Fister on joining Nats: "There's a lot of excitement for me"

Fister on joining Nats: "There's a lot of excitement for me"
Since July 2011, Doug Fister has been with the Detroit Tigers, a team that made the postseason in each of the last three years and made it to the World Series in 2012. He's built friendships there and has pitched in a strong starting rotation. The 29-year-old is now eager to have some of those same experiences in D.C. Fister found out last night that he had been traded to the Nationals, who will now be his third organization in six major league seasons. Both he and fellow Tigers right-hander...

Nats trade Abad to Athletics for minor leaguer Wooten (Robertson outrighted)

Nats trade Abad to Athletics for minor leaguer Wooten (Robertson outrighted)
The Nationals and Athletics have collaborated on a trade yet again. This time, the Nats are sending left-handed reliever Fernando Abad to Oakland for minor league outfielder John Wooten, a source confirms. MLB Network's Peter Gammons was first to report the trade. Abad was designated for assignment by the Nationals last week, giving the team 10 days to trade or release Abad, or assign him to the minor leagues if he cleared waivers. By sending Abad to the A's, the Nats got back Wooten, a...

Saying bye-a to Maya

Saying bye-a to Maya
The Nationals officially cut ties with Yunesky Maya this weekend, releasing the right-hander who general manager Mike Rizzo viewed as a top-of-the-rotation type of starter when he signed the Cuban defector to a four-year, $6 million deal in 2010. Maya's release was first reported by Baseball America's Matt Eddy. This move ends the Nationals' experiment with the 32-year-old righty, a guy who the Nats trumpeted as a major international signing a little more than three years ago. Maya had...

This is 40: Sammy Solis

This is 40: Sammy Solis
Left-hander Sammy Solis was back. He had recovered from Tommy John surgery. He was pitching again in the game he loved. But something still wasn't quite right. And he was starting to get nervous. "It was one day at a time," Solis said on his May return to high Single-A Potomac. "Every day was different with my arm. One day, it would feel great, the next day it was like, 'Oh, my. Do I need surgery again?' The biggest thing on field to overcome was just my arm tightening up between every...

A glimpse into just how dominant Tyler Clippard was this season

A glimpse into just how dominant Tyler Clippard was this season
We're all aware of how good Tyler Clippard has been since joining the Nationals in the trade that sent Clippard to D.C. and Jonathan Albaladejo to the Yankees. Fairly lopsided deal there, huh? Wonder how the Yanks are feeling about that one. In his five years with the Nats, Clippard has appeared in 337 games (an average of 67 per season) and pitched to a 2.72 ERA with a 1.036 WHIP and 10.3 strikeouts per nine innings. Yeah, decent numbers. This season, however, Clippard was so good that...

Nationals announce front office promotions

Nationals announce front office promotions
In the wake of former assistant general manager and vice president of player personnel Roy Clark leaving the Nationals to join the Dodgers, the Nats announced a host of front office promotions today, highlighted by Doug Harris and Kris Kline both being named assistant general managers. Harris, who has spent the last four seasons overseeing the Nats' farm system, will now have the official title of assistant general manager and vice president of player development. Harris was a fourth-round...

Going over all of yesterday's happenings

Going over all of yesterday's happenings
Yesterday turned interesting in a hurry, huh? At first, we just had a run-of-the-mill offseason day, with teams quietly making tweaks to their 40-man rosters ahead of the midnight deadline to do so. The Nationals added Sammy Solis, Michael Taylor and Aaron Barrett to their 40-man roster and designated left-handers Fernando Abad and Tyler Robertson for assignment, leaving them with a full 40-man roster. Then, minutes later, I had a bunch of people in my Twitter timeline talking about how...

Nats hire Bob Henley as third base coach

Nats hire Bob Henley as third base coach
Needing a new third base coach, the Nationals have decided to promote from within, and have hired Bob Henley for the position. Henley has previously served as the Nationals' minor league field coordinator. The 40-year-old Henley has been with the Nationals/Expos organization for the last 11 years. He managed the Nationals' Gulf Coast League affiliate in 2009 and led that team to the GCL title, and has also managed high Single-A Potomac. Henley has been the Nats' minor league field...

Eating Right: Nationals have made nutrition a top priority

Eating Right: Nationals have made nutrition a top priority
The Nationals recently completed their first strength and conditioning camp for prospects at their training facility in Viera, Fla. As I reported earlier, this camp was administered by the Nationals' strength coaches and personnel and was focused on preparing prospects for their individualized offseason conditioning regimen. A major factor in this camp was the importance of nutrition for each prospect, re-emphasizing the standards the organization set for its 250 players during the season...

Roy Clark leaves Nationals for Dodgers

Roy Clark leaves Nationals for Dodgers
A day after losing their third base coach, the Nationals have lost a key member of their front office. Roy Clark, who has served as assistant general manager and vice president of player personnel for the last four years, has left the organization to take a position with the Dodgers, according to ESPN.com's Keith Law. Update: A source with knowledge of the situation has confirmed that Clark is leaving the Nationals and that he is indeed joining the Dodgers. In Los Angeles, Clark will...

