By Zach Links [November 14

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2009/11/rosenthal-and-morosi-on-willingham-hardy-wedge.html

Washington is drawing strong trade interest in left fielder Josh Willingham, but may not be willing to part with him, according to Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports.  Willingham turned in a slash line of .260/.367/.496 with 24 HRs in 502 plate appearances in 2009.

The post identifies the Braves as a team that likes the 30-year-old, but says that they have concerns about his back and are less than enamored with his defensive play.  Willingham, they suggest, might be a better fit in the American League where he can be a DH.  Earlier this month, Tim took a look at Willingham and other left fielders that could be dealt.

SANTO DOMINGO (Licey.com) .- Los Tigres del Licey forces continue to build an already strong team and for the weekend is expected to include on the roster for a player already in the country: Elijah Dukes.

  Dukes back with the Licey, with whom he played in the 2007-08 season, and it is expected that the prospect now the Washington Nationals to contribute to the national champions.

  The enigmatic outfielder arrived on Tuesday and took batting practice Wednesday. He is scheduled to debut this weekend, reported blue Licey.com management.

  Dukes saw action in 107 games with the Nationals in 2009 and had a .250 batting average with eight homers and 58 RBIs.

  According to projections, Dukes accompany the Licey to the end of the 2009-10 season.

via www.licey.com

Rizzo talks about offseason, Harper, Dukes

http://therocket.mlblogs.com/archives/2009/10/rizzo_talks_about_offseason_ha.html

   "Rizzo believes Dukes has found a home in right field with the Nationals. Rizzo said Dukes is a guy who can drive in runs, but needs make adjustments at the plate. Dukes has only eight home runs entering Saturday's action against Braves. Rizzo has a theory as to why Dukes has struggled to hit home runs. 

"A number of advance scouts are scouting him well. Opposing pitchers pitch him very tough. He needs to learn to make adjustments," Rizzo said."  

http://www.thenatsblog.com/minors/minors/brewing-home-grown-talent-what-the-nats-can-learn-from-ben-sheets.html

Sheets and Strasburg both hold the distinction of striking out 20 batters in one Division I college baseball game, and of course they both hold the distinction of being anointed the savior of a franchise much in need of saving.

Both young starters pitched for team USA and both were considered at that time, essentially MLB ready.

Today however, the two stand very much apart in their careers, as Strasburg was just introduced into the league, and Sheets is currently on the outside looking in. Yet another shoulder surgery in the 2008 offseason left Sheets without a team for 2009, and while he will likely be back someday, neither he nor the Brewers will find the form they had in 2008 for a while.

Sheets arm troubles came from years of over work in a time when he should have been developing. By the time the Brewers needed him to be the Cy Young caliber pitcher he was, his arm was already on the fritz. The Brewers were in a bind in the early part of the decade and they needed their phenom young stud to pitch in the majors, whether that would result in success or failure.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/nationalsjournal/2009/08/whats_left_of_the_expos.html

Continue reading this post »

http://masnsports.com/2009/07/nats-recall-dukes-sosa-from-aa.html

After the game tonight, outfielder Elijah Dukes and right-handed pitcher Jorge Sosa were called up from Triple-A Syracuse.

Dukes, who was demoted in June, was hitting .288 with three homers and 10 RBI in 19 games for the Chiefs. He walked nine times and stole five bases while only striking out eight times.

Sosa was 1-2 with a 2.79 ERA with three saves in 20 games, four starts, for Syracuse. He struck out 53 and walked in 13 in 48 1/3 innings.

In seven big league seasons, with four different teams, Sosa is 40-49 with a 4.67 ERA.

The List: RBI < (HR x 2) By Dave Sheinin |  July 8, 2009

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/baseball-insider/2009/07/rbi.html

"To pull it off, you need to hit almost exclusively solo home runs (all 10 of Willingham's are of the solo variety), and you need to perform poorly with runners in scoring position (Willingham: .180/.293/.220)."

   This may be part of my indifference to Hammer......His normal stats don't look bad, but he's not contributing when it counts...

Hey, we need a list. A glossary of the more obscure and less obvious for the casual reader and a repository of the clever references contributed by the DC Faithful, so they will not be lost in the avalanche of the thread commentaries..... [Inspired by the Ryan "Don't call me Mendoza" Zimmerman entry, a derivative of the soon to be universally accepted DCMR and the hysterical DCCT.......]

 Promote your pet faves, steal from others, add to the history and flavour of FB and to the Greater NatsTown blogoplex......

Best Blogs in Washington?

http://blog.letteddywin.com/2009/04/07/washingtonian-best-blogs-in-washington/#comments

"Of the eight sports blogs that made the Washingtonian’s list, this was the only one devoted to the Nationals. And we’re obviously a novelty pick. Nobody comes here for coverage of the team."

Ran across the above, which led to the below..........

The Nationals Blog Review: A Viewer's Guide for 2009

By PennSkinsFan | April 6, 2009

http://dcprosportsreport.com/2009/04/the-nationals-blog-review-a-viewers-guide.html

PRIORITY READING

Federal Baseball:  The most comprehensive blog for the Washington Nationals on the web.  If you are a die hard Nats fan, you already know about this site.  If you are a casual fan, get to know it.  In fact, subscribe to the RSS feed.  You are not going to get one story per day from these guys.  Debate threads, tons of stats, polls, commentary and more.   In our opinion, this is the best all around pure Nats coverage blog out there.   This is a true comprehensive Nats site with tons of franchise info.  We just need to hunt them down for a link exchange.  And we will.  Archives:  Back to 2005, birth of the franchise.

Discussion Forum: NO    Allow Post Comments:  YES   Active Commenting: Absolutely 
RSS FEED/Facebook:  YES  RSS, Facebook
Updated Daily:  YES    Weekly?  YES
Multiple Writers:  YES
Link Exchange Partner with DC Pro Sports Report.  NO 
Rank:  *  *  *  *  *