SB Nation - Luis Atilano

Washington Nationals: Winter Meetings Wrap.

Ed Chigliak — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 01:28:33 -0000

More photos » by Haraz N. Ghanbari - AP

Washington Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo found the catcher he wanted at the Winter Meetings, now the Nationals need to add some pitching. (AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari)

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Before the Winter Meetings, the Washington Nationals made clear that they did not think it was absolutely essential that they add the pitching help they need from the top of the free agent class or within the three-day span of the Indianapolis Winter Meetings, as DC GM Mike Rizzo explained to MLB.com's Bill Ladson, who wrote in a 12/2/09 article entitled, "Pitching the focus for Nats at Meetings", that fans shouldn't, "...look for the the Nationals to attempt to break the bank," in pursuit of free agent help, as they did last Winter in their pursuit of Mark Teixeira, who we've been told, time and again, was seen as a once-in-a-generation talent, but instead should accept the fact that it's more, "...likely that Rizzo will make trades."

(cont.)...

BACKPAGE:

• The LIST.

• Oh...AND LIVAN HERNANDEZ!

• Guzman To Second, Desmond At Short?

• Bally To The Bullpen? WT...

BACKPAGE:

• The LIST as the DC Faithful are calling it, (ed. note - "No one is calling it that."), that Rizzo gave to Washington Post writer Chico Harlan for an article entitled, "Reading Material, Shopping Lists", of pitchers that the Nationals were interested in this winter, started with 14 names, but as the Winter Meetings officially end following tomorrow's Rule 5 Draft, the list has been shortened some, from, "Jason Marquis, Randy Wolf, John Lackey, Cliff Lee, Jon Garland, Kevin Millwood, Tim Hudson, Brad Penny, Joel Piñeiro, Braden Looper, Jarrod Washburn, Brandon Webb, Brett Myers, John Smoltz and more..." to, as the Post's Chico Harlan wrote in two Nationals Journal posts entitled, "The starting pitching shopping list", and "The starting pitching, Pt. II":

"(Jon Garland and)...almost every established free agent starting pitcher except the A-lister, John Lackey. So, the Nats would entertain the possibility of Jarrod Washburn, Joel Pineiro, Vicente Padilla, Jason Marquis, and John Smoltz."

• Oh...AND LIVAN HERNANDEZ!

After Washington Post writer Dave Sheinin wrote about Elijah Dukes' winter, he added a note to the end of an article entitled, "Nationals notes: Dukes, L. Hernandez", about the Washington Nationals making contract with the agent for Mr. National Himself, Livan Hernandez, the original Nationals' Ace, who has openly expressed his desire to return to the nation's capital since the end of the '09 season. Mr. Sheinin writes that Hernandez's agent, "(Barry) Praver would not characterize the talks", but in the Washington Post writer's opinion it would take, "...a one-year contract with a low base and ample performance incentives."

-- (ed. note - "Do you want to see Livan Hernandez return to the Nationals? From what I've read in the comments, it's pretty much split amongst the DC Faithful...Should the Nationals let Livan teach Strasburg the eephus?")

• Guzman To Second, Desmond At Short?

MLB.com's Bill Ladson was Twittering throughout the Winter Meetings, letting Nationals' fans know what was going on long before it went into print (as were the Washington Times' writers), and the biggest revelation out of the final day in Indianapolis was that the Nationals had made up their minds about what to do with their twenty-ten middle infield:

"It appears the Nats will take a chance with Cristian Guzman at second base. That means Orlando Hudson is not coming to DC."

Does that mean that Ian Desmond is officially a "Go!" at short? Are the Nationals still going to try to find another option at short?

• Bally To The Bullpen? WT...

The other interesting thing that MLB.com's Bill Ladson Twittered was the idea that:

"The Nats may rely on some of their youngsters in the bullpen. Luis Atilano, Collin Balester and Craig Stammen are candidates."

As the Nationals' system produces more pitching, some of the older starters who haven't established themselves are going to have to make the move to the pen to make room for the next wave of pitchers. Is Balester on that list in your mind? (ed. note - "Not mine.")...What about J.D. Martin? Shairon Martis? Atilano? Stammen? Ross Detwiler? Is this Washington's way of saying why sign relievers when we have all these arms under contract?

