BallHype - Latest Washington Nationals News Articles

Morgan's hand returning to full strength

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 21:30:00 +0000

Nationals center fielder Nyjer Morgan has a reason to be in great spirits before the Thanksgiving holiday. The left hand he broke last August is 100 percent.

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Nationals say Strasburg won't need surgery on injured knee

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 01:08:45 +0000

The Nationals say No. 1 draft pick Stephen Strasburg has a dislocation in his left knee joint and should be fine for spring training.

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Washington Nationals top pick Stephen Strasburg won't need knee surgery

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 01:02:33 +0000

The Nationals say No. 1 draft pick Stephen Strasburg has a dislocation in his left knee joint and should be fine for spring training.

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Nationals say Strasburg won't need knee surgery

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:52:30 +0000

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Nationals say No. 1 draft pick Stephen Strasburg has a dislocation in his left knee joint and should be fine for spring training.

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Nationals top pick Strasburg won't need surgery

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:51:41 +0000

The Nationals say No. 1 draft pick Stephen Strasburg has a dislocation in his left knee joint and should be fine for spring training.

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Nationals top pick Strasburg won't need surgery

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:49:12 +0000

The Nationals say No. 1 draft pick Stephen Strasburg has a dislocation in his left knee joint and should be fine for spring training.

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Strasburg's injury won't require surgery

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:38:49 +0000

The Washington Nationals were never so happy to hear the words "patellar subluxation" as they were Friday night, when they received word of that diagnosis--essentially a dislocated kneecap--in the left knee of prized phenom Stephen Strasburg, who injured the knee Thursday prior to an Arizona Fall League game. The news means the 21-year-old right-hander will avoid surgery and should have no trouble being ready for spring training in February. "It was the best result that we could have hoped for," General Manager Mike Rizzo said Friday evening from his office at Nationals Park. "It's something where he just has to rest and follow a physical therapy regimen to strengthen all the ligaments around his knee. We think we dodged a bullet. From what you hear, and from what [witnesses] saw on the field, you always think of the worst and hope for the best." Strasburg, who signed a record $15.1

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Nationals sign McLaren, Lett, Radison as coaches

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 20:23:26 +0000

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Washington Nationals have hired former Seattle Mariners manager John McLaren as bench coach, Jim Lett as bullpen coach and Dan Radison as first-base coach.

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Lett, Radison join Nationals' coaching staff

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:49:24 +0000

The Nationals have announced that Jim Lett and Dan Radison have been added to their 2010 coaching staff as bullpen and first-base coach, respectively. The team also made official the hiring of former Seattle Mariners manager John McLaren as bench coach, and that Pat Listach (third base), Rick Eckstein (hitting) and Steve McCatty (pitching) are all returning. Lett, 58, has 15 years of big league coaching experience, including stints as a bench coach in Toronto, Cincinnati, Los Angeles (Dodgers) and Pittsburgh. As bullpen coach for the Dodgers from 2001-04, he worked alongside current Nationals Manager Jim Riggleman, who was Jim Tracy's bench coach at the time. Most recently, Lett worked as a coach in the Milwaukee Brewers' farm system. Radison, 59, was a coach during both of Riggleman's previous full-time managing jobs -- with the San Diego Padres and Chicago Cubs. He has also worked in the Yankees, Cardinals and

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Nationals' coaching staff in place

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:22:00 +0000

The Nationals have retained hitting coach Rick Eckstein, pitching coach Steve McCatty and third-base coach Pat Listach. The club also named John McLaren the bench coach, Jim Lett as bullpen coach and Dan Radison the first-base coach.

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So, how bad is the Strasburg injury?

