Dozier passes physical, Reynolds designated for assignment

Dozier passes physical, Reynolds designated for assignment
Brian Dozier has passed his physical, making his $9 million contract with the Nationals official, so the club formally announced it has signed the veteran second baseman in the latest move of a busy offseason. Dozier, a former All-Star and Gold Glove Award winner with the Twins, agreed to terms of the deal Thursday but still needed to pass a physical before it could be finalized. With that process now complete, the Nationals have themselves their new starting second baseman for the 2019...
  330 Hits

Harper set to meet with Phillies as final decision looms

Harper set to meet with Phillies as final decision looms
The long, slow, often behind-the-scenes dance Bryce Harper has been playing all winter has to come to an end eventually, right? I mean, he's going to be playing for some team in 2019, and pitchers and catchers report for spring training in 4 1/2 weeks. Few are surprised the Harper saga has stretched into January, but most observers around the sport don't expect it to stretch much longer. Harper and agent Scott Boras have a pretty good sense of the market at this point, and this weekend...
  291 Hits

Rendon, Turner avoid arbitration; Taylor, Barraclough do not

Rendon, Turner avoid arbitration; Taylor, Barraclough do not
The Nationals were able to agree to terms on 2019 contracts with Anthony Rendon and Trea Turner before today's 1 p.m. Eastern time deadline, but couldn't complete negotiations with Michael A. Taylor and Kyle Barraclough, who now must file for arbitration, according to a source familiar with the decisions. Players across baseball with three to six years of big league service time were engaged in down-to-the-wire talks today, and there were so many submissions to Major League Baseball...
  418 Hits

Deadline day for four arbitration-eligible players

Deadline day for four arbitration-eligible players
It's arbitration deadline day across Major League Baseball, which sounds like one of those really important days of the offseason with lots of dramatic news. But, to be honest, it isn't nearly as interesting as some might think. The gist of what happens today: Players who are eligible for arbitration (more than three years' big league service time but fewer than six, plus those pesky "Super Two" players) must either come to terms with teams on their 2019 salaries or else file competing...
  327 Hits

Ross avoids arbitration with $1 million deal for 2019

Ross avoids arbitration with $1 million deal for 2019
The Nationals got a jump on Friday's arbitration deadline, agreeing to terms tonight with Joe Ross on a one-year contract that reportedly will pay him $1 million. Ross, who was eligible for arbitration for the first time, gets a raise from his 2018 salary of $567,900, though not nearly as much as some others with comparable big league service time will receive because he missed more than a calendar year while recovering from Tommy John surgery. The 25-year-old right-hander is 17-15 with a 4.01...
  41 Hits

Nats agree to deal with veteran second baseman Dozier

Nats agree to deal with veteran second baseman Dozier
The Nationals have agreed to terms with veteran second baseman Brian Dozier on a one-year contract, perhaps helping offset somewhat the power they would lose if Bryce Harper ends up signing elsewhere while also filling the one remaining vacancy in their projected 2019 lineup. Dozier's deal, which is pending a physical, is worth a total of $9 million, with $2 million of that deferred, according to a source familiar with the terms. ESPN's Jeff Passan was first to report the agreement. It's a...
  374 Hits

Fans' guide to spring training, Part 2: The town

Fans' guide to spring training, Part 2: The town
OK, you've made the decision to head to spring training in West Palm Beach. You've picked out your dates to watch the Nationals, whether for the mid-February morning workouts or the late March Grapefruit League final tune-ups. You know where to best position yourself to get autographs. But you don't know how to get to West Palm Beach yet. Or where to stay. Or what to eat or do when you're not at the ballpark. You're in luck, because you're reading Part 2 of our annual Fans' Guide to...
  436 Hits

Fans' guide to spring training, Part 1: The complex

Fans' guide to spring training, Part 1: The complex
We don't know yet where Bryce Harper will be reporting for spring training, but we do know when the Nationals will be reporting for spring training, with or without their longtime slugger. The club officially announced key spring dates Tuesday, with pitchers and catchers set to report to West Palm Beach on Feb. 13 (with their first workout the following day) and position players set to report on Feb. 18 (with the first full-squad workout the day after that). The Grapefruit League opener...
  487 Hits

Nationals bullpen has potential but few sure things

Nationals bullpen has potential but few sure things
There is no more volatile position in baseball than relief pitcher, no more volatile position group than the bullpen. Only a handful of the very best relievers can consistently be counted upon year after year, so that always makes this aspect of the roster tougher to predict than others. Which also makes the Nationals bullpen both intriguing and nerve-wracking here as the 2019 season looms in the not-so-distant future. This is nothing new, of course. Rarely have the Nats entered a season with...
  397 Hits

Looking at Nationals lineups with and without Harper

Looking at Nationals lineups with and without Harper
As the world waits for Bryce Harper to make his long-awaited decision, the Nationals wait to figure out what exactly their 2019 lineup is going to look like. It's no hyperbole to suggest this lineup would look dramatically different without Harper in it than with him, and not simply because of his large presence in the heart of it all. There are some significant domino effects to Harper's decision that will impact not only who bats in the middle of the lineup but probably the top as well. If...
  265 Hits

Can the Nats count on a full recovery from Kendrick?

