VIERA, Fla. -- Six weeks ago, the Washington Nationals convened here for the start of spring training. Stephen Strasburg had yet to face a big-league hitter. Same for Drew Storen. Ross Detwiler was a contender for a spot in the Opening Day rotation. Livan Hernandez was unemployed.
Jesus Flores was hoping to be ready for the start of the season. Elijah Dukes assumed his status as an everyday player was safe. So did Cristian Guzman.
Either Eddie Guardado or Ron Villone figured to make the club. Jesse English figured to be among the first players cut.
And a sportswriter, fueled by the generous support of his readers, packed up his car and hit the road from Northern Virginia to Florida's Space Coast.
As you read this today, I'm back on that road, heading home. Spring training isn't officially over for the Nats, who still play against the Mets in Port St. Lucie this afternoon and against the Red Sox in Fort Myers tomorrow. Much as I would have liked to stick around for those final two games, I've got to hightail it back to D.C. and get re-situated before Saturday's exhibition against the Red Sox at Nationals Park and then Monday's season opener against the Phillies.
Yes, I'm planning to continue covering this team into the regular season. All season.
From the moment I commenced my initial fundraising campaign to cover spring training, the following question kept coming up, from readers, from colleagues, from members of the Nationals: What are you going to do once the season starts? My answer all along was: I'm not sure yet, but I'm hoping I can continue to run this website.
Well, I can now definitively say I will be doing just that. Nats Insider will live on, and I'll continue to cover the club for this site, which since its launch two months ago has attracted more than 27,000 different readers from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and 88 different countries. NatsTown indeed knows no boundaries.
I'll also, however, be covering the club for another media entity in town, a well-established sports news organization that has offered me the chance to write about the Nationals on a freelance basis. I can't reveal specifics quite yet, but you'll find out about it within a couple of days. This freelance gig will provide some income, though it's only part-time and will only cover some minimal travel expenses to cover the Nats on the road.
So in order to keep providing complete coverage of the Nationals for this site, I'm still going to need your support. More than 350 of you funded my spring training coverage and provided enough overflow funds to get me through April. But it's going to take more than that to fund an entire season of coverage (including as many road trips as possible).
As was the case all spring, you get extra content and perks for your money. The website will remain free and available to all who wish to view it, but those who contribute will get more.
I'm going to offer two different methods for payment/service. You can either subscribe for the entire regular season, or you can subscribe on a month-to-month basis. The full-season subscription will come at a discounted rate.
(A note about the month-to-month option: Those subscriptions all will run through the final day of the month in which they are purchased and thus must be renewed for each subsequent month. So whether you subscribe on April 1 or April 29, you'll receive extras every remaining day that month, through April 30. Much as I would like to be able to offer 30 days' worth of extras from the date in which you subscribe, as a one-man operation, that simply would be too difficult to maintain.)
Here, then, is the breakdown of subscription levels for the regular season:
RED -- Audio file of either Jim Riggleman's pregame or postgame media session, or of a Nats player or executive, from every game I cover in person. Price: $40/season or $8/month.
WHITE -- All extras given to RED subscribers, plus a weekly podcast from myself discussing the most-significant events of the week. Price: $60/season or $12/month.
BLUE -- All extras given to RED and WHITE subscribers, plus a special preview of each upcoming new series, featuring head-to-head stats for possible key matchups between Nats players and their opponents. Price: $80/season or $16/month.
GOLD -- All extras given to RED, WHITE and BLUE subscribers, plus the opportunity to submit questions to Riggleman and players for multiple interviews over the course of the season. Price: $100/season (no monthly option).
If you'd like to subscribe, please click on the link below this paragraph and enter your contribution amount:
CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE FOR THE REGULAR SEASON
Thank you to everyone who made spring training coverage possible and to all of you who made a point to write, comment or personally introduce yourself over the last six weeks. It's been my pleasure to interact with so many of you, and it will continue to be my pleasure to cover the Nationals for you all season!
59 comments:
Mark,
You made Spring Training more enjoyable (a Proven RF and a Feb. move of Guz to 2nd and 1st in would have been too much to hope for I guess).
Thanks for the specifics of the Minor League Camp schedules when I was down. I see big changes there.
Have a great year!
Mark,
Thank you for outstanding "Insider" coverage of the Nationals. Your writing "put us there" and made Nats fans feel like part of the team. Looking forward to your regular season coverage.
all the best!
Mark, it has been enjoyable so far!
I get paid tomorrow and I'll get on board.
Thanks, Mark, for such a wonderful job of keeping us informed of all the latest Nats news! I am excited to hear that you will be continuing your coverage throughout the season!
Mark,
Are you going to be going on road trips, or just covering the home games in person (along with, I suppose, the Baltimore and Philadelphia games)? It seems like that would dramatically alter your business plan.
Good luck!
I have enjoyed reading your posts during spring training and more than happy to sign up for the regular season. Bring on the Phillies!! Go Nationals!!
Anon: My plan is to cover as many road games as possible, funds permitting.
