PROSPECT WATCH...

If you haven't been following along, it's not too late to start before MLB.com announces their list of the Top 10 Prospects in Baseball. They've already counted down from 50 to 21, and tomorrow, 12/4/08, numbers 20-11 will be unveiled, with the #'s 10-1 on 12/5...And in case you were wondering, MLB.com is 29 prospects into their list, and they haven't named one Washington Nationals' prospect yet...I'm sure one of DC's guys was #51...

Puerto Rican Winter League...

Justin Maxwell settled for a single in four at bats as the Criollos de Caguas dropped an 8-6 decision to Leones de Ponce. Maxwell K's twice, which, according to his MLB.com profile, makes 25 K's in 66 Puerto Rican League AB's...Maxwell's teammate, and fellow DC prospect, left-handed bat, Garrett Guzman, was 1 for 4 with a double, his sixth, and an RBI, his twelfth, in 19 games, over which he's hit for a .318 AVG, .375 OBP, .530 SLG, .905 OBP...

Down In The D.W.L..

The Tigres del Licey lost 10-4 to Aguilas Cibaenas in Estadio Cibao, where the home team scored 9 runs in the first three innings and then cruised to a win. Anderson Hernandez, starting at second and hitting there too for the Tigres, went 1 for 4 with a K and a .370 AVG at the end of the evening. Ronnie Belliard, practicing at third to take on Zimmerman this Spring, was 2 for 4 with a run scored, a K, and a .333 AVG after the game. Nelson Figueroa, who pitched at least part of the season in New York with the Mets last year, was able to earn the "W" for Aguilas Cibaenas, improving to (3-0) this winter...(ed. note - What?...I'm not gonna make a softball girls joke? Nope. Not gonna do it..."Here we go, Lasto, here we go!!<clapclap>!!")

(ed. note - "I couldn't wait up for the Tigres del Licey game to end last night, but luckily Anderson Hernandez was awake and around to hit a sac fly to score the winning run, when his Tigres' teammate, and Angels' infielder, Erick Aybar, (who took advantage of the extra AB's to hit for the cycle), scored from third after completing the cycle with an 18th-inning triple.")

Sports Illustrated Mentions Nationals In Tex Talk...

I started scanning the most recent issue of Sports Illustrated for any mention of Washington's Nationals, and I quickly flipped through all the college football news and arrived at Lee Jenkins' Inside Baseball article entitled, "Tex, Inc.", where Mr. Jenkins quotes the free agent first baseman Mark Teixeira's agent Scott "Maximum" Boras calling Teixeira the "ideal client" because of his knowledge of the market and his own value in it, and Mr. Jenkins actually mentions the Washington Nationals as he discusses possible destinations for the 28-year-old switch hitter, writing that:

"The Orioles and the Nationals are holding out hope that sentiment figures somewhere in Teixeira's current negotiations...But both teams are expected to bid on Teixeira, right along with the Angels and the Red Sox." 

-- (ed. note - "I know I've been having a bit of fun with the Teixeira talk, but wouldn't it be nice if for once the Washington Nationals shocked the world? The Expos never did, except for the shock of the Bartolo Colon trade...but that wasn't the good sort of shock...Shock the World next week, Bowden. DC fans, maybe most of all...")

...and last, because it hurts a bit, here's ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick's article entitled, "Nationals Still Searching For Identity", where Mr. Crasnick quotes someone he identifies as "an agent for a prominent free agent" who wonders aloud about the Nationals' free agent aspirations, and punches a big hole in the Teixeira/hometown discount talk, asking:

"'Where are the resources within the organization that could allow them to do these things?...Let's say it's Teixeira and a $20-million-a year deal-plus. Where do they get $20 million to all of a sudden add to the payroll? I don't care if you get all of Severna Park to come see him.'"

If you're already down on DC's Nationals, you might want to avoid Mr. Crasnick's article, because, though it points out a few positives, like the play of Lastings Milledge, Jesus Flores, John Lannan and the Washington bullpen, as well as the impending selection of Stephen Strasburg with the #1 pick in '09, the article does kind of hit all the sour notes of the franchise's recent history, and anyone who just lived through the 102-loss '08 campaign might not want to relive it...

The Winter Meetings Are Less Than A Week Away...The Nationals have to do something...When will it happen?