Spring Training is like the first day of school.  You say “hi” to all of your friends and see who has changed.  There is always someone who comes back in an identity crisis.  In Washington Nationals High, Jayson Werth is that guy.

Ok, that might be a little extreme.  But when the highest paid player on your team is showing up looking like the Gieco caveman, eyebrows will (rightfully) be raised.  While it’s certainly an interesting look, there could be more behind it.

Yep, it’s time for a Jayson Werth hair analysis.

Generally, when one has ungroomed hair, it is usually a sign that they don’t care or they are busy.  They have higher priorities than making sure they don’t look like George of the Jungle.  Applying this logic to Werth, what could be more important to him?

» Continue reading “Nats’ Werth Trying To Let Himself Go With Hair?”

Happy Leap Day! Hopefully the Nats will LEAP into some Spring Training success this weekend (my fingers totally made that awful pun on their own).  It’s a lot of hurry up and wait until then, but where there’s baseball, there’s news.  Leggo!

-Apparently its unlucky if you’re a young Nats pitcher and DON’T have Tommy John surgery.  Sammy Solis will join the TJ club with Strasburg and Zimmermann soon. [Federal Baseball]

-Ian Desmond has shed a few pounds, but he’ll have to really step up to shed those expectations in 2012. [Comak]

-Possibly the most devastating news in a while: Bryce Harper is off Twitter. The Nationals are such fun-suckers. [Nats Enquirer]

-Everything involving Adam LaRoche’s recovery seems to be going well and right on schedule. [District on Deck]

-Ah, the enigma that is Ryan Mattheus.  He has the talent to be a permanent bullpen presence, but will he be able to string together enough performances to earn it? [Nats Journal]

So much news has come in the first week of Spring Training.  Everyone is checked in and ready to go.  Actual GAMES (ok, scrimmages) star this weekend, where we’ll get to see a lot of the higher draft picks and Harper. Let’s get into it!

-It’s believed that with Zimmerman’s extension came a 4 year window for the Nationals in which they will have all of their core locked up. Scary thought. [Comak]

-Wang impressed the team and media alike at a live BP session.  Hopefully he’ll be good to go with no injury problems in 2012. [CSN Washington]

-Zimmerman on his extension.  He sounds really happy about making D.C. his home, and the feeling appears to be mutual. [Federal Baseball]

-We’ll get to see Harper right away.  In fact, he’ll be starting in the first game of the spring on Saturday. Let the madness begin. [Nats Journal]

-A breakdown of the importance of Zimmerman’s extension. [Nats Blog]

-Amongst the good news, there’s a nagging feeling still with this team…and it’s coming from an empty center field. [Federal Baseball]

This year is the 100th anniversary of the Titanic sinking, but you don’t need to go see the re-release in 3D in theaters to see Jack and Rose to remember it.

Rather, the Washington Nationals’ Class A affiliate, the Potomac Nationals are having their own unique way of remember the cruise liner that sank.

According to the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog, on April 15th the P-Nats are going to remember (we won’t use the word ‘celebrate’ when talking about the ship sinking) the sinking of the Titanic by allowing women and children into the ballpark 15 minutes before men.

You may remember that as the Titanic was sinking and lifeboats were limited, women and children were allowed to board the lifeboats before men. (But you were able to make that connection on you’re own. I didn’t have to tell you that.)

Unusual? Yes? Unique and even cool? Yes. It’s definitely not your normal promotion, but in Minor League Baseball, almost anything goes, right? In case you need some clarification on the P-Nats, they won their league titles in 2008 and 2010. 2012 also marks their 35th anniversary. (They were originally the Alexandria Dukes.) The Potomac Nationals have also had numerous field issues that have caused some problems, both on and off the field.

And yes, the Nationals (the Major League team) are home that weekend and upcoming week. On Sunday they’ll be playing the Cincinnati Reds, their first home series of the 2012 season.

Hmm, decisions, decisions…

Many agree Anthony Rendon was a bargain when he fell to the Nats in the 6th spot of the 2011 draft.  Rendon was arguably the best hitter in the draft, but a shoulder injury that cut his final season at Rice very short scared away some teams. Not the Nationals, and now he’s in his first professional Spring Training.

There has been a lot of speculation about where Rendon will eventually play.  The Nats have their options of what to transform him into.  In Spring Training, they said they would give Rendon work at all 4 infielder positions while in Viera.

Here’s the problem: when looking at the Nats’ roster, the infield is probably the most certain part of the lineup.

Rendon could potentially be a huge bat, and by the time he is ready for the majors, there may be an opening on the infield.  However, as of right now, it seems pretty tight.  Ryan Zimmerman, Ian Desmond, Danny Espinosa, and either Adam LaRoche or Michael Morse will have it covered this year.

» Continue reading “Nats To Try Rendon Throughout Infield”

In order not to get too bogged down in the numbers but while still understanding the nitty gritty of the Zimmerman deal, here’s all the crucial information, in bullet point form. There’s a few fun facts thrown in as well.

