I really try not to let my emotional attachment to players get the best of me, heck, I at the beginning of this season thought to myself: what if we stink this season should we deal Scherzer?

(Related Article: Is it time to think about trading Max Scherzer?)

The backlash was bad on social media, and some individuals called me stupid. Fast forward a couple of months, look where we are now: it is almost certain that Scherzer will be traded and finish the 2021 season with another team and we might even say goodbye to Trea Turner who has been in the lineup almost every day since 2016.

(Related Article: Perspective: Trade Max Scherzer and… Trea Turner?)

There have been many posts on social media saying “Yeah it's’ gonna suck now but think of the prospects''!!!!! i'm so happy we are taking this hard step forward!” We have to remember that Prospects don’t always work out the way that you want them to (i.e., Carter Kieboom) or if you trade that prospect in the future to another team they might work out for them (i.e. Lucas Giolito).

Prospects are a gamble plain and simple.

Ownership has given me marching orders to put a championship-caliber club on the field. That's my purpose. - Mike Rizzo, Dec 17, 2020

To me, it isn’t about the players, yes, I am going to miss Max’s cursing or even his walking around the mound when he gets that strikeout to end the inning or get an important out. To me, by the Nationals selling off some of their top talents, this signals to me that we are about to go into a period of serious disappointment.

What this means that Rizzo and the front office made some bad moves this offseason and we are seeing the results of them and that Rizzo and Co failed in putting together a “championship-caliber club” on the field like he said he would do back in December of 2020. Plain and Simple.

Rizzo and Co gambled that Carter Kieboom would take a step forward in his development and it turned out that Kieboom didn’t even make the opening day roster after the Nationals Covid scare.

(Related Article: The Curious Case of Carter Kieboom; The Prospect that the Nationals Need)

Yes, injuries played a factor, who knew that Strasburg would only play in five games in 2021! (YES, five games.)

There will be plenty of time left in the season and unfortunately during the offseason to sit and think about what went wrong this season, was it the massive amounts of injuries? Was it that the Nationals put together a Triple-A team to play in the majors? Was it Rizzo who couldn't convince ownership to make some serious moves? Did the Learners not commit enough money to the team? Did Martinez and Rizzo put too much into hoping that Carter Kieboom would be the prospect that he was supposed to be?

(Related Article: Stephen Strasburg to Have Season Ending Surgery per Reports)

I have always been a fan of Mike Rizzo, and he has done some incredible things for the Nationals, however, this year is a bust that will set back the team for a couple of years. It happens, people make mistakes, the next question that should be asked is anyone going to be held accountable for those mistakes." I am not advocating for Rizzo to be fired, what would make me happy would be on camera admission of mistakes from the GM. I would be happy to have Rizzo on my podcast to talk about this, even if he doesn't feel that he made any mistakes. How can fans know that there is some accountability for this season?

At the end of the day, it is the fans that will suffer. How do I explain to my six-year-old that his favorite pitcher is going to get traded because of some bad moves during the offseason? Seriously, any ideas?

I will always root for the Nationals and wear the Curly W proudly; I will still go to baseball games this summer and next and the summer after that.

I am just disappointed that we didn’t end up putting a “championship-caliber team” on the field this year. I am going to miss seeing that huge image of a three-time Cy-Young Award winner and World Series winner up at Nationals Park on Friday night. Now comes the process of re-building or re-tooling the team so that we see the Nationals win another division title.