SB Nation DC - Washington Nationals Shopping John Lannan For Position Player, Targeting Edwin Jackson, According To Report

MLB Offseason 2012: Nationals Sign Mark Teahen To Minor-League Deal

2012-02-06T21:05:50Z

The Washington Nationals made another roster transaction Monday, signing infielder/outfielder Mark Teahen to a minor-league deal Monday. According to Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post, Teahen will be invited to Spring Training where he's expected to battled for bench spot.

Last month, Teahen, 30, was released by the Toronto Blue Jays, who acquired the utility players from the Chicago White Sox in the summer. Between the two squads, the left-hander got 177 plate appearances and hit just .200. with four home runs and 14 RBI.

For his career, Teahen has compiled a .264 batting average with 67 home runs and 332 RBI. This will Teahen four team of his career, which began with the Kansas City Royals.

Also Monday, the Nationals made the signing of veteran outfield Rick Ankiel official. On Sunday, it was reported that Ankeil was going to sign a minor-league contract.

For more on Ankiel and the Washington Nationals' offseason, visit our Nationals blog Federal Baseball.

MLB Offseason 2012: Rick Ankiel Signs Minor-League Deal With Washington Nationals

2012-02-05T22:29:37Z

The Washington Nationals made a small bit of news just minutes before the beginning of the Super Bowl. The team has signed part-time center field starter Rick Ankiel to a minor-league contract, according to Amanda Comak of the Washington Times.

Little #nats news before the big game: Per a source, the #nationals have signed Rick Ankiel to a minor league deal w/ST invite.
— Amanda Comak (@acomak) February 5, 2012

Ankiel hit .236 with nine home runs and 37 RBIs in 122 appearances for the Nationals last season. He will compete with signee Mike Cameron and lefty Roger Bernadina for the center field job in spring training. However, most believe all three are just keeping the spot warm for Jayson Werth, who will likely move to center field once Bryce Harper is ready for the Major Leagues.

For more on Ankiel and the Washington Nationals' offseason, visit our Nationals blog Federal Baseball.

Edwin Jackson Signs, And Washington Nationals Let Ride Their Four Horsemen On NL East

2012-02-03T14:32:11Z

After the Washington Nationals signed 28-year old right-hander Edwin Jackson to a one-year deal worth around $10 million on Wednesday, I did something I haven't done since a wild Colt 45-filled night in a Holiday Inn on the Tennessee border long ago. I went to the drawer and pulled out the Good Book looking for some scripture.

I had some idea of what I wanted to find. I don’t claim to be the holiest of rollers, but I knew I had to flip to the back of the book. While thumbing through the bible paper, my mind thumbed across the top of the Nationals rotation and its saints. Stephen Strasburg, Jordan Zimmermann, Gio Gonzalez and now Jackson—have mercy! That is a rotation Washington has been praying to have and a rotation their rivals have been praying never to meet.

Sure, up north the Philadelphia Phillies have their "Holy Trinity" in Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee and Cole Hamels; a Bermuda Triangle of pitchers that many of the Phillies faithful believe will one day lead them back to the promised land. But if the 2011 season taught us anything, it is to beware false prophets. That seemingly ordained rotation was infallible and you can certainly argue the Nationals' new rotation still has some work to put in. A lot clearly has to go right.

But I was not looking for its vindication as a new power. I was trying to get a sense of what a rotation of this magnitude might do to the division and what it might mean for the Nationals themselves. What is a better place to look than the big black book? Finally, I found the passages I wanted:

"I watched as the Lamb opened the first of the seven seals. Then I heard one of the four living creatures say in a voice like thunder, "Come and see!" I looked, and there before me was a white horse! Its rider held a bow, and he was given a crown, and he rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest..."

So began the End of Days and the story of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. The Great Seals were broken and the riders were unleashed upon the world as harbingers of doom and judgment before the glory. The book goes on to talk about how these guys brought on earthquakes, famines, horrible wars, the moon turning to blood and other lovely fireside tales to tell the kiddies. Heavy and horrible stuff. Revelations.

Oh, Mike Rizzo. What have you turned out on the NL East?

Jackson has his issues. His career numbers are lackluster: 60-60 overall with a 4.46 ERA. He tends to give up a lot of hits and in the past teams have been willing to part with him for whatever reason. However, Jackson is still young enough that his potential ceiling has yet to be reached. He has postseason experience. He has a cannon for an arm that, when added to the Nationals rotation, makes it a much more potent machine of destruction.

