Spring Clock Cleaning

I thought spring training was over.

I thought the days of the Nationals knocking the Mets around the ballpark ended when players with uniform numbers in the 70's and 80's were sent to St. Lucie.

Well, obviously not.

Orlando Hernandez is going to have days where he is unhittable, and days where he's going to get rocked. That's going to happen as long as he threatens to throw the first pitch in major league history to be clocked at under 5 miles per hour.

Which makes it all the more curious that he was ejected for hitting Shawn Hill after the Chris "King of Spring" Snelling home run. I mean, getting hit by Orlando Hernandez is like getting bitten by a kitten. It's inconvenient, but let's face it...it's not going to leave a mark. Hill understood that, as he seemed to accept Hernandez's apology on the field.

However, Jose Guillen did try to charge the mound but couldn't catch a flight from Seattle in time. Guillen has vowed revenge.

Your 2007 N.L. East Preview: Washington Nationals

Poor Manny Acta.

Oh, I mean, what a lucky guy that Manny Acta...he's finally a major league manager. That's the good news.

The bad news is that he's the manager of a team that some experts are saying could lose 130 games this season.

While I'm not willing to go quite that far, this team could very well be famously bad. Of course, we all thought that about the Florida Marlins last season, and they contended for the wild card. But the difference here is that the Marlins had some talented minor leaguers to build around, notably in the pitching staff.

The Nationals, meanwhile, signed Pedro Astacio.

Here is another big difference between Jeffrey Loria's current franchise and his former one: for as much crap as the Marlins have taken...and rightly so...for their infamous fire sales, they at least have gotten grade A quality prospects for them. The Nationals, meanwhile, made a fatal miscalculation in letting Alfonso Soriano get away for absolutely nothing, leaving the franchise having to sign guys like Pedro Astacio.

The Nationals rotation includes John Patterson (who because of injury pitched in only eight games in 2006) Shawn Hill (who has had a good spring, but because of injury pitched in only six games in 2006 and none in 2005) and Jason Simontacchi (who hasn't pitched in the major leagues since 2004). Throw in rookie Matt Chico and converted reliever Jason Bergmann and you have more fun than a barrel of Expos. It's so bad that the Nationals may consider bringing up pitching prospect Collin Balester before he's ready.

The bullpen features closer Chad Cordero, and the big and tall twins: Jon Rauch (tall) and Ray King (big). If the starters can ever get these guys a lead they may not be half bad. But if (when?) the Nationals fall out of the race, Cordero may be dealt for prospects...although considering how they handled the Soriano fiasco that's not a given.

Between Ryan Zimmerman, Austin Kearns, Felipe Lopez (and maybe Dmitri Young, who is the new first baseman until Nick Johnson returns from his gruesome injury at Shea Stadium last season), the Nationals should have just enough firepower to steal some games against the more mediocre N.L. teams and keep them from entering the territory of the 1962 Mets. But there just isn't enough on this team to give them a realistic chance of being a Marlins' type surprise.

I just hope that Manny Acta's legacy as manager isn't judged on how this depleted roster performs for him. It just wouldn't be fair.

Prediction: Fifth place, 61-101