Get Used To It

Earlier this week, the Nationals cut ties to the promising-but-maddening Shawn Hill. Naturally, this caused a lot of unnecessary handwringing and the usual, no-brain, knee-jerk Lerners-are-cheap remarks.

To which I say: Get used to it.

Let's face it, as nice a guy as Shawn Hill is reported to be, this is a business. I can't think of many other places where you'd be allowed to keep your job when you can't stick around for more than two months in a row.

In my book, a major-leaguer ought to be able to participate in the middle of the season, but if you look it up, you'll see that Mr. Hill was never active in the month of July during his tenure with the Nationals.

Sorry, kids, but this is only going to continue. The Nationals are a last-place club and there are guys on the farm that are on the verge. This is what "The Plan" is, has, and will always be about: Making sure that players perform by keeping them, as Assistant GM Mike Rizzo was recently quoted "a little uncomfortable."

There will be other "fan favorites" that will be let go over the course of this season, or next, and true baseball fans ought to be able not only to reconcile that fact, but recognize it, too. Guys like Wil Nieves, Ronnie Belliard, and even Willie Harris are candidates if guys like Luke Montz, Roger Bernadina and Leonard Davis are deemed ready.

So don't get too attached. More changes are coming.