Washington Nationals' Possible Candidates for September Roster Expansion

Dave at Nats News Network — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 21:54:55 -0000

More photos » by Morry Gash - AP

Washington Nationals starting pitcher Collin Balester could rejoin the team as early as Sept. 1 when the major league rosters expand. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

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With September 1 literally just hours away, major league teams can expand their active roster to include anyone occupying a spot on their 40-man roster. Traditionally, teams have utilized the "September call-up" in one of several ways:

1) For contenders, it's a chance to give their regulars a night off here and there in preparation for the gruel of the playoffs

2) For middle of the pack teams, it's often a reward to long-time minor leaguers or AAAA-types toiling in obsurity

3) For bottomfeeders, it's an opportunity for a chance to see that prospect that everyone is excited about, even for just a quick appearance

The Nats seem to fall into all three categories this year.

The Nats have already indicated that they will wait until Syracuse's season is over before calling anyone up, though. So any help will still be at least a week away from arriving in D.C.

Because of the rash of injuries, trades and bullpen struggles, general manager Mike Rizzo has already made the bulk of his September call-ups before the roster expansion happened. Jorge Padilla, Pete Orr, Justin Maxwell, Mike Morse...even pitchers like J.D. Martin, Tyler Clippard and Jorge Sosa would have been prime candidates, were it not for the need earlier in the season.

So who is left? Let's take a look!

ON THE 40-MAN ROSTER

By my count, with Justin Maxwell's impending promotion there are currently 14 players on the 40-man roster NOT on the active 25-man roster:

C: Jesus Flores (15-day DL), Luke Montz (AA-Harrisburg)

SS: Ian Desmond (AAA-Syracuse)

OF Austin Kearns (15-day DL), Nyjer Morgan (15-day DL)

LHP: Scott Olsen (15-day DL), Ross Detwiler (AAA-Syracuse), Matt Chico (AA-Harrisburg)

RHP: Collin Balester (AAA-Syracuse), Shairon Martis (AAA-Syracuse), Marco Estrada (AAA-Syracuse), Luis Atilano (AAA-Syracuse), Ryan Mattheus (minor league DL), Stephen Strasburg

60-day DL: OF Roger Bernadina, RHP Terrell Young, 1B Dmitri Young, RHP Jordan Zimmermann

Players on the 60-day DL do not count toward the 40-man roster, so there may still be some wiggle room to place a player or two on the 60-day to open 40-man space.

Of the 14 players on the 40-man, Flores, Morgan, Olsen and Mattheus are out for the season with injury. And from the sounds of this, Kearns is probably joining them. So we can rule all of those players out.

Rizzo has already been on record that Chico is not likely a candidate, and Strasburg's plans have been laid out in excrutiating detail. Additionally, Rizzo has all but ruled out a cameo for Drew Storen, blazing his way up the minor league chain after being selected No. 10 overall in this year's amateur draft.

That leaves Desmond, Detwiler, Balester, Martis, Estrada and Atilano off the 40-man roster eligible. It's been assumed that the Nats will recall a couple starters to relieve some of the burden from young arms accumulation of innings. But with the signing of Livan Hernandez, who eats innings as well as any pitcher in the majors, maybe that goal has already been achieved.

Still, I can envision seeing Balester, Detwiler, Martis and Estrada all being recalled and utilized as starters or swing-men in September.

And I'll also pencil in Desmond. He's had a terrific season, and the Nats have to be wondering if the best arm and range in their minor league system can handle the bat enough at the big league level to replace the very quickly aging Cristian Guzman and his bunions.

Atilano is 2-0, 2.45 in two starts since his promotion to Syracuse, and the one-time first round draft pick of the Altanta Braves has enjoyed a fine season overall, but the Nats are probably happy to let him finish the season and head into spring training.

As for players currently not on the 40-man roster? There are certainly some candidates, and most of them are bullpen guys that could again help manage the workload of some of the young starters.

OTHER PITCHERS

There are six relievers in Syracuse that could certainly get "The Call" : RHPs Zech Zinicola, Zack Segovia, Josh Wilkie, Clint Everts and LHPs Jack Spradlin and Yunior Novoa.

