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Victor Robles leads Baseball America's Nationals top 10 prospects list

December 11, 2016, 1:18pm

The Nationals worked hard during the Winter Meetings looking to improve their team. Three of their top prospects - right-handers Lucas Giolito, Reynaldo Lopez and Dane Dunning - were included in a deal with the White Sox for center fielder Adam Eaton. Several teams asked about center fielder Victor Robles in trade scenarios, but general manager Mike Rizzo would not include him in those talks, and for good reason: The 19-year-old Robles is a five-tool athletic center fielder with bat discipline...

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

December 11, 2016, 6:11pm

Nationals

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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Strasburg believes fewer sliders will mean more starts in 2017

December 11, 2016, 7:29am

Nationals

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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Zimmerman on rebounding from poor year, new additions, Nats' window

December 11, 2016, 8:48am

Nationals

Zimmerman on rebounding from poor year, new additions, Nats' window

Ryan Zimmerman has been around baseball long enough to know that there's only one thing a player can do after a disappointing season: turn the page, committing himself to do better in the coming year. That's just what the Nationals first baseman is doing after posting a career-low slash line of .218/.272/.370 in 115 games during a season interrupted by stints on the disabled list for rib and wrist injuries. "I think I ended the season strong last year," Zimmerman said Sunday at Nats...

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

December 11, 2016, 9:38am

Nationals

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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Trade means Trea Turner finally has a defined position

December 11, 2016, 6:03am

Nationals

Trade means Trea Turner finally has a defined position

In a little more than a year, Trea Turner has gone from being a Padres prospect to a Nationals star, with an excruciating period of limbo in the middle as a player to be named. He went from a strong-armed shortstop to a center fielder learning the position on a fly, with a little time at second base in between. He went from a greenhorn at the bottom of the lineup for a non-playoff Nats team to an exciting leadoff hitter for a division champion that played in the postseason. Now, heading into...

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Espinosa traded to Angels for two minor league pitchers

December 10, 2016, 5:15pm

Nationals

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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Norris confident in bounceback from "awful" 2016

December 10, 2016, 10:36am

Nationals

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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Koda Glover battling back from torn labrum in hip

December 10, 2016, 9:39am

Nationals

Koda Glover battling back from torn labrum in hip

When hard-throwing Koda Glover burst onto the scene last summer, his unshakable demeanor and plus stuff immediately had people talking about him as a future Nationals closer. Never mind that he went from Single-A to the majors in less than a full season. Glover had a 2.63 ERA through his first 12 relief appearances before he hit a significant bump in the road. The eighth-round selection in the 2015 First-Year Player Draft struggled mightily in September, posting a 7.20 ERA in his final 10...

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Nationals acquire pitchers Adams, McGowin from Angels in exchange for Espinosa

December 10, 2016, 5:06pm

Nationals

The Washington Nationals acquired right-handed pitcher Austin Adams and Minor League right-handed pitcher Kyle McGowin from the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday in exchange for infielder Danny Espinosa. Nationals President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Mike Rizzo made the announcement. Adams, 25, joins the Nationals after five seasons in the Angels Minor League system. The 6-foot-2 right-hander has pitched exclusively as a reliever, working to a 3.75 ERA in 166 career Minor League...

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

December 10, 2016, 9:21am

Nationals

"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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New and familiar faces expected at Nationals Winterfest

December 09, 2016, 6:39pm

Nationals

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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Murphy aims to prevent recurrence of leg problems

December 10, 2016, 7:13am

Nationals

Murphy aims to prevent recurrence of leg problems

The slow-to-heal upper left leg injury that limited Nationals second baseman Daniel Murphy to three regular season at-bats after Sept. 17 - often referred to as a glute strain and possibly traced to a hamstring problem earlier in the season - may have been more serious than Murphy let on. Though he slashed .438/.545/.438 in the National League Division Series loss to the Dodgers, Murphy said Saturday he has been focusing his early offseason workouts on glute exercises and stabilization drills...

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Baker has options with tweaked starting lineup

December 08, 2016, 7:42pm

Nationals

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

December 08, 2016, 6:35am

Nationals

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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Nats' remaining closer options; Boras on Harper and Strasburg

December 07, 2016, 7:59pm

Nationals

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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Blue Jays snag reliever Philip Walby off Harrisburg roster in Triple-A Rule 5 draft

December 08, 2016, 5:03am

Nationals

Blue Jays snag reliever Philip Walby off Harrisburg roster in Triple-A Rule 5 draft

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. - The Nationals neither made a pick nor lost a player in the major league phase of this morning's Rule 5 draft, the final order of business at the Winter Meetings at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center. In the Triple-A phase of the Rule 5 draft, the Nationals lost right-hander Philip Walby, who was selected by the Blue Jays off the roster of Double-A Harrisburg. Walby, 24, went 2-0 with a 3.29 ERA in 24 games with Single-A Hagerstown in 2016. He's viewed...

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Breaking down what NL teams did and didn't do at Winter Meetings

December 08, 2016, 6:30am

Nationals

Breaking down what NL teams did and didn't do at Winter Meetings

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. - The Winter Meetings have finished, but there's plenty of work to do with teams in the National League: NL EAST Atlanta: The Braves whiffed when it came to landing a top-of-the-rotation starter such as Chris Sale. They'll look other places. Their rotation is deep with youth and talent. And they had the fifth-best second-half run production in the NL last season. They added R.A. Dickey and Bartolo Colon to keep pressure off the kids in the rotation. Miami: The Marlins...

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Abreu and Johansen head list of Nats prospects eligible in Rule 5 draft

December 08, 2016, 2:06am

Nationals

Abreu and Johansen head list of Nats prospects eligible in Rule 5 draft

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. - This morning the Rule 5 draft will commence, and there are a handful of Nationals prospects that are exposed and eligible to be drafted. Here are the stipulations to be eligible for the Rule 5 draft: "Players first signed at age 18 must be added to 40-man rosters within five seasons or they become eligible to be drafted by other organizations through the Rule 5 process. Players signed at 19 years or older have to be protected within four seasons. Clubs pay $100,000 to...

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Breaking down what the Nationals surrendered in Eaton deal - and why

December 07, 2016, 3:35pm

Nationals

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. - Lucas Giolito didn't waste any time in embracing his new team after being traded to the White Sox in a deal that netted the Nationals outfielder Adam Eaton. Fans, media and baseball executives were still processing this afternoon's trade - right-handers Giolito, Reynaldo Lopez and Dane Dunning for Eaton - when Giolito changed his team affiliation on his Twitter account and posted a heartfelt goodbye to the organization that drafted and developed him. "Today is both an...