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:00:29 +0000

When I started on the Baltimore Orioles beat at The Post in 1999, the Baltimore Sun beat writer -- my competition -- was a veteran scribe named Joe Strauss, who remains one of the best beat guys in the business. He taught me many valuable lessons, most of which involved me picking up The Sun to find he had whupped my rookie tail on another news story, but the best of which was this: You can never over-write an injury to a star player. I thought about Strauss and that lesson when I got word of Stephen Strasburg's knee injury Thursday night, as I was in the middle of reading "Fancy Nancy: Explorer Extraordinaire!" to my 3-year-old daughter. (Reminder to self: Leave Blackberry in other room when putting kids down for nighty-night.) Strasburg may not be a "star" yet, in the traditional sense, but in terms of value to the

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Stephen Strasburg to Miss AFL Start

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:55:01 +0000

Stephen Strasburg must really not want to have people see him pitch on a national level. Strasburg missed the nationally televised Arizona Fall League Rising Stars game because of a strained neck muscle last month. Now he's going to miss his start on Saturday in the Arizona Fall League championship game. That game will be televised on the MLB Network as well. Strasburg will miss his start on Saturday because of a twisted left knee. That just sounds painful. The No. 1 overall pick in the 2009 draft hurt his knee during a workout on Thursday. But don’t worry Washington Nationals fans (all five of you), the injury is not considered serious. When Strasburg hasn’t been injured in the Arizona Fall League, he has pitched pretty well. In five starts, Strasburg is 4-1 with a 4.26 ERA and 26 Ks in 19 innings for the Phoenix Desert Dogs. Of course, there will be some people out there who will say, “Oh great, the guy is injury prone.” Those people need to relax. This is no big deal. You can ...

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Mets hire Manuel pal

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 08:41:53 +0000

The Mets gave Jerry Manuel a minor vote of confidence on the eve of free agency yesterday by hiring his longtime friend Dave Jauss as bench coach. Jauss, whose relationship with Manuel dates to their time in the Expos' system in the early 1990s, w...

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Strasburg scratched from Fall League title game

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 03:27:00 +0000

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Washington Nationals say No. 1 overall draft pick Stephen Strasburg has a twisted left knee and is being scratched from his start in the Arizona Fall League championship game.

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Top pick Strasburg scratched from another start

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 02:56:38 +0000

The Washington Nationals say No. 1 overall draft pick Stephen Strasburg has a twisted left knee and is being scratched from his ...

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Washington Nationals' Stephen Strasburg scratched with knee injury

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 02:14:12 +0000

The Washington Nationals say No. 1 overall draft pick Stephen Strasburg has a twisted left knee and is being scratched from his start in the Arizona Fall League championship game.

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Strasburg scratched with twisted knee (AP)

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 01:54:55 +0000

The Washington Nationals say No. 1 overall draft pick Stephen Strasburg has a twisted left knee and is being scratched from his start in the Arizona Fall League championship game. Strasburg was hurt during a workout Thursday, and an MRI exam showed inflammation. He is scheduled to travel to Washington on Friday to be examined by the Nationals' team doctor.

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Strasburg hurts knee, out of Saturday's AFL title game [UPDATED]

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:50:08 +0000

Stephen Strasburg, the Nationals' prized pitching phenom, twisted his left knee while shagging flies during batting practice before the Phoenix Desert Dogs' regular season finale in the Arizona Fall League on Thursday, and has been scratched from Saturday's scheduled start in the AFL championship game, the team said in a news release Thursday night. According to the release, the injury is not considered serious, and an MRI exam taken shortly after the incident showed only "inflammation." Still, Strasburg is scheduled to fly to Los Angeles on Friday to be examined by orthopedist Lewis Yocum. Nationals General Manager Mike Rizzo did not immediately return voice and text messages seeking additional information, and players and coaches in Arizona were instructed not to discuss the injury with the media. According to two sources who were briefed on the injury, Strasburg, a 21-year-old right-hander, stepped awkwardly while shagging flies in the outfield, heard a

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Nats take precaution with Strasburg

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:50:00 +0000

Nationals right-hander Stephen Strasburg has been scratched from Saturday's start in the Arizona Fall League Championship Game because of a twisted left knee, suffered during a Phoenix Desert Dogs workout Thursday afternoon.

