nationals

Nationals agree to terms with outfielder Chris Heisey

November 19, 2016, 5:39am

The Washington Nationals agreed to terms on a one-year contract with veteran outfielder Chris Heisey on Saturday. Nationals president of baseball operations and general manager Mike Rizzo made the announcement. Heisey, 31, returns to Washington for his second season with the Nationals after serving as a key member of Dusty Baker's bench and a versatile defender during the 2016 season. He enters the 2017 season as Major League Baseball's all-time leader in slugging percentage as a pinch-hitter...

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Five Nats prospects help lift Glendale to win in final AFL game

November 19, 2016, 2:03am

Nationals

Five Nats prospects help lift Glendale to win in final AFL game

Glendale did their part to reach the Arizona Fall League title game, stopping Peoria 3-1. The Desert Dogs (17-15) won seven of their last 10 games, finishing the fall season as the hottest team in the league. But Surprise also won their final game to win the West division by a half-game. The Saguaros (17-14-1) face Mesa in Saturday's championship. In the final game, five Nationals prospects got to play. Center Fielder Andrew Stevenson went 1-for-3 with a walk from the leadoff spot. Stevenson...

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Where the Nats' 40-man roster stands on decision day

November 17, 2016, 5:21pm

Nationals

Where the Nats' 40-man roster stands on decision day

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...

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Nationals add five players to 40-man roster

November 18, 2016, 8:55am

Nationals

The Washington Nationals selected the contracts of outfielder Rafael Bautista, first baseman Jose Marmolejos, catcher Raudy Read, infielder Matt Skole and right-handed pitcher Austin Voth on Friday, adding them to the team's 40-man roster. Nationals president of baseball operations and general manager Mike Rizzo made the announcement. Bautista, 23, hit .283 with 12 doubles, four triples, four home runs, 39 RBI, 56 stolen bases and 77 runs scored in 136 games for Double-A Harrisburg in 2016. He...

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Murphy finishes second in NL MVP vote to Bryant

November 17, 2016, 1:55pm

Nationals

Murphy finishes second in NL MVP vote to Bryant

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...

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Explaining WAR's role in MVP results

November 18, 2016, 4:30am

Nationals Orioles

Mike Trout and Kris Bryant were named the American and National League MVPs, begging a question: Does this mean that the Baseball Writers' Association of America will judge MVP candidates by different standards in the coming years? Both vote totals are a victory for the new-age sabermetrics statistic called WAR - wins above replacement. Although debatable about what it means, WAR tries to summarize a players' all-around ability in one number. Both second-place finishers - the Nationals'...

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Explaining my NL Cy Young Award ballot

November 16, 2016, 3:04pm

Nationals

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...

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On a boat in paradise, Scherzer celebrates another Cy Young win

November 16, 2016, 3:45pm

Nationals

On a boat in paradise, Scherzer celebrates another Cy Young win

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...

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Scherzer wins Washington's first-ever Cy Young Award

November 16, 2016, 1:24pm

Nationals

Scherzer wins Washington's first-ever Cy Young Award

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...

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How much payroll can the Nationals add this winter?

November 15, 2016, 7:06pm

Nationals

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,...

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Nationals right-hander Max Scherzer named 2016 National League Cy Young

November 16, 2016, 1:57pm

Nationals

Washington Nationals right-handed pitcher Max Scherzer was named the 2016 National League Cy Young Award winner on Wednesday night, in an announcement made by the Baseball Writers' Association of America on MLB Network. The award is the second Cy Young of Scherzer's career, his first in the National League. Scherzer, the 2013 American League Cy Young Award winner, is now just the sixth pitcher in major league history to win the award in both leagues. He joins Hall of Famers Gaylord Perry,...

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Baker finishes third in NL Manager of the Year vote, Roberts wins

November 15, 2016, 1:54pm

Nationals

Baker finishes third in NL Manager of the Year vote, Roberts wins

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...