Segovia has some major league experince, a 2.70 ERA and five saves for Syracuse. Everts was the Expos 2002 first round pick. In 2009, in over 57.1 IP at three levels (Potomac, Harrisburg & Syracuse), Everts has been outstanding (8-1, 1.41 ERA, 1.116 WHIP, 10.4 K/9). Spradlin is 4-3 with four saves and has a 3.19 ERA and 1.212 WHIP across AAA-AA in 44 games. He has struck out an even 7.0 per nine.

Wilkie was an unheralded pitcher from George Washington University (sound familiar?) and has been promoted twice this season. Novoa has a great change but has only been "just decent" this season, despite being promoted three times this season. Zinicola (6.04 ERA) has struggled this year.

OTHER HITTERS

Most of them are already with the big club. Rizzo said the other day he doesn't envision calling up a third catcher just for the heck of it. Montz is the only other catcher on the 40-man, and he's really regressed this season (.184/.295/.314 in 347 plate appearances) after hitting 16 homers last season.

Could Seth Bynum (.263/.306./453, 18 HR, 62 RBI in 433 ABs), Kory Casto (.268/.332/.373, 7-55), Norris Hopper (.291/.342/.344, 23 SBs), Brad Eldred (.267/.338/.478, 16-56) or Daryle Ward (.235/.320/.389, 12-45) get promoted? Possible, but not likely. The only compelling possibility is Hopper, who is a plus defender in center. But you have to figure whatever at bats Wee Willie Harris doesn't get are going to go to Justin Maxwell, in what could make or break his tenure in the organization.

SURE TO BE INCORRECT PREDICTIONS

The Nats add a bunch of arms, but just one more hitter, injury notwithstanding.

From the 40-man: RHPs Balester, Detwiler, Martis, Estrada and SS Desmond

Need to be added to 40-man: RHP Everts and Segovia and LHP Spradlin

Your guess is as good as mine, though. Let's hear 'em in the comments.

The Braves like to trade first round draft picks

gondeee — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 13:00:13 -0000

Are you a big fan of Jason Heyward? How about Cody Johnson? Do you think they'll be in an Atlanta Braves uniform one day? And for how long? Since 2000, how many first round picks would you say the Braves still have in their organization? Counting first rounders and supplemental first rounders here is a list:

2000 - 2 first rounders, 2 supplemental - Adam Wainwright traded to the Cardinals
2001 - 2 first rounders, 1 supplemental - Macay McBride traded to the Tigers, Richard Lewis traded to the Cubs
2002 - 1 first, 1 supplemental - Jeff Francoeur traded to the Mets, Dan Meyer to the Athletics
2003 - 2 supplemental - Luis Atilano traded to the Nationals, Jarrod Saltalamacchia to the Rangers
2004 - no first rounders
2005 - 1 first, 1 supplemental - Joey Devine traded to the Athletics, Beau Jones to the Rangers
2006 - 1 first, 2 supplemental - no trades, but Steve Evarts has already been released
2007 - 1 first, 1 supplemental - Jon Gilmore traded to the White Sox

Of all the first rounders and supplemental first rounders we've drafted since 2000, only one, Kelly Johnson, is still in the majors with Atlanta, and he is on the disabled list. Furthermore, he and Chipper Jones (1990) are the only ones still in the organization of those first rounders drafted before 2006. From 2000 to 2007, 10 of the Braves 18 first round picks were traded!

I'm not sure if there is any analysis that can be gleaned from this list, other than the fact that the Braves certainly aren't afraid to use their prospects to acquire major league talent. I'm not all that familiar with other organization's minor league talent, but I would posit that there isn't another organization that comes close to trading away more than 50% of their first round picks over the course of nine years.

Federal Baseball.com: An Unofficial Washington Nationals Blog: ReIntroduction and Primer...

Ed Chigliak — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 08:55:49 -0000

"While you others represent, I present my rep." - Posdnous (Plug One)

"Let's Go Nats Go!!" - Official Team Cheer

(ed. note - "Before beginning a sort of reintroduction, I just wanted to point all federalbaseball.com readers, new and old, to the post the SB Nation's Chairman and CEO Jim Bankoff put up the other day entitled, "Welcome Yahoo Users", which explains the recent distribution agreement the SB Nation reached with Yahoo Sports, then the fun starts..."):

Federal Baseball.com: Staff Positions and Bios...

MInistry of Peace: e chigliak - (ed. note - "I'm sticking with my original bio...")

