Washington Nationals: Jason Marquis, Joel Piniero and Jon Garland?

To hear FOXSports.com's Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi tell it, the Washington Nationals, "...remain intent on adding two starting pitchers before Opening Day," and according to an unnamed "major league source", the Nationals, "...would prefer that at least one of them be a No. 2 starter or better." The names Mr.'s Rosenthal and Morosi mention in an update of, "Buzz: Latest from the MLB offseason", subtitled, "NL East rotation after Doc's arrival", will not surprise members of the DC Faithful who've been following new DC GM Mike Rizzo's attempts to add veteran depth to a young starting staff:

"Among the names presently on their list: Joel Pineiro, Jon Garland and Jason Marquis, in no particular order."

Newark Star-Ledger sports writer Brian Costa wrote about the state of the NY Mets' search for starting pitching today too, in an article (laboriously) entitled, "After losing season, NY Mets face bigger challenge in luring top free agents", which is all about the pall that a 72-90 '09 campaign has cast on the Mets' franchise when combined with a power-draining mistake of a new ballpark. (ed. note - "Is that too harsh? It is better than Shea? Whatever...") Mr. Costa notes that the Mets, having been snubbed by John Lackey, and are facing the realization that they are, "No longer...the prime destination for free agents," that they have been in previous seasons, which leaves them competing with the likes of the Nationals for available free agent talent. (ed. note - "I wrote that last part, not Mr. Costa.")

FOXSports.com's Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi write that, "...the Mets still view Pineiro and Marquis as options to upgrade their rotation," but New York is negotiating with Jason Bay first, with the talks turning "serious" according to the latest reports. Piniero, a 31-year-old right-handed former Mariners, Red Sox (for a minute) and Cardinals' starter, is said to be seeking a four-year deal by a separate source of the FOXSports.com writers, who also report that Marquis is looking for a "two-or-three year deal." 

The Nationals openly expressed interest in Jon Garland in the first week of December, with DC GM Mike Rizzo telling Washington Post writer Chico Harlan, in a Nationals Journal post entitled, "Garland, Willingham, Bruney, PTBNL, Flores", that Washington was intent on pursuing the 30-year-old righty, "'Yeah, we have interest in Jon Garland,' he said. 'We've had it the whole time. He's one of the 10 names we've been talking about throughout the whole winter.'" MLB.com's writer Bill Ladson talked to Jason Marquis recently, and he told Mr. Ladson in an article entitled, "Marquis interested in Nationals", that he'd be interested in signing with Washington, though he's also admitted an interest in pitching in New York...Piniero's intentions, in terms of a destination, are as yet unstated.