For days, this post has been kicking around in my head.  I’ve just been too busy to sit down and write.

This morning, I listened to Baseball This Morning on MLB Home Plate (as I do almost every morning) and observed them poking fun at our organization.  It is beyond comprehension that the top dollar free agent would sign with the worst team in baseball.  They went on to make fun of Collin Balester for his weekend interview predicting a World Series sweep with Teixeira in the Nats lineup.

I love Home Plate and I’m a pretty loyal listener.  But today, they hit every nerve; in a week where I have argued with every baseball person I know about whether or not this Teixeira sweepstakes could be won by the most unthinkable of teams, all this complaining and whining about the Nationals involvement in negotiations with Teix is driving me crazy.  Everyone is so quick to put us down, to predict a few more miserable years, to mock ownership, executives and fans and to say that there is no way Teixeira ends up in Washington.  As if we’re not even allowed to be a factor. 

Why not? If the Lerners are interested and will keep sweetening the offer (as they apparantly did this evening), then why aren’t we being taken seriously?  Why so much disrespect?  Tampa took it (the disrespect), in one of the toughest divisions in baseball and they showed the world that crazy things can happen in this game. (By the way, I’m not suggesting a worst to first storybook season for the Nats).  Will Mark Teixeira carry this team to the World Series on his back?  Probably not.  But he is a huge step in the right direction.

I am so tired of the Teixeira saga.  My blackberry addiction has turned almost clinical throughout the Teix Sweeps and combined with a Christmas panic to find last minute presents (my family insists on must-have-impossible-to-find-gifts like Wii Fit and NHL 2K9), I’m in desperate need of a long, peaceful hibernation when this finally wraps up.

But here’s what I want to say.  I’m proud of the Lerners for doing this, regardless of what happens.  I hope Mark Teixeira is a National very soon and I’m not embarrased to believe that he really might be.  I understand that we still have a lot of work to do, even with Teixeira in the lineup, but I know we’d be worlds better with him than without him.

I’m not big fan of our GM and yes, I wish we could have upgrades in the lineup, in the rotation and in the bullpen, but I think indeed we are the sum of our parts.  I’m feeling hyper defensive these days.  Only we — fans who suffered through the 100+ loss season, in the heat and in the rain…only we can mock our team.  And look around.  Everybody is hopeful and ready to begin a new chapter and put 2008 behind us.  Not naive, just optimistic. Maybe it’s Christmas spirit.  Maybe it’s desperation.  Maybe it’s heart.

This entry was posted on Monday, December 22nd, 2008 at 9:25 pm and is filed under Free Agents. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.