Soriano hurting, pushed back to Saturday (plus Rivero, Duke, Kimball notes)

Soriano hurting, pushed back to Saturday (plus Rivero, Duke, Kimball notes)
VIERA, Fla. - Closer Rafael Soriano, less than a day removed from a root canal to treat an infected wisdom tooth, will not pitch as scheduled today against the Tigers. "He's recovering from a long day in the dentist's chair. ... He'll be pitching tomorrow," manager Davey Johnson said. "Talking to him earlier today, he's not feeling ready to go." Johnson said the delay won't affect his plans to pitch Soriano in back-to-back games by the end of spring training. While Soriano's a lock...

Nationals ink J.C. Romero to minor league deal with invite to big league camp

Nationals ink J.C. Romero to minor league deal with invite to big league camp
VIERA, Fla. - The Nationals' search for left-handed relief help has taken them in a familiar direction. This morning, the club signed veteran J.C. Romero to a minor league deal with an invitation to the final days of big league spring training. The Nationals scouted Romero during his recent stint with the Puerto Rican entry in the World Baseball Classic, where he worked to a 3.86 ERA in five games and demonstrated improved velocity. "We're going to give J.C. an opportunity to see if he can...

Rizzo discusses Young signing (with Saturday's travel roster)

Rizzo discusses Young signing (with Saturday's travel roster)
VIERA, Fla. - It's not hard to spot Chris Young, so when I walked past the trainer's room a bit earlier and saw a 6-foot-10 figure to my right, I knew the newest Nationals pitcher had arrived in camp. Young, who the Nats signed to a minor league deal yesterday, will throw a bullpen session for the Nationals today and then the team will decide where he's at in his throwing program and how best to utilize him over the next couple of weeks. For now, general manager Mike Rizzo is just happy to...

Rizzo on Garcia's role, Skole's progress, Rodriguez's health

Rizzo on Garcia's role, Skole's progress, Rodriguez's health
VIERA, Fla. - Is Christian Garcia a starter? Is the promising 27-year-old a reliever? No one knows at this point, not even Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo or manager Davey Johnson. The Nationals' decision makers are coming into this spring with an open mind on Garcia, letting how the righty pitches and how their pitching staff is constructed steer their decision on how Garcia will be used. "We know he can do both, and that's an important thing," Rizzo said early this afternoon....

Soriano impresses in first bullpen session as a National

Soriano impresses in first bullpen session as a National
VIERA, Fla. - This was Rafael Soriano's first bullpen session since arriving at Nationals camp on Saturday, so he wasn't about to overdo it. Soriano took part in some long toss as the Nationals' pitchers warmed up at the start of their workout, then chatted with manager Davey Johnson and pitching coach Steve McCatty, the three men discussing how heavy a workload to give Soriano early in camp. The 33-year-old righty then took a mound about midway down the bullpen 10-pack, two mounds away...

Strasburg to start Nats' spring opener (plus Ramos note)

Strasburg to start Nats' spring opener (plus Ramos note)
VIERA, Fla. - The Nationals' Grapefruit League opener is now just five days away, and while pitchers haven't started throwing live batting practice yet, manager Davey Johnson already knows who his starter for the spring opener will be. Stephen Strasburg will get the ball Saturday, as the Nationals head to Port St. Lucie to take on the Mets in their first Grapefruit League game of the year. The Nationals' spring home opener against the Marlins, which is Sunday, will be started by Jordan...

No sign of Rafael Soriano at Nationals camp (updated twice)

No sign of Rafael Soriano at Nationals camp (updated twice)
VIERA, Fla. - Nationals pitchers and catchers are getting ready to take the fields for their first official workout of spring. All of them, that is, except for Rafael Soriano, who has not yet been seen at Nats camp. The deadline for pitchers and catchers to report was midnight Tuesday. Soriano's locker has clearly not been touched since it was assembled by the Nationals' clubhouse staff, and his parking pass still sits on the bottom ledge of the locker. Despite inquiries, team officials...

Early reports positive on Espinosa's shoulder

Early reports positive on Espinosa's shoulder
VIERA, Fla. - A fairly quiet day at Space Coast Stadium is winding to a close, as players and coaches who spent much of the morning getting physicals have pretty much all rolled out for the day. In addition to the final group of pitchers reporting to the Nationals' facilities, we also saw a few more position players arrive today. Center fielder Denard Span, infielder Chad Tracy, first basemen Tyler Moore and Chris Marrero, outfielder Corey Brown and infielder Will Rhymes all checked in two...

