The Washington Nationals And The MLB Hot Stove: I Wonder How Many Remaining Free Agents Are On The List?

Olsen and Nationa...A-Rod, A-Rod, A-Rod

But First, Federalbaseball.com presents: A-Rant...

Last winter it was the Mitchell Report, which was released on December 13, 2007, three days after free agent catcher Paul Lo Duca signed with Washington. So he wasn't known as former Marlins', Mets', or Dodgers' catcher Paul Lo Duca, but Nationals' catcher Paul Lo Duca when his name appeared on the Mitchell Report's list of players who had, at one time or another, used performance enhancing drugs. Lo Duca chose to admit that he had, saying it was a mistake, he was sorry, he'd never do it again, he was really sorry, and it was basically forgiven/forgotten, and we, as fans, if I may speak for you for a moment, were given a whole list of different reasons to dislike the diminutive veteran C/LF/1B. (ed. note - "...who was eventually cast aside to make room for DC's favorite backstop, Jesus Flores.")

This year it's A-Rod. A-Rod and 103 others apparently, all 104 of them having submitted supposedly anonymous samples to a company that ended up being raided in the Balco investigation, with said samples found not destroyed, as was the agreement, but conveniently catalogued and preserved, or at least that's what they keep repeating on the tv, or the radio, and in print, online and in the papers. (Yes, I read newspapers. Happy? (mumbles)...grumpy old MSM?) 

SI.com's Selena Roberts and David Epstein's article entitled, "Sources tell SI Alex Rodriguez tested positive for steroids in 2003", which broke the story, is going to end up being the catalyst for yet another "Mitchell Report" when the inevitable investigation into all this drama comes to an end. Who is going to be the first player to take legal action when their name comes out on the bound-to-be-leaked list? Aren't you glad we can all hear about this instead of the start of Spring Training? (ed. note - "Pitchers and catchers report on 2/14/09.")

(ed. note - "Are you, like me, wondering how many of the 'I-can't-believe-they-haven't -signed-yet' free agents are going to appear on the new list of 103 so-far-unidentified players who submitted what were jokingly referred to as "anonymous" samples, though as David Segui, an admitted PED user told Ed Randall on Talkin' Baseball this past Saturday, (paraphrasing here), he had signed his name next to a number that identified his sample so any idea of anonymity was laughable...")

What are we all going to learn from this? Nothing. We'll learn that everyone knew that these players were on steroids, just like writers, fans, owners and fellow players knew about the last group of publicly shamed major leaguers. Records are now fairly meaningless, unless those of admitted users are wiped from the books. Standards have been set that might not be "naturally" attainable. One greedy generation has wiped away years of history. Alright, what else is going on...

Washington Nationals Sign Scott Olsen Before They Lose Another Arbitration Case.

Saturday, Shawn Hill came out on the winning end of his arbitration showdown with the Washington Nationals. Sunday it was left-handed starter Scott Olsen and the Washington Nationals avoiding arbitration by agreeing on what Olsen describes as a "very fair number" in Washington Post writer Chico Harlan's Nationals Journal post entitled, "Olsen signs for $2.8 Million, Avoids arbitration". Olsen had asked for $3.5 million, instead, this year he'll only earn $2,395,000 more than the $405,000 he got last year from the Florida Marlins...$200,000 more than Daniel Cabrera, who signed for $2.6 million...

Only Ryan Zimmerman and Josh Willingham left to go on the Arbitration front...Will they get to the arbitration table? 

Tigres del Licey Fail To Defend Carribean Series Title...

The Tigres del Licey ended their participation in the Caribbean Series Saturday night with a 4-2 win over the the Mexican entry in the Series, the Venados de Mazatlan. Anderson Hernandez and Ronnie Belliard were held hitless, with Hernandez's 0 for 4 dropping his AVG to .050 in the CS, and Belliard's 0 for 4 leaving him with a .227 AVG after six games played. Ricardo Nanita? Nanita started in right and was 1 for 4 with a run scored and a walk and a .308 AVG in the same six games. The Venezuelan League's Tigres de Aragua finish 5-1 to claim the '09 Caribbean Series. The next time you see Anderson Hernandez or Ronnie Belliard, it'll be Spring Training and they'll be battling it out for second base...

(ed. note - "Please let there be some big news tomorrow that overshadows this nonsense, or I won't be able to listen to talk radio all day...")