About DCDaily: Federalbaseball.com: Expos' fan since birth. Raines, Dawson and Carter to blame. Followed to DC. Still waiting for Playoffs. '81 was half a season, and I was 6.
Interests: Marcel Proust, Jack Kerouac, Wong Kar Wai, Alain Resnais, Alan Moore and baseball.

My old photo gallery...

Ministry of Truth: Records Department (Editor): Winston Smith

(ed. note - "Winston Smith: No bio available...")

Ministry of Plenty: Doghouse - W.A.R. Effort

Bio:

Doghouse is an escaped physicist who compulsively posts half-understood statistics and attempts to see the bright side of every Nats-related situation. He is seriously worried about Screech's grimy condition, and is not at all rational about the possibility of Nick Johnson being injured. If encountered in the wild, DO NOT ATTEMPT TO REASON WITH HIM. Instead, apply beer until the subject agrees that Ronnie Belliard may have lost a step since his All Star season. Under no circumstances ask him about the time he spent "coaching" Alfonso Soriano from his CF seats in RFK during the 2006 season.

Ministry of Plenty: Nationals News Network

via cdn3.sbnation.com

In addition to his duties with Federal Baseball, Dave Nichols is the proprietor of Nationals News Network and Capitals News Network, an official "Hockey Friendly Blog" to the Washington Capitals. He covers the Washington Nationals and Washington Capitals for DC Sports Box.com and is a contributing columnist for Bleacher Report.com. Early in his career he spent four years in radio, working for the Baltimore Orioles, Washington Redskins and University of Maryland radio networks. He prefers to take a constructive, critical look at the dealings of the teams he covers, which sometimes leaves him as the voice of doom and gloom. You can reach Dave directly at natsnewsnetwork@gmail.com.

Ministry of Plenty: Scout

Bio:

(My Brother, Braves' Fan and Source For All Things Baseball)

(ed. note - "You may have noticed the first post of what I hope will be many from sdsuaztec4, who lives in San Diego and has the "Strasburg Package", and so has offered to cover the projected #1 pick in the '09 Draft, and future Nationals' Ace?, San Diego State University starter Stephen Strasburg. If the first post is any indication, sdsuaztec will be providing the best coverage of Strasburg's starts in the blogosphere...Why not one more time with this video?")...

(another ed. note - Coming Soon...I reached out to all the Nationals' minor league affiliates, asking if anyone at any level of their respective organizations would like to contribute weekly/bi-weekly posts about the goings-on down on the farm, and so far I've received positive responses from four of the five, expressing interest in keeping you, the federalbaseball.com readers, up-to-date on every level of the DC system. (ed. note in an ed. note - "C'mon Syracuse?"))

(ed. note - "For Any New Visitors To Federalbaseball.com or any of the other blogs in the SB Nation...These are the best tutorials I've found for navigating the comments, FANPOSTS, FANSHOTS, and just about everything else you could hope to know about the ridiculous platform the SB Nation's crack tech team has devised to make the bloggers look good...and I was going to make my own tutorials, but these embarrassed mine...totally was...")

Slyde at Red Reporter (SBN's Cincy Reds blog) put together a post entitled, "RR Tech Tips: Enhancing Your Reading Experience", which offers particularly good information about navigating the sites.

The Cheat at South Side Sox (SBN's CWS blog) posted a guide entitled, "Make South Side Sox Better: A Guide To Better Posting" which has info on FANPOSTS, FANSHOTS, Tagging, Headline Writing, etc.

Nationals Blogs We Dig, Other Than Our Own...(in no particular order).

Nationals Pride.com

Fire Jim Bowden

Nationals Farm Authority

We've Got Heart

Bad Nats - (ed. note - "Doghouse once swore this was the best Nationals blog on the intertubes...I'm paraphrasing, of course. We eagerly await their next post...")

Bally's Blog

PRESIDENTS RACE: LET TEDDY WIN

Nationals Journal

Chatter- (now with more posts)

FEDERALBASEBALL.COM GLOSSARY (ed. note - "So some of this makes sense...")

1 - Player Names, Nicknames, (Explanations): (In Alphabetical Order) (ed. note - "Trust me, these make a lot more sense if you follow the Gamethreads...")

- Luis Atilano - Nickname Pending (let's wait and see if he makes the Opening Day roster).

- Collin Balester - Bally, Ballystar, Battlestar.

