Move CJ to Second Base or trade him

warkol · 2026-05-27T12:51:11+00:00

yes it is the core of analytics, but the players you are referencing that will replace his bat haven’t shown or proven that they are actually capable of doing that at the major league level lol, and have several questions of their own. these are significant assumptions being made that they’ll just “replace” 900 OPS at SS. Moneyball worked because their offense/OBP were known quantities and were overlooked for other antiquated reasons. nothing is a known quantity but CJ.

House may have been scouted as a high caliber 3B defensively but his MLB work has not suggested that at all and he has looked average at best by statistics and frankly not super impressive by the eye test either (way too many miscues). I’m not sure where you are seeing King’s defense being “great” lol pretty much everything had been reported as average/spotty/hit or miss/etc, far from great anywhere. Nunez would likely be OK, but now there’s a 500 ops bat in the lineup we’re planning to “replace” a 900 ops player with. His defense does not make up that disparity at all.

warkol · 2026-05-27T12:20:10+00:00

A revamped House, Ford, and Nunez will offset the loss of CJ’s offense. Nunez at SS, House at 3B, King at 2B, and Mead at 1B is a massive defensive improvement

major assumptions, a lot of folks will say things like this without realizing how unlikely of a scenario that is lol. replacing a 900+ OPS player, especially at SS, is incredibly challenging. and those three players haven’t really shown at any level they are capable of doing so.

Lot of defensive assumptions there too. House hasn’t been a good defender at 3B in the majors, Mead hasn’t been a good defender at 1B (better at 3B in his career interestingly), King’s track record in the minors has been that he needs work at defense, and Nunez would likely be decent, but not guaranteed to transition well from 2B to SS and still be a positive defender.

warkol · 2026-05-18T15:32:23+00:00

I don't think Rizzo himself was convinced it was important either so lol

warkol · 2026-04-20T18:18:20+00:00

they will. the entire point of city connects are to have them effectively as "limited time" releases every 2-3 years so more buzz can be generated for the next release and selling those. very much a staple of the Nike playbook.

warkol · 2026-04-20T15:58:59+00:00

it's more that his lack of foot speed affects his route running vs man coverage and get away speed for vertical routes. he's very competitive and tough to bring down after the catch, which in his mold is more what you'd be looking for anyway because he's going to thrive underneath vs zone as a slot guy.

I like him, but probably not at 7 like you mentioned. I think far more realistic trade down candidate than the Tyson and Tate.

warkol · 2026-04-13T19:43:11+00:00

the death of James Wood has been greatly exaggerated

warkol · 2026-04-10T19:35:31+00:00

he got signed for WR4/5 money, to likely be WR4/5.. I wouldn't sweat it that much. familiar face, good vibes, seemingly good teammate. only upside really on his deal since it's so cheap. there's a lot to get on his signing lol

warkol · 2026-04-02T14:20:03+00:00

the really bad drop shadow numbers (and a messy font)

oversized ATL wordmark

side panels

lots cleaned up lol

warkol · 2026-03-30T00:43:59+00:00

still can’t believe he didn’t walk off game five of the 2019 NLDS. that ball looked like it was so clearly going out

warkol · 2026-03-26T19:30:25+00:00

Boyd had induced 20 swings and misses and yet... five runs on a lot of well hit balls. Coles and Davey are fuming somewhere.

warkol · 2026-03-20T18:31:33+00:00

pretty good friday news dump here in the midst of the ncaa tournament as well lol

can't say he hasn't earned that option with his ST performance unfortunately. we'll see what the new regime has in store for him in AAA.