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It's hard to argue with Roberts, Francona as Manager of the Year winners

November 16, 2016, 3:23am

Nationals Orioles

It's hard to argue with Roberts, Francona as Manager of the Year winners

The managers who win Manager of the Year awards are usually the guys that won - or at least contended - despite a list of problems. That's why the Dodgers' Dave Roberts won the Baseball Writers' Association of America award over the Cubs' Joe Maddon and the Nationals' Dusty Baker. Roberts had 16 first-place votes and 108 points. Maddon had eight first-place votes and 70 points, Baker four first-place votes and 66 points. Roberts led the Dodgers to the National League West title and 91...

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Could the Nationals pursue another big bat this winter?

November 14, 2016, 12:53pm

Nationals

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...

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Turner finishes second to Seager in Rookie of the Year voting

November 14, 2016, 11:14am

Nationals

Turner finishes second to Seager in Rookie of the Year voting

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...

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Your primer to this week's BBWAA award announcements

November 13, 2016, 7:49pm

Nationals

Your primer to this week's BBWAA award announcements

The season ended two weeks ago, free agents are beginning to sign with new clubs and every team around baseball is fully ensconced in reshaping rosters for 2017. But first, there's still one final task that must be completed before everyone can truly turn the page on the 2016 season: Hand out the major individual awards. That process will play out over the next four nights as the winners of the four awards given out by the Baseball Writers' Association of America are announced. It begins...

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Nationals' Spin Williams named Mike Coolbaugh Award winner

November 14, 2016, 9:22am

Nationals

Honoring his nearly 40 years of service to the game, Washington Nationals senior advisor, player development Donald "Spin" Williams was named Monday as the recipient of the ninth-annual Mike Coolbaugh Award by Minor League Baseball. The award, which was created in 2008 to honor the late Mike Coolbaugh, a professional player and coach, is presented annually to "an individual who has shown outstanding baseball work ethic, knowledge of the game, and skill in mentoring young players on the...

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Did Burnett earn a major league contract for 2017?

November 12, 2016, 5:04pm

Nationals

Did Burnett earn a major league contract for 2017?

As we transition into offseason mode here, we've been reviewing each significant player on the Nationals roster. We conclude today with Sean Burnett, who returned to D.C. in September and impressed. PLAYER REVIEW: SEAN BURNETT Age on opening day 2017: 34 How acquired: Purchased from the Twins, August 2016 MLB service time: 8 years, 116 days 2016 salary: $1 million Contract status: Free agent 2016 stats: 0-0, 3.18 ERA, 10 G, 0 SV, 0 BS, 5.2 IP, 5H, 2R, 2ER, 1HR, 1BB, 3SO, 0 HBP, 1.059 WHIP, 0.1...

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Nats, Cubs didn't meet in playoffs, but will battle for BBWAA awards this week

November 14, 2016, 4:55am

Nationals

Nats, Cubs didn't meet in playoffs, but will battle for BBWAA awards this week

The Nationals and Chicago Cubs didn't play in October as expected, but this week, representatives from the two teams will be at the center of the Baseball Writers' Association of America awards debate. The Cubs have finalists for three of the four BBWAA awards, including MVP, Cy Young and Manager of the Year. The Nats have finalists in all four BBWAA awards categories. Nationals starter Max Scherzer is the favorite to win the NL Cy Young Award, but two Cubs pitchers - Kyle Hendricks and...

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How prominent a role could Glover have in 2017 bullpen?

November 11, 2016, 11:00am

Nationals

How prominent a role could Glover have in 2017 bullpen?

As we transition into offseason mode here, we're reviewing each significant player on the Nationals roster. We continue today with Koda Glover, who surprisingly emerged from the minors as a power-armed reliever. PLAYER REVIEW: KODA GLOVER Age on opening day 2017: 23 How acquired: Eighth-round pick, 2015 draft MLB service time: 51 days 2016 salary: $507,500 Contract status: Under team control in 2017, arbitration-eligible in 2020, free agent in 2023 2016 stats: 2-0, 5.03 ERA, 19 G, 0 SV, 2 BS,...