I Only Update When He Pitches

Matt Chico has been pounced upon tonight for five runs on eight hits with two walks tonight facing the Cubbies. I didn't really expect to win this one with Carlos Zoombeenie on the mound for the Cubs, but it's also Chico's third consecutive terrible start. I think it's time to send him down to AAA to work out whatever kinks might be in his system. Either that or accept that he's not real good. Tyler Clippard and Jay Bergmann have both been pitching like hot garbage in AAA, but Colin Balester is rocking a 2.66 ERA and a sub-1.00 WHIP with 19 strikeouts in 20 innings. Might be worth a shot. Then again, he's younger than me (oh god) and maybe should be left to mature a bit in the minors. In any case, Matt Chico is getting knocked around hard, and with the team as bad as it has been so far this year, changes have to be made. I'm downright shocked that no one's head has rolled yet this year.

Matt Chico's Mailbag!

Matt,

Have you considered getting outs instead of getting lit up?

Rob, New York

Bend Me, Break Me, Any Way You Want Me

...As long as we win, baby, it's alright. That was ugly. But there were certainly bright spots worth talking about.

Tim Redding - Tim has emerged as the presumptive ace of our staff after this start, as far as I'm concerned. Sure, his second start was weird and wonky, but his first start and this one have been very solid. Your ace is the guy you turn to when you need to stop a skid, and Tim did that today. 6IP, 3ER, and he pitched better than that through five, so I'm happy with it.

Invader Zim - Strong outing today from Zimmy. From moving Lastings Milledge over to third in the eighth to his other hits and his two RBIs, Ryan had a good day. He'll be fine, have no fear. 

Lastings - Okay, first things first, he was safe. I still don't like the decision to run, but he was definitely safe at home. If he can keep getting on base like he did today, he's going to make Omar Minaya look like a real asshole. 

The low lights of course made their appearances today, and they were headed chiefly by the return of the most exciting closer in baseball. Chad Cordero, who I want to succeed, I really do, went .2IP, 1H, 2BB. And then Big Jon had to come in and get a one pitch save on a flyout to right that had my heart racing. I hope Chad can get his issues worked out, but man, I hate knowing that a 1-2-3 9th just isn't going to happen.

The Nats have the day off tomorrow and then head up to the Sheadium, where I'll see them take on the Mets on Wednesday and potentially Thursday. Excitement abounds. Also, Bob Carpenter and Don Sutton pointed out today that the Nats could very well see Tim Hudson four times in a span of less than a month. Ugh, fate worse than death.

Since I'm updating this from a Mac, it of course looks funny, but I'll fix it later.

Big Jon's Got Nooooothing

Wow, this is a tearjerker. Matt Chico goes on the board with the best start for the Nats this year, 8IP, 5H, 1BB, 3K. He'll get the loss.

A questionable ninth inning decision to use the struggling Jon Rauch resulted in two more runs, as Rauchie's ERA rose to 9.00. His fastball is only hitting about 86, and while he's no flamethrower, he's usually more in the 91 range, which makes me wonder if he's hiding an injury. Either the Jesus or Saul Rivera would probably have made much better choices for the ninth, but I'm not the manager.

The Nats offense has continued a proud tradition of lying down for Tim Hudson. I've got to dig up his lifetime numbers against us. The man's good, but he's not this good. Zimmy's average has dropped back under .200, which is sort of to be expected - he generally has pretty terrible starts, but it's really ugly to watch, especially with the team having lost eight in a row. They're a sorry bunch at the moment. Wish I had more to write, but damn, it's hard to get up much momentum when it's loss after loss.

Tomorrow we'll see a battle of the Johns, Lannan versus Smoltz. Also, it should be noted that a decision has to be made about the rotation pretty soon in light of Shawn Hill's impending return. It looks like Lannan will be the odd man out, because Matt Chico definitely removed himself from the chopping block with his performance tonight. Something is amiss with Jay Bergmann, too. He's now pitched four solid in two straight starts and then imploded in the fifth. It's painful to see, but hopefully he can work out whatever is causing these little collapses pronto.

