Washington Nationals: Winter League/40-Man Roster Updates.

40-Man Roster Updates: While 22-year-old '06 1st Round pick Chris Marrero was playing first and batting third for the Leones de Ponce in the Liga de Beisbol Profesional de Puerto Rico Friday night, the Washington Nationals added the potential future Nats' first baseman to the 40-Man roster along with 25-year-old '06 12th Round pick, right-hander Cole Kimball, and another righty, 26-year-old '06 18th Round pick Adam Carr, both of whom complete their stints in the Arizona Fall League following Saturday's AFL Championship game. In order to make room on the 40-Man Roster, 22-year-old right-hander Juan Jaime was placed on waivers and then fairly quickly claimed by the Arizona Diamondbacks. Jaime, an international free agent signed by Washington in 2006, pitched in the Dominican Summer League ('06-'07), Gulf Coast League (2008), the New York Penn League with the Vermont Lake Monsters and Class-A South Atlantic League with the Hagerstown Suns (2009) before undergoing Tommy John surgery which cost him the entire 2010 season...

Marrero, who was 1 for 4 with a run scored in last night's 2-1 Leones' loss to the Liga de Beisbol Profesional de Puerto Rico's Criollos de Cagua, raised his Winter League average to .324 (24 for 74) in 19 games in which the first baseman, playing alongside Nats' second baseman Danny Espinosa, has a .373 OBP, .387 SLG, 4 doubles, 14 RBI's, 7 walks and 2 stolen bases following a 2010 season with Double-A Harrisburg in which he was picked as an Eastern League All-Star after posting a .294/.350/.450 slash line in 141 games for the Senators, finishing among the Eastern League’s leaders with 154 hits, (4th overall), 236 total bases (5th) and 82 RBI (tied for 9th). Espinosa, who played at Double-A Harrisburg and Triple-A Syracuse in 2010 before making his MLB debut in September, was 0 for 3 with 2 K's in Friday's game, and he's now hitting .308 with a .375 OBP and a .538 SLG in 19 games and 78 at bats in which he has 24 hits (6 doubles, 3 triples, 2 HR's and 8 RBI's). 

The Nats added Marrero (the Nationals’ 1st Round pick, 15th overall in the 2006 First-Year Player Draft) Carr and Kimball to the roster before the midnight deadline Friday night to protect them in next month's Rule 5 Draft which takes place on the last day of the MLB Winter Meetings, so Washington would have to make more moves should they complete any deal during the next few weeks or during the Winter Meetings which are held from December 6-9th in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. 

Carr, who finished the 2010 season in Triple-A Syracuse after starting the year in Double-A Harrisburg, was a combined (6-2) with 14 saves and a 2.75 ERA in 52 relief appearances. The right-hander worked out of the pen for the Scottsdale Scorpions in the Arizona Fall League, which wraps up today, giving up 6 hits and 3 ER in 10 appearances and 13.0 IP. Kimball, who was (8-1) with 18 saves, a 2.17 ERA, and 11.6 K/9 in 57 games and 78.2 IP for the Class-A P'Nats and Double-A Senators in 2010, gave up just 1 ER on 8 hits and 2 walks in 11 games and 12.0 IP over which he struck out 15 while posting a 0.75 ERA in the AFL.

Noteable Unprotected Players: 25-year-old right-hander Brad Meyers, an '07 5th Round pick who was (11-3) with a 1.72 ERA in 24 games, 23 starts and 136.1 IP in 2009 in which he walked 32 (2.1 BB/9) while striking out 108 (7.1 K/9). The LA-born Loyola Marymount University-educated pitcher was the Nats' '09 Minor League Pitcher of the Year, but he was limited by injuries to just six starts in 2010.

• MEANWHILE...In the Liga Venezuela Beisbol Profesional...Nats' catcher Wilson Ramos hit a game-tying HR last night for the Tigres de Aragua in what ended up a 6-5 extra inning win over the Leones del Caracas. In 15 games for the Tigres, Ramos, who turned 23 in August, has a .259/.338/.431 slash line with 15 hits in 58 at bats in which he's walked 7 times, K'd 8 times and hit 4 doubles, 2 HR's with 8 RBI's.