It's Black Friday, which means around the country people stayed up all night so they could fight off their fellow citizens with sticks trying to snag a cheap television or washing machine or Tickle Me Elmo or whatever it is people fight each other over these days.
(Suffice it to say, I don't know a thing about any of this. I prefer to do my shopping at 11 a.m. on random Tuesdays, when nobody else can get in your way.)
But I guess Black Friday is a big thing for many because it presents the...
It's a tumultuous time in the world, but today we all pause to spend time with family and friends and appreciate what we have.
That applies to the Nationals, as well. (Hey, these guys are human beings. They have feelings, too!)
And so in honor of this fourth Thursday of November, we present to you what each of the following Nats are most thankful for right now. (These are 100 percent accurate, I assure you. I would never make up fake news just to get readers riled up!) ...
MAX SCHERZER: For...
The Nationals have acquired reliever Jimmy Cordero from the Phillies for a player to be named, hoping the hard-throwing right-hander can bounce back from an injury-plagued season in Philadelphia's farm system and become a late-inning arm for them at some point.
Cordero, 25, had been designated for assignment last week by the Phillies, who needed to clear space on their 40-man roster for other prospects who needed to be protected from the Rule 5 draft. He has no major league experience but now...
It is perhaps the Nationals' biggest dilemma this winter - who's going to pitch the ninth inning? - and there is no easy solution to the problem.
The Nationals could sign one of the three big-name closers on the open market this winter, luring Aroldis Chapman or Kenley Jansen to D.C. or bringing Mark Melancon back. They could take a chance and entrust the job to one of several in-house candidates, either veteran Shawn Kelley or young relievers Blake Treinen, Sammy Solis or Koda Glover. Or...
The 2017 Hall of Fame ballot was released yesterday, and as noted here, there's a decent chance Ivan Rodriguez could become the first ever permanent resident of Cooperstown to have played for the Nationals.
Rodriguez, of course, would not go into the Hall wearing a curly W cap on his head. He'd almost certainly be a Ranger, with only a passing mention of "Washington, N.L." on his plaque.
Which raises the following question (kudos to reader Ed Frank for bringing it up): Who will be the first...
There are a number of Hall of Famers who played at least a portion of their careers in Washington, but none played for this incarnation of the Nationals, and none sports a plaque that includes the words: "Washington, N.L."
That could change next summer if Ivan Rodriguez is inducted to the Hall in his first year of eligibility.
Rodriguez, who caught for the Nationals in 2010-11 to wrap up a remarkable career, officially became a candidate today when the Hall of Fame released its 2017 ballot....
It's been a while since we did one of these, so it seems like a good time to bring back the Q&A.
What to discuss? Well, there's the question at catcher, at closer and perhaps one other spot in the lineup. There's the question of pursuing another big-name starting pitcher. There's the question of Trea Turner's eventual position on the field. There's the question of the health of prominent players. There's the question of veterans trying to bounce back after disappointing seasons.
And...
The Nationals have signed former Orioles first-round pick and Northern Virginia product Brandon Snyder to a minor league contract.
Snyder, who turns 30 this week, will have an invitation to big league camp with an opportunity to compete for a spot on the opening day roster, according to a source familiar with the deal.
The Orioles made Snyder the 13th overall pick in the 2005 draft out of Westfield High School in Chantilly, but the corner infielder has struggled to stick in the major leagues...
The Nationals officially announced their one-year contract with Chris Heisey this morning after the outfielder passed a physical, ensuring one of their most productive bench players returns in 2017.
Heisey will earn $1.4 million in base salary plus incentives, according to a source familiar with the deal. The two sides had agreed in principle to the contract Nov. 11, but its completion was pending the physical.
The 31-year-old outfielder joined the Nationals last winter on a minor league...
We are a mere 14 weeks away from the Nationals' spring training opener, which means pitchers and catchers are due to report to West Palm Beach in roughly 12 weeks (no official date yet).
Which raises a fairly important question: Is West Palm Beach going to be ready for the Nats?
