UPDATE (11/10/12, noon): Johnson’s return is now official: the Nationals baseball media relations department (@NationalsPR) has tweeted that Davey Johnson will return to the role of field manager for 2013. It will be his last season as manager. In 2014 Johnson will shift to being a consultant to GM Mike Rizzo.

As reported by the Washington Post yesterday, the Nationals and manager Davey Johnson are getting close to closing a contract for the 2013 season. Johnson initially planned on retiring, but cited “unfinished business” from 2012 as his reason for returning.

Nothing has been formally announced yet, however both sides agreed that the 2013 season will be Johnson’s last season managing. In 2014 Johnson will become a special adviser to General Manager Mike Rizzo. Afterwards, Mike Rizzo has said he would like Johnson successor to come from within the Nationals organization.

Johnson became manager in June 2011 after Jim Riggleman resigned. He’ll turn 70 in January, becoming the oldest manager in baseball.

Davey Johnson led the Nationals to their first ever National League East title as well as managing the team’s veterans to rookies in a way that built the successful season. He’s currently a finalist for the NL Manager of the Year by the BWAA.

In other news, first baseman Adam LaRoche declined the Nationals offer of one-year and $13.3 million on Friday per the MLB Players Association and the Washington Post.

LaRoche won a Gold Glove and Silver Slugger with the Nationals this season. The team is still able to sign him, however if he doesn’t and signs with another team, the Nationals will receive a compensatory draft pick.

Today also marks one year since Wilson Ramos was held after being kidnapped in Venezuela. The catcher was taken from his family home on November 9, 2011 and became the first Major League Baseball player to be kidnapped. Ramos was held for 51 hours and rescued in a gun fight in the mountains of Venezuela.

Ramos is now rehabbing from his two knee surgeries from his injury on May 12 in which he torn his meniscus and damaged enough to need another surgery to repair another torn ligament. He stayed in Washington over the off season to be able to visit his physical therapist and work out.

Since his kidnapping Ramos has not been back to Venezuela, but he plans to return to spend time with his family once he’s finished with rehab. He says he still loves his country as well. Understandably, Ramos said it’s hard to forget about his ordeal. The promising catcher of the future says even though it will always be a part of his life, he doesn’t want the event to define him.

After a deflating, frustrating loss in Game 5 of the NLDS against the Cardinals, the Nationals packed their bags for the off season while the Cardinals went on to the NLCS. After such a memorable season, the way the season ended for the Nationals seemed incomprehensible to many and brought many questions in attempts to answer what happened after coming so close.

Now, the baseball season is officially over and there’s other matters to take care of: a rotation spot to fill, manager to re-sign, as well as determining the lineup for next season. Also now, baseball’s form of the ‘best of’ awards is finally here.

Today Adam LaRoche, Ian Desmond, and Stephen Strasburg each won Silver Slugger awards in the National League for first base, shortstop, and pitcher respectively. LaRoche hit 33 home runs with 100 RBI and had a .510 slugging percentage while Desmond hit 25 home runs with 73 RBIs and a .511 slugging percentage. For a pitcher, Strasburg had impressive numbers at the plate: he hit .277 with 7 RBIs. He composed one of the best seasons at the plate for a pitcher in the past 30 years according to the Washington Post.

Adam LaRoche also won his first career Gold Glove for first base in the National League. LaRoche had a .995 fielding average and didn’t make an error all season. He is the only National to win the award since Ryan Zimmerman won in 2009. Ian Desmond, was also a finalist for the award for his position at shortstop, but was beat out by the Phillies Jimmy Rollins.

Other Nationals are also finalists for awards. Leading the team’s nominations from the Baseball Writers Association of America is Davey Johnson as a candidate for National League Manager of the Year. Also nominated is Gio Gonzalez for the NL Cy Young Award who led the majors with 21 wins and Bryce Harper for the NL Rookie of the Year Award.

Johnson already won Sporting New’s NL Manager of the Year several weeks a go.

Each of the Nationals’ award finalists and winners played a intricate role in the Nationals’ historic season. In games that Gio Gonzalez started, the Nationals were 24-8. For Harper, he finished second in home runs among rookies with 22 and fourth in RBIs. Both players have stiff competition in candidates such as R.A. Dickey for the Cy Young and Todd Frazier for Rookie of the Year. Not to be forgotten is Davey Johnson who more than aptly managed a young team that was burdened by injuries at times and led the Nationals to their first division title and first-ever trip to the playoffs. Johnson’s competition is Bruce Bochy (San Francisco Giants) and Dusty Baker (Cincinnati Reds).

