• Almost There: With just six days until pitchers and catchers report (Feb.19), it's almost time to get ready to get ready for the 2012 campaign. There aren't many roster spots open this Spring for the Nats, but there are some things to be decided in Spring Training. Who will win the utility infield job? How will the Opening Day outfield be configured? Is this Bryce Harper kid for real? We haven't heard much about him this winter, do you think he has a chance at making the Opening Day roster? We might discuss this a little more in the next week, since the topic hasn't been getting the press it should...Which five starters will begin the season in the rotation? Will John Lannan get dealt this Spring? This weekend at Federal Baseball we listened back to Brad Lidge's interview on MLB Network Radio and heard what he had to say about his former Phillies teammate Jayson Werth. We also looked at the objectives that have to be met by the city of Winchester, Virginia if they're going to lure the Nats' Low-A affiliate away from Hagerstown, and went over ESPN.com's Keith Law's list of the Washington Nationals' Top Prospects. Here's what others around NatsTown were talking about this weekend...Links and lots of 'em, RIGHT NOW!!!

• THE BIG STORY!!:

• 2012 Top 101 Prospects: 1. Matt Moore, LHP, Rays 2. Bryce Harper, OF, Nationals" - "Future Shock: Top 101 Prospects" - Kevin Goldstein, Baseball Prospectus

• NATS BEAT:

• "So will the U.S. Senator from the District respond to Casey? Oh, that's right. There is no senator representing D.C. in Congress." - "Fight with Philadelphia is not one the Nationals can win" - Thom Loverro, Washington Examiner

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Jayson Werth was 13 for 57 (.228/.258/.333) with three doubles, a home run, three walks and 17 K's in 15 games and 62 plate appearances against the Philadelphia Phillies in 2011. In his first full-year as a National after signing a 7-year/$126M dollar deal with Washington last winter, the right-handed-hitting and throwing right fielder (who also saw time in center) had a .232/.330/.389 line with 26 doubles and 20 HR's. Werth was worth +2.4 fWAR on the season in his first year in D.C. after four years in Philadelphia over which he had a combined .282/.380/.506 line and was worth +3.3, 5.2, 5.0 and 5.3 fWAR from 2007-2010. Werth only faced former Phillies teammate Brad Lidge once last season, singling to left to load the bases before Jonny Gomes' August 21st 10th inning walk-off HBP.

Lidge, who was Werth's teammate from 2008-2010 and signed on to become his teammate once again with the Nationals in 2012, told MLB Network Radio hosts Jim Bowden and Casey Stern last week that he only made the decision to move to the nation's capital after talking to the outfielder about what's going on in Washington...

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Last week there were reports of the Washington Nationals' search for a new Spring Training home which passed for big news during the slowest part of the slowest month in any baseball fan's life. This weekend, reports out of Hagerstown, MD and Winchester, VA say that the owners of the Nats' Class-A affiliate signed a letter of intent a few weeks back with the Virginia city of 26,000+ to move the Low-A Suns out of Hagerstown, south down Interstate 81 across the border and into a proposed new stadium. In an article entitled, "Hagerstown officials considering two sites for new stadium", by Hagerstown Daily-Herald writer Dan Dearth, Hagerstown City Councilman William Breichner's quoted stating that the Maryland city is considering local sites to replace Municipal Stadium, "one of the three oldest Minor League baseball stadiums in the country," and the Suns' home since 1981 which hosted Bryce Harper last season and several well-attended starts by a rehabbing Stephen Strasburg...

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The only name on ESPN.com's Keith Law's list of the Top 10 Prospects in the Washington Nationals' organization when he published his 2012 rankings on Friday that wasn't on either Baseball America's updated list or in MLB.com's Top 10, was 20-year-old 2010 12th Round pick Robbie Ray's. MLB.com's scouts had Ray 12th overall as the third-best left-hander in the system behind 2010 2nd Rounder Sammy Solis and 2011 3rd Round pick Matt Purke, as Ray was on Mr. Law's list. That's where D.C. GM Mike Rizzo placed the left-hander as well when he mentioned Ray as part of a second-wave of pitchers on the way up behind the top arms in the organization when asked about dealing three pitching prospects (RHPs A.J. Cole and Brad Peacock and LHP Tom Milone) to Oakland in the deal that landed A's lefty Gio Gonzalez.

