• If you haven't already read about former Washington Times' writer Mark Zuckerman's attempts to replace the funding the Times used to provide for him to travel to Spring Training, (when they covered the Washington Nationals), with user-generated funding for the expense of doing so...CLICK HERE and check out his Nats Insider site. Mr. Zuckerman's accepting donations and hoping to raise $5,000 dollars which will allow him to travel to Florida and cover Spring Training from start to finish. It's a bold plan, and one I personally support since I've always thought that the more voices and opinions on any subject the better. I'll travel to Spring Training at some point in March, but Mr. Zuckerman will be there the whole time...very NPR, as another DC writer noted...

• Baseball Prospectus' Will Carroll published his Team Health Report for the Washington Nationals today, where he writes in the free portion of the article about the days and dollars the Nats lost to injury last season, as well as the real cost of such injuries: 

"That is money that could have been used to bring in Orlando Hudson before he decided to accept the Twins' offer for just a million more guaranteed. The Nationals could have gone the other way with that money on pitching, too, and brought in a John Lackey type instead of spending the $15 million on Jason Marquis to be a "front of the rotation" starter."

Are you one of the DC Faithful who's expecting Elijah Dukes to have a big season in twenty-ten? Mr. Carroll writes that the 25-year-old outfielder, "...is in a state of constant comeback—much of it his own doing—but he also seems to have some terrible timing when it comes to injuries. With a more-or-less new manager and theoretically coming into his prime, Dukes could put everything together... or..."

• (ed. note - "You have to be a member at Baseball Prospectus to read the rest of Mr. Carroll's report, or check back here in the near future, I'm sending Mr. Carroll a few questions about the Nationals' Team Health Report and I'll post the Q&A when I get it back...")

• Mark Zuckerman's old Nationals beat partner Ben Goessling, who's writing at MASNSports.com now, posted his own projected 2010 DC rotation today in a post entitled, "Pitching staff projections -- mine, and yours", and solicited others' opinions as to which pitchers will make it out of Spring Training and earn a starting role. Mr. Goessling's projected rotation:

1. John Lannan - LHP 
2. Jason Marquis - RHP 
3. Scott Olsen - LHP
4. Craig Stammen - RHP
5. Ross Detwiler - LHP

Who's in your 2010 rotation? Spring Training is coming...