Other off season links:

• Davey Johnson seems to be close to returning to the Nationals as manager for 2013. Of the official agreement on the contract, General manager Mike Rizzo says, “I’m thinking anytime now.”
• The Nationals made a qualifying offer to Adam LaRoche but not Edwin Jackson. LaRoche has a week to accept or reject the offer.
• In less baseball related news, Davey Johnson won a fishing tournament. Also, some other Nationals are on a boat.
• Check out who’s making what with the Nationals’ 2013 payroll.

If you sawMoneyball(and if you’re a baseball fan, you really should have), you may remember a part in the movie when Billy Beane (Brad Pitt) is talking to first baseman Scott Hatteberg (Chris Pratt) and coaching him on how to play first. Beane encourages Hatteberg to be welcoming at first and chat the guy up.

It turns out, that wasn’t just a part of Hollywood script writing, it really does happen. Often during games, you’ll see the fielders talking with the base runners and sometimes even laughing. No, players aren’t always sworn enemies.

A piece by Nationals Journal today gives us a look into what happens on the basepaths. Here’s some of what Adam LaRoche and Ian Desmond had to say.

“It depends: If we’re close friends, usually it’s about hunting, families or something. [...] The majority of the time, what’s going on with their team. The pulse of the team, the pitcher they’re facing, what he just saw, umpires.” –Adam LaRoche

“I kind of feel them out a little bit. Know where their heads at. If they’re really focused, I know that’s a guy we’ve got to watch out for.” –Ian Desmond

Other good stuff (in case you missed it):

• The Nationals traded for Kurt Suzuki last week and he’s learning on the go now.
• Cesar Izturis is (hopefully) going to be able to provide some infield depth with Ian Desmond injured.
• Edwin Jackson summed up last night’s game pretty well: “An ugly win is a better than a good loss.”
• From Oakland with…nail polish? What’s with Kurt Suzuki’s bright yellow nails?

Remember when Ozzie Guillen had his little spat with the Nationals over Bryce Harper’s pine tar? In typical Ozzie fashion, it involved its share of theatrics with some yelling, screaming and expletives thrown in.  The Nationals got to have a good laugh with the whole situation, with some of them signing Bryce Harper’s bat, smearing it in pine tar and sending it to the Marlins manager.

Now, Ozzie Guillen’s son Oney Guillen posted a photo of the said bat on twitter, calling it the ‘infamous bat.’ (Just as we had requested. Thanks, Oney!)

Contrary to what Ozzie said Adam La Roche wrote on the bat (“To my hero, Ozzie. Love you.”), it only says “To Ozzie, Your my hero.” That’s quite a different message La Roche left for Guillen than he first said, not to mention the wrong use of your, but at least we know the smear pine tar bat wasn’t some elaborate prank story.

And yes, that would be Bryce Harper’s signature signed next to the ‘Luke 1:37.’

The infamous (or famous) bat depending how you look at it. Photo via @Oneyguillen.

Other good stuff (in case you missed it):

• Wanna know what Gio Gonzalez’s ideal date would be like? Or read some other interview gems? Hint: the date involves roller coasters.
• Some of the Nationals bullpen boys (Stammen, Burnett, Clippard & Mattheus) visited the MLB Fan Cave and read ‘Fifty Shades of Grey.’ I wonder how many takes it took to shoot this…
• Stephen Strasburg throws fire. (Okay, not really, but he might as well have. His pitching performance helped the Nationals to a 5-2 win over the Mets as well as a sweep.)
• The MLB trade deadline is rapidly approaching. What will the Nats do? Be buyers, sellers, or not do anything at all?
• Next up: a four game series with the Milwaukee Brewers, a (much needed) off day, then a six-game homestand with Philadelphia and Miami.

Ozzie Guillen considered the pine tar incident with Bryce Harper over, but really, we all know it wasn’t over until something else happened. Nothing happened in the series finale on Monday, but the Nationals found another way to insert some amusement into the whole exchange.

Adam LaRoche had Bryce Harper sign a bat for him–which isn’t unusal since players often sign for each other. From there LaRoche also signed the bat and added “To my hero, Ozzie. Love you.”

The Nationals also smeared the bat in pine tar before sending it to Guillen.

Now, we can say certainly say that the pine tar exchange is over. And people say baseball players can’t have fun?

Also, we’re waiting for a photo of that bat…

Other good stuff:

• The Nationals had a walk-off wild pitch win last night and caused a few heart palpitations along the way. It involved three blown saves between the two teams, Bryce Harper coming through in clutch, attempts to douse Ryan Zimmerman (who scored the winning run) with ice cold water, and all in all good heart-stopping chest-clutching baseball.
• Drew Storen and Jayson Werth are coming back…eventually. There’s still a little more rust to shake off.
• 2012 draft pick Lucas Giolito was in the house yesterday. He has quite a few Hollywood connections and even his own lightsaber from Samuel L. Jackson. Also good: he likes DC and we’ll be able to see what he’s capable of soon when he starts to rehab his elbow.
• Michael Morse read ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’…and didn’t like it.