- Ronnie Belliard - Ronnie B., Belli, Belli-YARD(upon homering), "Old Drop and Throw" (because he drops every grounder then throws to first)

- Roger Bernadina - Bernie? I got nothing...

- Jason Bergmann - Neptune NJ's Finest, Rutgers' Finest, The Bergmann of Alcatraz, "Not A Fly Ball Pitcher." (At least Bergmann doesn't think so.)

- Daniel Cabrera - The Project, DC's Own DC Daniel Cabrera, The Closer In Training.

- Kory Casto - Kasto, Casto!!(clapclap) Casto!!(clapclap)

- Matt Chico - Slowhand...

- Elijah Dukes - Elijah "Super" Dukes, SooperDukes

- Adam Dunn - The Big Donkey, Dunn-K, The Bigger Wilkerson, or Big Wilky for short.

- Jesus Flores - The Jesus, WWJD?

- Alberto Gonzalez - The General

- Cristian Guzman - The Guzzzzz

- Joel Hanrahan - "Wild" Joel Hanrahan

- Willie Harris - Thrillie Harris, WILLIE HARRIS WANTS TO PLAY!!, (Doghouse says, "TAWH = The Amazing Willie Harris, a magical force capable of playing any position and fielding any batted ball.")

- Anderson Hernandez - A-Hands, Acta's Favorite Infielder

- Shawn Hill - "The Oft-Injured Shawn Hill", Hill on the Mound, The Pride Of Mississauga, Ontario.

- Nick Johnson - Nicky J., Babe Ruth the 3rd, Nick Nick, Johnson Johnson, The Semi-Mythical Healthy Nick Johnson, Nick "When Healthy" Johnson, Trade Bait.

- Austin Kearns - AK, Kearnsie, Bluegrass, Mr. Kentucky, Bowden's Favorite Outfielder, Doghouse's Favorite.

- John Lannan - John "Cool Hand" Lannan, "Ace"

- Lastings Milledge - Lasto, L-Millz, "Deep Center" Milledge

- Garrett Mock - MOCK'd (as in, "You just got...")

- Scott Olsen - Nickname Pending

- Wily Mo Pena - WMP, WMPe, Bender©

- Saul Rivera - Saul "Sa-ool" Rivera, Sa-Oool!!, The Hardest Working Reliever in Baseball

- Steven Shell - Nickname Pending

- Ryan Zimmerman - THE KIDS CALL HIM ZIM!! THE KIDS CALL HIM ZIM!!©, Zim(n), The Face of the Franchise©, The Nationals' #1 Pick in '05, The Best Defensive 3rd Baseman in Baseball. (ed. note - "Don't ever talk bad about Zimmerman, seriously...")

Addendum...(Nats News Network adds to the Nickname Madness...)

some nicknames i've used in the past...

—Wee Willie Harris
—The Man With Two Last Names (Anderson Hernandez)
—"Oh Danny Boy" Cabrera or "The Enigma"
—Scott Olsen is either "Alien" or "Peanut-Head"
—and when we’re referring to our two Zimmerman(n)’s, i think we should make a pact to refer to the 3B as Zim and the pitcher as Zimm (altho i realize the pitcher has two "n"s and one "m", i just think it’s funny and a way to distinguish them)
—Blastings Thrilledge
—William Moses Pena the Third
—Jesus Colome is the "The Other Jesus" or "The Second Coming" or "Slow", as in "Slow" Jesus Colome
—Wil "Prettyboy" Nieves

TERMS -

The Plan - The 5? Year Plan For Rebuilding The Franchise From The Bottom Up. (ed. note - "No one really knows when The Plan started...The Nationals have always been at war with the Hated Mets.")

The Hated Mets - (ed. note - "That's what me and Stan Kasten call them...though I don't know Mr. Kasten...I just read that he did, uh, call them, that, and I always have...Uh, ok.")

NatsTown© - Dave from Nats News Network explains...

The W.A.R. Effort - Check Out One Of Doghouse's Latest posts and SEE...

(ed. note - "Where I (e chigliak) comment on my own commentary.")

The DC Closer Tradition = Making It Interesting.

OPS+ = A stat that compares a batter's overall ability (on-base plus slugging) to league average. 100 is exactly league average, greater than 100 is better, and less than 100 is worse.

