Bad Chemistry,Failed Ballclub

Darling of all the self-crowned experts (including me) before the season began, the Washington Nationals instead became baseball's biggest disappointment. Failing to pull away from the feeble hitting Mets between April and July, they saw the re-fueled New Yorkers leave them in the dust the final two months, once they traded for Yoenis Cespedes, Juan Uribe and Tyler Clippard. The Mets clinched the NL East on Saturday. Sunday, the Nats' collective frustrations -- and bad team chemistry -- boiled over. Superstar outfielder Bryce Harper (seen above) and high-priced closer -- and key mid-season aquisition -- Jonathan Papelbon (below, earlier this season) got into a shoving match in the Washington dugout during their game with the Phillies. The animosity had been building for a while -- but when TV cameras caught Papelbon slamming Harper into the dugout wall, it symbolized so much of what went wrong for Washington. The short-tempered Papelbon is no angel -- fans in Philadelphia never forgave him for the crotch-grabbing incident, the equivalent of collectively giving fans the middle finger -- but this proved too much to ignore. The Nats suspended him Monday for what amounts to the rest of their season, which ends Sunday well short of the playoffs. 

With another year remaining on his contract, you wonder what the Nats will get should they try and trade Papelbon over the winter. With the exception of a very few (named Rivera and Sutter), relievers are always replaceable, while Harper is the team's best player and ranks among the best handful in the game. While Harper has some maturing to do, I'd be stunned if Washington sided with the over-30 Papelbon, who may well have worn out his welcome in a third city in less than four years.