OH MY FREAKING GOURD

So, I'm on Staten Island this weekend, which has killed my blogging capacity. As such, I'm going to skip the last few Nats games, because they've lost, but not by a lot. If they could manage to pitch just a little better, I feel like we'd be okay. They certainly haven't been the kind of losses that have you leaving in the fourth inning that have been so common in the past. I'll pick back up with the dailies tomorrow or Monday.

BUT, oh my god, the Capitals won. The Caps have done it, they've won the Southeast division. This is seriously such a celebratory moment for a team that hasn't had a sniff of success in a long time. I can't wait until I get this same kind of rush from the Nats, but man, until then, I'm so stoked for the playoffs.

161-1?

Well, teams lose games, so I'm certainly not surprised that the Nats left the ranks of the unbeaten today, but the way they did it was frustrating. After jumping out to a 5-0 first inning lead, Jay Bergmann pitched very well for five innings, but the wheels started coming off in the sixth. He gave up thee runs all by himself, was removed, and Saul Rivera was unable to keep Bergmann's additional two baserunners from crossing the plate, making Bergie's line look way worse than it was. 5.1IP, 5ER, 1BB, 6K is the ugly stepsister of 5IP, 1ER, 6K, which was his line after five.

Saul Rivera was actually unable to really do anything, as he allowed 3 hits and 2 ER without retiring a batter. Ray King came in and cleaned things up for a while, followed by a good inning from Joel Hanrahan, and Luis Ayala who was part of a walkfest, but got out of it unscathed. Jesus Colome pitched a good ninth, but was given the questionable signal to IBB both Chase Utley and Ryan Howard to load the bases. He then walked Jayson Werth in on four pitches to end the game. I wasn't able to watch the game on TV, but the pitches better have been well wide for an umpire to have the balls to call four straight balls to end a baseball game.

The IBBs today were actually just really annoying in general. Luis Ayala and Jesus Colome were both asked to IBB Chase Utley and Ryan Howard today, and certainly those two are very good hitters, but you have to imagine that putting two guys on base for free has an effect on a pitcher's mental game. Furthermore, the 10th inning walks to Utley and Howard loaded the bases to allow for the winning run to be walked in. Utley has a career .357 OBP and Howard has a career .387, but walking them for free gives them that 1.000 for free of charge. I just don't like it. Six or seven times out of ten, if you pitch to them, they get nothing.

But while the pitching was suspect, the hitting was pretty good. Fourteen hits is good to see obviously, though Ryan Zimmerman's 0-6 line wasn't pretty. The real question in my mind is why Willie Harris was trotted out to bat in the ninth inning, with the bases loaded and two outs. Dmitri Young remained planted firmly on the bench while Harris grounded out to first. That's really confusing to me, because I thought the whole idea of D-Meat on the bench was that he would get some clutch late game at bats, while I thought the idea of Willie Harris on the bench was that he could do everything, but none of it very well. I'm sure Manny has his reasons, but I had a few choice words for MLB.com when I saw who the pinch hitter was, that's for sure. Also confusing was the eighth inning decision to pinch hit Rob Mackowiak for Joel Hanrahan, and then pinch Lo Duca for Mackowiak without Mackowiak taking a pitch. I mean, I know they were going for the righty vs. lefty match up, but what a way to waste a bench player. One who could have been useful, perhaps, in place of Willie Harris in the ninth. OH WAIT THERE WAS SOMEONE READILY AVAILABLE WHO IS CONSIDERABLY MORE ADEPT AS A HITTER THAN WILLIE HARRIS.

Did I mention that I didn't like that move?

Today's lineup also managed to generate a good amount of hitting without being the A-team. Three starters were given the day off today, as a Boone (probably Bob) played first, Jesus Flores caught, and Felipe Lopez made his debut in left. Felipe didn't seem to be too awful from what the internet has told me, he didn't make any errors or anything, as he went 1-5. Jesus was trying desperately not to get sent to AA as he singled, stroked a pair of doubles, and walked, driving in a run in the process. He also notably didn't strike out, which has been one of his problems. His performance today once again raises the questions of why Paul Lo Douchebag (oh my god, do you see what I did there?) is playing every day. I think maybe I have an idea for an answer. While I wouldn't be able to tell even if I watched the game, it's possible that Flores' game calling ability was what hurt Bergie and Saul today. I really don't know if that's true, and certainly Lo Duca allowed the pitchers to get six runs tacked on them a couple of days ago, but it's one of the few explanations I can come up with that would make sense.