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Nats add three to 40-man roster, but not Wilkie

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 22:48:41 +0000

The Nationals added three minor league pitchers -- right-hander Juan Jaime and left-handers Atahualpa Severino and Aaron Thompson -- to their 40-man roster on Thursday afternoon, in essence protecting them from the Dec. 10 Rule 5 draft. However, right-hander Josh Wilkie, the subject of Tracee's featureThursday, was not added to the roster and his future with the organization is now unclear. The Nationals' 40-man roster is now full, and barring any changes Wilkie will now be subject to the Rule 5 draft, where another team can claim him for $50,000. Jaime, 22, went 5-2 with a 2.10 ERA in 14 appearances (12 starts) split between Class A Vermont and Class A Hagerstown. Severino, 25, went 10-0 with 15 saves and a 2.62 ERA in 44 relief appearances in Class A Potomac and Class AA Harrisburg. Thompson, a 22-year-old acquired in August from the Marlins in the Nick Johnson trade, posted

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The status of the Nats beat, going forward

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 21:30:00 +0000

Typical, that I'd get scooped on the news of my own departure. According to a tweet from the Sports Bog's Dan Steinberg -- and OK, let's make it official, according to me as well -- the WaPo will soon be looking for a new Nats beat writer, and I will soon be heading for new pastures. (And certainly they'll be less green in the literal sense.) The Post's internal e-mail went out yesterday, and it explains the basics. For the last two seasons, I've covered, or at least tried to cover, the Washington Nationals. It's a demanding job, both rewarding and unrelenting like a marathon. Some do it for years, with a grace and vigor that makes me envious. But sometimes for me, it felt more like a test of endurance than journalism. I started to miss the journalism. No doubt you've got a few questions. Such as, "What happens

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The Nationals and sabermetrics

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 14:13:53 +0000

Lots of great reading material to spotlight this morning, beginning with Tracee's excellent feature on pitching prospect Josh Wilkie, who was little-known outside our circle of hard-core Nats (and GW) followers, but who is certain to have lots of folks rooting for him now thanks to Tracee's piece. Here is my news story on the announcement of the Davey Johnson hiring. And here is Boswell's solid take on the Nats' newly revamped front office. (Also, remember to tune in for Boz's chat Thursday at 11 a.m.) Here's a look at how the new hierarchy (still missing a couple of pieces) looks, straight off the team's official Web site. Interestingly (or not), Bob Boone, one of the few remaining high-level holdovers from the Jim Bowden regime, has the spot just below Rizzo under the Baseball Operations heading. In his column, Boz makes mention of Mike Rizzo's firm stance on the issue

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Former Mariners manager John McLaren is glad to be back in the dugout

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 03:45:02 +0000

McLaren, bench coach for Washington Nationals under Jim Riggleman, says he's ready to go after a year as a scout.

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Nationals hire Davey Johnson as adviser

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 23:18:36 +0000

WASHINGTON -- After years of working with national teams, Davey Johnson is returning to the Nationals. The former Mets manager joined the front office of the Washington Nationals on Wednesday. The 66-year-old will work as a senior adviser to general...

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Nationals hire Davey Johnson as senior adviser

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 23:17:43 +0000

After years of working with national teams, Davey Johnson is returning to the Nationals.

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Nationals hire Davey Johnson as senior adviser

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 22:12:55 +0000

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Washington Nationals have hired former major league manager Davey Johnson as a senior adviser.

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Washington Nationals hire Davey Johnson as senior adviser

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 21:39:13 +0000

The Nationals have hired former major league manager Davey Johnson as a senior adviser.

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Nationals hire Davey Johnson as senior adviser

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 21:31:58 +0000

The Washington Nationals have hired former major league manager Davey Johnson as a senior adviser.

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Nats tab Davey Johnson as senior adviser (AP)

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 21:30:54 +0000

The Washington Nationals have hired former major league manager Davey Johnson as a senior adviser. The Nationals made the announcement Wednesday. The 66-year-old Johnson will work with general manager Mike Rizzo. Washington led the majors with 103 losses. Johnson is on the current ballot for the Hall of Fame as a manager -- he will find out next month if he's been elected by the Veterans...

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Nationals hire Davey Johnson as senior adviser

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 21:29:06 +0000

The Washington Nationals have hired former major league manager Davey Johnson as a senior adviser.

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Nats name Johnson senior advisor to GM

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 20:55:00 +0000

The Nationals named Davey Johnson as the senior advisor to the general manager Mike Rizzo on Wednesday afternoon.

