'Nats notes

By Todd Jacobson

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The future of the Nationals

June 18, 2007 6:56 pm

            Remember the scene in the movie “Major League” where Pedro Serrano is scared to look in his locker for the dreaded pink slip that would tell him he’s been cut out of big league camp?

            So I walked into the Nationals’ clubhouse Monday - after the team's 6-3 roadtrip - to find dozens of “pink slips” hanging from lockers with the words “No Future” written on them. Hanging on one of the TVs that the players often watch was a page out of the Washington Times that looked at the Nationals’ roster down the road, specifically detailing how the team’s rebuilding “plan” might affect the current roster.

There were mug shots of each player accompanying the article, and the pictures of those with dubious futures were shaded.

            Some players, like third baseman Ryan Zimmerman, were grouped in the “Part of the future” category. (The rest: Shawn Hill, Chad Cordero, Matt Chico and Jesus Flores)

Others were in the “Not sure” boat.

Then there was the “Definitely Not” club.

            The article was a perfectly acceptable look at the future of the team, but needless to say, the Times hit a nerve and the players protest was a light-hearted and hilarious response (with a grain of truth and uneasiness sprinkled in).

            The Nats’ clubhouse opens at 3:35 p.m. everyday, and as a group of reporters walked in, the ribbing started.

At one point, “definitely not” first baseman Dmitri Young wore his “No Future” tag on the front of his batting practice jacket, and ticked through a list of his “No Future” cronies, each name followed by a loud “OUT!”

            “Did you survive?” injured right-hander John Patterson called out across the room. “I’m ‘not sure.’ ”

            “Can we have a future somewhere else,” asked outfielder Ryan Church, another in the “not sure” category.

            Then, veteran left-hander Ray King walked into the clubhouse and hugged closer Chad Cordero.  King was a definitely not. Cordero was part of the future.

            “Hey, it’s nice playing with you,” King said, before repeating the gesture around the clubhouse.

            Patterson piped up with a few more questions.

            “Did you run that by Jim,” he called out, a reference to GM Jim Bowden.

            And this bit which casts doubt on the strategy of the Times’ article:

            “How we gonna play with five players, six players? Chief [Cordero] is going to play center field and close, he’s that good,” Patterson said.

            The gag was the brainchild of Robert Fick, who was an active heckler of the media throng. Is anyone surprised by that?

            “They had to find some bad [expletive] to write,” Fick said. “We’re playing too good.”

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Todd Jacobson is a sports writer for The Free Lance-Star

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Todd Jacobson is covering the Washington Nationals.