ERA+ = Just like OPS+, except for pitchers.

Oh, and this is what you'll see every time the Washington Nationals sweep some poor MLB opponent...

That's, uh, just about it...

?'s For The DC Faithful...

(ed. note - "Did you actually read this far? Thanks. If there are any questions, my email is on the masthead at the bottom of the page, or there's this thing called the Comments Section, where comments can be left...and I love answering questions, and there was no sarcasm in that last statement...")

The Washington Nationals And The MLB Hot Stove: Adam Dunn Descends On DC...

Ed Chigliak — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 01:06:28 -0000

ALSO RECENTLY PUBLISHED at Federalbaseball.com:

Dave from the Nats News Network - "Nats Ink Dunn: Confidence Boost For Ownership?"

What Are The DC Faithful Thinking? Check out the initial reactions in a FANSHOT entitled:
"Adam Dunn Signs With Washington Nationals".

Alright...Alright...Settle down. Breathe...Breathe...

The Washington Nationals signed Adam Dunn. Before being traded to Arizona last season, the 29-year-old left-handed hitting free agent outfielder (1B?) had played every game of his career with Cincinnati, after having been drafted by Reds (led by then Cincy GM Jim Bowden) with the 50th overall pick in the 2nd Round on the 1998 MLB Amateur Draft. Dunn debuted with Cincy three years later on July 20, 2001, and over 8 seasons has averaged 29 doubles, 42 HR's, 96 RBI's, 114 walks and 118 K's per 162 games played, according to baseball-reference.com's 162-Game averages.

"The Big Donkey" or Dunn-K, or the "Bigger Wilkerson" ("Big Wilky" for short) as he's known around here has been destined for DC all winter, and if you don't believe that we here at federalbaseball.com predicited it, just take a look...

11/14/08 - "If The Washington Nationals Sign Mark Te - - - - - ra I'll Eat My Blog":

"If the Nationals continue to say that they're going to make a play for Te - - - - - ra, it's only going to be more disappointing to the DC Faithful if they come up empty or settle for someone like Giambi or Dunn..." (ed. note - "Sorry, Dunner. Hold on it gets worse.")

12/3/08 - "The Backup Plan Is Always The Real Plan...Washington Nationals' Winter Roundup":

(ed. note - "Subtitled, "The "Bigger Wilkerson" Adam Dunn Is Coming, And Everyone Wants To Be The First To Say So...")

Alright. I'll order my Dunn/Nationals name and # t-shirt tomorrow...

12/16/08 - "The Argument Against Adam Dunn...":

"Mr. Bowden simply still believes he was right in his initial judgement of Kearns' and Dunn's talents back when he brought them to the Majors with the Reds...Which is why I firmly believe Dunn will be in DC next season..."

...now this isn't to say we'd had some glimpse into the future, or some foreknowledge of events that no one else was privy to, but only to point out that we saw this coming, and not (just?) because of what The Washington Times' Thom Loverro referred to recently as DC GM Jim Bowden's proclivity toward, "...running a welfare hotel for Cincinnati rejects and refugees", because Adam Dunn is neither of those things, (ed. note - "I'd go with "strikeout-machine"), Dunn didn't get the BIG offer he was looking for on the open market, and sure he "sat" on the Nationals' offer for longer than some of us found appropriate, but the DC Front Office was willing to wait, and you have to give it to them, they got their man, (or at least their second choice of "man", through no fault of their own, yeah, I'm talking to you, Tex!"), the Nationals got the power bat they were looking for, and put themselves in a position to deal for whatever else it is they think they need heading into the '09 season, which most seem to believe will be either bullpen or rotation upgrades...

And, the Nationals don't lose a draft pick, since Arizona, who traded for Dunn late last season, didn't offer him arbitration, so the signing doesn't hinder the DC system's development. The price tag of 2-years and $20 million dollars doesn't seem outrageous. I'm not going to all-of-a-sudden pretend I'm a huge Adam Dunn fan, I think he K's far too much and knocks himself in for 40 of every 100 RBI's, but he's surely an offensive weapon the likes of which DC's Nationals haven't seen since Alfonso soriANO skipped town...So where are we, as Nationals fans, on this? Did the Nationals just make a move to change their image in the eyes of the baseball cognoscenti? Does this make the Nationals a legit threat in the NL East? For the Wild Card? What moves will have to be made? Will Dunn play first or left?...oh...seems we already have the answer to that...

