stories of 2017: Strasburg steps up

Top stories of 2017: Strasburg steps up
As we count down the final days of 2017, we're counting down the most significant stories of the year for the Nationals. Some are positive. Some are negative. All helped define this baseball season in Washington. We'll reveal two per day through New Year's Eve, continuing right now with ... No. 4: Strasburg steps up Through the first seven seasons of his big league career, Stephen Strasburg seemed to be noted more for what he hadn't accomplished than for what he had done on the mound. He...
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Top stories of 2017: Werth's farewell

Top stories of 2017: Werth's farewell
As we count down the final days of 2017, we're counting down the most significant stories of the year for the Nationals. Some are positive. Some are negative. All helped define this baseball season in Washington. We'll reveal two per day through New Year's Eve, continuing right now with ... No. 5: Jayson Werth's farewell "LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. - It's a rare day indeed, when the Washington Nationals make a move that shakes up the entire baseball world. "This is a franchise that for the...
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Top stories of 2017: Zimmerman's comeback

Top stories of 2017: Zimmerman's comeback
As we count down the final days of 2017, we're counting down the most significant stories of the year for the Nationals. Some are positive. Some are negative. All helped define this baseball season in Washington. We'll reveal two per day through New Year's Eve, continuing right now with ... No. 6: Ryan Zimmerman's comeback It sounds a bit silly now, but one year ago a not-so-insignificant number of Nationals fans - perhaps even some folks employed by the club itself - weren't sure Ryan...
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Top stories of 2017: Harper's knee injury

Top stories of 2017: Harper's knee injury
As we count down the final days of 2017, we're counting down the most significant stories of the year for the Nationals. Some are positive. Some are negative. All helped define this baseball season in Washington. We'll reveal two per day through New Year's Eve, continuing right now with ... No. 7: Bryce Harper's knee injury As he took the field on Aug. 12 - after waiting out a 3-hour, 1-minute rain delay - Bryce Harper was about three-quarters of the way through a potential MVP...
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Top stories of 2017: The bullpen makeover

Top stories of 2017: The bullpen makeover
As we count down the final days of 2017, we're counting down the most significant stories of the year for the Nationals. Some are positive. Some are negative. All helped define this baseball season in Washington. We'll reveal two per day through New Year's Eve, beginning right now with ... No. 8: The bullpen makeover The Nationals cruised through the first half of the 2017 season. They took over first place in the National League East Division on April 18 and never gave it back. They carried...
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Nats selected for three early-season Sunday night games

Nats selected for three early-season Sunday night games
Catching up on more news during my vacation last week, I see that ESPN unveiled roughly one-half of its "Sunday Night Baseball" slate for the 2018 season. And lo and behold, the Nationals are actually prominently featured in a manner we haven't seen before by the Worldwide Leader in Sports. The Nats were selected to play in three of the first seven "Sunday Night Baseball" games of the season, including the April 8 finale of their opening home series against the Mets. They'll also appear...
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Thoughts on last week's Adams and Milone signings

Thoughts on last week's Adams and Milone signings
If I've learned nothing else in 13 years on this beat, it's this: The best way to ensure the Nationals make some offseason news is to go on vacation. It has happened before, and it happened again last week. While I was soaking up the sun (and watching the Capitals blow a sure-win over the wretched Coyotes) with my family in Arizona, the Nats went and signed two free agents: Matt Adams and Tommy Milone. These weren't major moves, not in the least. In Milone's case, it's actually a minor...
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Lilliquist ready to lead top-flight pitching staff to new heights

Lilliquist ready to lead top-flight pitching staff to new heights
Fired by the Cardinals at the end of the regular season, Derek Lilliquist had to wonder if it would take a while to find another pitching coach job as good as the one he held the previous six seasons. That kind of job opening, for a perennial postseason contender, doesn't come around all that often. And then one did. When the Nationals came calling last month, needing a new pitching coach after Dusty Baker's departure led to Mike Maddux leaving (for St. Louis, of all places), Lilliquist...
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Rizzo on Kintzler, Glover and the state of the Nats bullpen

Rizzo on Kintzler, Glover and the state of the Nats bullpen
As much as he wanted to bring back Brandon Kintzler and keep the back end of his bullpen intact for the 2018 season, Mike Rizzo admittedly thought the Nationals would be at a disadvantage in negotiations. Kintzler, who recorded 29 saves this season (28 while with the Twins), figured to get offers to close somewhere else. And sure enough, he did. Only to decide to re-sign with the Nationals after all. "I think there were those offers to go pitch the ninth inning exclusively, to have more save...
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