Today, Nationals’ General Manager Mike Rizzo was named the Executive of the Year by the Boston chapter of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. Rizzo will be presented with the award on January 24 in Boston. The Boston chapter is one of the few to still present individual awards.

Rizzo led the Nationals in improving scouting and player development. He signed top draft picks Stephen Strasburg and Bryce Harper. Rizzo also traded for pitcher Gio Gonzalez last off season and acquired catcher Kurt Suzuki during the 2012 season. This season was the Nationals first winning season, with an 18-win improvement from last season.

Earlier this off season Rizzo finished second as Executive of the Year by Sporting News.

Other news:

• The deadline for the Nationals to set their 40-man roster is at midnight tonight. This is in anticipation of the Rule 5 Draft which take place on December 6. This could lead to releasing some more current expendable players such as Jesus Flores.
• The Nationals released their Spring Training schedule last Friday. Spring Training will start earlier this year (in late February) because of the World Baseball Classic. No report date for the players has been announced yet. Individual game tickets for Spring Training games go on sale on January 19.

Spring training is officially over.  The Nats will have an exhibition game this afternoon against the Red Sox before a charity celebrity softball game at Nats Park, so be sure to get tickets if you haven’t already! Here’s what you need to know:

-A little history of the Nats and Red Sox heading into today’s exhibition. [Wash Times-Daly]

-Due partially to injuries and other team needs, there are four players who didn’t think they were going to make the team who got the good news yesterday. [Wash Times-Comak]

-The Nats’ plan for Strasburg is already being questioned, as it likely will be all year. [Federal Baseball]

-Adam LaRoche is hoping to be able to pull his weight at the plate this season after battling injury in his first year with the Nats. [Wash Times-Fenno]

(look at that, three great pieces from our lovely Washington Times sports staff! Baseball fever is catching on!)

-Meanwhile, on the farm, the Harrisburg Senators announced their 2012 roster yesterday as well. [Nats Prospects]

-MOAR WASHINGTON TIMES! A look at the history (and lack thereof) of baseball in our nation’s capital. [Wash Times-Heller]

-One guy who made the team was Roger Bernadina, so subsequently injured himself in yesterday’s spring finale. Ouch. [Federal Baseball]

-The Nats also signed Jason Michaels to a minor-league deal. [Nats Journal]

-An interesting look at where Nats fans are coming from and why.  Several good points made here, including travel time and convenience. [Nationals Review]

Baseball’s back, and that means unfortunately so are the injuries. What started off as soreness here or tightness there have morphed into long-term injuries for some of the team’s key players, who as a result, may now miss Opening Day. In addition to the injuries that are beginning to add up, the team hasn’t won a game since March 13. (That’s an 11 game streak.) So it may seem like the sky is falling, but the good thing is, Spring Training doesn’t count! Mike Rizzo remains optimistic in the current make up and doesn’t expect to make any trades that would drastically alter the roster.

As for the injuries, this is what the Nationals are dealing with thus far:

• Chien-Ming Wang: left hamstring strain.
• Adam LaRoche: bone bruise on left foot.
• Sean Burnett: back spasms.
• Rick Ankiel: tightness in left hamstring.
• Drew Storen: strep throat (earlier this week); arm soreness.
• Michael Morse: strained right lat muscle.

The Nationals are naturally exercising caution with the players even though the injuries don’t seem overwhelmingly serious. And even though the injuries aren’t too serious, because they’ve happened to so many players (and crucial players) at that, it’s becoming increasingly worrisome over their condition.

» Continue reading “Injury train, spring training edition”

The Nationals have been talking about Ian Desmond for a very long time.  They view him as one of their core pieces for the future.  A young guy who can help lead the team into winning. Eight years after being drafted, we’re still waiting on him to “mature.”

It took Desmond six seasons to make it to the major leagues.  His considerable amount of time spent in the minors seemed to do little for his baseball mind, as he has committed a whopping 57 errors over the last two seasons.  Desmond has already committed three this spring alone.

Don’t get me wrong, spring errors aren’t a big deal.  Everyone makes mistakes while shaking off the rust.  But when a player has the kind of history that Desmond has of sloppy defensive play, it becomes a sign that there is more of the same to come.

The main problem with Desmond is that he doesn’t play like this all the time.  He can make a great double play with Danny Espinosa one inning, and bobble a soft grounder the next.  He is plagued with inconsistency, something that gets old very fast in professional sports.

» Continue reading “Will Desmond Ever Live Up To Potential For Nats?”

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?”

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”

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”

It’s been all of 3 days since pitchers and catchers reported (for the Nationals) and already, a tumblr called “Bad Spring Training Twitpics” has popped up, highlighting all the bad, blurry and seemingly pointless photos that beat writers take at Spring Training. Of course there genuinely are some bad photos that just leave you wondering “and what exactly was the point of that?!” and “why did you just instagr.am that?” But, the Nationals beat writers’s photos would not be included in this motley bunch of photos on tumblr since they have a higher standard (naturally).

But that doesn’t mean they’re not trying. With this new tumblr, the beat reporters are doing their best to not only get news out on Spring Training, but twitpic each other taking twitpics. Gotta love a team who’s reporters have a sense of humor.

So in case you’ve missed out on how camp’s going, or don’t follow the beat writers, here’s some twitpics from sunny Viera, Florida to get you caught up.

"Someone shaved and got all cleaned up before reporting to Viera." --@dcsportsbog

"And here's Stephen Strasburg and Wilson Ramos embracing following their bullpen session." --@MarkZuckerman

» Continue reading “Spring Training: The twitpics, Nationals edition”

Nats locker room in Viera, via @NationalsPR

Today is the official day for pitchers and catchers to report for the Nationals, although most of them, including position players are already in Viera, Florida training for the upcoming season. With baseball officially taking off for the 2012 season, there’s a few notes to cover in just the first couple hours of camp starting.

Mike Cameron, who agreed to a minor league deal with the Nationals back in December has decided to retire after 17 years. Cameron would have most likely played in right and center, however, even with his retirement the Nationals aren’t void of outfield options.

The team signed Rick Ankiel to a Minor League contract earlier in February which included an invitation to Spring Training. And of course, there’s the questions of Bryce Harper (where he’ll start and if he’ll even make the big league club), Jayson Werth and Roger Bernadina. In addition, Mark DeRosa, who signed in the off season, could be played in right field.

» Continue reading “Today’s the day”