I submitted two questions to Washington Times' writer Ben Goessling's "Live Nats Chat" Friday afternoon, asking first if he had any sense at the recently-concluded Winter Meetings that free agent pitchers were seriously considering the Nationals as a destination and then inquiring about the status of one pitcher already on the DC roster whose name surprised me recently when it was brought up as an option for the 2010 Nationals' staff. 

• Check out the Full Chat Transcript HERE.

• If you aren't following Washington Times' Writers Ben Goessling and Mark Zuckerman on Twitter, you should be:

Twitter.com/washtimesbb

My two questions and the answers from Mr. Goessling after the JUMP...

Federal Baseball (FB): Did you get any feeling about whether free agent pitchers are considering DC as an option at the Winter Meetings?

washtimesbb: I didn't hear anybody say anything definitively, but my guess is, the Nats will have to pay a bit of a premium for anybody they sign. I'd assume any of the second-tier guys (Garland, Padilla, Marquis, Pineiro) will go for between $30-$36 million over three years.

FB: What was the last you heard about Matt Chico? I was somewhat shocked when Rizzo mentioned him a little while back as an option?

washtimesbb: You know, I kind of was, too. I don't see how he's better than most of the young guys they have (Balester, Mock, Stammen,  Detwiler, Martis, etc.). But he has pitched a full major-league season, so I think he scores points for that. I think ultimately he could be the long guy they want in the bullpen.