nationals

A year later, a look at the Gio Gonzalez trade

February 05, 2013, 4:38am

Just a little over a year after being shipped out to Oakland as part of the Gio Gonzalez trade, Brad Peacock finds himself switching organizations yet again. Peacock, the former Nationals right-hander who was a key piece in the Gonzalez deal last January, was traded to the Astros last night in a five-player deal that will send infielder Jed Lowrie to the Athletics. The trade threw a minor wrench into Peacock's plans to make a cross-country drive from West Palm Beach, Fla. to Phoenix, where...

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Who has to step up?

February 04, 2013, 6:08am

Nationals

I sarcastically made enough comments about the Ravens and Nationals making the postseason every year that I covered them that I might as well take responsibility for what happened last night, as well. The year that I stop covering the Ravens, they win a Super Bowl. Call it the Reverse Kolko Factor. Now that the NFL season is over, there's nothing but time standing between us and the start of baseball season. I fly down to Viera, Fla., in just six days, and the first official workout for...

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Nats' minor league rosters slowly being filled in

February 04, 2013, 8:56am

Nationals

Nats' minor league rosters slowly being filled in

With spring training just around the corner, the makeup of the some of the minor league rosters are starting to take shape as names are quietly appearing on the Web sites of Nationals affiliates. For the Triple-A Syracuse Chiefs, pitchers Yunesky Maya, Jeff Mandel, Pat Lehman, Brad Meyers, Hassan Pena and Tanner Roark are familiar. Also on the list is right-hander Matt Torra. Torra, out of the University of Massachusetts, is 6-foot-3 and 225-lb. righty starter who made 26 appearances (23...

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Keith Law ranks Nats' farm system 21st in major leagues

February 04, 2013, 6:55am

Nationals

Keith Law ranks Nats' farm system 21st in major leagues

Given his druthers, Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo would prefer to build his club the old-fashioned way: through effective scouting and a well-honed farm system. But trades for the past two offseasons that yielded the Nats left-hander Gio Gonzalez from the A's and center fielder Denard Span from the Twins have left the Nats' farm system a tad barren past a handful of top prospects. In his annual ranking of minor league systems (subscription required), ESPN's Keith Law says the...

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Nationals relievers' acceptance of new roles key to matching Braves bullpen

February 02, 2013, 3:25am

Nationals

In 2012, the Nationals watched from their own division as the Atlanta Braves put together a final inning formula for shutting down opponents. With Eric O'Flaherty, Jonny Venters and Craig Kimbrel, the Braves had the seventh, eighth and ninth innings effectively extinguished for opposing hitters. And with the Braves' starting staff needing only to get through the sixth frame, the game was shortened to those 18 outs to start the game. Venters, with his sinkerball, pitched 45 of his 53 1/3...

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Zimmerman's move to first base a long way off

January 31, 2013, 4:50pm

Nationals

Zimmerman's move to first base a long way off

Nationals third baseman Ryan Zimmerman had four cortisone shots during the 2012 season as he battled inflammation in his right shoulder. Despite a slow start because of that aching shoulder, Zimmerman came on strong to finish with a .282 average, 25 homers and 95 RBIs. He also hit .381 in five games versus St. Louis in the National League Division Series. That critical third cortisone shot at Baltimore in late June turned his season around. Zimmerman underwent successful arthroscopic surgery...

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Weekly Wrap

January 31, 2013, 6:35pm

Nationals

If you attended this year's NatsFest, you were able to hear the latest offseason news and see your favorite Nationals players. Take a look at our albums here. At the event, we found out that Danny Espinosa played with a torn rotator cuff last season and that Bryce Harper declined an invitation to play for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic. Also, at NatsFest, Jayson Werth announced that he thinks the Nats are "the best team in baseball." Similarly, Ian Desmond said last week that he...

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Ted Leavengood: The long view with a short fuse

January 22, 2013, 11:01am

Nationals

Ted Leavengood: The long view with a short fuse

The fuse running toward the 2013 baseball season has three weeks left. And then the powder keg of anticipation that has built since Jayson's Werth's walk-off homer in the bottom of the ninth inning against the Cardinals will explode into the 2013 season. History always provides a good lens for viewing the present, and a century ago, at the end of January 1913, Walter Johnson was still working on the family farm in Kansas. Lifting hay bales and doing the chores around his father's farm made...

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Ted Leavengood: Heart and soul

February 01, 2013, 3:52am

Nationals

Nick Johnson finally hung up the spikes this week, according to MLBTradeRumors.com. Only 34, Johnson will be remembered as the backbone of the first Nationals team in 2005, and to those of us who wore his name proudly on the back of our first Nationals jerseys, he was the heart and soul of that team. The article highlights Johnson's ability to get on base, his "keen eye at the plate" that helped him achieve a "15.7% walk rate" that the article notes is "the 29th-highest mark of any...

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Out of options, Rivero faces long odds at cracking 25-man roster

January 29, 2013, 6:16pm

Nationals

Out of options, Rivero faces long odds at cracking 25-man roster

The Nationals' depth is evidenced by a bench that you would feel comfortable starting if the need arises. Guys like Chad Tracy, Steve Lombardozzi, Tyler Moore, Roger Bernadina and Kurt Suzuki (or Wilson Ramos) all can start, whether to give another starter a day off or as an injury replacement. One player trying to crack into that rotation is a still young and yet very experienced Carlos Rivero. The 24-year old right-handed-hitting third baseman had his best season as a pro in 2012 with...

