Most baseball fans won't be enjoying September because their teams are already out of contention. Fans in Kansas City, Pittsburgh and D.C. are marking off the days until football season, as their annual disappointment has settled.
Fans of the chronically disastrous franchises should take solace in the old baseball adage: "there's always next year." Of course, thinking next year will be different for these teams is bordering on delusional. Even though there have been some underdog stories, fans need to look ahead to four or five years from now.
First, there is the sad case of the Kansas City Royals. Once a dominant team, about 20 years ago, the Royals have now served as a farm system for other big league teams. Players like Johnny Damon, Jermaine Dye and Carlos Beltran have once called Kansas City home.
There's really only one way to fix the Royals' woes, and that's to think more like the Yankees and spend. The Royals renovated their home ballpark, maybe its time that they invested in keeping their best players. The Royals have made a move in the right direction this season, signing Zack Greinke and closer Joakim Soria to a four- and three-year deal respectively. It is also important they keep Billy Butler around for as long as possible as he's shown some power this past season at only 23-years-old. They also need to sign outfielder David Dejesus to a long-term deal past, which stretches past 2010. It's not a great core of players but every team needs to start somewhere.
Pittsburgh Pirates fans have the right to be frustrated with their team. Once again due to money, the Pirates have traded many of their top players like Jason Bay and Nate McLouth. Sure, they've traded for prospects like Jose Tabata and Ross Ohlendorf, but for this team to one day be successful it has to realize that there comes a point where "rebuilding" ends and contending starts. After all those trades, fans could hope for a stocked farm system, but it will take some time in order to tell if losing their stars was worth it. It would be a shame to see the Pirates trade away future star Andrew McCutchen. If the young outfielder were to be traded, one would be hard pressed to find anyone in the beautiful PNC Park.
This leaves the league's biggest wreck for last, the Washington Nationals. The Nationals do not have the same issues as the Royals and Pirates, instead they don't have great young players to give up. The Nationals' only way out of the mess is to accept being terrible for a while. How can being terrible lead to a good team? The Tampa Bay Rays and their 2008 season is perfect example for the Nats to follow. Tampa Bay has one of the best farm systems in the league. Anyone who was shocked that the Rays could put out a great team after having ten years picks around the top of the MLB draft should pay more attention. Perhaps Washington's first pick this year, the now signed Stephen Strasburg, can be the beginning of smart draft choices for this team.
Maybe there will be another Evan Longoria, Carl Crawford or B.J. Upton in the Nationals' future, but don't expect them to come anytime soon. They may have to deal with 10 painful, arduous, losing seasons like Tampa fans. Hopefully Strasburg will become all he has been hyped up to be. If he's not, Washington fans may be in for a long decade.
You can reach this staff writer at slindauer@theeagleonline.com.