Ah well. O-Diesel Perez will make his second start of the season tomorrow against Braden Looper as the Nats (3-1) head out to St. Louis (2-1).

And while one season is just beginning, another is nearing its end. If the Caps can beat the Florida Panthers on Saturday, and the Flyers split their last two games of the season, the Caps will make the playoffs for the first time in seven years. How glorious that would be.

Oh, What The Hell?

Nothing like watching a five run lead evaporate. I want to cry.

Wow, Ray King actually got the job done. Still, going from 6-1 to 7-6, that's depressing. Hopefully they can come back, but this kind of collapse reminds me too much of years past to be confident about it.

Pedo Beards = Good Pitching

Wow, Tim Redding was apparently not lying when he said that his back feeling better meant he was fine. His arm seems just ducky, going 7IP, 1H, 2BB, 2K against the Phils. Let's see if the bullpen can finish it.

Update, 9:25PM - Wow, and when the bats don't show up, the pitching holds out. The Nationals are 3-0, beating the Phils 1-0. Tim Redding out dueled Cole Hamels, which is ridiculous, and Luis Ayala and Jon Rauch both pitched scoreless innings to put the Phillies to bed. Good start so far. It's really encouraging to see the pitching look strong. It'd be nice to see Redding actually achieve the level of talent the Astros saw a little peep of a few years ago. Tomorrow we'll get to see Jay Bergmann's first start of the year against Jamie Moyer.

162-0, here we come.

Let Me Be Clear About Something...

If the Nats sell even temporary rights to Nationals Park to PETA, which proposes to rent the rights and call it GoVeg.com Field, I will eat NOTHING but meat in protest. Depending on the length of their tenure as sponsor, I may also begin to kill animals if it is deemed necessary.

Don't fucking push me, PETA. I may die long before vegetarians, but damn you, I'll die happy.

What?

Alright, who are these guys, and what have they done with my baseball team? The Nats put up 11 runs on 12 hits to beat the Phillies 11-6 on opening day. At 2-0, the Nationals are currently the winningest team in baseball. Suck on that, sirs!

Matt Chico pitched alright, giving up 3 runs in 5.1 innings, but didn't look bad. Considering I still think of him as being our fifth starter, I don't have any real complaints about his performance. Joel Hanrahan struck out two but gave up two runs in .2 innings, and Ray King gave up a two run shot, on which one of the runs was Hanrahan's, in an inning of work. Saul Rivera picked up the win with a scoreless inning, and Jesus Colome pitched a scoreless ninth.

Lastings Milledge went 3/4 with a HR and two RBI, and everyone and their mother hit at least one double, I think. Invader Zim picked up a RBI but went hitless, Austin Kearns picked up a pair of RBI, while Nick Johnson, Ron Belliard, Paul LoDuca, and Dmitri Young each had one.

A good start indeed, if not for some real lackluster bullpen work, I'd be peeing myself with joy. But that offense was absolutely glorious.

On an only sort of related note, Ray King looked terrible today, as previously mentioned. If he continues to struggle, is there a chance we'll see Lannan up as the lefty out of the bullpen any time soon? I really don't know whether the team's issue with him is that they feel he needs more experience, period, or whether they just don't think there's any room for him. Well, we'll see.

Pearls of Wisdom from Bob Carpenter

"Isn't it interesting that the 3, 4, and 5 hitters, Zimmerman, Johnson, and Kearns, have all of the Nationals RBIs this season?"

No Bob, it's not. The team has four total RBIs. We're a game and a half into the season.

Update: Make it six total RBIs. Byaaah!

Opening Night!