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Linked to alleged PED supplier, Gio Gonzalez denies any usage (Nats issue statement)

January 29, 2013, 5:12am

Nationals

Linked to alleged PED supplier, Gio Gonzalez denies any usage (Nats issue statement)

A bombshell has been dropped on the Major League Baseball community this morning, as a report in the Miami New Times details a number of major league players who are linked to a Miami-area anti-aging clinic called Biogenesis, which allegedly supplied massive amounts of performance-enhancing drugs. Among those players is Nationals left-hander Gio Gonzalez, a Hialeah, Fla. native, who won 21 games last season and finished third in the National League Cy Young voting. Also named in the New Times...

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Few options from left side spotlight importance of Gonzalez (updated)

January 30, 2013, 4:52pm

Nationals

Few options from left side spotlight importance of Gonzalez (updated)

The Nationals do not want to have to go into their 2013 defense of the National League East crown without left-hander Gio Gonzalez. This week, however, Gonzalez's name was linked to a South Florida company that allegedly distributed performance-enhancing drugs to pro athletes. If, in a worst-case scenario, Gonzalez is suspended for any period of time, what kind of options do the Nationals have as a choice for a possible sixth starter? Free agents Javier Vazquez, Jonathan Sanchez, Joe...

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Nationals announce 2013 spring training broadcast schedule

January 31, 2013, 6:54am

Nationals

The Nationals have released their 2013 spring training broadcast schedule, which begins Feb. 24 against the Miami Marlins with a radio game on 106.7 The Fan. The first televised game is Feb. 28 on MASN as the Nationals battle the New York Mets. Five games will also be broadcast on CBS Sports Radio 1580 AM, the first on Feb. 26 in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., against the Atlanta Braves. MASN previously released its television schedule for spring training 2013. You can access that schedule here....

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Miami New Times releases images linking Gio Gonzalez to Biogenesis (updated)

January 30, 2013, 10:39am

Nationals

Miami New Times releases images linking Gio Gonzalez to Biogenesis (updated)

The Miami New Times has released images they obtained from the notebooks of Anthony Bosch, an alleged distributor of performance-enhancing drugs, images that appear to connect Gio Gonzalez and his father Max to Bosch and his anti-aging clinic, Biogenesis. The images show the five times that Gonzalez, a 21-game winner with the Nationals last season, appeared in Bosch's records, and the according to the New Times, all five references come from the notebook marked "2012". Gonzalez's name...

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Nationals announce spring training broadcast schedule

January 31, 2013, 9:54am

Nationals

Washington Nationals broadcast partners Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN) and 106.7 The Fan will broadcast a total of 13 Nationals Spring Training matchups throughout the weeks leading up to the start of the 2013 regular season. The Nationals 2013 Grapefruit League schedule features six games televised by MASN and five games airing on 106.7 The Fan, with five broadcasts on partner station CBS Sports Radio 1580. In addition, ESPN will broadcast the Nationals-New York Mets contest from Viera,...

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What's next for Gio Gonzalez? (with spring training note)

January 30, 2013, 4:21am

Nationals

What's next for Gio Gonzalez? (with spring training note)

When I woke up yesterday morning, my initial intention was to lead off my morning blog entry writing a couple lines about Nationals infield prospect Cutter Dykstra and former "The Sopranos" actress Jamie-Lynn Sigler getting engaged. Then something slightly (just slightly) more important went down. Yesterday's news that six major leaguers had been linked to an anti-aging clinic called Biogenesis that was heavily involved in the dealing of performance-enhancing drugs shocked the baseball...

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Baseball just can't shed controversy surrounding PEDs

January 30, 2013, 8:36am

Nationals Orioles

Baseball just can't shed controversy surrounding PEDs

As spring training nears, the question has to be asked: Would it be spring training without a performance-enhancing drugs controversy? Major League Baseball and the federal government are investigating a clinic in South Florida that links several players, including the Nationals' Gio Gonzalez and the Yankees' Alex Rodriguez, to possible use of PEDs, but depending on the evidence, baseball could be in a difficult position. It would be difficult to suspend players without a positive drug test....

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Desmond feels he "just scratched the surface last year"

January 28, 2013, 5:16am

Nationals

Desmond feels he "just scratched the surface last year"

Entering spring training, every Nationals player - every player in the major leagues, for that matter - has the same goal for 2013. That goal is to be holding the World Series trophy at the end of the year. Pretty simple stuff, really. Nothing too groundbreaking. Beyond that, however, there are individual goals that many players set for themselves, goals that, if accomplished, will help their team get closer to the overarching goal of winning a World Series title. Ian Desmond goes into the...

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Twins, July 4 against Brewers and series vs. Dodgers highlight Nats' June, July home games

January 29, 2013, 3:16am

Nationals

Twins, July 4 against Brewers and series vs. Dodgers highlight Nats' June, July home games

June and July are the heart of baseball season, as the weather is really optimal. A lot of memories of baseball games gone by are from those summer games and the Nationals have another great summertime schedule. The Mets arrive for three games from June 4-6, all at 7:05 p.m. The first weekend series of June will be the arrival of Denard Span's former team, the Twins, June 7-9. The game on Saturday, June 8, is a 4:05 p.m. start. After a road trip to Denver, Cleveland and Philadelphia, the...

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Odds and ends from NatsFest

January 26, 2013, 12:10pm

Nationals

NatsFest is over. At least I'm pretty sure it is. The media work area in Salon D is windowless and removed from where all the action was earlier this afternoon. But a lot of the ushers and greeters and helpers have been parading through the adjacent room, and that's a sure sign the paying customers have departed with a bunch of new curly W merchandise and Nationals memories to tide them over until spring training starts in a few weeks. Before I head over to a happy hour at Bobby Van's...