Mark,
So glad you can continue your great blog. Have you ever thought of having a meet-and-greet after a home game during the season? Bet you'd have a lot of people show.
Mark, it's been incredible to read this blog throughout the spring and I'll be doing so every day during the season. You can count on my contribution with my next paycheck.
Is there a way to make the monthly contribution automatic, or will I need to go back to PayPal every month to pay? Thanks! I'm excited you'll be continuing to cover the team!
If only I weren't a poor college student I would definitely contribute. Your blog makes for fantastic reading and I love your brand of legitimate journalism and the fact that you do your own research and don't just regurgitate the AP articles. Congratulations on getting a new gig, and I hope you continue to provide us with Nats coverage for a long time to come.
Mark, ditto what NatsNut said. Cannot wait for the season to begin and your reports to continue.
Thinking about it a little further, why not, at $40 for the season it's really an absolute steal given the quality of the coverage.
@ Josh, you're right, talking less than 25 cents a game. Mark, I have greatly enjoyed the coverage and the audio files, so certainly will be re-upping.
Any way to pay a bit more and get peric's endless (and useless) comments filtered out?
Just ponied up my $40. Keep up the good work.
Mark,
You have done a fantastic job so far! Everything you promised. I think I personally got 10 people to start following your blog by the way I talk about it.
btw, I'd pay $250 if peric is restricted to only 1 comment per post.
I'm BLUE. Although I prefer the Nats' red home colors.
And Peric doesn't bother me. I usually agree with him.
Congrats to you Mark and all your lucky readers. Play Ball!
Greaaaaaaat job MarkMeister. I'm gonna go for the "Gold". This is a very unique opportunity. Thanks for all your effort. You have a model blog.
Great job Mark! Any thoughts about having a Nats Insider subscriber night at the Park, maybe mid-season with a meet and greet with you before the game???
LOL about the Peric comments...Mark your site is awesome and I've already signed up. God bless you and the Mrs. Keep on keeping on, brother...oh yea!! Thanks for what you've done already.
Bernie from Reston
glad to hear this is working out as an ongoing venture, mark. count me in.
as a side baseball note (since this is the most current post), interesting stat about livan...
===TMI blog on ESPN===
Looking at things the other way, as long as Livan Hernandez is on a roster, it seems as though we can count on him to lose at least 10 games. Hernandez has done that in 12 straight seasons. In the modern era, only three pitchers have had longer runs.
=======================
next closest on the active list? barry zito with 7.
I am in also and oh so blue.
Thanks for all of your hard work and good luck!
WOOOHOOO!!! This is fantastic news Mark!! Count me in! I like the idea of a meet & greet with all of us too - Nats Insider subscriber at the Park! Thank you for going out on a limb to give us this great coverage - ditto what Natsnut said :) Let's play ball! Go Nats!
Thank you sec314! Great job! I am with NatsNut in wondering if it is sustainable. Seems like Ben Goessling your former partner at the Times is rustling up many of the same ideas for MASN. Plus a new web page to support multi-media output.
I must admit that Jim Bowden's last 2 GM Corner installments have been extremely interesting ... after he stopped with the Joy worship and distracting with his politically positioned Nats and Reds office decor. I wonder if you might be able to do something similar with the Nats? It would be way cool to watch online videos with MIke Rizzo, the players, perhaps other teams as well? I realize that may be way beyond your budget or initial outlay but I am hoping that my humble analysis might spark some epiphany ??
Just heard your long interview on ESPN 980 and it was good to hear your voice as well as your always interesting analysis. I'm interested to know your part-time gig but most of all I'm pleased to hear you have one as it probably makes this sustainable for the season.
So count me in as a paying customer!! It took guts to take the chance on Spring Training and it worked out for you and certainly for all of us. We got our money's worth and then some.
Mark,
When you get the time, can you explain the Taveras platoon to me? This guy has been in pretty steady decline at the plate the past three seasons (OPS+ of 89, 55, 48). Sure he's fast, but who cares how fast a guy can run back to the bench because he isn't going to be on the basepaths. So he had a hot spring (he even walked!) but everyone says it's ST, and spring stats don't matter. So, excuse my rambling but why did the Nationals decide Taveras is the right answer?
It is becoming clear the Nats brain trust is very worried about the defense.....as they should be....but I want to know why they did not do more in the Winter to address the Defense. Putting Taveras in RF to plug the holes is just grasping at straws.
They need to trade Willingham and Dunn and get a true first baseman and a some proven hit and field corner outfielders. It is very hard to do at the end of camp.
Mark, we need to hear from Rizzo about why he did not see these problems coming and why he was not more proactive in the winter. He needed a great defensive SS, LF 1B and RF....he got a OK 2B!. How is that acceptable given the defense this team played last year?
They can not carry two DH's in the everyday line up.
I think we should all pitch in for Mrs. Zuckerman. She deserves a night on the town for being such a supportive spouse. Mark, please thank her for us!!
the box score from todays game shows guzman moving to RF late in the game...is this true??
Get rid of Bil Ladson and lets hire Mark Z. for the MLB
I'm in for the full-season plan. VERY glad this blog will continue -- I'm addicted. And I'm very impressed with the geographic diversity of Mark's audience.
