Mark Zuckerman
Mark Zuckerman

Friday morning Q&A

Friday morning Q&A
We last held one of these Q&As during the week leading up to Thanksgiving, and considering how much has happened to the Nationals since then, this feels like a good time to hold another one. The Winter Meetings have come and gone, as has Nats Winterfest. Adam Eaton is the new center fielder. Derek Norris is the new catcher. Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo Lopez are now White Sox. Mark Melancon is a Giant, Aroldis Chapman is a Yankee and Kenley Jansen remains a Dodger. Which means the Nationals...
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Mark Zuckerman

Nats still seeking candidates to fill bench vacancies

Nats still seeking candidates to fill bench vacancies
For all the attention paid - and rightfully so - to the Nationals' ongoing search for a new closer, that's not the only significant roster hole they still need to fill. Saturday night's trade of Danny Espinosa created an opening on their bench, one that they probably prefer to address from outside the organization rather than from within. Had Espinosa remained with the club - and that seemed unlikely, given his dissatisfaction with a reserve role - the Nationals would have been in good shape...
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Mark Zuckerman

How do 2017 Nationals avoid another odd-year regression?

How do 2017 Nationals avoid another odd-year regression?
No matter what happens from this point forward, the Nationals will enter the 2017 season with lofty expectations, both internally and externally. A 95-win team from the previous year will be expected to win again, considered among the favorites to come out of the National League. Whether they can live up to those expectations remains to be seen, but if the last half-decade is a sign of things to come, they better be careful not to simply assume all will be well in 2017. Each of the previous two...
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Mark Zuckerman

Nationals sign Burriss, three pitchers to minor league deals

Nationals sign Burriss, three pitchers to minor league deals
The Nationals added some pitching depth to the organization Tuesday - and brought a local favorite back to the franchise, as well - during a series of minor league signings. Right-handers Jacob Turner and Michael Broadway, left-hander Tim Collins and infielder Emmanuel Burriss all agreed to minor league deals with invitations to big league spring training. None would appear at this point to be strong contenders to make the opening day roster, but all will be given an opportunity to make a case...
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Mark Zuckerman

Where do the Nationals turn now in search for a closer?

Where do the Nationals turn now in search for a closer?
First Mark Melancon signed with the Giants. Then Aroldis Chapman signed with the Yankees. Then the Cubs acquired Wade Davis from the Royals. And then yesterday, the Dodgers managed to retain free agent Kenley Jansen with a reported five-year, $80 million offer. All of which leaves the Nationals right back where they started at the beginning of the offseason, still needing a closer, now with far fewer options available to them. So where do they turn now? There do remain several second-tier free...
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Mark Zuckerman

Scherzer on his Cy Young, pitching in WBC and Rizzo's trades

Scherzer on his Cy Young, pitching in WBC and Rizzo's trades
When last we saw Max Scherzer, he was on a boat in the British Virgin Islands, watching the National League Cy Young Award announcement on his iPad, doused with champagne by friends upon learning he had won the hardware. It was truly a unique way to celebrate such an occasion, and it made for a wonderful visual for anyone watching from the boring comforts of a living room on dry land. For Scherzer, it was a remarkable experience, one he'll never forget. In the month that has passed since,...
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Mark Zuckerman

Mike Rizzo: "I have no beef ... with Danny Espinosa"

Mike Rizzo: "I have no beef ... with Danny Espinosa"
Mike Rizzo said he had been working on a trade that would send Danny Espinosa to the Angels for the last week and that the deal that was finally consummated Saturday night wasn't a response to anything the infielder had said or demanded about his role with the Nationals in 2017. Espinosa was in position to lose his starting shortstop job after the Nationals traded for outfielder Adam Eaton on Wednesday, a move that in turn pushes Trea Turner to his natural position on the left side of the...
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Mark Zuckerman

Strasburg believes fewer sliders will mean more starts in 2017

Strasburg believes fewer sliders will mean more starts in 2017
Stephen Strasburg desperately wanted to be part of the Nationals' postseason staff, so much so that he kept throwing off the bullpen mound every other day while his teammates faced the Dodgers in the National League Division Series. The hope, at least in the right-hander's mind, was that his elbow would have been healthy enough and his arm strength built up enough to contribute if the Nationals advanced. The Nationals, of course, did not, and so Strasburg was left to watch his teammates...
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Mark Zuckerman

Espinosa traded to Angels for two minor league pitchers

Espinosa traded to Angels for two minor league pitchers
Danny Espinosa's long and often tumultuous tenure with the Nationals came to end Saturday night when the veteran infielder was traded to the Angels for a pair of minor league pitchers. Coming to Washington's farm system are 25-year-old right-handers Kyle McGowin and Austin Adams. McGowin, who was 9-14 with a 5.83 ERA in 27 combined starts between the Angels' Double-A and Triple-A affiliates, was rated the organization's 20th-best prospect, according to MLB.com. Adams, who posted a 3.05 ERA...
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Mark Zuckerman

Norris confident in bounceback from "awful" 2016

Norris confident in bounceback from "awful" 2016
Once he sensed the Padres were likely to trade him this winter, Derek Norris started thinking about potential destinations. One of them was Washington, a notion the 27-year-old catcher tried not to get too excited about, given the fact the Nationals had traded him away five years ago, that transaction coming 4 1/2 years after they originally drafted him. But when the call actually came last week, that he was returning to the Nationals organization as their starting catcher, Norris couldn't...
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Mark Zuckerman