Took that picture right off mlb.com, but what the hell do you people want from me?

That's a hell of a way to open a new stadium. O-Diesel Perez pitched five good frames, which should have been good enough to get him the first win of 2008, but for Paul LoDuca's godawful defense. Zimmy with the walk off shot in the ninth made it all okay for now, however. Jon Rauch, the Nats pitcher with the most wins in 2007 (with 9, ugh) gets the first curly W of 2008. Beautiful stuff. Matt Chico will face Brett Myers tomorrow in Philly.

In the meantime, Elijah Dukes is headed to the 15 day DL with a nagging hammy injury. It's not supposed to be too bad, but he wants to give it some time to heal up. And Chad Cordero had a cortisone shot following some pain in his right arm during warm ups and in the 'pen. He's not going on the DL, but he'll take a few days. Rauch will close in his absence.

Okay, stuff I missed:
John Patterson gets released. This was like a late installment of Christmas for me. That much should be apparent from any of my other entries. I don't like John Patterson. My only question mark was whether or not he was hiding another injury, because I found it funny we didn't even trade him for a bag of balls, just an outright release. Whatever, it makes me happy to see that the team will cut dead weight when necessary. But let's hope...

Shawn Hill can bounce back from his phantom injury and prove he's not dead weight. He's becoming our Carl Pavano. Should have started opening day, but if he can't stay healthy, he's going to get overtaken by plenty of other guys in the organization like...

John Lannan, who was optioned to AAA after having a phenomenal spring training. He'll be on the roster in no time, especially if Hill can't get healthy. I understand why the club went with Chico for the rotation, the kid was a horse last year, but Lannan is truly an exciting prospect, unlike...

Paul LoDuca, who, if I need to say it again, sucks. I love how the team is determined to start anyone except Jesus Flores. You know where Jesus could pick up some experience? In Nationals Park. He's the presumptive catcher of the future, so let him be the catcher of the present, too. I don't need to point out that Paul Lo Duca, one of whose most attractive characteristics is supposed to be his bat. Well, his OBP last year was .311. Jesus Flores, whose bat isn't ready for the Majors, put up an OBP last year of .310. Now, to be fair, Lo Duca struck out every 13 or so at bats last year, and Flores struck out every four, but Lo Duca hits nothing but singles and doesn't walk, while Flores hits singles and walks. I mean, it's not a big gap. But I'm just whining at this point, the team has made it very clear they're going to start that asshole for this year, so I suppose I'll just have to accept it. But I won't have to like it.

Well, that's it for tonight. The Washington Nationals are on top of the NL East, baby. More tomorrow after the Philly game.

Glass Houses and Whatnot

I've been railing about the stupidity of giving these young players small renewals for a couple of weeks now, arguing that these guys are the exact people you don't want to piss off. The idea of giving Prince Fielder $600,000 when he'd be thrilled by $1m is complete idiocy in my eyes. Ditto for Papelbon, Cole Hamels, all those guys. Young, proven players are not the kinds of guys you want to plant the seed of discontent within, especially when they fit squarely into your idea of where your franchise is going. Penny wise and pound stupid is the classic expression, and I think it really fits in most of these cases.

So when I saw today that the Nationals had renewed Ryan Zimmerman for $465,000 this year, I almost shit a brick. Ryan, because he's a true class act, hasn't been whining about wanting more money the way some of the other young players have, but this gets my dander up. The persistent discussions about renewing him long term are this same brand of idiocy, with the front office vowing not to "break the bank" on Zimmerman. Zimmerman wants more than Troy Tulowitzki's 6 years and $31 million, and personally I feel like he should get it. Zimmerman's offense has been solid, his defense is exceptional, his leadership appears to be growing, and the most important factor, Ryan Zimmerman IS the Washington Nationals.


