when will he pitch in the playoffs. won't he be a little rusty?

he's not going to pitch...he is shutdown according to their skip

so why have a player on your roster that good that doesn't get in there to win you a WS? honestly that doesn't make any sense.

The Nats put him on a strict innings pitched for the season and are sticking to it. I assume they did not expect the team to have the type of season they where he was going to be needed for any postseason play.

[This message has been edited by jkag89 (edited 10/3/2012 7:04p).]

It'll be interesting to see if he's on their playoff roster.

A chance at winning a World Series may change management's mind.

they are betting that limiting his innings now will lengthen his career.

i bet if they end up in the series they'll let him pitch

He looked so out of it at the end of year, I don't expect he'd be worth a damn if he came back for a cameo appearance.

Pretty sure Davey shot that down today, again, anyways.

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i bet if they end up in the series they'll let him pitch

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Not a chance in hell that happens.

this is what i don't understand. you have one of the best pitchers in the game and you bench him for the playoffs to help extend his career. i thought the goal of sports was to win championships. how can sitting out your best player help? so the purpose of strasburg is to help get you to the playoffs but not help win you a championship? are the nats expecting to win championships the next 15 years or something?

since he is an athlete and is competitive by nature, don't you think he'd want to be traded to a team that will utilitze him to win championships?

the yankees are ecstatic they are extending his career

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this is what i don't understand. you have one of the best pitchers in the game and you bench him for the playoffs to help extend his career. i thought the goal of sports was to win championships.

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This was predetermined before the season began to make sure they did not set him back coming off arm surgery. I'm sure the Nats did not expect this type of season (probably believed they were a year or two away from seriously competing) or might have handled it differently by using him less early in the season or spacing his starts.

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i bet if they end up in the series they'll let him pitch.

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If they get to the Series, why not trust the pitching that won two post season series over an arm that will have been shut down for about a month?

I think the Nats would have handled things differently if they expected a season like this. Still, they were stubborn at times, and its fair to critique that.

You have to understand this town, DC, hasn't had many winners. Georgetown in the 80s, the Wizards in the 70s. The Capitals in recent years, but I sense there is a certain eternal pessimism around that franchise. Hitler had just recently been appointed Chancellor of Germany the last time they've seen playoff baseball here. That's 1933. 79 years. Its a double edged sword, but for much of the season, the fans and the franchise were on cloud nine and a playoff run was just going to be the cherry on top.

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how can sitting out your best player help?

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Most talented? Perhaps. Best player? That's debatable. The team is deep and should still be very competitive. It doesn't help this season to sit Strasburg, there's no way around that.

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are the nats expecting to win championships the next 15 years or something?

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Well, yes, they kind of do. They have the youngest pitching staff in baseball, and one of the youngest lineups, too.

[This message has been edited by TXAggie2011 (edited 10/3/2012 10:48p).]

Why didn't they just let him start later so he could pitch in the playoffs?

Again, no playoffs since 1933.

And the franchise hasn't had a winning season since they won 83 games in 2003 in Montreal.

Perhaps they should have started Strasburg later in the season as a "just in case" thing, but playoff baseball wasn't in the preseason prospectus.

The Nats are built to be good for the next several seasons at a minimum.

strasburg should have vocalized his dislike of this rule

If i was strasburg i would have went to the gm and said look if you shut me down i will not be resigning here under any circumstances. I will play out my contract to the best of my ability and then sign somewhere else when it is up. You are not keeping me out of the playoffs.

Would you also give back your guaranteed salary if you got injured again?

i get all of that, but unless you are the yankees or cardinals, the playoffs aren't always a guarantee. just because they have a strong young lineup doesn't mean half these players will go somewhere else. if you have this team with this talent, you play to win now because next year isn't guaranteed (lose players to other teams, injuries, etc). look at the phillies. they had a team built to win the WS and they crapped the bed the first half with injuries, etc. you can't hedge that you'll be there year in and year out for the next few years. the city wants a championship and frankly needs one, now. it's absurd to think they'll all be around in the coming years.

they may not have expected this season to be successful, but that's why they need to readjust their gameplan when it did. i seriously doubt strasburg resigns, and bryce harper will probably be a pinstripe in the near future given his ego. they are blowing a huge opportunity now because they made that decision at the beginning of the season.

I understand not expecting to be in contention this year. They could've easily seen by mid June that they were in contention. At that point they should've moved to a 6 man rotation, or at least had him pitch every six days. Shorter innings versus scrubs like the Mets and Astros, etc. they could've had him available through September at the very minimum.

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i thought the goal of sports was to win championships

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This line is where the logic disconnect occurs.

AS A FAN, the goal of sports is to win championships.

AS AN OWNER, the goal, like in every industry, is to make money. That occurs not by winning one championship, but being competitive for many years and staying relevant over time.

In this situation, there is a huge gap between what the fans want and what management wants. As a fan, I would NEVER forgive my team for pissing away a chance at a World Series bc they were worried about what might happen over the next 5 years.

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AS A FAN, the goal of sports is to win championships.

AS AN OWNER, the goal, like in every industry, is to make money. That occurs not by winning one championship, but being competitive for many years and staying relevant over time.

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very true. but if an owner cares more about staying relevant and not winning, it could backfire. the top players want to win and play for championships. that's why a team like St. Louis, which is a small market city, is successful. they have proven time and again. if the great players don't want to play for your team, you will continually have to build teams ala billie bean, not nyy or boston. of course, if the owner is building his brand to sell the team, the point is moot.

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the yankees are ecstatic they are extending his career

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This. Also, the ditch is littered with teams that thought they were built to compete for championships for several years but never got within shouting distance a 2nd time. This game can be fickle.

I thought they should have more actively managed some rest for him during the season so that they could have both kept his innings eeasonable and still had him available for the postseason. I think its moronic that this became an either/or situation.

[This message has been edited by DannyDuberstein (edited 10/4/2012 8:12p).]

They didn't want him to become another Kerry Wood. This team will be relevant for a good while.

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their management should be fired.

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The management of the team that went 79-55 in games Strasburg didn't play in? That management? Yeah, they're a bunch of arrogant morons.

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i seriously doubt strasburg resigns, and bryce harper will probably be a pinstripe in the near future given his ego.

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Stras and Harper will both be Nationals through 2016, at least, and Stras is probably going to be a free agent no matter what. Scott Boras won't have it any other way. I don't by the "Strasburg won't re sign" argument, anyways. I think he's smart enough to realize this doesn't mean Washington is or isn't going to be the right place for him in 5+ years.

[This message has been edited by TXAggie2011 (edited 10/4/2012 11:20p).]

http://espn.go.com/mlb/playoffs/2012/story/_/id/8486287/2012-nlds-washington-nationals-stephen-strasburg-made-difference-nlds-player-says-report

Seems idiotic to me to not have Strasburg out there. They have a legit shot at the Series . . .

We won't have a legit shot no matter the pitching if we can't score...

8-0 STL in the 8th, I don't think yall are coming back from that.

I hope the Nats lose just to show how ridiculous this move has been.

the regret is about to hit the Nationals

Stras would have scored runs in Games 2 and 3 from the bench?

No matter how good your team is, the window for just contending for the WS can be really, really small.

And anything can (and does) happen. Injuries to your team. A team coming from nowhere to have a great year and win a division. A quirky play or 2 that turn an entire series against you. You may get 1 strike away from a title and never get back in that position again.

To sacrifice a real good chance in 2012 on the hope that Strasburg is healthy for future runs that may never come (or that may get derailed on some unexpected set of circumstances) is really, really dumb in my opinion.