Bright Future...Even With Most Arrogant, Least Likable Werth

Around this time of year, while not much else is going on, MLB.com and a few other websites put out their farm system rankings. Based on most of these rankings, the Nationals appear to be in good shape, with the only knock on their farm system being that they lack depth. The Nationals top prospects though are good, really good. Lucas Giolito, Michael Taylor, A.J. Cole, and Trea Turner (even though he's still listed as a Padres prospect) all made MLB.com's list of the top 100 prospects. Giolito ranked as the best right handed pitching prospect in the game. Being that the Nationals already have the best rotation in the Major Leagues, is it really fair that they also have the top prospect? Well, 15 other teams passed on Giolito, so yeah, it's more than fair. 

Bleacher Report ranks the Nationals farm system as the 11th best in baseball and Sporting News actually put them a bit higher and made them the 8th best farm system. Mike Rizzo has done a great job not only making sure that the team is competitive now, but also will be competitive in the future. That's an incredibly tough thing to do and its what makes teams like the Cardinals competitive year in and year out. When Jayson Werth signed with the Nationals in 2010, it signaled that the Nationals were ready to start competing. At that time, the Nationals had the 15th ranked farm system in baseball and that was with Bryce Harper among others in the minors. The group they have in the minors right now is ranked even higher than that. The Major League team they're fielding right now is expected to be one of the best in baseball. That's awfully impressive.

Speaking of Jayson Werth, I don't know if you heard or not, but "Werth is one of the most arrogant, least likable athletes in sports". Also, "Jayson Werth is one of the least likable athletes in the history of Washington D.C.". At least according to John Feinstein. With that being said, this is the most asinine, meaningless comment Feinstein may have ever made. Oh, Werth doesn't treat you well? Oh, I'm sorry. Werth's job isn't to talk to you and be friendly with you. His job is to play baseball. He wasn't signed to a 7 year $126 million contract because he's nice to the media. He was signed because he's a good baseball player, he's won before, and he's a good guy in the clubhouse. If Werth hits .280 with 15+ home runs a year, I don't care if he talks to the media once or if he talks 162 times, that's his decision. I don't know when part of an athlete's job became talking to the media and playing nice with all the reporters, but it's ridiculous. 

I'm fine with the manager having a post game press conference and answering questions about what happened during the game, why he made one decision instead of another, etc. But why should Werth be criticized for not wanting to talk to the media after losing 3-2 in game 4 of the NLDS? Did you want to ask him about what was running through his mind in the top of the 8th inning when he popped out? Who cares. You wanted to know if he thought the team could come back from the 3-2 deficit after Aaron Barrett's wild pitch? Once again, who cares. I promise, you can find enough to write about without getting a quote from Werth about how the team played hard and competed but came up short. It's the same generic answer after a loss every time, so the bottom line is, it shouldn't matter. Sure the fact that Aaron Barrett, a rookie, stuck around to answer questions was admirable, but that was his decision. It doesn't make me like him any more or like Werth any less. I'm astounded that Werth could be declared one of the least likable athletes in sports. I get it, going 105 MPH in a 55 MPH zone is completely unacceptable, completely unsafe, and sets an awful example. If that along with Werth leaving the clubhouse after Game 4 are the main reasons he's one of the least likable players, then people need to get a grip. There are a number of athletes who don't talk to the media (Marshawn Lynch being one of them, although he does so in a hilarious manner), but I guess since Werth didn't want to talk to John Feinstein or any of his buddies after losing a tough elimination game in the playoffs, he's now unlikable. Gilbert Arenas brought guns into the Wizards clubhouse because of an issue over gambling debts, but I guess that was alright because he was amusing and talked to the media after every game, right? Nonetheless, Mike Rizzo decided to give Feinstein a call about the Werth comments and I hope Riz gave him an earful.