DC & WBC Sports Weekend Recap

By Staff Writer John Manuel:

Recap on Redskins, Caps and World Baseball Classic headlines from the weekend.

Redskins Weekend Moves:

The Washington Redskins are expected to be on the quiet side of free agency when it starts tomorrow, but the team was very active over the weekend.  Washington locked up a number of their restricted free agents to multi-year MLB-like deals including Logan Paulson, Rob Jackson, Nick Sundberg, Darrel Young and one unrestricted in Kory Lichtensteiger.  I do like the moves because I hoped for the team to bring all these guys back and I couldn’t see much return on the restricted market via trade if any of them ended up out there.  Hopefully these deals help the team with 2013 salary flexibility so they team can address huge needs in the secondary tomorrow.  DeAngelo Hall’s future is still up in the air and I expect a resolution very soon, probably sent packing.

The two main free agents left are Lorenzo Alexander and Fred Davis, a good team guy or a huge question mark.  Usually I say the good team guy is more important to get back, but this team I think is more important to get Davis resigned.  The Skins could really use Davis in this offense for a full season with Griffin, as he was starting to get it going before the Achilles injury.  The injury should make Davis more affordable and I just don’t see anyone on the market worth Davis’ spot.  Or letting him go and taking a shot in the draft.  Davis was their best receiver before the suspension and their second best once Pierre Garcon got here.  It would be a mistake to give up on him now.

As for Alexander, I love the guy and hope it works out but I can’t see the Skins overpaying for him.  The old regime would have rewarded Lorenzo with a over market deal like they did with Mike Sellers, but Shanahan and Allen will probably play it safe.  He does a lot for this team but his time on the field is limited so the go see what’s out there and come back to us is the correct approach.

Should Caps Now Be “Sellers”:

Just as I talked up the Capitals at the end of last week they go out and drop two in a row.  These will go down I feel as two crippling losses in their pursuit of trying to make the playoffs.  They stand eight points back in the division and seven from the eighth spot in the conference.  Not only is it the points they are behind but they would need to leapfrog numerous teams and it could be a much harder task than it look this time last week.  Plus, the immediate future has the Caps with mostly road games to try to put together a win streak.  Do we reach a point when the team has to look to be sellers?  That time has to now be looked at after this weekend.

The World Baseball Classic:

The World Baseball Classic is going on and right now the discussion is about the Canada/Mexico brawl and that ESPN played a game in Spanish last night.  I really don’t care about either of these or the WBC itself.  With it being spring training and players getting into season shape, especially pitchers it just not the same as other sports world championships or Olympic competitions.  It almost seems fake or not a real world championship to me.  

If the US wins, I will not be running around outside with my flag screaming our possible new anthem, Ignition (Remix).  Cuba is only team I would say that is really made for the competition and that’s because their guys can’t play in the majors.  Only way this works is to do it mid season when MLB players are in form but that would either make MLB teams play shorthanded or stopping the season for a few weeks and playing like a 144 game season.  Not going to happen.  Hockey does it right with the Olympics that is if they do it again in Sochi.  NBA just gets lucky its during the off-season and the World Cup is the World Cup.  Then again this could be a bigger event in the Dominican or Cuba or Japan.