The most important key to the Jackson signing is not necessarily just adding another arm to the Nationals stable or even adding Jackson himself. Rather, it's about sending a message. Last season, the Nationals adopted an "Expect It" motto. In 2012 they have declared, "Expect the Unexpected." After the Nationals "lost" free agent Prince Fielder to the Detroit Tigers, many (including myself) closed shop and figured the Nationals were content to go into the 2012 campaign with what they had. If they did, words like "contenders" wouldn’t be part of the Washington vocabulary right now. Instead, they unexpectedly invested in Jackson and have changed the NL East even without the addition of a mega-signing like Fielder.

The Nationals have signed and sealed their Four Horsemen. Yes, it is a five-man rotation, but the fifth man at this point doesn’t really matter, be it Chien-Ming Wang, John Lannan or Ross Detwiler. The Nationals will have seven deadly sins to choose from when Strasburg reaches his post-Tommy John innings limit, if Zimmermann can’t get to his 200-inning goal or if any unforeseeable events such as injuries happen.

Contention in 2012 now heavily rides on the Nationals' offense and whether they stay healthy or even show up. Rizzo and his Nationals have the pitching thing nailed down and every team in the division is crossing themselves and saying their Hail Mary's. I can’t say with absolute certainty the Nationals will reach Avalon in 2012, but they will certainly wreck absolute havoc on MLB, and much in part of it will come from their Horsemen.

The days of rotations full of the Livan Hernandezs’, Shawn Hills and Tim Reddings are in the history books. A wise man once said, "The meek shall one day inherit the earth." Indeed, it looks like that prophecy is reaching fulfillment, at least in Washington, for the "lowly Nationals" aren’t so lowly anymore.

Amen.

For more on Jackson and the Nats, check out our Edwin Jackson StoryStream andWashington Nationals blog Federal Baseball.

Edwin Jackson To Sign With Washington Nationals, According To Report

2012-02-02T18:52:43Z

Initial reports came in on Thursday afternoon that the Washington Nationals were attempting to free up payroll by moving left-handed pitcher John Lannan and targeting free agent RHP Edwin Jackson to solidify their rotation. Now it appears as though the Nats may have already landed their new pitcher.

According to John Heyman of CBS Sports, Jackson and the Nationals are in agreement on a deal. Amanda Comak of the Washington Times confirmed that the agreement between Jackson and the Nationals is for a one-year contract and that Jackson is already in town for a physical before the deal can be signed.

The Nats now appear to have a stacked rotation for 2012 that includes Stephen Strasburg, Gio Gonzalez, Jordan Zimmermann, Jackson and Lannan. Even if the Nationals are indeed still aggressively shopping Lannan in hopes of acquiring a position player, the rotation is still set to be quite formidable.

For more on the Nationals, please visit Federal Baseball, SB Nation's Nationals blog.

MLB Trade Rumors: Washington Nationals Shopping John Lannan, Targeting Edwin Jackson, According To Report

2012-02-02T18:12:10Z

The Washington Nationals are looking to make some more changes to their pitching rotation prior to spring training, it seems.

According to Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi at FOX Sports, the Nationals won their arbitration case with John Lannan are are now aggressively shopping the southpaw in an attempt to shed payroll and pick up a top-tier free agent. Lannan earned $2.7 million in 2011 and asked for $5.7 million for the upcoming season. The arbitration case came out in favor of the Nats, but his $5 million will make him the highest-paid pitcher on the staff in 2012.

Although the article on FOX Sports mentioned that the Cardinals would be attempting to sign either Roy Oswalt or Edwin Jackson, Rosenthal followed up with a tweet saying that the Nats would definitely be targeting Jackson, rather than Oswalt, after moving payroll with a Lannan trade. Jackson is a right-handed starter who last played on the St. Louis Cardinals.

William Ladson of MLB.com indicated that the Nats are hoping to get a position player in exchange for Lannan, possibly a center fielder. If they can get a reasonable starting center fielder for the pitcher, that might shore up the outfield in the near future along with Jayson Werth and the eventual arrival of Bryce Harper.

For more on the Nationals, please visit Federal Baseball, SB Nation's Nationals blog.

