Washington Nationals

I'm guessing 10,000 people rushed to add Willingham to their rosters last night.

What will the slams mean for Willingham's value? He's owned in far too few leagues, especially considering he's been a top-ten outfielder over the past month, even before last night's outburst. While the power is first and foremost at attention, Willingham does a great deal of help to a team's batting average as well. He's even thrown in a couple steals for good measure. His splits indicate that you'll be able to plug him into your lineup regardless of the situation.

FanHouse

Come on Washington, screw this up, pretty please!!

The Washington Nationals have roughly 24 days remaining to sign Stephen Strasburg, the pitcher they selected first overall in the June draft. As negotiations intensify in the coming weeks, the team's efforts to sign the high-profile pitcher could be undermined by several high-profile questions about the team's leadership, a source familiar with the negotiations indicated.

If Strasburg and his advisor, Scott Boras, are uneasy about the Nationals' direction, they have limited recourse. If a deal does not get done by the Aug. 17 deadline, Strasburg -- in the most conventional scenario -- can play a year of independent ball and reenter the draft in 2010. Though the Nationals could have the No. 1 pick again, Strasburg can deny permission for them to redraft him.

If the Nationals fail to sign Strasburg, they would also receive a 2010 compensatory pick -- "1B," if you will. But Strasburg, after missing the Nationals, could be selected by the next team, potentially the San Diego Padres, who have the second-worst record in baseball right now. Strasburg was raised in San Diego and attended San Diego State.

washingtonpost.com

Well that didn't take long. I guess he'll go right back into my sleeper bin for next season. Oh well. Get well soon?

Nationals left-hander Scott Olsen visited Dr. James Andrews in Birmingham, Ala., on Monday, and Olsen learned he will be out for the rest of the season because of a small tear in his left labrum.

Olsen, who returned to Nationals Park from Alabama at 9:50 p.m. ET, will have surgery on Thursday morning at the Washington Hospital Center. Dr. Wiemi Douoguih, the team's medical director, will perform the surgery.

"Nine times out of 10, it is just a cleanup procedure with the idea that they are back -- competition ready -- within three months. That's the goal here," Dr. Douoguih said. "Every once in a while, you go in and you find something a little bit more extensive. Probably 90 percent of them are just going to be a clean-up procedure."

All Nats All the Time

for that rare chance when the Nats actually see a save opportunity.

Before Jim Riggleman took over as interim manager of the Nationals, right-hander Mike MacDougal was the closer. Now, however, Riggleman is looking at a closer-by-committee with MacDougal and Joe Beimel pitching in the late innings. Riggleman hasn't ruled out putting Sean Burnett in the late innings against quality left-handed hitters.

"I don't think we really have a situation where we anoint someone as the closer," Riggleman said. "There have been various people who have been successful in certain innings. But we are going to try to get outs."

All Nats All the Time

Scott Olsen to see Dr. James Andrews

After complaining of tightness in his left lat muscle, Olsen today was scratched from his next start, scheduled for Friday's game against the Cubs. As a result, Washington will start Craig Stammen tomorrow night (Friday). Jordan Zimmermann and Garrett Mock will follow.

As of now, the team has announced no plans about what comes next for Olsen, nor has it indicated the seriousness of the injury. Olsen earlier this season missed more than a month with left shoulder tendinitis. Since coming off the disabled list on June 29, he has allowed nine earned runs in 21-2/3 innings (three starts), good for a 3.74 ERA and a 1-0 record.

Nationals Journal

I doubt we have a Nats fans around here, but incase there is just that one ... here you go.

TO: Fans of the Washington Nationals

No one is more dissatisfied in the first half of the 2009 Washington Nationals season than we are. Like you, we had hoped that some of our younger players would have matured faster and that the addition of some of our new veterans would have significantly improved our record from a season ago. Our hope was that a solid club leadership would emerge on and off the field and that some intangible combinations would begin to click resulting in many winning streaks.

 read more »

Love me some Scott Olsen. He has posted back to back excellent starts since coming off the dl. Olsen should be on your watch lists, at the minimum.

Left-hander Scott Olsen came within one out of the first complete game of his career and helped the Nationals defeat the Braves, 5-3, at Nationals Park on Sunday afternoon. Olsen gave up three runs on eight hits in 8 2/3 innings. He also went 2-for-3 and drove in a run.

With two outs in the ninth inning, the Braves' Nate McLouth hit a two-run homer that knocked Olsen from the game after 116 pitches.

nationals.com

While no rookie starting pitcher has exploded onto the scene a-la-Dontrelle Willis in 2003, MLB fans have been treated to a steady stream of premium young arms getting their first extended looks in the majors. The Cahill’s, Anderson’s, Porcello’s, Price’s and Hanson’s have all gotten plenty of attention.

In terms of the things Zimmermann has more direct control over, he has been superb. Opposing hitters have hacked at pitches outside of the strike zone 28.4% of the time (24.9 MLB average). Zimmermann is inducing contact on the first pitch or getting ahead of the batter 0-and-1 often. His First-Pitch Strike% sits at 66.3, well above the 58% MLB average. His rate of first-pitch strikes places 7th among starters tossing at least 60 frames. ..more..

FanGraphs Fantasy Baseball

I know there has been a ton of opinion posted on this already, (not here, but somewhere) but I agree with Dave Cameron here, the Pirates just got worse.

For the Pirates, they get to try to figure out how to extract some value from Lastings Milledge, who would have to take several steps forward before he was as good as Morgan is now. Can’t say I’m a fan of this move for Pittsburgh, but that’s getting to be a theme lately. The Pirates have made a series of head-scratching moves of late, and this one just continues that trend. Hanrahan is a nice buy low candidate, and a better bet for the future than Burnett, but relievers just aren’t that hard to acquire. The Pirates get worse now for some hope of getting better in the future, but that hope is tied to a belief in Lastings Milledge’s improvement that I don’t have. Good trade for Mike Rizzo and the Nationals. For once, they finally acquired an outfielder with some usefulness.

FanGraphs Baseball

Translation: "We Really hope he can kick up his trade value a notch or three."

After Sunday's 5-3 win over the Orioles, the Nationals activated left-hander Scott Olsen from the 15-day disabled list and optioned right-hander Shairon Martis to Triple-A Syracuse. Olsen will pitch against his former team, the Marlins, on Monday night at Dolphin Stadium. Manager Manny Acta is hoping to see a different pitcher than the one he saw during the first month and a half of the season. Olsen was often hit hard and behind in the count.

"I need to see more consistency out of him," Acta said about Olsen. "I want to see the guy that pitched 200 innings for the Marlins. He is supposed to lead these kids. He is the oldest one out of all of them."

All Nats All the Time