I have watched a pretty good punt of Nationals baseball this spring, because they’ve matched up with the Astros a few times but also because they are one of baseball’s most interesting teams. Not only is there a gooey melting pot of compelling personalities in Washington, but their on-field talent teems with potential in its fecund emergent state.

Here in Houston our soil is dry and quiet, with seeds planted but months or years from showing fruit. The mental exercise implicit in looking at a more successful team feels I would say essential at this moment in time when the average Astros fan has to look much deeper into the team experience than today’s roster and today’s result.

So I look at the Nationals.

The Nationals roster sports the most prospects turned players at the current moment. A few years ago you’d look to the Rays for same. With their two numero uno picks in the draft during two of the best years in history for that first selection, along with a very, very, very savvy choice in Anthony Rendon several years ago, who, let’s recall, was in the chit-chat for number one pick for most of that year before he got banged up. The Nats grabbed him at number 6, so let’s not say that the two number ones were just their luck.

Astros fans look at George Springer, Jonathan Singleton and Carlos Correa, and we want to see in them the root system that grew Strasburg and Harper, and we’ll be good and happy with a crop of Ian Desmonds and Danny Espinosas. The Nats are a vision for the future of the moribund franchise. Their young players are what we want our young players to be, and we look hopefully in that direction without any assurance.

As Charlie Pelillo pointed out on 790 AM the other day, tomorrow is not guarantee. This ingenious rebuilding process comes without insurance.

The second example the Nats set is aggressive player movement once the young studs are clearly on the up. When the time is right in Houston, we better have that same smart, aggressive, and even at times foolish approach to completing a team founded on young talent, or we’re sunk. The vibe seems to hum with that kind of optimism, though we’ll only really see it play out when/if the time comes.

Forgive me if my attention trails away to the Nats this year. I learned long ago not to beat myself up for keeping track of the hottest commodity around, because excellence is the fertilizer in the soil of baseball. The Astros have turned the field and laid the seed, but that doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy an apple from another team’s orchard.

I don’t have a dog in the fight over where our affiliates are located, other than to say that I see nothing bad about having a Triple-A or Double-A team nearby.

I did, however, enjoy Oklahoma City Redhawks president/general manager Michael Byrnes’ take on the matter:

“This is a viable business that’s staying here,” Byrnes told The Oklahoman [as reported by Ultimate Astros]. “We may have a different partner down the road if that’s what the Astros want to explore, but the RedHawks as an organization will continue to be in Bricktown.”

Maybe I just miss it after the season finale, but I couldn’t help but read Byrnes’ comments in a well-bred British accent not dissimilar to that of the kind-hearted but increasingly obsolete Lord Grantham of Dowton Abbey.

For me, forever onward, it shall be known as Brickton. 

• Classic Spring Training TV: an umpire standing in between the outfield camera, while somebody yammering about nothing in the press box comes through the mike as loud as Ashby and Blum.

• Blum has a throaty delivery, like a beer delivery man, or like Ron Swanson with a dash of West Coast. He pronounces Humber with the hard-H as in hummingbird.

• Humber certainly kept the action moving at pace in the first two innings, with a hard sinking fastball with some electricity in it.

• Nate Freiman garners a lot of positive feedback from our broadcasters.  He’s as tall as a house and he hits like a trebuchet, in a sequence of mechanical motions.

• Ashby seems a little harried running the show himself. Especially when Jim Crane visited the booth, old Ash was sprinting through his questions.

• You know who Danny Espinosa hits like? Dustin Ackley. Ackley’s in our division now, you gotta know this stuff. They share a kind of stand-up stance from the left side, the uber-relaxed approach. I think the Mariners would be glad for Ackley to perform like an Espinosa.

• Ashby on Bill Brown’s eating habits: “He’s in good shape, I don’t imagine he abuses food.”

• Matt Dominguez started off a pretty double play, charging on a soft grounder and humming it to first before first baseman Laird winged it back to third to peg the runner (an ankle-braced up pinch running Anthony Rendon). It’s all anyone says about Dominguez—the great defense—and he certainly showed the arm on that dribbler, though it wasn’t the toughest charger.

• Jonathan Villar does seem to have some jump, some explosiveness. I have to think he’ll see the big leagues this year at some point.

• Blum in the 6th: “Dallas Kookle on the mound now. goolllefty.”

Okay that seems like plenty for now. The Nats are fun to watch. Not so long ago the Nationals were the gum on the bottom of the shoe of baseball life. Now they excite and intrigue on par with some of the best teams in the game. 

This from a few days ago….

A new logo on a uniform doesn’t mean much until you can see it move on the shoulders of a hitter as he gets ready for the pitch, against the backdrop of full stands, infield dirt or outfield grass. Today (sic) , the Astros played their first Spring Training game. Their new logos on new uniforms are electric. I felt giddy to see them in motion after so much idle consideration. They were animated like they were plugged into the wall. The classic nod and the modern touch lived well together in the game’s time unfolding. The orange is so much more distinct than the brick red, and the navy blue is such a stronger foundation for the brightness of that orange.

Whatever happens to this team in 2013, the uniforms are boss.

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Chris Carter: smooth swing, confidence in the box. I am excited to see him pepper the Crawfish Boxes.

JD Martinez: he’s documented as choking up on the bat until his hand heals. He also seems to have quieted his pre-swing stance and preparation as well. Given his grimy finish, this is not surprising. I saw him lace a sharp liner up the middle, so I’ll go ahead and predict .290/25/100, just like I did last year.

Lucas Harrell: pitching on the razor’s edge.

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It’s good to be back.

“Fans startin’ to sprinkle out of the stadium now. Couple of sprinkles in the air.” - Steve Sparks #Astros #Radio

— Ted Walker (@tedwalker00) February 25, 2013