New Year and New Nationals

In the year 2021, the Washington Nationals expect to compete for the division and, if all goes well, a World Series title. Only one (60-game) season removed from a championship, the Nationals are largely a new-look squad, with many departures coming over the last year and a half. That’s just the way sports tend to go.

Long gone are the days of a horde of players sticking around with one organization for an extended period of time.

With new-comers abound, the Nationals will attempt to navigate the increasingly perilous National League East. It’s been a common refrain of mine to fret about the state of the division — simply because it’s becoming much more formidable at a rapid rate. Much…