Jewett joins Mariners (updated)

Jewett joins Mariners (updated)
It turns out that new Nationals manager Matt Williams might need to tweak his coaching staff a little more than we originally thought. The Nats have granted permission for third base coach Trent Jewett to interview for the Mariners' bench coach position under new manager Lloyd McClendon, according to FOXSports.com's Ken Rosenthal. Jewett was expected to return to the Nats as third base coach, but when McClendon was hired as the new skipper in Seattle, Jewett's name immediately began being...

Taking a look at the latest Nats rumor

Taking a look at the latest Nats rumor
Just a couple of days after Denard Span was named the Nationals' recipient of the Wilson Defensive Player of the Year award, there's a report that the Nats might be open to trading their speedy center fielder. According to CBSsports.com's Jon Heyman, officials from competing teams say that the Nats "appear willing" to listen to offers for Span, who hit .279/.327/.380 this season and was a finalist for a Gold Glove this season after going the entirety of the 2013 campaign without allowing...

Lookin' at some lefties

Lookin' at some lefties
General manager Mike Rizzo has admitted that he erred when he decided to put just one left-hander in the Nationals bullpen going into the start of the 2013 season. Rizzo and the Nationals looked around for left-handed relievers last winter, but instead of adding a new face or retaining Sean Burnett, Michael Gonzalez or Tom Gorzelanny, they opted to break camp with starter-turned-reliever Zach Duke as their lone southpaw in the 'pen. That didn't exactly work out as planned. Duke pitched to...

Ian Desmond wins second straight Silver Slugger award (updated)

Ian Desmond wins second straight Silver Slugger award (updated)
For the second straight season, Ian Desmond has been selected as the top offensive shortstop in the National League by managers and coaches. Desmond won the 2013 Silver Slugger Award among NL shortstops after hitting .280 with a .331 on-base percentage, a .453 slugging percentage, 20 home runs and 80 RBIs this season. Desmond beat out the Rockies' Troy Tulowkitzki, the Dodgers' Hanley Ramirez and the Brewers' Jean Segura for the award. Desmond led all National League shortstops in total...

Some of this, some of that

Some of this, some of that
After being fired by the Nationals mid-way through the 2013 season, Rick Eckstein has found himself a new gig. Eckstein has been hired by the Angels as an assistant hitting coach who will also serve as an advance scout and liaison to the minor leagues, according to the Los Angeles Times. Essentially, he'll be the seventh coach in the dugout. Eckstein had been the Nationals' hitting coach since 2008, but general manager Mike Rizzo fired Eckstein in July with the Nats possessing a 48-50...

Starting to look at a couple more starters

Starting to look at a couple more starters
As I mentioned yesterday, the Nationals did not issue a qualifying offer to either of their two free agents this offseason - Dan Haren or Chad Tracy. Again, no surprise there. Nine major league teams did issue qualifying offers to a total of 13 free agents yesterday, however, meaning we will see a bunch of guys hit the free agent market with their value being affected by the draft pick compensation that is now attached to them. The Red Sox and Yankees both issued three qualifying offers, and...

What's on tap for today and a free agent to watch

What's on tap for today and a free agent to watch
Remember when the Nationals shipped David DeJesus to the Rays in August just four days after they had acquired the veteran outfielder from the Cubs, and Nats general manager Mike Rizzo said that he'd be open to reuniting with DeJesus this offseason should he hit the free agent market? Yeah, that won't be happening. The Rays have reportedly picked up DeJesus' $6.5 million option for 2014 and are working on a new two-year deal, according to the Tampa Bay Times, keeping the friendly, speedy,...

Rizzo discusses the Matt Williams hire

Rizzo discusses the Matt Williams hire
General manager Mike Rizzo will introduce Matt Williams to the Washington media and Nationals fans tomorrow at 2 p.m. live on MASN HD. But this afternoon, Rizzo hopped on a conference call with reporters to discuss his hire of Williams as the Nats' next manager. Rizzo said that the Nationals had "a number of highly qualified candidates" inquire about their managerial opening in the last few weeks. But in the end, the organization went with the 47-year-old Williams, a five-time All-Star...

Will the Nats be taking home any hardware?

Will the Nats be taking home any hardware?
Fans didn't have a say in how the Rawlings Gold Glove Award voting turned out, but if you'd like, you can place your vote for what's called the

Span, Desmond come up short in Gold Glove voting

Span, Desmond come up short in Gold Glove voting
The Nationals will not have a Gold Glove winner this season. Center fielder Denard Span and shortstop Ian Desmond, both named as finalists for Rawlings Gold Glove Awards at their respective positions, came up short in the voting. It was announced tonight on ESPN2 that Milwaukee's Carlos Gomez won the Gold Glove for best defensive National League center fielder, while Atlanta's Andrelton Simmons took home the award among NL shortstops. It's the first Gold Glove award for both...