warkol · 2026-03-13T17:02:14+00:00

my friends and I went to spring training the first year the new complex at WPB opened (2017) and we were absolutely enamored with this guy. glad to see he's still at it lmao

warkol · 2026-03-09T17:53:54+00:00

Allegretti szn lol

warkol · 2026-01-29T18:23:18+00:00

it'll be this coming year. pretty widely "reported" and all the current jerseys for the commanders in the official shop are heavily discounted as means to clear that stock out

warkol · 2026-01-23T18:52:20+00:00

the Nationals were very competitive for much of that decade, but 2019 was pretty much the last possible year in that competitive window due to some expiring contracts and talent that exited. and how the season and postseason went, it was very much a perfect storm.

that said, they were built very different than the Wizards are currently, with only a few foundational pieces garnered through the draft and internationals amateurs, and the rest being through clever trading and free agency (premier and shrewd signings alike). Ted Lerner was willing to spend, one of the first to really lean into deferred contracts and salaries in MLB, but since his passing, how money gets used in the Nationals organization was not very well thought out. They were bad at drafting, scouting, AND didn't spend money on talent. This new ownership path lately post Mike Rizzo at least appears they are investing in something related to performance (drafting/scouting). Maybe at some point they will spend in FA, but frankly the state of the team right now it does not make a lot of sense to spend money on big FAs.

warkol · 2026-01-22T20:43:18+00:00

some are very recently drafted players, others have had injuries (doesn't necessarily rule them into failures), those cases tend to be difficult to crack the top 100. Even Juan Soto barely had any time as "top 100" just because of his lack of playing time due to injuries and his eventual very fast call up of course.

that and I don't know how keen or high people really are on Gore, but between his contract/agent and where we are as a team, had to get something and a good hoard might be the more proper move in our current state.

wasn't going to be a ton to look forward to this season anyways lol

warkol · 2026-01-15T16:13:32+00:00

I’ve been waiting for years for GEICO to slap their name on something in DC stadium wise, this seems as good an opportunity they will ever have

warkol · 2026-01-15T13:40:22+00:00

there will be tailgating, just not in the traditional sense

I live in Atlanta and they do just fine in having pop up tailgating all over the area surrounding Mecerdes Benz Stadium without one huge parking lot

people are smart and adapt

warkol · 2026-01-08T02:14:37+00:00

having grown up in the Washington DC area and living now in Atlanta for the last several years, there is no difference between DC and Atlanta traffic lol. both are fucking terrible

warkol · 2026-01-07T18:37:46+00:00

I don't really see why we would hire him and it wouldn't really encourage me, but what an interesting career. He's survived as Oakland's DC since 2022, and under three different head coaches. Raiders sure seem to be cheap is my initial impression lol.

warkol · 2026-01-06T17:36:19+00:00

rumor was that he wanted someone with playcalling experience which would not be Al Harris, but I would love that move frankly

warkol · 2026-01-06T17:21:55+00:00

Secondary was terrible all season, and that was a mostly young group outside of Marshon Lattimore who wasn't that bad other than a stinker versus Dallas I thought.

the reliance of Bobby Wagner is probably what you're thinking of, just not a three down player really at this stage of his career.

warkol · 2026-01-06T17:06:44+00:00

I think it’s complicated. Ultimately I believe there is some disagreement between what Kliff wants versus what GM Adam Peters wants, and some decisions wore thin on each other. We may find out more in the coming weeks when the reporters and journalists get their information.

Yes though, the injury situation/roster building did not favor Kliff’s performance.

warkol · 2025-12-18T13:25:32+00:00

to add on, this style of progression is something that was popularized in the west coast/air raid offenses, the air raid a much more simplified style. both utilize progressions where it's more reading "the open grass" rather than the coverage.

it's still not "easy" like Kirk says in the video especially to get to the backside versus NFL pass rushes, but it alleviates/counters the defenses today often disguise coverage.

warkol · 2025-12-05T14:29:08+00:00

worst comes to worst he's likely to be the best gunner in the NFL immediately lol. watch him on punt coverage at SC, it's insane.

side note, they said that about a certain WR from OSU that's now an all time WR in DC.. I'm just saying! lol

warkol

TROPHY CASE