MLB teams
Eddie Matz, ESPN Senior Writer 7y

Ultimate Standings: Nats fans bump Baker's coaching rank

MLB, Washington Nationals

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Washington Nationals

Overall: 34
Title track: 56
Ownership: 26
Coaching: 23
Players: 32
Fan relations: 31
Affordability: 51
Stadium experience: 39
Bang for the buck: 66
Change from last year: +7

The No. 34 is huge in D.C. Besides being on Bryce Harper's back, it's also the Nationals' overall ranking in this year's Ultimate Standings. That's tied for the highest mark D.C. die-hards have ever given their team. In case you're wondering, the first 34 came back in 2012, when No. 34 was a rookie. Hooray for election years.


What's good

Nationalists give props to the power combo that is the Lerner family and GM Mike Rizzo (ownership is 26 and fourth in baseball), and why not? A year after raining $210 million on free agent Max Scherzer, they coughed up another $175 million to keep fellow hurler Stephen Strasburg in the District. They engineered shrewd deals that netted MVP candidate Daniel Murphy and rookie phenom Trea Turner. Combine all those studs with Harper, who for all his struggles in 2016 still has an off-the-charts Q rating, and it's easy to see why Nats fans dig their dudes (a 32nd-place ranking in roster).


What's bad

For the price of one seat at a Redskins game ($102 on average), you could buy two Nationals tickets and still afford two beers and two hot dogs in the park. Still, when it comes to affordability (51) and bang-itude (66), Washington gets ho-hum marks. Maybe it's the $5 16-ounce sodas (tied for MLB's priciest per ounce). Maybe it's the franks that fetch $5.25, among the costliest in the league. Or maybe we're just nit-picking (er, Nat-picking). Hey, somebody's gotta do the dirty work.


What's new

Dusty Baker's not new. In fact, he's old. Really old, by baseball standards. Sixty-seven, to be exact, the most ancient skipper in all the land. But he's new to D.C., and Nats fans love him to the tune of a 23rd-place ranking in coaching, up 37 spots from a year ago. Why not? The exceedingly human bench boss guided the Nats to 95 wins (12 more than predecessor Matt Williams) and within a Clayton Kershaw save of their first postseason series win. If that weren't enough, he dances during batting practice, has more stories than the Library of Congress and is constantly giving off warm-and-fuzzy grandpa vibes. Hooray for grandpa vibes.

Next: Pittsburgh PiratesĀ | Full rankings

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