When you survey the Nationals' roster, you see only four starting pitchers locked in for the 2013 season: Stephen Strasburg, Gio Gonzalez, Jordan Zimmermann and Ross Detwiler.
These four starters all put up strong 2012 campaigns and could easily end up being slotted one through four in the Nationals' rotation next season.
The current state of the Nats' starting staff has led many observers to assume that they'll end up signing another starting pitcher, but one that will be tucked at the...
The Nationals are well-represented in Major League Baseball's end-of-season award discussion.
Nats manager Davey Johnson was named one of three finalists for National League Manager of the Year, Bryce Harper is up for NL Rookie of the Year and left-hander Gio Gonzalez is a finalist for the NL Cy Young Award.
Johnson joins Reds manager Dusty Baker and Giants skipper Bruce Bochy as the finalists for NL Manager of the Year.
Johnson led the Nats to a 98-win season and their first NL East...
Today marks the beginning of the GM meetings out in Indian Wells, Calif., an event that runs through Friday.
These meetings aren't nearly as significant as the annual Winter Meetings when it comes to free agent action or trade talk, but they serve as a nice starting point for a lot of offseason deals which are completed at a later date.
While Mike Rizzo is taking part in all that action out in California, Anthony Rendon is starting to heat up in nearby Arizona.
As pointed out by my...
Back at home after returning from a recent trip out west, Edwin Jackson isn't stressing about his contract negotiation process.
The free agent right-hander hit the open market more than a week ago and has had plenty of chances to check in with his agent and ask which teams have already come calling. But Jackson says he's been pretty hands-off when it comes to the business side of things at this stage, choosing to relax, get some vacation time in and start some light agility training rather...
How much should the Nationals be prepared to pay in order to keep Adam LaRoche in D.C.? How long a contract should they be willing to offer?
Those are questions that are being tossed around both by people within the Nationals organization and within LaRoche's camp.
Contract talks are still not to the point where a deal is expected in the very near future, according to a source with knowledge of the situation.
But don't take that to mean that the Nationals aren't still very much in the...
After spending the last six seasons with the Nationals, Pat Corrales has left the organization to become a special assistant to Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti.
Corrales served in a number of roles during his time with the Nationals. He was the team's bench coach on three separate occasions (2007-08, the second half of 2009 and the second half of 2011), served as a special assistant to the GM and most recently spent this last season working in player development.
Corrales roamed...
When you assess the Nationals' roster, there are a handful of needs which will have to be addressed this offseason.
There's obviously the Adam LaRoche situation, which will determine who will man first base for the next two or three seasons and also will end up impacting Michael Morse and the starting left field job.
There's a need for a fifth starter, now that Edwin Jackson is unlikely to return and John Lannan appears likely to be non-tendered.
There are bullpen spots that have to be...
As of midnight, free agency has officially begun.
After being able to talk solely with their previous team for the last five days, free agents are now allowed to chat with any team and begin negotiations on contracts for the 2013 season.
Adam LaRoche will mull over his one-year, $13.3 million qualifying offer from the Nationals, but it's an offer he's certain to decline. A multi-year deal is in his future, be it with the Nats or one of the other 29 teams around the league.
There were nine...
The Nationals have extended a qualifying offer to Adam LaRoche, an industry source has confirmed, guaranteeing the team a compensatory draft pick in 2013 if LaRoche chooses to sign elsewhere.
The Nats did not extend qualifying offers to any of their other free agents, including right-handed starter Edwin Jackson.
LaRoche now has seven days to accept a one-year, $13.3 million deal. He's expected to decline the offer in search of a multi-year deal.
The Nationals can still negotiate a new...
The Nationals have been linked to Michael Bourn for some time now, dating back a couple years to his days with the Astros.
The reasons are fairly obvious: The Nats have been searching for their long-term answer in center field, they could use speed and a stable presence at the top of the order (even though Jayson Werth is an option there), and Bourn's agent happens to be Scott Boras, with whom Nats general manager Mike Rizzo has a good working relationship.
Now, with Bourn poised to hit the...