Guzman did indeed move to the outfield in the ninth inning.
@JayB,
I think we should wait to see what Rizzo manages to do with waiver wire at the end. Plus have to figure Harris, Willingham, perhaps Dunn and others are being discussed. They apparently had a discussion about Corey Hart but his defense is sub standard.
If Pittsburgh releases Ryan Church you have to wonder about the Nats picking him up. (In spite of some Nats players' attitudes about him.) He makes sense if they want Bernadina to play almost everyday somewhere. He opens the door for Harris to be trades. He certainly would make more sense platooned with Morris than a Tavares. But we'll have to see.
Base on the question&answer on Ben's MASN site with Mike Rizzo one can see that he appears to value left-handed starters who have had success and are still young. He says he will be very patient with him. He also believes in stacking up MLB ready starters in the minors. He also went on record as saying that a prospect like JZim is like gold, very difficult to acquire through trade.
Seems to support my contention that even Marquis may not be a starter (depending on performance) toward the end of the year. And that he is not depending on Wang and would prefer a JZimm over a Wang in his rotation if he recovers from the surgery completely.
In paragraph 3 I meant to say Olsen not "him". I hope he let's him spend April in extended spring training in Florida and not with the club in the cold April weather.
Mark, I'm so happy you are continuing Nats Insider through the regular season. I've really enjoyed your coverage. I have just funded a Gold membership, and am very pleased to be able to do so. Go Nats!!!
Good news re. the freelance gig. I'll be reupping as well. Just need to do some number crunching.
Three comments in a row from peric is four too many. I'm with the others who'd pay extra to avoid that!
OK, I just signed up. So...dumb question but...how will we get access to the extra content? (Yes, I used to jump into the pool before checking the water temperature, too.)
Travel safely and keep trudging the road to Happy Destiny. Here's to keeping hope alive, and have a great season.
OK, finally have a chance to get online and caught up on everything...
Nervous Nats Fan: For now, there's no automated system to charge you every month for the subscription, so you'll need to manually do it yourself. But I'll make sure to send a reminder out to all month-to-month subscribers with a week or so to go.
MJR: All extra content (audio files, series previews, info about submitting questions) will be emailed directly to you.
Mark -- thanks for the coverage so far; I'm in at Red for the regular season!
I think people should lay off Peric -- some posters are being pretty mean. I often disagree with him, but he's perfectly civil and there's no need to read his comments if he bothers you.
Last question. Can I start at one monthly level and then upgrade or downgrade later? Or is that too confusing for you? Thanks!
Nervous Nats Fan: That's no trouble. I'll just see however much you contribute for a given month and assign you that level of extras.
I'm in for the "white" plan. (Hope I'm not sorry later on that I didn't go for "blue." I just don't think I'd keep up with all the updates.)
You have done a great job, Mark and I'm happy to do my little part to keep you going. My wife and I were just in central Florida, although our Viera game on Monday got rained out.
We drove across the Grapefruit League listening to your audio in the car. Thanks! It gave us perspective we never would have had otherwise.
Congrats on a great month while working on an unproven platform. You've shown it can work.
At this rate, you'll be hiring staff in no time! (Need a stats guy? -- har har)
Fine, fine work.
Hmmm...is there an ESPN DC in the works? Just idle speculation while waiting for opening day.
I'd just like to add my personal thanks to all of you, readers. This spring has been a lot of fun for *me* reading your back-and-forth with Mark and with each other, in addition to my beloved husband's excellent writing. Thanks for your continued support--subscribing, commenting, reading, everything--and I hope this adventure will continue (hey, if we could afford for me to be a full-time Nats Insider photographer, that would be AWESOME).
Mark,
Just re-upped for the season. You did a great job at spring training. I hope you're keeping notes for a magazine article or possibly even a book on your transition to this form of journalism.
Good luck.
Bob Cullen
PS: If you need volunteer photography help this summer, let me know.
Hey Mark,
I just re-upped and wanted to add my thanks for all that you too (and you too Mrs. Z!) I can't wait to see the coverage for this season!
Thanks for sharing him with us, Mrs. Z., while you hunkered through the long, cold winter up here with the rest of us. (p.s. I trust that he's back on dust bunny duty now.) ;-)
Just chipped my $100. Mr. Z -- thank you for adding so much to the week I just spent at spring training. Insider is right. Teriffic stuff. A question for you -- what kind of camera did you use to take those dandy shots you posted with your entries?
Hmmm maybe I should turn the tables and change my handle to "anonymous" and use my wickedly sharp rapier on some you reprobates. It might be fun.
I work for a non profit..thus i am poor, so the 8 bucks was all I can do.. but you deserve it!
Keep up the good work and good luck in your endeavors..GO NATS!!!!
Anon 10:06: Nothing special with the camera. Just a standard Kodak digital with a zoom lens. It helps when you can shoot from the front row or the photographer's pit at spring training!
Sent in my $100 - thanks for all the great content to date!
When should we expect our first emailed content for the regular season?
I'm in.
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