I know I'm spending the Lerners' money here, but give Zimmerman 6 years and $40 million if that's what it takes. I am absolutely convinced that without Ryan Zimmerman, this franchise is the same sad sack Expos who played half their home games in Puerto Rico. There are no other hallmark players on this team yet. There are guys you want to get behind, guys like Shawn Hill and Jay Bergmann who've had some impact on the team, and you'd like to see that continue, but you're not attached in the same way. Dmitri Young is a great story, but he's old and slow. He's a veteran presence for sure, and he'll be good for Elijah and Lastings Milledge, but he's not the kind of guy you build a franchise around. Chad Cordero has inexplicably good numbers when you look at what he throws, and part of me thinks without Schneider's excellent game calling, he'll fall apart this year. Additionally, the Chef (see what I did there? Because he serves up meatballs!) has been responsible for most of the heartbreaking single moments so far in the Nationals history. He too, while he may remain a perfectly good Closer for years to come, is not the kind of guy you build a team around.

When you look at the Nationals, there is really only one person who fits that bill, and the front office just decided to low ball him. Since Ryan is too much of a class act to complain, I'll do it for him.

Man Down!

Oh, what a shock! Sean Hill has been shut down because of arm pain! I love Sean Hill, I really do, but you had to see this coming.

The Nats lost their third game of Spring Training to the Marlins 4-1. Dennis Tankersley got beaten up, and because he's Dennis Tankersley, no one cares. Patterson gave up one run in his two innings, John Lannan (editor's note: Joel Hanrahan is not John Lannan. I will probably continue to confuse these two) looked strong, and both the Chief and the Wookie got to kick the tires, and both did fine.

On the batting side, Jesus Flores went 2/2 with a triple, and Elijah went 2/3 with a pair of singles. Bret Boone recorded his first hit since 2005.

Also, Humberto Cota is in camp with the Nats? Was he on Steroids? I think he was, but I don't remember, and I'm too lazy to check. One thing is for sure: Jesus Flores isn't our every day catcher, but any number of people could be! Old Humbie went 2/2 as well today, in an attempt to make himself look anything other than useless, a task with which the rest of the Catching staff has struggled so far in camp.

Nationals 15, Hoyas 0

Man, when I first read that the Nats would be facing the Georgetown Hoyas in their second, though unofficial, game of Spring Training, I had tragic visions of the Hoyas taking the Nats down, or keeping the game close, or doing something generally embarrassing. But they didn't, and now I feel bad, as the Red, White, and Blue Bombers put up 15 runs on 17 hits in what was, apparently, a video game set on Rookie.

The highlights included all the Nationals pitchers doing well, and most of the batters getting a hit, as the Nats batted around in the first inning. The Hoyas committed 8 errors.

Well, as my grandmother would say, there you have it. The Nationals are considerably better than a college team.

Nationals 3, Marlins 3

In the first game of Spring Training, our beautiful Natties tied the Marlins in a contest that I didn't see, but I can read a box score, so I can tell you what happened!

Here's the highlight reel: Matt Chico went 2 innings, 1 walk, 2 Ks, and no ER. Garrett Mock went 2 innings, 2 Ks, and one unearned run, which is very good news indeed. Rob Bell got eaten alive, which is completely unimportant. Joel Hanrahan struck out two of three batters in his inning, as well.

Chad Moeller and Wil Nieves split the catching duty. Thank god we picked up Estrada and Lo Duca. One assumes Flores wasn't in because he just got to camp.

L-Millz had a 1b, a 2b, and 2 SB, Wily Mo and Elijah each contributed a double as well.

Spring training doesn't matter, but it's nice to see the new guys getting extra base hits.

But He's a Monster!

The Post put up a cool video of Elijah Dukes at the driving range today, and he seemed strangely human. Obviously four minutes in front of a camera doesn't vindicate him at all, but it's a fun watch if you're bored.




In other Nats news, Matt Chico will start the Spring Training opener, and he's said that he wants to cut down on his walks, which is kinda obvious, because those were his achilles heel last year. And Ryan Wagner threw a few pitches in BP today, which is good news, though not super exciting. Wagner, you may remember, came over in the infamous Austin Kearns/FLop trade, and has been fine when he's been healthy, but hasn't been healthy much. A Nationals pitcher who's injury prone? No! Tell me more!

