Other than watching the Fireworks, nobody in their right mind looks forward to July if you live in or around DC – except for the Nats.
It is usually so miserable around here in July that I am considering going to my Condo in Cape Canaveral, Florida to avoid some of it. Yes it is hot in Florida, but at the beach there is at least a breeze and it storms every day around 3pm for a respite – plus the A/C is cheap and fantastic!
The Nats are run by the Lerners, who are the most successful Real Estate developers in modern times. If they lived 2 thousand years ago, they would have owned half of the Roman Empire because of their ability to spot a great deal. They paid $450 Million for the Nats in 2005, had a beautiful stadium built for them (by the city to make more money), and received a stake in a Sports Network to make $30-70 million a year – eventually. All of this is worth at least $1.5 Billion or more at this point, not to mention the millions in cash flow every year. Not bad to triple your investment in 12 years. Good for them.
They just built a Spring Training Facility(in a record 12 months) in the richest area of Florida, Palm Beach, for less than $20 million (after receiving $150 Million from the Palm Beach County). Now everything is in place for a franchise only 12 years old for the next 30 years or more.
Except for one thing – THEIR BULLPEN STINKS!!!!
For some reason the Nats shop at Saks and Gucci for their starting pitching (Strasburg & Scherzer $475 million total) and hitters (Werth, Harper, Murphy & Zimmerman $75 Million per year), but shop at Yard Sales and Flea Markets for their Relief Pitching.
Ted Lerner, a brilliant man, is 90 and wants to keep within a Budget! Can you imagine the patience? God luv em, as my Mom would say.
So… July is when Teams are out of the pennant race and need to placate their fan base by declaring they are “building for the future.” And the bargains will be available(woo-hoo!), for the Lerner’s to go shopping.
The Nats are betting that over the next 50 games, they will go something like 25-25 and still have a 7 game lead in the horrid NL East, just to save a few million dollars or a prospect or two.
They host the last place Padres this weekend and then go West for 9 games against the Giants, A’s and Dodgers. They are notoriously terrible on West Coast trips. For Nats fans, Memorial Weekend through the July 4th Holiday week, will be painful to watch as their bullpen pitching blow lead after lead.
All to stay within the budget. God luv em!