Ryan Zimmerman worked out Wednesday with a professional sports team. He put on a uniform, emerged from a locker room and went through drills with fellow elite athletes, then answered questions from reporters after he was done.
All of this took place, of course, at a hockey rink.
Zimmerman, making good on a long-ago promise to Nicklas Backstrom, laced up his skates and donned a full set of equipment as a special guest goalie at Capitals practice Wednesday afternoon. At times looking quite spry...
As soon as Anthony Rendon signed with the Angels, the Nationals immediately shifted their attention to the only other free agent third baseman on the market who could come anywhere close to matching Rendon's production: Josh Donaldson.
The Nats then spent the next month waiting for Donaldson to make up his mind, which he finally did Tuesday night. And where did the slugger choose to go? Was he joining the World Series champions in Washington? Would he stay in Atlanta and try to help get the...
What if Howie Kendrick's hit landed just foul? What if the Nationals still trailed in the eighth and ninth innings of Game 7 of the World Series and sat and watched the Astros mob each other in the center of the diamond as the sellout crowd in Houston roared?
How would everyone around here have felt about Monday's announcement by Commissioner Rob Manfred that general manager Jeff Luhnow and manager A.J. Hinch had been suspended for the 2020 season (and then later fired by owner Jim Crane) and...
Nationals minor league reliever Fausto Segura died Sunday night in his native Dominican Republic, the club announced today.
Segura, 23, was riding a motorcycle near Maria Montez International Airport in his hometown of Barahona when he was hit by a van, ESPN Deportes reported.
"He was beloved by his teammates, coaches, coordinators and everyone he came in contact with throughout our organization," the Nationals said in a statement announcing Segura's death. "We extend our deepest sympathies...
The promotion lasted all of 11 days, during which time Carter Kieboom experienced the full gamut of emotions.
He homered in his major league debut April 26 to earn a curtain call but struck out with two outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth later that night. He homered again two days later, then got just two hits in his next 27 at-bats. And he had all kinds of misadventures in the field, charged with four errors in only 10 games while misplaying a couple more balls.
And then it...
Max Scherzer understands why everyone was concerned, from club officials to doctors to media members to Nationals fans who watched the staff ace deal with strange and seemingly significant back and neck injuries last season, right up into the World Series.
Yes, he got through it all and even pitched well in Game 7 to help put the Nats in position to win their first championship. But surely there would be lingering effects that required offseason attention or changes in preparation for next...
He did his best not to make a big deal about it during the season, but Trea Turner wasn't ever 100 percent healthy after breaking his right index finger in early April.
Yes, he returned to the Nationals lineup in late May and played nearly every day the rest of the way. And he still batted .298 with 61 extra-base hits and an .850 OPS while playing an effective shortstop throughout the regular season and postseason.
If you watched him closely, though, you noticed Turner had to take precautions...
Though he wouldn't rule out the possibility of acquiring a big-name player like Josh Donaldson, Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo insisted today he's more than comfortable with his team's current options at third base.
"We don't see it as a hole. We see it as a strength," Rizzo said during a 17-minute session with reporters at Winterfest. "We've got versatility. Of course, you're not going to replace or replicate Anthony Rendon, his numbers on the field, his presence in the...
Who's up for some baseball on a mid-January weekend?
Yes, it's time for Nationals Winterfest, the annual offseason gathering of players, coaches, team executives and fans to whet everybody's appetite for the upcoming season. Not that this upcoming season is going to be difficult to get excited about.
The date of this year's event was pushed back (it was Dec. 1-2 last year), but the location remains Nationals Park, which proved popular with fans after previous Winterfests were held at...
The Nationals worked out 2020 contracts with Trea Turner, Roenis ElÃas and Joe Ross before today's deadline, avoiding arbitration with all of their eligible players.
Those three were the Nats' only remaining unsigned arbitration-eligible players entering today, the deadline for all such players across the sport to either agree to contract terms or submit competing offers for arbitration.
Turner earned by far the biggest raise of the group, agreeing to a one-year deal worth $7.45 million,...