Additionally, Jesus Flores is in camp, and is the only healthy catcher at the moment. Yes, I see the logic with sending him down to the minors to play every day for a year, but if Lo Duca and Estrada prove to be sub par, which would surprise no one, the organization needs to be quick to pull the plug on that particular experiment. And if Flores plays exceptionally during Spring Training, they need to consider letting him start regardless.

Odalis Perez Signs

Well, apparently the Nats don't even want Josh Fogg, because when they want something, they seem to get it. Odalis Perez signed a minor league deal with the Nats today, which will give him a shot at making the rotation.

I like this move. He was an All Star not that long ago, and if he makes the rotation, he gets less than a million dollars. There's really no downside, so even if he's washed up, we've lost nothing, and gained some depth, in case of injuries, which, looking at our rotation, seem likely.

I'm Having Trouble Really Caring

As Pokey pointed out in the comments of my last entry, the Nationals have assembled the Boone Triumvirate. Bret Boone, at age 38, has come out of retirement to come to camp with the Nats this year. The tone of Ladson's article about it is a bit more laudatory than I really feel like Bret Boone deserves, but perhaps the two brothers and their father can form some sort of Voltron-esque creature that'll be an absolute beast coming off the bench in late game situations? I don't know. But I guess if you're a Boone, you've got a shot in DC.

In other news, Paulie Dukes finally talked. Sorta. He apologized for "mistakes in judgment" and read a statement which included his assertion that he really supports what the Mitchell report is doing, and admires the cleansing of baseball. So if he was going to own up to it and support the report, why did it take this long? I don't know, I still don't feel good about it, but at least he said something. He was asked why he waited so long to talk about it, and remarked that he had other things he wanted to focus on. Uh huh.

Also, the Nats have made an offer to Odalis Perez. The 31 year old lefty has been up, down, and everywhere in between since coming into the league. An All Star in 2002 and largely ineffective in his most recent year and change in Kansas City, Perez could be a decent addition to the rotation if going back to the NL would drop his ERA down into the 4.x range again. I still like Fogg better, but I wouldn't mind seeing Perez in red and white.

Groundhog Day: Part 2

Lo Duca Watch 2008: Holy crap, Paulie Dukes may actually talk on Saturday! But it's been so long, I kinda don't care what he says. I thought he was a waste of time when we signed him, and he's going to have to pull a Churchillian performance on that podium to convince me otherwise. But I'll keep you posted.

I Love Optimism Too, But...

Let's just try to keep it under control, alright fellas? Ladson reported from the first day of Spring Training today, and from most of what he shared with us, I have good news: the Nats are going to win like 120 games this season. In reality, the team keeps saying it expects to hit .500, which would be excellent progress, but the reports coming from camp are all sunshine and roses. One of Ladson's big points of excitement is that we don't have to worry about auditioning pitchers for the rotation this spring. What? Time for a rundown of just how solid our rotation is!

RHP Shawn Hill - Injury plagued, but when he's healthy, he's great.
RHP Jason Bergmann - Struggled some with injury, pretty good when he's healthy.
RHP John Patterson - This is broken. Did we keep the receipt? I don't care that he says he's healthy, I've heard that before, and you know how it ended? Surgery. In Canada, because it's not approved here.
LHP John Lannan - He was excellent in limited time last year, but he's completely unproven.
LHP Matt Chico - 150+ IP, 4.X ERA, I'm happy with this one. No one expects him to be the ace.

But this is it? This is our "set" rotation? I'm not unhappy with four of the guys on it, don't get me wrong, but these fellas don't exactly have the stalwart durability of Mount Rushmore. "If they can just stay healthy" is a huge "if" for this bunch. And John Patterson, well, I've said my bit about John Patterson. The fact that he's back this year, and the fact that his name was listed by Bill Ladson at the front of the list, with some implication that he's the presumptive ace? I don't like that AT ALL. Patterson has had one good season, in a Nationals uniform or otherwise. It's time to move on. We'll be seeing Garrett Mock and Tyler Clippard before too long, mark my angrily written words!