MLB.com's Bill Ladson, in his article on the Dunn acquisition entitled, "Nats sign Dunn to two-year, $20M deal", writes that Adam Dunn will be playing first base with the Washington Nationals...(ed. note - "Hope they told Dunn, wouldn't want another Soriano-situation would we?"):

"Dunn will bat cleanup and be the everyday first baseman, replacing Nick Johnson. There are two drawbacks to Dunn's game. He strikes out a lot and is considered a below-average defensive first baseman and outfielder."

What will happen to Nick Johnson? Mr. Ladson brings up the A's rumors again. So, as of today...

Your '09 Washington Nationals...

1B Adam Dunn

2B Anderson Hernandez

SS Cristian Guzman

3B Ryan Zimmerman

LF Josh Willingham

CF Lastings Milledge/Elijah Dukes

RF Milledge/Dukes/Austin Kearns

C Jesus Flores

Starting Rotation: John Lannan, Scott Olsen, Collin Balester, Daniel Cabrera, Odalis Perez, Shawn Hill, Jason Bergmann, Jordan Zimmermann, Shairon Martis.

Bullpen: Terrell Young, Luis Atilano, Marco Estrada, Jesus Colome, Garrett Mock, Steven Shell, Mike Hinckley (L), Saul "Sa-ool" Rivera (Set-up), Joel Hanrahan (C).

They'll sort out the bullpen and the rotation this Spring, but that's the '09 Washington Nationals, barring any moves, which seem inevitable with some of the redundancies on the roster...So what do you think? Has Jim Bowden improved the Nationals from last year's 102-loss mess? Will the Nationals compete? Will Dunn change things in DC? Is anyone happier than Jim Bowden right now?

Final Arizona Fall League #'s For Washington Nationals' Prospects. PLUS...More Teixeira Talk.

Ed Chigliak — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 06:14:19 -0000

(MEANDERING) FINAL AFL UPDATE...

The Peoria Saguaros, and the Washington Nationals' prospects on their roster, completed the Arizona Fall League season today with a 4-3 win over the Surprise Rafters to tie the Mesa Solar Sox, (who lost their last game), atop the AFL's American Division with identical 26-12 records, though the tiebreaker and the chance to play for the Fall League's title goes to the Solar Sox, who claimed the season series between the teams four games to three with their win over Peoria this past Wednesday night breaking a tie...

In the final game of the Fall for the Saguaros, DC infielder Ian Desmond did the most damage, going 2 for 4 with a double, a HR and an RBI to end his AFL campaign with a .267 AVG, 6 doubles, 4 HR's and 17 RBI's. Leonard Davis, (one of a couple players drafted as a third baseman and forced to find other positions in the DC organization after the Nationals' '05 Draft), was fit into the Saguaros' lineup at third, and went 0 for 3 with a run scored a walk, a K and a .325 AVG to show for his Fall, along with 6 doubles, 2 triples, 4 HR's and 15 RBI's in 22 games and 80 at bats. (Zechry Zinicola also earned his second save with 1.0 scoreless frame in which he allowed a hit and struck out two batters to close out the win and lower his fall ERA to 6.89)

Both Desmond and Davis were drafted in the last Montreal Expos' Class, in 2004, with Desmond taken in the 3rd Round, 84th overall, a round before Collin Balester, and four rounds before Leonard Davis, who was selected with the 234th pick in the 8th Round.

The Nationals added the two, Desmond and Davis, to the 40-Man roster back on 11/10/08, (along with former Atlanta Braves' 1st Round pick pitcher Luis Atilano, who was acquired by DC in exchange for Daryle "D." Ward in post-deadline deal in August of '06), though Washington Post writer Chico Harlan noted at the time, in a Nationals Journal post entitled simply, "Three Added To Roster", that, "...all three of these players would have been eligible for the Rule 5 Draft had they not been added to the 40-man roster."

-- Desmond, who's been around so long it's hard to believe he's only 22, hit .251 with 14 doubles, 12 HR's, 44 RBI's and 12 steals in 93 games in 2008 with the Nationals' affiliate in Double-A Harrisburg. Before the season, Desmond was listed as the "Best Defensive Infielder" and was said to have the "Best Infield Arm" according to Baseball America's Aaron Fitt's "Top 10 Prospects: Washington Nationals" report, in spite of having committed 32 errors in 127 games at short for the Class-A Potomac Nationals in the 2007 season.