Brad Lidge Close To Signing With Washington Nationals, According To Report

2012-01-26T16:04:12Z

Last year the Washington Nationals signed Jayson Werth away from the Philadelphia Phillies, and now it seems like they are close to bringing one of his former teammates in Philly on board.

Source: Brad Lidge is close to signing with Washington Nationals
— Jim Salisbury (@JSalisburyCSN) January 26, 2012

Lidge is a very good player when healthy, but you wonder why the Nationals felt like he was a priority to bring on board. They already have a very good young closer in Drew Storen and an All-Star setup man in Tyler Clippard. Even behind those two guys, it's not a guarantee that Lidge would get the seventh inning all to himself. But if he does and can remain healthy, he would give the Nationals a dominating backend of the bullpen. Which raises the question, why is he available for the Nationals to sign?

lidge close to signing with #nats (via @JSalisburyCSN). philly's offer was of the lowball variety, i hear
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeymanCBS) January 26, 2012

We'll have to wait until this deal is finalized before we can fully judge it, but it seems like the Nationals are about to make one of their greatest positions of strength even stronger.

For more on this potential signing and all things Washington Nationals, please head over to Federal Baseball.

Prince Fielder Rumors: Mike Rizzo Said Nationals 'Had Parameters' That Tigers Exceeded

2012-01-25T21:39:12Z

The Detroit Tigers beat out the Washington Nationals for Prince Fielder on Tuesday, signing him to a nine-year, $214 million deal. The Nationals were long seen as the favorites to sign Fielder, but in an interview with reporters, general manager Mike Rizzo confirmed that the price exceeded the Nationals' "parameters."

Via Amanda Comak of the Washington Times:

Rizzo said the #nats had parameters they were comfortable with and when the negotiations went above them they were comfortable walking away.
— Amanda Comak (@acomak) January 25, 2012

Those parameters were only exceeded at the very end, Rizzo said. He added that he met with Fielder once, but didn't elaborate on whether he actually made a formal contract offer.

Without Fielder, Adam LaRoche will be the team's opening-day first baseman, in all likelihood.

For more Prince Fielder rumors, visit this StoryStream. For more on the Tigers, visit Bless You Boys and SB Nation Detroit. For more on the Nationals, visit Federal Baseball.

Chain Reactions: Flip Saunders Wins Lottery, Alex Ovechkin In Penalty Box And No Prince Fielder In D.C.

2012-01-25T15:52:30Z

Tuesday was a big news day for the other "three" pro sports franchises in Washington D.C., which is sparing us from playing Mel McShay in this space on the Senior Bowl and Redskins possibilities in April. We could bore you with another Peyton Manning to the Washington Redskins scenario or discuss LaRon Landry's decision to pass on surgery -- at least for now -- on his Achilles tendon.

We could also talk about how amazing it is that the New York Giants, who the Redskins swept, are Super Bowl bound. Does this mean Devin Thomas was a good draft pick? (NO Vinny it does not). We could also break down whether we should be happy Carlos Rogers season is over and whether the Redskins should bring him back.

Or, we could do none of those things. Yeah, let's go with that. I want to say thank you to the Wizards, Capitals and Nationals, who are all that covered in this edition of Chain Reactions.

Wizards try to Flip Season Around, Oust Saunders

It was just a matter of time that someone would be thrown overboard with the Washington Wizards, and in this case, thrown into a really comfortable life boat. Flip Saunders not only no longer has to coach this hopeless team, but he also gets paid approximately $8 million not to be there.

I know Flip is a competitor, and unless Coach K can help him out, the 51-130 stays on his permanent coaching record. But the funny thing about the NBA, where the players have the largest impact of any other pro sport, is that there is never winning percentages or win/loss records stuck next to points per game, rebounds, assists and block shots. No, coaches get all the W's and L's, whether it is fair or not.

That being said the Wizards had to do something 17 games into this shortened 66 game season.

"Flip is a very good, outstanding basketball man," Ernie Grunfeld said in a news conference. "I felt like at this time our players were not responding, that I think we needed a different voice."

No question, the Wizards needed to make a change, and they may even play a little more inspired for a while. For the guy who made the decision, he had to make a move to show fans that the effort is not acceptable. I didn't mention losses for a reason because this roster is not ready for prime time yet.