The Nationals avoided arbitration with Michael A. Taylor this evening, agreeing to a one-year contract that will pay the outfielder $3.325 million plus incentives in 2020.
The deal was announced by the club; terms were confirmed by a source.
Taylor was one of four Nationals who was unsigned heading into Friday's deadline for all arbitration-eligible players and teams to either come to terms or submit competing offers to Major League Baseball to then be settled by a three-person judge in...
This is going to be a busy day across baseball. A lot of news is going to come trickling out over the course of many hours as players from every club either agree to terms on 2020 salaries or file for arbitration.
Hey, I only said it's going to be busy. I never said it was going to be exciting.
Truthfully, this is one of the most annoying days of the baseball year. All the players involved are staying with their current clubs. These aren't free agents, they're merely players with at least...
There's a recurring theme growing among those who have joined the Nationals this winter. All have played on winning teams before, so obviously they were drawn to sign with the team that just won the World Series.
But it goes a step beyond that. The Nationals didn't just win last season. They had fun doing it, and they did it as a unified group. And for these newest members of the roster, that extra dynamic - sometimes rare in professional sports - really sealed the deal.
"This team, you...
At the end, when they were playing for all the marbles in late October, the Nationals lineup was consistent. Consistently productive. And consistently featuring the same hitters in the same spots in the order.
As things stand today, five weeks before pitchers and catchers report to West Palm Beach to begin their title defense, that lineup looks quite different. And if there's one word to describe it in its current form, it might well be: inconsistent.
With Anthony Rendon off to Anaheim to play...
Starlin Castro always wanted to play for the Nationals because of two men: Alfonso Soriano and Davey Martinez.
Way back in 2006, when he was still an unsigned 16-year-old in his native Dominican Republic, Castro watched in awe as Soriano became only the fourth member of the 40-40 club in major league history during his one season in Washington.
Castro and Soriano eventually became teammates with the Cubs, and soon after that, Martinez became Chicago's bench coach under manager Joe Maddon....
The Nationals bullpen, way back on July 30, 2019, was a mess. Sean Doolittle was beginning to show signs of fatigue from his excessive (but necessary) workload through the season's first four months. Fernando Rodney was his setup man and occasional fill-in closer. Wander Suero was pitching nearly every night. The rest of the unit included Tanner Rainey, Javy Guerra, Tony Sipp, Matt Grace and Michael Blazek.
So Mike Rizzo, as he has been forced to do more than once during his tenure as general...
The Nationals have found themselves this year's left-handed first baseman.
Eric Thames, who averaged 24 homers and an .848 OPS the last three seasons for the Brewers, has agreed to terms on a contract with the Nats that guarantees $4 million, a source familiar with the with deal confirmed.
Thames, who must pass a physical before the deal is official, will earn a $3 million salary this year, with a $1 million buyout of a mutual option for 2021 likely to be enacted after the season.
Thus the...
Turns out last week's signing of Will Harris didn't prohibit the Nationals from bringing back Daniel Hudson.
Hudson and the Nats are finalizing a new deal that would keep the veteran reliever in D.C. for two more seasons at the fairly reasonable price of $11 million (plus incentives), a source familiar with the terms confirmed this afternoon.
Once completed, Hudson would rejoin a Nationals bullpen that on paper looks much stronger now than it did for most of the 2019 season, when it ranked...
With one really expensive re-signing of one of the staff aces along with several calculated re-signings or additions of role players to fill the holes in their roster, the Nationals have been one of the most active teams across baseball so far this winter.
They're not done, of course, because they still seek a replacement for Anthony Rendon at third base, they still need a first baseman (or two) and they could still use at least one more reliable arm to strengthen a bullpen that's better but...
The Nationals had an usually large number of players become free agents off their championship roster: 12 in total, including those who either opted out of the rest of their contracts or had options declined by the club after the season.
To their credit, they've managed to re-signed five of those free agents so far (Stephen Strasburg, Howie Kendrick, Yan Gomes, Asdrúbal Cabrera, Javy Guerra) while losing only two (Anthony Rendon, Gerardo Parra).
But that still leaves five more players from...