Can the Nats count on a full recovery from Kendrick?
There's no denying the Nationals sorely missed Howie Kendrick last season. The veteran utilityman was being counted on both for his performance on the field and his leadership off the field. Then, six weeks into the season, he ruptured his right Achilles tendon. Though he made occasional appearances in the clubhouse so team doctors could check on his progress, Kendrick was mostly a forgotten man the rest of the year. So the Nationals are particularly excited about the prospect of having...
  301 Hits

On the importance of 30-plus starts from the Nats' three aces

On the importance of 30-plus starts from the Nats' three aces
General manager Mike Rizzo, as has been noted here before, believes the single best path toward a championship is through a dominant rotation. No, you can't win with great starters and nothing else. But he firmly believes no matter what other strengths your roster boasts, it won't amount to anything without a top-notch rotation. Hence the significance of this winter's Patrick Corbin signing. Along with Max Scherzer and Stephen Strasburg, Corbin gives the Nationals three potentially dominant...
  333 Hits

Top stories of 2018: Harper's up-and-down contract year

Top stories of 2018: Harper's up-and-down contract year
As we count down the final days of 2018, we're counting down the most significant stories of the year for the Nationals. Some are positive. Some are negative. All helped define this baseball season in Washington. Five top stories made the final cut, and we've revealed one per day, concluding now with ... No. 1: Harper's walk year It had been looming since ... well, to be honest, since the day the Nationals drafted Bryce Harper and everybody started wondering what would happen once he became...
  319 Hits

Top stories of 2018: The late-summer roster teardown

Top stories of 2018: The late-summer roster teardown
As we count down the final days of 2018, we're counting down the most significant stories of the year for the Nationals. Some are positive. Some are negative. All helped define this baseball season in Washington. Five top stories made the final cut, and we'll reveal one per day, continuing with ... No. 2: The late-summer roster teardown Daniel Murphy, Matt Adams, Gio Gonzalez, Ryan Madson and Brandon Kintzler all opened the season as major pieces of the Nationals roster. And there was little...
  230 Hits

Top stories of 2018: Soto's dazzling debut

Top stories of 2018: Soto's dazzling debut
As we count down the final days of 2018, we're counting down the most significant stories of the year for the Nationals. Some are positive. Some are negative. All helped define this baseball season in Washington. Five top stories made the final cut, and we'll reveal one per day, continuing with ... No. 3: Juan Soto's arrival The Nationals had long touted a prized prospect of theirs, a young outfielder who signed out of the Dominican Republic and had since been dazzling in the minor leagues,...
  277 Hits

Sánchez grateful for contract, confident success will continue

Sánchez grateful for contract, confident success will continue
Aníbal Sánchez had recently turned 34 when he made his 2018 debut for the Braves (against the Nationals, for what that's worth). He was the not-so-proud owner of a 10-20 record and 6.09 ERA over the previous two seasons with the Tigers. He had to have at least some doubts deep inside his head that he might never get another significant big league contract. When he makes his 2019 debut for the Nationals, Sánchez will be 35 and the proud recipient of a two-year deal that guarantees him...
  42 Hits

Top stories of 2018: Martinez's first year in charge

Top stories of 2018: Martinez's first year in charge
As we count down the final days of 2018, we're counting down the most significant stories of the year for the Nationals. Some are positive. Some are negative. All helped define this baseball season in Washington. Five top stories made the final cut, and we'll reveal one per day, continuing with ... No. 4: Davey Martinez's first season as manager Whether you were a fan of his hiring or not, you had to admit Davey Martinez was thrust into a situation last year that was more likely to end...
  147 Hits

Top stories of 2018: All-Star Week in D.C.

Top stories of 2018: All-Star Week in D.C.
As we count down the final days of 2018, we're counting down the most significant stories of the year for the Nationals. Some are positive. Some are negative. All helped define this baseball season in Washington. Five top stories made the final cut, and we'll reveal one each of the next five days, beginning with ... No. 5: The All-Star Game in D.C. From the day Nationals Park opened, Mark Lerner lobbied Bud Selig to give an All-Star Game to Washington. It took a decade, not to mention an...
  150 Hits

What's still on your Nationals wish list?

What's still on your Nationals wish list?
The Nationals went shopping early this winter. They made a bunch of moves in November and early December to address most of their glaring roster needs, leaving only a few remaining items left to cross off during this holiday season. But they're not entirely done yet. There are still acquisitions to be made, vacant positions to be filled. And, of course, there's the biggest prize of all still out there, unsure whether he'll be returning to Washington in 2019 or heading elsewhere for the next...
  131 Hits

Would anyone support "Expos Day" at Nationals Park?

Would anyone support "Expos Day" at Nationals Park?
The Carolina Hurricanes wore Hartford Whalers uniforms Sunday for their home game against the Boston Bruins. And if that isn't the strangest lede I've ever written to a blog post about the Nationals, I'm trying to remember something else that would top it. You see, the Hurricanes' throwback night on the ice reminded me of something I've long pondered in my own mind: Would the Nationals ever wear Expos uniforms? And how would fans, both from Washington and Montreal, feel about that? I think...
  203 Hits