and my planning period at school just so happens to fall during the 1PM hour.

There is a contractual nuance that seems likely to come into play when the Nationals make their 25-man roster decisions coming out of spring training. It’s called option status. The quick and dirty on options is as follows If a player is on the 40-man roster but not on the active 25-man roster, he is said to [...]

The Nats kicked off spring training today with a couple of split squad games, one against the Marlins and another against the Astros. Thankfully the games don’t count and it is a time for teams to shake off the rust because the Nats came up on the short end of the stick in both games, [...]

Sorry for the quiet folks. A combination of student teaching and a balky internet connection have left me with little time to stay up to date with the happenings around the Nats. Most of this stuff is old. Hopefully I will be able to get back in the swing of things this week. [...]

(Note: Brian has been gracious to allow me to continue to post here and there about nat-worthy topics). With the high school seasons starting now that its late February (remember DC folks; not everyone in the country got 4 feet of snow) and the college seasons 2-3 weeks in, lets take a look at some of [...]

Hat tip to Mark Zuckerman who posted the Nats accelerated camp roster. As he notes, Glenn Gibson (traded for Dukes) has returned to the organization Andrew Brown is a name I am unfamiliar with. A search turns up a former Cardinal pitcher named Andrew Brown. Rafael Martin appears to be from the Mexican League. He is the only [...]

Happy Valentine’s Day to everyone who visits NFA. And what’s a better Valentine’s Day story than the Post writing about NFA favorite Josh Wilkie and his wedding. Congrats to Josh & Jesse.

The Adam Kennedy signing is official. This again puts the Nats at 41 on their 40-man roster. A corresponding move is being made but has yet to be announced.  My guess is it’s going to be an arm. The names that jump out at me are Luis Atilano, Jess English, or [...]

The Potomac Nationals will be playing a game at Fenway Park on July 10. The Boston Red Sox have been playing the Futures at Fenway for the past five years, giving Red Sox fans a chance to see some of the team’s top prospects. It’s something that I hope the Nationals will adopt themselves some time [...]

Pete Abraham of Boston.com has just tweeted that former Yankees RHSP Chien Ming Wang has decided to sign with the Nationals. From MLB.com’s Bill Ladson Wang is still recovering from arthroscopic shoulder surgery that he had in late July. As of last week, Wang was throwing from 120 feet and is not in any pain. There is [...]

Thanks to those who contributed. If you check the counter on IE vice Firefox, you’ll see that Mark Zuckerman reached his $5,000 goal in less than 36 hours. For those who contributed, thank you. If you haven’t, you should still feel free to contribute. The cost that Mark estimated was $5,000 but I am certain he cut [...]

Most are aware that the Washington Times eliminated their sports section at the end of 2009 leaving fans of the Nationals with just the Post as a local mainstream media voice for the team. Not only did we as fans lose that local voice, it was in my opinion the best voice. Mark Zuckerman and [...]

Steven of FJB and I recorded the latest Natmosphere in Your Ear this afternoon with a special guest. Joining us to discuss Adam Kennedy, Ian Desmond, Tyler Walker and more importantly what he’s been up to is Mark Zuckerman, formerly of the Washington Times, now blogging at Nats Insider (linked on the right as well).

has arrived and I have another prospect guide to add to the rotation. Quick hit from last year’s list Five have ‘graduated’ to the majors/used up rookie eligibility (Zimmermann, Detwiler, Mock, Martis, & Stammen) Seven have dropped out (Smiley, Davis, Rhinehart, King, Smoker, Willems, & Van Allen) [...]

I’m still reading through The Baseball Prospect Book 2010 but I wanted to give my quick impressions.As I mentioned in the previous posting, 2010 had the following: 38 players graded/profiled: 24 arms & 14 bats One Grade A Two Grade B+ One Grade [...]

Frequent commenter, Sue Dinem, has a couple of postings over at NationalsProspects.com where the guide from Shandler Enterprises details the Nationals prospects both scouting & sabermetrically. First, an overview Next, the hitters Finally, the pitchers I used to get all three of the major publications, MiLB Analyst, Baseball America, and John Sickels but have scaled back to just BA [...]

Baseball America has their weekly listing of the minor league transactions and the Nationals have made a few moves: Signed: RHP Nick Maness, LHP Chuck James, 3B Angel Gonzalez, OF Kevin Mench Placed on restricted list: RHP Randy Matias James was already known. The lefty has an outside shot at the #5 spot but seems more likely a [...]

Got home this afternoon to find The Baseball Prospect Book 2010 in my mailbox. I’m sitting down right now to page through it, but there are 38 Nationals graded and profiled. Here are some quick hits 24 arms 14 bats One Grade A [...]

Mark Zuckerman, formerly of the Washington Times, is due to resurface on Monday in blogger form. His site, Nats Insider, will kick off next week. It’s good to see Mark back though I hope a paying gig is on the horizon.

To make room for RHRP Tyler Walker, the Nationals designated RHP Marco Estrada for assignment, removing him from the 40-man and making him available for any of the other MLB teams to claim him and place him on their 40-man roster. Estrada spent most of the 2009 season in Syracuse where he was 9-5 with [...]