The effort level, though, for a "young" and allegedly hungry team is embarrassing all too often. Maybe Randy Wittman's more fiery style will wake those guys up. More likely, though, it will only serve as a short term jolt, because at this point, most of the players are who they are as professionals. In the case of the "little three" (Andray Blatche, Nick Young and JaVale McGee) this will be their fourth coach in five years, but not much has changed with their play and habits. I actually do think McGee paired with the right kind of power forward and leadership could be worth keeping, but the question is at what price.

Twitter was ablaze with fans wanting Grunfeld to go next, as he was under fire during the news conference. The next few months will likely determine his long-term status with the organization. Can he pull a rabbit out of the hat and get Andray Blatche out of town? Can he get that other piece to help John Wall? Will this year's draft picks show enough promise down the stretch for fans to feel confident that the transparent plan is working?

I understand owner Ted Leonsis believes drafting and being patient can work because of the Capitals' success. However, sooner or later this team has to show some real progress or they will continue to be a punch line in the NBA. Good luck Randy Wittman for the final 49 games.

Alex Ovechkin Misses the Mark with his Protest

First of all, I thought the three-game suspension on Alex Ovechkin was an overreaction by the NHL's punishment Czar Brendan Shanahan. Anyone who has followed the Great 8 knows he has done much more harm on the ice. That is also why Shanahan says he hit Ovi with the three games. I know he plays with an edge sometimes that seems reckless, but that is exactly what fans of the Capitals love about him.

The Capitals and Ovechkin are not happy with the NHL's decision, so Ovechkin is passing on the NHL's Showcase weekend in Ottawa.

"My heart is not there," Ovechkin said in regards to the All-Star Game. "I got suspended, so why I have to go there? I love the game. [The All-Star Game] is a great event. I love to be there, but I'm suspended. I don't want to be a target. I feel I'm not deserving to be there right now. I got suspended. I have to be suspended so that's why I give up my roster [spot]."

Certainly, you could argue the merits of Ovechkin's selection to the game in a down season for the Capitals' captain. Did someone in the league say he was suspended for the All-Star game? Of course not. They wanted him there because he is one of the league's best. So does that mean they should give him a pass if they think he is playing dirty? I think Ovechkin is missing the mark here, as are the Capitals for supporting the decision.

"Because he's a suspended player, he doesn't feel like he deserves to be there, so he's not going to go," McPhee said about Ovechkin's decision not to attend the All-Star Game, which he supports. "He doesn't want to be a distraction to the event."

The fans want him there so he should be there. The NHL has so few moments to get showcased, so you need to take advantage of it. Sure, Ovechkin does not want to be a distraction. but by not being there, you are being what aain? Do you think NBC is going to not talk about him during the game and skills competition? Is ducking the national media really making the situation better?

Truthfully, does anyone think Ovi is sad that he will not be at the All-Star Weekend? He is getting a nice vacation, which big picture could be great for the Capitals' captain down the stretch. However, protesting a league decision is not going to change their perception of the way you play. It may also make them less tolerant of you in the future.

Many NHL analysts have pointed to the lack of consistency of the NHL punishment rulings and the bias against a Russian player, which all may be true. These are things your organization and NHLPA could take up on your behalf. I just do not see how taking your stick and going home is going to suddenly change the perception outside of D.C. and Russia on Ovechkin's style of play.

No Prince in DC

The Nationals found out yesterday that despite their wonderful working relationship with super agent Scott Boras, they still would not be landing free agent Prince Fielder and his big bat. Why? Too many years and money, as Prince signed on with the Detroit Tigers for nine years and $215 million. I agree that nine years is WAY too many, though for the Tigers, it could work because he can DH. For the Nationals, it would not have been a wise decision.

"Our pockets are deep, but they are not that deep," Nationals manager Davey Johnson told reporters at the Baseball Assistance Team dinner in New York shortly after the news of Fielder's signing broke.

No doubt it was disappointing to see, because with Fielder, the Nationals could have been a contender in the NL East this season. They still may be with some guys returning to old form (i.e. Jayson Werth and Adam LaRoche), and they seem to have plenty of pitching, but will they have enough offense? Fielder would have alleviated those issues.

Despite the disappointment, one thing Nationals fans can take away from this experience is this franchise is a player in free agency. This is the second straight offseason they have been willing to shell out big dollars. This is not Kansas City and it is refreshing to see the franchise no longer operating like it.