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Mandel, Baby Nats want that title

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:51:53 +0000

The Arizona Fall League is not quite six weeks spent in the desert playing before a smattering of diehard fans and a slightly larger smattering of scouts. So do the players really care about the AFL championship? Nats reliever Jeff Mandel says yes. Mandel and his Phoenix Desert Dogs teammates, champions of the East division, will play the Peoria Javelinas at 2:30 p.m. ET Saturday. The game will be televised on the MLB Network and also available on mlb.com. The Desert Dogs and Javelinas had identical 18-12 records going into Wednesday's games. "When you're in the hunt it makes it a lot more fun," Mandel said. "Six weeks is not a full season but it's always a lot more fun. Everybody's in a better mood. It's only an extra day, we're not spending too much extra time here. We might as well win the whole thing."

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Nationals prepared to make a play for Lackey

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 05:29:38 +0000

Sporting News staff reports Add the Washington Nationals to the list of teams interested in signing right-hander John Lackey as a free agent. The team's Web site reports the Nats want Lackey to be their ace and to mentor the club's young starters, such as left-handers John Lannan and Ross Detwiler and right-hander Stephen Strasburg. Washington will face stiff competition for Lackey. The Angels would like to re-sign him, and high-profile teams such as the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox and New York Mets, among others, are expected to make offers. Teams other than the Angels can discuss financial terms with Lackey's agent beginning Friday. Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo said during the season that he would look to acquire a veteran starter this winter, and he laid out what he's looking for in a staff leader. "We have to have a special type of veteran pitcher, who is willing to give of himself as a teacher and mentor ...

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Nats interested in free agent Lackey

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 01:30:00 +0000

The Nationals are one of several teams who have expressed interest in free agent right-hander John Lackey, according to a baseball source.

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Role reversal: McLaren will be Riggleman's bench coach with the Nationals

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 00:21:03 +0000

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Nats nuggets: bench coach, Guzman, Flores, et al.

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 22:46:34 +0000

Just got done speaking to Nationals GM Mike Rizzo and meeting the majority of his new front-office hires -- the amassing of which Rizzo called "the most important part of our offseason." Suffice it to say there is a lot of optimism around the organization these days. The bulk of the new guys had been to Arizona this fall to see the team's prospects in the Arizona Fall League. (Jay Robertson, the newly hired special assistant to Rizzo, said this about Stephen Strasburg: "I told a scout from another organization, 'He's two grades better than anyone you've ever seen.'") Here is a short-and-sweet summary of some news that came out of this afternoon: *The Nationals have hired former Seattle Mariners manager John McLaren as Jim Riggleman's bench coach. (This was told to me by a source outside the organization and confirmed by a source within the organization.) This will be

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Washington a top contender for award

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 22:07:00 +0000

The Rangers, in 2009, finally started understanding what manager Ron Washington has been talking about, and won without the dynamic offense they'd gotten used to.

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Desert Dogs win East; see Strasburg and Co. Saturday

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 14:52:07 +0000

As a lot of you noted in the comments, the Devil, er, Desert Dogs have won the East Division and will play the dread Peoria Javelinas on Saturday for the AFL championship. The game is at 2:15 ET on the MLB Network and Stephen Strasburg is lined up to be the starter. Danny Espinosa was the star of yesterday's clincher with four RBI. Josh Wilkie pitched an inning in relief, giving up no hits, no runs and getting a strikeout. The one Nat I didn't get to talk to in Arizona, Jeff Mandel, called me last night but I was already in dream land, so I'll talk to him, hopefully today, and get a post up on what he has to say. You will remember that he is the starter being converted to a reliever this season and his numbers are very good. Editor's note: Chico Harlan is on vacation.

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Nats have to avoid temptation with Strasburg

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 02:37:09 +0000

Stephen Strasburg has all the makings of a big-league ace, but he could be ruined if the Nats aren't patient, Tracy Ringolsby says.

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New Indians manager Acta adds 3 coaches (AP)

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 22:55:41 +0000

New Cleveland Indians manager Manny Acta's coaching staff is nearly complete. On Monday, Acta picked Tim Tolman as the bench coach, Steve Smith as third-base coach and Scott Radinsky as bullpen coach. Tolman spent two seasons as Acta's third-base coach with the Washington Nationals. He was in Cleveland's organization for four years, serving as minor league field coordinator from 2003-06...