-- Leonard Davis was nowhere to be found in Mr. Fitt's report after the 2007 season, in which the then-23-year-old outfielder hit a combined .285 with 33 doubles, 4 triples, 20 HR's and 66 RBI's at three levels of the Nationals' system, but after his 2008 campaign, Davis' name appeared in the Washington organizational report by MiLB.com writer Kevin T. Czerwinski entitled, "Nationals' farm hurt by injury bug", in which Mr. Czerwinski wrote:

"Davis was a largely nondescript player through four Minor League seasons before bursting onto the scene this year. He hit .332 in 217 at-bats with Potomac and then hit .488 in 41 at-bats at Harrisburg. He tailed off a bit at Columbus (.239 in 180 at-bats), but still had a marvelous season."

In an official Washington Nationals' Press Release on September 23rd of '08, Leonard Davis was named the Nationals' Minor League Player of the Year.

FINAL AFL STATS...

Peoria Saguaros' Fielders...

Ian Desmond - SS - 28 G, 27 for 101, .267 AVG, 6 2B, 4 3B, 4 HR's, 17 RBI's, 4 SB, .364 OBP, .525 SLG, .888 OPS.

Bill Rhinehart - 1B - 23 G, 30 for 92, .326 AVG, 11 2B, 1 3B, 4 HR's, 28 RBI's, 1 CS, .392 OBP, .598 SLG, .990 OPS.

Leonard Davis - OF - 22 G, 26 for 80, .325 AVG, 6 2B, 2 3B, 4 HR's, 15 RBI's, 2 SB, .415 OBP, .600 SLG, 1.015 OPS.

Peoria Saguaros' Pitchers...

Adam Carr - RP - (0-1), 3.65 ERA, 2 SV, 12 G, 12.1 IP, 11 H, 5 ER, 0 HR, 3 BB, 8 K's.

Ross Detwiler - RP - (0-0), 4.63 ERA, 9 G, 11.2 IP, 16 H, 6 ER, 2 HR, 4 BB, 7 K's.

Cory VanAllen - SP/RP - (2-1), 5.84 ERA, 8 G, 7 GS, 24.2 IP, 34 H, 16 ER, 3 HR, 6 BB, 30 K's.

Zechry Zinicola - RP - (2-0), 6.89 ERA, 14 G, 2 SV, 15.2 IP, 21 H, 12 ER, 2 HR, 4 BB, 11 SO.

TEIXEIRA TALK...

According to MLB.com's Bill Ladson and an anonymous "person familiar with (Mark) Teixeira" who is quoted in Mr. Ladson's article entitled, "Teixeira interested in playing for Nats", free agent first baseman Mark Teixeira is, "...from Maryland and is thinking about the possibility of playing in Washington." Mr. Ladson was unable to speak to Teixeira's agent Scott "Maximum" Boras, and the DC Brass no-commented, but Washington Post writer Chico Harlan was able to track down Mr. Boras, who is quoted in Mr. Harlan's Nationals Journal post entitled, "The Suitors Line Up", stating the obvious fact, "...that the interest in Mark Teixeira is widespread, and it's something we'll have to narrow here as we work through the process." (ed. note - "Oh this Boras guy is good...") FoxSports' writer Ken Rosenthal's article entitled, "Where will Teixeira mark his turf?", recognizes the Nationals as, "a major player" in the pursuit of Teixeira, but Mr. Rosenthal insults as he provides hope, writing, "It still appears doubtful that Teixeira will choose the Nationals...(but)...another Boras client, Alex Rodriguez, stunned the baseball world by joining the then-lowly Rangers."...and finally, e. chigliak at federalbaseball.com reports that he still has his doubts about all this...

Poll

Which DC Prospect's Arizona Fall League Performance Was The Most Impressive?

Ian Desmond - SS

2 votes

Bill Rhinehart - 1B

11 votes

Leonard Davis - OF

8 votes

Adam Carr - RP

1 votes

Ross Detwiler - RP

4 votes

Cory VanAllen - SP

1 votes

Zechry Zinicola - RP

1 votes

28 votes | Poll has closed