Almost...

The Washington Post had two, yes, count 'em, TWO articles today on the Nationals. I think that's a new record for the paper. Anyway, beyond the relatively fluffy piece discussing the Nationals first major fan/press event, Post reporter Dave Sheinin has an interesting piece delving into just how close (or far) the Nationals were to acquiring slugger Sammy Sosa, now making his nest up north with the Orioles.

The most interesting thing about the article is the general frame of sanity it gives the Nationals front office. Even with a minor leagues mostly depleted from the prolonged MLB firesale, they were willing to stick with their young talent, specifically Wilkerson and Sledge, instead of going for a very cheap big splash in landing a virtually "free" Sammy Sosa. The proposed terms discussed in the Sheinin piece were far worse for the Nationals then the price the Orioles ended up paying, even though the Orioles are "paying" more in terms of actual money towards his contract.

The developments of the last few days have left me cautiously optimistic about both regional franchises futures. Hopefully that'll continue, at least until the Orioles manage to miss out on the next big free agent.