Most Disappointing Nats: 2010 Edition

I figured since people always love lists, I'd do some more. The postseason starts today at 1:37 PM EDT on TBS. It's a match up between the Rays and the Rangers, and even more exciting, between David Price and Cliff Lee.

To help address the off-season depression of no baseball in DC, I've already started the pitchers and catchers spring training countdown in the right column. Only 127 days.... Until then, let's keep talking about the 2010 season. Yesterday, we talked about the most improved and impressive players of the year. Today, we'll hit the most disappointing Nats of 2010.

1. Jason Marquis - The Nats aquired Jason Marquis in the off-season from the Colorado Rockies for a $15 million contract over 2 years. He showed up. And that's about the last good thing he did until August. He failed to retire a runner against the Brewers in April, had surgery, and disappeared for 2/3 of the season. When he came back, he showed signs of brilliance, but on September 17th against the Phillies, Marquis didn't make it out of the 1st inning for the 2nd time this season. Not the stuff of a $15 million man. Marquis was a huge bust this year, and hopefully he can hang on to the few brilliant moments in the off-season to prepare for 2011.

2. Nyjer Morgan - Man, I don't even know where to start. Between 2009 and 2010, his average dropped from .307 to .253, his on base % from .369 to .319, his stolen bases plummeted from 42 to 34, and all of this happened with more plate appearances. Then there's the multiple mental breakdowns (see: throwing ball at fan, temper tantrum resulting in inside the park home run vs. Orioles, charging the mound vs. Volstad and taunting Marlins fans) and his inability to get on base as a lead of man. All of these things point to Nyjer playing somewhere else next year... maybe Japan... or nowhere.

3. Scott Olsen - Scott Olsen showed signs of brilliance in 2010, taking a no-hitter into the 8th inning against the Braves May, shutting out the Dodgers through 7 innings in April, and... nope, that's it. Other than that, Olsen had some okay games, but nothing great as his ERA crept towards 6.00 in September, ultimately ending his starting career for the Nationals. He developed Oliver Perez syndrome, spouting anger about being thrown into the bullpen, but then got hurt yet again, effectively ending his tenure as a Washington Nationals pitcher. Scott Olsen was supposed to be a workhorse pitcher for the Nats, and instead he couldn't stay healthy or pitch well for long stretches in either of his 2 years with the organization. Olsen turned out to be a huge disappointment.

(Dis)honorable Mentions: Adam Kennedy, Willie Harris

Note, that these weren't the worst players on the team this year. You'd have to look to Kevin Mench and Justin Maxwell for those honors. But I'm convinced that Marquis, Morgan, and Olsen were absolutely the most disappointing players of 2010. Think I'm wrong? Tell me! Enjoy the first Division Series games today!