"Flattered" by trade, Adam Eaton has enjoyed whirlwind week

"Flattered" by trade, Adam Eaton has enjoyed whirlwind week
Adam Eaton knows the Nationals gave up a lot to acquire him. The club's new center fielder tried not to pay too much attention to the specifics of the blockbuster trade this week that brought him here and sent three elite prospects to the White Sox, but he knows the Nats thought highly enough of him to take the criticism that came with the deal. "I'm flattered," he said. "Coming into such a great organization that has won, and to be able to contribute, hopefully, as well as I have in the...
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Mark Zuckerman

New and familiar faces expected at Nationals Winterfest

New and familiar faces expected at Nationals Winterfest
The Winter Meetings were our first opportunity this week to get a much-needed baseball fix in December. Now comes the second opportunity: Nationals Winterfest. The club's annual fan festival takes place today and tomorrow at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, and it will feature a few nice morsels of Nats winter cheer to fill you up before pitchers and catchers report for spring training in two months. For example, the two newest members of the roster are scheduled to attend. Adam...
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Mark Zuckerman

Baker has options with tweaked starting lineup

Baker has options with tweaked starting lineup
Barring unforeseen developments - which is always a great caveat - we now know who should be in the Nationals' starting lineup come opening day. Bryce Harper, Adam Eaton and Jayson Werth are the outfielders. Anthony Rendon, Trea Turner, Daniel Murphy and Ryan Zimmerman go around the horn in the infield. Derek Norris is the new catcher, though with Jose Lobaton and Pedro Severino also under contract, that's the one starting position that's a little less set in stone. We don't know, however,...
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Mark Zuckerman

Jansen, Colome, Robertson all on Nats' radar in closer search

Jansen, Colome, Robertson all on Nats' radar in closer search
NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. - The Winter Meetings officially ended around 9:30 a.m. when the always-dramatic Rule 5 Draft came to a close, leading to a mass exodus of baseball executives from the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center and a long line waiting for cabs to Reagan National Airport. But the end of the Winter Meetings is by no means the end of the hot stove league, so the Nationals aren't exactly closing up shop and refusing to pick up the phone for the next two months. They still...
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Mark Zuckerman

Nats' remaining closer options; Boras on Harper and Strasburg

Nats' remaining closer options; Boras on Harper and Strasburg
NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. - The news late yesterday afternoon of the Nationals sending Lucas Giolito, Reynaldo Lopez and Dane Dunning to the White Sox for Adam Eaton sent more than a few shockwaves through the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center. It also pushed aside a bunch of other interesting tidbits of the day related to the Nationals. Better late than never, though, so here you go ... * The Nats have addressed two of their three biggest needs this winter so far: an outfielder and a...
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Mark Zuckerman

Rizzo on trade: "We certainly got what we wanted in Adam Eaton"

Rizzo on trade: "We certainly got what we wanted in Adam Eaton"
NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. - The Nationals knew all along the price tag to acquire the kind of impact players they were seeking in trades would be steep. And so when the opportunity arose this week to acquire one of their primary outfield targets, Adam Eaton, they knew they'd have to make the tough call to deal away not one, not two, but three of their most prized possessions: Lucas Giolito, Reynaldo Lopez and Dane Dunning. "You've got to give to get," general manager Mike Rizzo said in formally...
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Mark Zuckerman

Nationals acquire Eaton for Giolito, Lopez, Dunning

Nationals acquire Eaton for Giolito, Lopez, Dunning
NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. - The Nationals are about to acquire their much-desired new outfielder in a trade, but it's not the guy who has drawn most of the headlines over the last week. The Nats and White Sox have agreed to a deal that would bring Adam Eaton to Washington in exchange for pitching prospects Lucas Giolito, Reynaldo Lopez and Dane Dunning, according to a source familiar with the talks. The trade's completion is still contingent upon the review of all players' medical records, but...
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Mark Zuckerman

Morning notes on Ramos, Davis, former closers and McCutchen

Morning notes on Ramos, Davis, former closers and McCutchen
NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. - Day Three of the Winter Meetings has arrived, and the Nationals roster ... well, it hasn't changed at all since this event officially kicked off Monday morning. Which isn't to say the roster won't change before the event officially ends after Thursday morning's Rule 5 draft. And even if it doesn't, there's no reason to believe it won't change as the remainder of the offseason plays out. In fact, recent Nationals history suggests just that. Trea Turner and Joe Ross...
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Mark Zuckerman

Rizzo on Sale: "We reached as far as we were going to reach"

Rizzo on Sale: "We reached as far as we were going to reach"
NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. - As talks with the White Sox about a potential Chris Sale trade progressed over the last week, Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo found himself willing to part ways with some of the kind of elite prospects he normally would deem untouchable. The availability of Sale, a five-time All-Star left-hander under contract for the next three years at an affordable price, led Rizzo in a direction he hasn't gone before. But in order to pull off this blockbuster, the Nationals GM...
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Mark Zuckerman

Red Sox top Nationals' offer, land Sale in blockbuster trade

Red Sox top Nationals' offer, land Sale in blockbuster trade
NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. - The Nationals finished runners-up in the Mark Melancon sweepstakes on Monday. And it appears they've now finished runners-up in the Chris Sale sweepstakes today. The White Sox have struck a deal to send Sale to the Red Sox for elite prospects Yoan Moncada and Michael Kopech, plus two other minor-leaguers, according to multiple reports here at the Winter Meetings. It's a blockbuster trade featuring one of the game's best left-handers going to a powerhouse contender in...
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