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Mark Teahen is no All-Star, but he's versatile, and obviously has a pretty good sense of who he is as a 30-year-old ballplayer. Teahen signed a minor league deal with the Nationals yesterday. Teahen's a left-handed bat who knows what it's like to be an everyday player. As a Royal, he spent four seasons as a regular or semi-regular third baseman, but along the way ... read more
The Nationals have reportedly re-signed their own free agent, outfielder Rick Ankiel, to a minor league contract that includes an invitation to major league spring training. Ankiel's presence on the 2011 roster was a plus. No, he didn't hit a lot, just .239 in 122 games. with nine home runs and 37 RBIs. He also struck out far too often, 96 times in 380 at-bats, ... read more
After Prince Fielder signed with Detroit last week, there was general consensus that the next two so-called "premier" free agents, right-handed pitchers Roy Oswalt and Edwin Jackson, would sign quickly. We're still waiting. Oswalt was someone the Nationals had reportedly focused on last fall. A career National Leaguer with the Astros and Phillies, he'd apparently recovered from back issues that had curtailed his past two ... read more
The last unsigned National at this point is left-hander John Lannan. Lannan filed for arbitration, as was his right based on service time, and his agents requested a 2012 contract worth $5.75 million. The club countered with an offer of $5 million. Lannan's 2011 contract was worth $2.75 million, so in essence, his representatives felt he was due more than a 100 percent raise based ... read more
If you're roaming around a local shopping mall over the next few weeks and think you've spotted Jayson Werth, it probably is Werth, who has moved the Werth family to the greater Washington area, where he'll be working for the next several years. It's a pretty big deal, inasmuch as he can obviously afford to live anywhere, and a lot of major league players opt ... read more
Sometimes on Saturday morning's "Nats Talk" on MASN, Mike Wallace and I will throw out names that we'd like to see in a Washington uniform, even though it's simply wishful thinking. A few weeks ago we threw out the name Andrew McCutchen of the Pirates, an incredibly gifted center fielder and hitter, who at 25, is not yet in his prime, and who, from all ... read more
Well I'm glad that's over with. Every credible source I've spoken with says it came down to the Nationals and the Tigers in the Prince Fielder sweepstakes. In the end, Detroit's willingness to make it a nine year deal put them across the finish line. Mike Rizzo's reluctance to give Fielder - or almost anyone, really - that length of contract says a lot about ... read more
Late last week, Texas Rangers co-owner Bob Simpson was asked about his team's pursuit of free agent Prince Fielder, in light of their successful negotiations with free agent pitcher Yu Darvish. "I think he's, given our set of cards, too pricey," he said. "And if that were to change, I guess they would look at that harder. But right now I think he's priced himself ... read more