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Grapefruit League schedule

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 21:16:15 +0000

The Mets have released their spring training schedule. With three months until pitchers and catchers report, here's the Grapefruit League schedule: Tue. March 2 Atlanta Braves Port St. Lucie 1:10 p.m. Wed. March 3 Atlanta Braves Disney 1:05 p.m. Thurs. March 4 St. Louis Cardinals Port St. Lucie 1:10 p.m. Fri. March 5 Florida Marlins Port St. Lucie 1:10 p.m St. Louis Cardinals Jupiter 1:05 p.m. Sat. March 6 Washington Nationals Viera 1:05 p.m. Sun. March 7 Washington Nationals Port St. Lucie 1:10 p.m. Mon. March 8 Florida Marlins ...

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Reshaping of Nationals' front office continues

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 19:02:56 +0000

The wholesale revamping of the Nationals' front office continued Monday when the team announced it had hired Jay Sartori as director of baseball operations. Sartori previously served as the contract administration manager in MLB's labor relations department, and will bring expertise in interpretations of contract language, the Basic Agreement and salary arbitration rules to his new job. The team also made official the hiring of Bryan Minnitti as assistant general manager, after he spent the previous nine seasons in the Pittsburgh Pirates organization, most recently as director of baseball operations. The Nationals now have made seven high-level hires to their front office since the end of the season: Roy Clark (vice president of player personnel), Doug Harris (director of player development), Kasey McKeon (director of player procurement), Minnitti, Jay Robertson (special assistant to the general manager), Sartori and Ron Schueler (special advisor to the GM). In addition, the team is

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Nats GM Rizzo fills out front office with two hires

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 18:39:04 +0000

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Washington Nationals have hired Bryan Minniti as assistant general manager and Jay Sartori as director of baseball operations, filling out GM Mike Rizzo's front office.

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Minniti, Sartori join Nats' front office (AP)

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 18:14:45 +0000

The Washington Nationals have hired Bryan Minniti as assistant general manager and Jay Sartori as director of baseball operations, filling out GM Mike Rizzo's front office. Minniti spent the past nine seasons with the Pittsburgh Pirates, the last two as director of baseball operations. Sartori has been working for Major League Baseball's labor relations department.

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Impact rookies for next season

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 17:36:10 +0000

The Rising Stars game a couple weeks ago in the Arizona Fall League featured plenty of young talent, but it wasn't the prospect showcase that it could have been. Several of the truly elite players in the AFL this fall didn't play, including Nationals right-hander Stephen Strasburg (out with a mile neck strain), Braves outfielder Jason Heyward (gluteus muscle strain) and Marlins outfielder Mike Stanton (back pain) didn't play. In fact, Heyward and Stanton were sent home in October from the AFL, but it doesn't significantly affect their blue-chip status.

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Grissom will not return as Nats coach

Sun, 15 Nov 2009 04:02:00 +0000

Former Major League outfielder Marquis Grissom will not be back as the Nationals' first-base coach, MLB.com learned on Saturday.

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Nats show interest in DeRosa, Gonzalez

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 22:19:00 +0000

Looking to improve from this past season, the Nationals have expressed interest in reliever Mike Gonzalez and infielder/outfielder Mark DeRosa, according to two baseball sources. Both players are free agents.

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Zimmerman hauling in more than hardware

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 14:05:43 +0000

Let's start this morning with some reading material, because there is plenty. Here is the news story I wrote for the dead-tree edition off the Riggleman presser, and here is Boswell's typically excellent column. We also have this poll running on our home page -- take a second and weigh in. Over at the Washington Times, Thom Loverro gives his take, theorizing (as I have) that the Riggleman hiring is an indication the Nationals' top brass doesn't see the team as being close to contending in the next couple of years. At MLB.com, Bill Ladson got Riggleman to reiterate that he views Cristian Guzman as a second baseman at this point, which meshes with this report from Foxsports.com that the Nationals are interested in defensive-minded free agent shortstops Adam Everett and Alex Gonzalez. And that brings us to the FOF -- the Face of the Franchise. It was another good

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Featured Advertiser

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 14:05:43 +0000

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GMs meeting: Riggleman to lead Nats; agents hit open market

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 04:30:52 +0000

Latest news and notes from around Major League Baseball.

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