• The deal itself: 6 year, $100 million extension (with a full no-trade clause).
• Also, a club option year worth $24 million.
• This means: Zimmerman’s guaranteed to make $126 million over the next 8 years and perhaps $150 million over the next 9 years.
• Sources also say there’s a personal services contract the Nats will pay Zimmerman $10 million over 5 years to work for the team after he retires.
• With the extension, there’s now 11 players under team control until 2015.
• Zimmerman is 1 of 6 players in the Majors signed through 2019. (The others being Pujols, Fielder, Tulowitzki, Braun and Kemp.)
• This contract makes Zimmerman the 2nd highest paid third baseman in major league history, behind Alex Rodriguez.

Everyone can now take a sigh of relief. Ryan Zimmerman’s going to be National until at least 2019. Now onto the everlasting search for a lead off hitter and center fielder…

It’s like Christmas Morning in Nats Town.  The news everyone has been waiting for came through: Ryan Zimmerman has agreed to a 6 year contract extension with the Nationals, confirmed by CSN Washington’s Mark Zuckerman.

Zimmerman was their first draft pick in D.C.  He’s a well-spoken Virginia native, and he has been a great player to build the franchise around.  There will be more players like that in the coming years, but no one can take the place of a veteran who has been there from the beginning.

The star’s current contract reaches through the 2013 season, and this $100 million extension picks up after that, locking up Zimmerman through 2019.  The team also has a 2020 option for $24 million.  The new deal includes a no-trade clause, a key point of disagreement during the negotiations.

Keeping Zimmerman around will be key both on and off the field.  Not only is Zimmerman still very talented, but in the coming years the team will be getting younger and younger.  Having a steadying, veteran presence will work wonders, especially for what will be a particularly young infield.

» Continue reading “Zimmerman Extended By Nats”

Ryan Zimmerman’s self imposed deadline came and went Saturday morning without a long term deal being finalized. However, even as the first full squad workout began for the Nationals this morning, reports emerged this afternoon that the Nationals and Brodie Van Wagenen (Zimmerman’s agent) have been negotiating past deadline to clear ‘a couple little hurdles.’

As of late Saturday night, it appears that whatever gaps there were in contract extension talks had been worked out. Reports from the Washington Post and ESPN indicate that both parties are near a contract extension which will likely be done Sunday.

Earlier, Zimmerman said that “one other creative solution to try and bridge this gap” has been offered. Whether this ‘other creative solution’ is the no trade clause is unsure, but it is believed to be so.

On Saturday afternoon, GM Mike Rizzo said of the deal:

“We’re still working toward an agreement. We don’t have an agreement at this time. We’ve come a long way and bridge a big gap from the beginning of this to where we are currently. But we’re not there yet. This is a very complicated, lucrative contract that we’re discussing, and we’re not quite at the finish line yet. I’m still hopeful that we can come to an agreement, but we’re not there yet.”

» Continue reading “Is a Zimmerman extension imminent?”

Zimmerman's future with the Nationals still up for question

On Wednesday, Ryan Zimmerman’s agent, Brodie Van Wagenen of CAA Sports visited Nationals spring training camp. Van Wagenen represents Nationals besides Zimmerman (such as John Lannan, Drew Storen, and Ross Detwiler), but the looming contract extension deadline Zimmerman’s imposed on him himself gives Van Wagenen’s presence at Nationals’ camp a different meaning.

Zimmerman’s stated he doesn’t want to discuss contract negotiations once Spring Training officially starts in order that there may not be any distractions to him and his teammates. The first official full-squad workout for the Nationals is this Saturday.

While admirable of Zimmerman to not want to be a distraction, this also means that the opportunity to extend Zimmerman into the long-term Nationals future is not only dwindling, but growing more uncertain.

Zimmerman, who was the first draft pick in team history, he’s stated before that he would like to be a National for the rest of his career.

“I’d love to play here the rest of my career. I love it here. I’ve been here for the not-so-good times and I want to be here for the really good times that are going to start soon.”

He’s also voiced his confidence in GM Mike Rizzo’s ability to get a deal done. However, he’s also stated that if he doesn’t have an extension by the start of the 2013 season, he’ll be willing to test free agency. Also, in a worse case scenario, the Nationals might even trade Zimmerman by the 2012 season trade deadline. Currently, Zimmerman has two more years left on his five year $45 million contract from the beginning of the 2009 season.

» Continue reading “The Waiting Game for Ryan Zimmerman”

Oh, the good decisions the Nationals have made in recent years.  One of them was clearly dumping Elijah Dukes, who seems to keep getting himself into trouble in the dumbest possible ways.

During a routine traffic stop, Dukes got a little paranoid.  Apparently, he had a small bag of marijuana in his possession. BUT NOT FOR LONG!

In a definitively idiotic act to try to hide the evidence, Dukes ate the bag of weed. I repeat: he ate. A bag. Of weed.  Naturally, he was subsequently arrested for a lot more than an average traffic violation. And he was freakin’ out…man.

From the Washington Post:

Dukes was charged with drug possession, tampering with physical evidence, possession of drug paraphernalia and three counts of driving with a canceled or suspended license.

He was not, however, cited for watching “Super Troopers” one too many times.

» Continue reading “Ex-Nat Elijah Dukes Thinks He’s A ‘Super Troopers’ Extra, Gets Arrested”