by Pat LackeyFiled under: Cardinals, Nationals, Phillies, Rangers, MLB Milestones, MLB Free Agency
Get your weekend off on the right foot with an eclectic look around the major leagues from Pat Lackey and Andrew Johnson in The Starting Rotation.The Ace: Javier Vazquez, Frontline Starter?
For all but five teams in the National League, the last few gasps of the 2010 regular season are really all about next season.
That's what had Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo talking to reporters in Washington earlier this week about his offseason plans. Like many other GMs around baseball - even those who will watch their teams play in the postseason - starting pitching is a primary concern.
"We need a guy to head the rotation, a front-of-the-rotation guy to put everybody in what we feel is their proper place in the rotation," Rizzo said Wednesday. "That's the No. 1 priority going into the offseason."
Rizzo said he would explore every avenue to get that starting pitcher. There is Cliff Lee, of course, and Rizzo likes the idea of acquiring that ace in free agency because "all it costs is money."
But if we're being honest -- as Rizzo probably is with himself when he's not addressing a horde of reporters -- Lee isn't coming to D.C. The Lerner Family will not loosen the pursestrings far enough to best the Yankees or Cubs or Angels or any of the other big boys expected to enter the bidding for the Cy Young Award-winning left-hander. And anyway, Washington remains a baseball backwater associated with tepid fan support and losing. Seven Strasmases weren't nearly enough to alter that perception and make it an attractive destination to this year's most prized free agent.
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