Coming into the 2012 season, there was something the Nationals were used to having to deal with: expectations.

With big off season moves, the impending debut of Bryce Harper, and the momentum the Nats took into the off season at the end of 2011, everyone was expecting an improvement.  To say anyone expected the Nats being in first place at the All-Star Break (and having been in that position most of the year) would be crazy.

Yet that’s where we stand.  The Nats are not only first in the NL East, but they have the best record in the National League at the halfway point of the season.  Here’s a look at what the top stories of 2012 have been.

Pitching

» Continue reading “Nats At The Half”

On a hot, humid summer night (there’s no other type of summer night in DC), most fans were lulled to sleep, a languid relaxation or sheer boredom. There really wasn’t that much to cheer and celebrate, for Nats fans. ‘Turn Back the Clock’ night had been a fun promotion, but apart from that, the game had mostly been written off as a missed chance to sweep.

Of course, with this team, nothing is over until the last out is recorded and everyone has packed up and gone home. Last night in the ninth inning, as the Nationals mounted their comeback, in the middle of it all were Tyler Moore, Steve Lombardozzi and Bryce Harper–all direct rewards from the Nationals farm system. Also involved were Ryan Zimmerman, Michael Morse and Adam LaRoche. The first three embody draft picks across the board. Moore was drafted in the 16th round of 2008, Lombardozzi was drafted in the 19th round of 2008 and Harper was drafted first overall in 2010. The later three encompass a mix of veteran experience and utility playing time.

Now, as the Nationals sit atop of the National League East and almost atop baseball in general (the only teams with better records are the New York Yankees and Texas Rangers), it’s even more increasingly obvious that the winning isn’t a fluke. Apart some sheer luck from the baseball gods (such as other teams in the NL East losing when the Nationals lost), this team is finally coming into what they were envisioned to be.

» Continue reading “The Kids Are Alright”

We’ve been saying it over and over this season: the Nationals’ pitching has been superb, and the only thing standing in the way of dominance is the inconsistency of the offense.  Well, after sweeping a series against the top 3 Giants starters, coming back twice, that time may have come.

The Nationals scored a combined 24 runs against the Giants over the three games.  In game two, they went down 3-0 in the first before roaring back to a 9-4 victory.  Last night, during throwback night, they rallied from a 5-1 deficit to walk-off with a 6-5 victory, courtesy of clutch hitting by Bryce Harper and Adam LaRoche.

This series changed the book on the Nats.  Earlier in the season, opponents could take comfort in the fact that if they got the Nats down a few runs early, they wouldn’t be able to come back.  They used to be the Lindsay Lohan of the league, but now they are closer to J. Lo’s revived music career.

» Continue reading “Look Out NL…The Nats Can Come Back”

We’ve mentioned the offensive struggles that this team has faced time and time again.  They can’t get runs home.  They can’t get on base. They need someone with consistency to put them over the edge.

The funny thing is, they had that guy on their roster all along: Michael Morse.  And with his rehab stint in Potomac almost over, the Nats will get their best slugger from 2011 back in the lineup soon.

Morse hasn’t blown anyone away in his rehab games, but most importantly he hasn’t suffered any set backs.  When he does inevitably return to the Nationals (and this could be sooner rather than later) he will be 100% healthy and ready to go.

Last season, Morse batted .303 and hit 31 home runs for the Nationals.  There had been some concerns about the hole that the departure of Adam Dunn created, but Morse was given an opportunity through various injuries and blew everyone away.  He was easily the breakout star of the season, almost making it to the All-Star game.

» Continue reading “Morse Nearing Return To Nats”

With the loss last night, the Nationals officially lose their second series of the season.  To the Pirates. The good news is that their next series is against the Reds, who they already beat this season.  Hopefully it will allow the Nats to find their groove again, though they will try to avoid the sweep against the Pirates tonight.  Here’s what’s going on.

-It does seem kind of absurd that Danny Espinosa has been so ineffective at the plate.  Nats really need him now with injuries. [Wash Times]

-Chien-Ming Wang is slowly making his way back to the Nats with a start in Syracuse last night. [Nats Journal]

-The Nats have brought Tyler Moore in against to help fill in injuries, but how will he be used? [Nats Journal]

-More on Espinosa’s struggles, and how Johnson plans on sticking with him through the slump. [Federal Baseball]

-A look at the Nats on the road in close games. [District on Deck]

-With all of the injuries, the Nats really, REALLY need Adam LaRoche to step up. [CSN Washington]