'Druw the right thing?

"I thought they'd at least give it a week after the season, to let things rest... It's weird to think he won't be with us next year, when you think about what a great teammate, what a fun guy he was."
(Jeff Francoeur, via Atlanta Journal Constitution, 10/03/2007)

Hey Stan, we know you hate free agency and all, but, come on: Think of all the season tickets you haven't sold yet...

The Braves and Andruw Jones are splitting up...time to start beating the AJ-to-DC drum a little louder?

Meanwhile...

In the spirit of accountability and trying to figure out where it all went wrong, now seems as good a time as any to debrief about our 2007 preseason predictions:

1. Nationals season record:
Predicted: 76-86. Actual: 73-89.
2. Nationals NL East division place and games back (if any):
Predicted: 4th (21 GB). Actual: 4th (16 GB)
3. Date on which Nick Johnson first appears in a Nationals game:
Predicted: Tuesday, Aug. 15 vs. Philly. Actual: See you in 2008, NJ!?
4. Date on which Nick Johnson suffers season-ending injury:
Predicted: n/a. Actual: n/a.
5. Nationals team leader in pitching starts, with number of starts:
Predicted: Jerome Williams (25). <insert laugh track here> Actual: Matt Chico (31).
6. Total number of starting pitchers used:
Predicted: 12. Actual: 13.
7. Number of ejections for Manny Acta:
Predicted: 0. Actual: 1.
8. Guzman's batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging average:
Predicted: .270/.365/.311. Actual: .328/.380/.466
9. Nationals home runs at RFK:
Predicted: 60. Actual: 48.
10. Paid attendance for the July 21 game against Colorado at RFK (Fox national broadcast):
Predicted: 21,252. Actual: 31,674.

Add it all up and what do you get? Predictions that were sometimes bad but not historically bad, were sometimes pretty damn good, but a lot of the time just blah. Sorta like your 2007 NAAAts, come to think of it.

(AP Photo/Gregory Smith)