The Washington Nationals And The MLB Hot Stove...If The Yankees Have A Problem With The Nationals, It Can Be Settled In June...

Are the Nationals Still Pursuing Swisher and Nady? Or Are The Yankees Asking For Too Much Like Everyone Else...?

It's undoubtedly indirect but NY Yankees' GM Brian Cashman does seem to confirm the fact that the Washington Nationals have expressed interest in New York's extra outfielders Xavier Nady and Nick Swisher, as New York Times' writer Tyler Kepler writes in an article today entitled, "Yankees Hearing Offers For Swisher and Nady", that the:

"...Cincinnati Reds, the San Francisco Giants, the Atlanta Braves and the Washington Nationals, among others have been linked to one player or another."

...and though Mr. Cashman, according to Mr. Kepner, never reveals the details of trade discussions, the NY GM, in Mr. Kepner's words, "...said most reports of interested teams have been accurate." (ed. note - "Mr. Cashman seems here, to have perfected the art of not really saying anything, it's actually impressive.") 

There's no talk of what the Nationals have actually offered though most of the Yankees blogs I've read think DC should just give them Lastings Milledge or Elijah Dukes...(ed. note - "Sure, why not just take a young pitcher too, NY has all the leverage here...?") 

Speaking of New York writers...Do you remember the NY Daily News' writer Bill Madden, whose article entitled, "Mark Teixeira saga drags on as Scott Boras looks for one dumb owner", back on 12/22/08 featured the memorable assessment that, as the Teixeira sweepstakes wore down:

"Indeed, the Nats' Ted Lerner more and more looks to be emerging as this year's prime candidate for the "One Dumb Owner" (in the mold of Texas' Tom Hicks) Boras always seems to bamboozle into onerous contracts they immediately come to regret."

Well, this weekend, Bill Madden, trots that gem out again in another article in the NY Daily News entitled, "No Manny Land: Ramirez can't find a team to pay him", in which Mr. Madden lists the Nationals as one of seven teams who have shown interest in the soon-to-be 37-year-old hard-hitting outfielder at some point this Winter, writing:

"NATIONALS: All along we thought they might be players for Manny in that he would fit in perfectly with some of the miscreants on this team...***...and Boras has a knack for making the newest owner on the block his one dumb owner.”

(ed. note - "To paraphrase the dyspeptic blue-collar workers at the lunch counter watching and commenting as Amy Archer tries, shamelessly, to draw the attention of Norville Barnes in the Coen Brothers' brilliant film, "The Hudsucker Proxy", "That gag's got whiskers on it, Mr. Madden.")

Alright, to be fair, even though Mr. Madden does pull out the "one dumb owner" quote again, (ed. note - "...which makes it seem almost personal"), Mr. Madden does end up concluding that, "...though the Nationals have done nothing to appease their increasingly disillusioned fan base this winter," even the Nationals realize that Manny makes little sense in the National League at his age and asking price...

Collin Balester's Going Green, Green, Green...

I was catching up on my reading when I came across Cheryl Nichols from the Nationals News Network's article entitled, "Collin Balester Goes Green", about a post on Collin Balester's Bally's Blog entitled, "Going Green" about Balester joining up with the group "We Play Green", in which Balester points out that, "Nationals Park is the only Green Stadium", in the league, which is kind of hard to believe...Both articles are good Sunday morning reads...

(ed. note - " *** = Down with sensational Dukes news)

eMb