As expected, both first baseman Adam LaRoche and left-handed reliever Sean Burnett have declined their mutual options and have become free agents, a source confirmed Thursday.
LaRoche had a $10 million mutual option for 2013, while Burnett's option was for $3.5 million.
Assuming the two players don't reach a new contract with the Nationals before Saturday, they will hit the open market and be allowed to negotiate with all 30 teams.
Because the two players each declined their half of the...
Not only was Bryce Harper apparently pretty excited to welcome kids to his doorstep for Halloween, he also threw on a costume himself.
What did the 20-year-old dress up as?
The Yankees have returned right-handed pitcher Brad Meyers to the Nationals, according to reports out of New York.
The Nats lost Meyers, 27, to the Yankees in the Rule 5 draft last winter. At that time, Meyers was expected to battle for a long-relief job in the Yankees' bullpen during spring training, but he spent nearly the entire season on the disabled list because of a shoulder injury suffered during a weight lifting session over the winter.
Meyers appeared in just one professional game...
I forgot to mention this the other day, but early odds for who will win the 2013 World Series have been released.
Not surprisingly, the Nationals find themselves toward the top of the list of favorites.
Bovada has given the Nats 12-to-1 odds to win the World Series next season, putting them behind just the Tigers (6-to-1), Yankees (7-to-1) and Giants (10-to-1). The Rangers and Angels also are listed at 12-to-1.
Within the National League East, the Phillies and Braves were given 14-to-1...
Within the baseball world, Adam LaRoche has always been considered one of the better defensive first basemen in the game.
Now he has the hardware to prove it.
It was announced tonight that LaRoche has won the first Rawlings Gold Glove of his career. It comes after a season in which he posted a .995 fielding percentage, made just seven errors and had a UZR (Ultimate Zone Rating) of 6.1, second-best among National League first baseman.
LaRoche beat out fellow finalists Freddie Freeman of the...
Somehow, I still have power this morning, which is a miracle.
I heard the wind whistling through my windows last night and the rain pounding on my roof. My TV connection went out for a bit, but that's the only damage which I can legitimately complain about so far. Hope the rest of you are just as lucky.
Yesterday's announcement that Adam LaRoche and Ian Desmond were finalists for Gold Gloves got me thinking about infield defenses around the league.
I can say with relative confidence - at...
Two Nationals players are in the mix for Rawlings Gold Glove Awards, which are presented annually to the best defensive players in both the American League and National League at every fielding position.
First baseman Adam LaRoche and shortstop Ian Desmond have been selected as finalists for the awards, which will be handed out tomorrow night at 9:30 p.m. on ESPN2. Neither player has previously won a Gold Glove.
LaRoche will be up against Atlanta's Freddie Freeman and Cincinnati's Joey...
If you're reading this, that means that Hurricane Sandy hasn't wiped out your power just yet. Let's hope it stays that way.
The chatter will never end regardless of what the calendar reads, but as of this morning, baseball is now over until the middle of February.
Count me among those not ready for it to go. I was hoping the Tigers would put up a fight and make the World Series interesting, or at the very least get us to a Game 5 and give Justin Verlander a chance to wow the sports world...
When it comes to the back of their rotation, the Nationals have options.
They could tender John Lannan a contract and go into spring training thinking he'll take the No. 5 spot in their rotation. They could re-sign Edwin Jackson to a multi-year deal and go forward with him as one of their top five guys.
They could also dip into the free agent market and bring someone in to round out what sets up as one of baseball's top starting staffs with Stephen Strasburg, Gio Gonzalez, Jordan Zimmermann...
The Nationals have yet to release their full 2013 spring training schedule, but for those of you interested in getting a head start on your vacation planning, I've got some tentative dates courtesy of the Grapefruit League master schedule put together at SpringTrainingOnline.com.
Here's what's listed so far. The Nats, of course, will play their home games at Space Coast Stadium in Viera, Fla.
Feb. 23: Nats at Mets (Port St. Lucie)
Feb. 24: Marlins at Nats
Feb. 26: Nats at Braves (Lake...