Also, Nick the Stick is apparently 100% ready to play. This is very good news, if it's true. There's a lot of speculation that Nick will be traded if he's actually healthy. I don't like this, because I love Nick and I don't like Dmitri Young especially, though I have nothing against him. Dmitri is apparently a big part of the "Keep Elijah From Killing Anyone" strategy, though, so it'd be surprising to see him go.

Felipe Lopez lost his arbitration hearing. Good. I don't know why he thought he deserved that much of a raise. He didn't deserve a raise at all, but that's how arbitration works, so whatever. Felipe could be traded, too, if there's any value to be gained from him. He's not in the starting infield this year, and I'm unconvinced that he's really worth it to keep around on the bench.

Lo Duca Watch 2008: Paulie Dukes isn't at camp yet, though he's expected to take a physical this weekend. Also, he still hasn't said a damn thing about the Mitchell report. I don't know why we, as the fans, or they, as the team are accepting this so readily. It's pretty much bullshit at this point. He did it, I think we all know he did it, but I feel like he's also losing his last chance to save any face by not talking about it. Pull an Andy Pettite, a Jason Giambi, or any of the other guys who've acknowledged it and come out and say "Yep, I did it. It wasn't illegal, and I was trying to win." Everyone seems to have accepted that just fine, and you know, we can all understand that on some level. But this Groundhog Day shit has got to go.

Livo to the Twins

Livan Hernandez is officially a Minnesota Twin. I really don't care much about this, because I hadn't been warming to Livan over these past few days, and while you want a guy pushing to get on your club, I felt like he was pushing to be a National again so that he could go back to being the presumptive ace, which he addressed by saying that he'd love to start on Opening Day in the new park. And I think some of the other guys deserve a shot, whether it's Bergmann or Hill.

I'd still be keen on the Nats picking up Kyle Lohse or Josh Fogg, but it's looking less and less like they're going to do that, which isn't a catastrophe, but having a veteran in the rotation might be of some use.

The Wookie, John Rauch, also got signed up through 2009, or 2010 with a club option last week. It's impossible to argue with this, because his top salary, as of 2010 will be $2.9m. He's way better than that. While not necessarily spectacular, Rauchie has been one of the most stable setup men/relievers in the league for a couple of seasons now, and it's good to lock him up.

Johnny Estrada Signs, Paul Lo Duca Hurts Himself

Alright, I haven't been posting much. You know why? Because there's nothing to post. The Nats aren't doing anything. But here are a couple of little tidbits for you.

Paul Lo Duca had knee surgery. He hurt his knee while working out last week, and is supposed to be out only four to six weeks which won't take him out of the regular seasons, but...

Johnny Estrada will sign with the Nats for 1yr/$1.5m. Sources close to the Nats are saying that this is in no way a reaction to Lo Duca's injury, well, we'll see. Lo Duca's current injury, while it's only supposed to keep him out four to six weeks, could, and I'm just spitballing here, be symptomatic of what happens when you're not on steroids. If Paulie Dukes all of a sudden appears somewhat injury prone, well, I won't exactly be standing by with a look of shock on my face.


The real reason for the Estrada signing is obviously that with Robert Fick gone, we need someone to keep wearing the real stirrups. No team is complete without them.

Tim Redding loves reading. Stories like this are why I haven't been posting. This is a nice thing, but if it's all the official site can muster up, well, I think the evidence speaks for itself. Literacy is not a #1 priority of this particular blog.

More to come, whenever there is more to write about.

Luis Ayala Hacked To Pieces By Fourteen Elephants With Machetes

No, not really. But from all of these titles on the articles about Luis Ayala's recent hunting trip accident, you could be forgiven to panic just a little bit. My favorite is "Nats pitcher hit by shotgun pellet on hunting trip." Accurate, but just enough to tighten your sphincter. But the pellet went into his left arm, and he's a righty, so that doesn't look like it's going to be a problem.

Also, this is a shit post, but I haven't given up on you, my four faithful readers, it's just that the Nationals haven't done anything, and haven't even been rumored to do anything for a while yet. If anything happens, I'll be sure to write up something about it.