Both Sides of an Argument

For the Nationals and Orioles, There Is Some Evidence for a Promising Future

A conversation between a Nationals fan and an Orioles fan, at a corner bar in some corner of Howard County as a television above the bar shows a Nats-O's interleague game, in which announcers and Hall of Famers Don Sutton and Jim Palmer are arguing over which of them was a better pitcher:

Orioles fan:"So, I've got 20 bucks that says my O's win the Series before your Nats do."

Nationals fan:"You're on. That's easy money."

Orioles fan:"How so? When this weekend's series started, we were in third place in the AL East, and you were in last. We could be in first place by the end of the week. You could have the worst record in the majors."

Nationals fan:"What's up with this 'we, we, we' stuff? I didn't know you spoke French. Fact is, neither team is going anywhere this year -- or probably next year, either. What matters is the future, and ours is simply brighter. Baseball America ranked our farm system the 10th best in the majors this year, a huge jump from a year ago, when it was 28th -- and it's chock-full of pitching, which we've been stockpiling the last couple of years. Your farm system is 14th, and scouts say there's not a decent middle infield prospect in the whole system."

Orioles fan:"We've been stockpiling young pitching, too -- like in the Erik Bedard and Miguel Tejada trades. And as long as you're going around citing Baseball America, let me point out the O's have five prospects ranked among the top 100, while your Nationals only have three. And I also should add that our franchise cornerstone, Nick Markakis, has an OPS -- that's on-base plus slugging, mind you -- that's about 150 points higher than your franchise cornerstone, Ryan Whats-his-name."

Nationals fan:"It's Ryan Zimmerman -- and by the way, he's a year younger than Markakis, and potentially one of the best defensive third basemen of all-time."

Bartender (looking suspiciously like an MLB Sunday staffer):"Sorry to interject, but y'all got me to thinking, so I called up Jim Callis, who is the editor of Baseball America, and asked him which team is closer to a championship. Here's what he said: 'Head to head, I think the Orioles and Nationals are pretty even. Neither team has much in the way of pitching. In terms of building blocks, the Orioles have Markakis and Adam Jones, while the Nats have Zimmerman and maybe Lastings Milledge. The farm systems are close, but I like Washington's better, and they have more high-impact players in theirs.' "

Nationals fan:"There you have it. Look, pal, you need to examine the big picture. The Orioles are stuck in the AL East with the Red Sox and Yankees. Your payroll will always be a fraction of theirs. The Nationals, meanwhile, have a chance to be one of baseball's marquee franchises -- playing in a big market, with big revenue streams and big payrolls to match."

Orioles fan:"Yeah, and what evidence do you have that your owners, the Lerners, will ever open their wallets? At least our owner, Peter Angelos, has proven he is willing to spend big -- remember Albert Belle? Rafael Palmeiro? Tejada?"

Nationals fan:"Yeah? How did those contracts work out for you? Aren't the O's still paying Belle to play golf in Scottsdale?"

Orioles fan:"No, the contract finally ran out a couple of years ago. But I see your point. Well, the bottom line is, I guess it's hard to predict where the O's and Nats will be in about three years."

Nationals fan:"But at least we know where you and I will be."