Crews continue to work furiously on the brand-new Ballpark at the Palm Beaches, the new spring home of both the Nationals and Astros. They've been working on a tight timeline throughout, but the consensus opinion all...
The Nationals added five players to their 40-man roster this afternoon, in the process protecting outfielder Rafael Bautista, first baseman Jose Marmolejos, catcher Raudy Read, infielder Matt Skole and right-hander Austin Voth from being scooped up by another organization in next month's Rule 5 draft.
The additions, which were required to be made before a 5 p.m. EST deadline, leave the Nationals with 36 players officially on their 40-man roster for the moment. (That number will rise to 37 once...
There's a deadline this afternoon around baseball. It's not one of the major deadlines, like the trade deadline or the qualifying offer deadline. But it's nonetheless a potentially significant one when it comes to organizations keeping their best prospects from getting swooped up by another club.
By 5 p.m. EST, all teams must add any players they wish to protect from being selected in the Rule 5 draft to their 40-man roster.
What does that mean? A quick primer for those who aren't familiar...
Daniel Murphy had an MVP-caliber season and might well have taken home the hardware had he put up the same stat line in a previous year.
This year, though, Murphy was forced to take a back seat to Kris Bryant, who as the best player on the best team in baseball easily captured the National League MVP.
Bryant, the brightest young star on a Cubs roster filled with them, won his first career MVP this evening, garnering 29-of-30 first-place votes and 415 total points from members of the Baseball...
Max Scherzer and his wife, Erica, have been going on boating trips with old college friends and their spouses every November for years. It's an annual tradition, and one the Scherzers weren't about to pass up, not even when it overlapped with another annual tradition: the announcement of the Cy Young Award winners.
"For the past few years, we all get together over this time of the year and find a way to do the vacation together with all of our wives," the Nationals ace said. "And it took a...
Voting for the annual Baseball Writers' Association of America awards rarely is simple. Sure, every once in a while you get a no-brainer - Bryce Harper for National League MVP in 2015 - but most of these decisions are tough.
And few I've ever voted for were tougher than this year's NL Cy Young Award ballot. As I started compiling a list of candidates in late September, I was able to come up with 10 pitchers who at least deserved consideration. Five of those pitchers wound up on the actual...
The Nationals handed Max Scherzer the largest free-agent contract ever given to a pitcher two winters ago, believing the right-hander was among the best starters in baseball and worthy of leading their star-studded rotation for years to come.
Two seasons in, Scherzer has lived up to the contract. And tonight came perhaps the most significant validation of that: He won the National League Cy Young Award.
In a battle between several elite pitchers who enjoyed dominant seasons, Scherzer emerged as...
Yesterday, I raised the subject of the Nationals possibly pursuing a big bat this winter, someone who could be inserted into the heart of their lineup between Bryce Harper and Daniel Murphy and add some more consistent firepower to a batting order that was effective this season but seemed to be lacking at times.
Some have since raised an important question that ties into that subject: Do the Nationals have enough money to sign a big-name batter like that?
So let's delve into that matter,...
Dusty Baker finished third in voting for National League Manager of the Year, recognized by members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America for helping lead the Nationals back to the postseason in his first season at the helm.
Dave Roberts, who had to overcome a Dodgers club ravaged by injuries in order to win a division title, won this year's award. The rookie manager received 16 of 30 first-place votes and 108 total points in balloting performed by two writers from each NL city...
The Nationals' top needs this winter are fairly clear-cut. They need a closer, whether they re-sign Mark Melancon or acquire someone else. They need a catcher, whether they bring back the rehabbing Wilson Ramos, give Pedro Severino a chance or look outside the organization. They need to decide whether Trea Turner is their center fielder or shortstop, and address any domino effects of that decision.
Here, though, is a less clear-cut question currently facing the Nationals front office as the...
Trea Turner was phenomenal for half a season. But Corey Seager was great for the full season, and that's why the Dodgers shortstop beat out the Nationals center fielder for National League Rookie of the Year.
Seager was named the winner this evening, a unanimous choice by all 30 voting members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America (two from each NL city) and 150 total points. Turner finished second with 11 second-place votes and nine third-place votes, while Dodgers right-hander...