Rizzo: Gonzalez's situation doesn't intensify search for a starter

Rizzo: Gonzalez's situation doesn't intensify search for a starter
VIERA, Fla. - We spoke to Gio Gonzalez yesterday about his involvement with Biogenesis, the anti-aging clinic that allegedly supplied performance-enhancing drugs to major league players. Today, we talked to Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo about Gonzalez and his future. Because of Major League Baseball's ongoing investigation into Biogenesis and Tony Bosch, who ran the clinic, Rizzo couldn't say too much on Gonzalez and the Nats' plans for their star lefty. Rizzo did say, however, that...

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

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...

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

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...

Mark Lerner: "We're going to the World Series this year"

Mark Lerner: "We're going to the World Series this year"
NatsFest is under way at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, and it didn't take long for fans to start cheering. At a "State of the Nationals" forum for season ticket holders featuring principal owner Mark Lerner and general manager Mike Rizzo, Lerner drew loud applause by proclaiming, "We're going to the World Series this year." There's little doubt that has been the focus since the Nationals' disheartening loss to the Cardinals in Game 5 of the National League Division Series...

A chance for Moore to do more

A chance for Moore to do more
Ladies and gentlemen,

Soriano move affects other bullpen arms

Soriano move affects other bullpen arms
Before I delve into some Nationals talk, indulge me as I drop a quick Ravens statistic for anyone who might have followed me over from that beat last year. Joe Flacco has thrown for 853 yards with eight touchdowns and zero interceptions in the postseason. He's outplayed Peyton Manning and Tom Brady the last two weeks, and this is the second season in a row in which he's gone into Gillette Stadium and played well enough to get his team to the Super Bowl. Pay the man. Sorry, had to get that...

Managing the expectations

Managing the expectations
Davey Johnson and Bryce Harper were in New York last night to receive some hardware. Back in the U.S. after a lengthy trip to Africa with his wife, Johnson was presented with his National League Manager of the Year award, and Harper was given his NL Rookie of the Year at the New York Baseball Writers' Association Dinner. Here are the dapper Harper making their acceptance speeches. Harper sure can rock a tux. I wrote a few weeks ago about how the Nationals will have to adjust to being the...

Breaking down why the Nats remain high on A.J. Cole

Breaking down why the Nats remain high on A.J. Cole
At Thursday's press conference at Nationals Park, Nats general manager Mike Rizzo said he feels "very fortunate" to have gotten the package that he did in return for Michael Morse, who was under contract for only one more season. That package consisted of right-handed prospects A.J. Cole and Blake Treinen, and a player to be named later, who will be selected from a list of a couple of guys the Nationals and Athletics agreed upon. Cole is the big name in the group acquired from the A's, a...

Rizzo: Soriano will close, Nats still confident in Storen

Rizzo: Soriano will close, Nats still confident in Storen
The Nationals introduced their new right-handed reliever, Rafael Soriano, at Nats Park this evening, and while general manager Mike Rizzo was quick to say that he still thinks highly of Drew Storen, he left no doubt as to who the Nats plan on utilizing as their closer. "Suffice it to say, Raffy is here to pitch the ninth," Rizzo said. "He has done it successfully everywhere he has been and we expect him to continue that." The Nats agreed to terms Tuesday with Soriano to a two-year, $28...

Rizzo on getting Cole back and saying goodbye to Morse

Rizzo on getting Cole back and saying goodbye to Morse
Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo, speaking during Rafael Soriano's introductory press conference, said he was excited to be able to get a talent like right-hander A.J. Cole back in the organization. Rizzo said the deal to get a prospect like Cole, and right-hander Blake Treinen, would not have been possible by just talking to the Seattle Mariners. In his discussions with Seattle, he was able to get the Oakland A's involved, and that is how Cole, Treinen and a player to be named were...

Morse, Nats both benefited from slugger's time in D.C. (programming update)

Morse, Nats both benefited from slugger's time in D.C. (programming update)
Michael Morse joined the Nationals organization on June 28, 2009, coming over from the Mariners in return for outfielder Ryan Langerhans. At the time, Morse had just 300 major league at-bats under his belt, having struck out 65 times and had hit just three home runs and in his brief big league tenure. He was a 27-year-old without a set position, a guy who broke into the major leagues as a shortstop despite the fact that he was 6-foot-5 and didn't have great quickness. Morse leaves the...

Examining all aspects of the Soriano signing

Examining all aspects of the Soriano signing
If you missed Bryce Harper's appearance on "Jimmy Kimmel Live" last night, you also missed Kimmel's first "clown question" reference coming four seconds after Harper walked out on stage. No, seriously. I'm not kidding. Kimmel's according to former Nats general manager Jim Bowden) to bring in a guy who doesn't fulfill a specific need for you? And why do it when it didn't appear that Boras, Soriano's über-confident agent, had many other teams interested in the 33-year-old...