"I thought we were protected there with major league caliber pitching immediately there at the major league level," Rizzo told reporters before adding, "Don't forget we've got another wave of prospects coming, that I think will at least equal and possibly surpass the package of guys that we've given up in this trade. With the Purkes and the Solises and the [Alex] Meyers of the world. Then we also have a wave behind them of the Rays and the [Paul] Demnys and those type of guys behind them. So, we feel that we're set up very, very well for the long haul."

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The Washington Nationals signed 35-year-old, 10-year veteran right-handed reliever Brad Lidge to what is reportedly a one-year/$1M dollar deal in late January. Lidge brings with him a resume that includes 223 career saves, 789 career K's (11.95 K/9), 276 career walks (4.18 BB/9), a 3.44 ERA and a 3.23 FIP in 592 G and 594.0 IP. The Houston Astros, who drafted Lidge, dealt the reliever to Philadelphia along with infielder Eric Bruntlett in a November '07 deal that brought infielder Mike Costanzo, outfielder Michael Bourn and RHP Geoff Geary back to Houston. Lidge recorded 100 saves for the Phillies over the next four seasons, striking out 228 batters (10.63 K/9) in 193.0 IP for Philadelphia over the four years he was in their bullpen, but a strained right posterior rotator cuff limited Lidge to just 25 appearances and 19.1 IP in 2011 over which he did, however, have a 1.40 ERA, 2.82 FIP, 13 walks (6.05 BB/9) and 23 K's (10.71 K/9).

D.C. GM Mike Rizzo told ESPN980's The Sports Fix's Thom Loverro and Kevin Sheehan that he thought Lidge was, "... a guy that brings us a vast amount of knowledge about how to pitch back-ends of the game," and would, "be a wealth of information," for the relievers he'll be joining in the bullpen like Drew Storen, Tyler Clippard, Henry Rodriguez and Ryan Mattheus. "He still has swing and miss stuff, "Rizzo said, "His slider is still a big-time swing and miss pitch. His velocity is down from his formidable years, but he's still a big ground ball guy."

Lidge told MLB Network Radio's Inside Pitch hosts Jim Bowden and Casey Stern in an interview this afternoon that he believes the velocity will be back, but he's also made some adjustments since he's changed as a pitcher as he's gotten older...

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At the end of an appearance on MASN's Mid-Atlantic Sports Report which focused on his recent article about Bryce Harper's thoughts on making the Opening Day roster, MLB.com Nats beat writer Bill Ladson talked about the chances of Jayson Werth ending up in center with Harper in right and the possibility of the Washington Nationals making a trade for an outfielder this Spring. Though Mr. Ladson said Werth could play center and will see time there in Spring Training, he added, "... it would not surprise me if [Nats' GM] Mike Rizzo tried to acquire a center fielder and then we'll see Jayson Werth back in right and Bryce Harper back in the minors."

"Now, is John Lannan out there?" Mr. Ladson asked rhetorically, "There's no question in my mind, although Mike Rizzo will deny it, that John Lannan will be traded, and I think he'll be traded for a center fielder or a position player." Mr. Ladson's not alone. ESPN.com's Jayson Stark on Thursday, in an article entitled, "Big names who might be on the move", listed the Nats' 27-year-old left-hander as one of five players, "... whose names are already being floated -- and could legitimately get traded between now and Opening Day."

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It wasn't the fact that the Washington Nationals signed Jayson Werth away from Philadelphia that made them angry. Phillies fans quickly came up with a punny way to deal with the loss and sum up what they thought about their former right fielder's true value. When Werth went out and had a 26 double, 20 HR, .232/.330/.389, +2.5 fWAR season in the first year of his 7-year/$126M dollar deal, after a 46 double, 27 HR, .296/.388/.532, +5.3 fWAR final season in Philadelphia, the joke was once again on the Nats. When D.C. GM Mike Rizzo and Jayson Werth reportedly joked about the Nats' NL East rivals last Spring, in a story that was later refuted by both the general manager and outfielder, that didn't seem to get to Phillies fans either, who laughed at the idea that any sort of rivalry between the two franchises even existed. The Nationals were, after all, 39-71 against the Phillies since moving from Montreal, and a brutal 15-39 against the Phillies from 2008-10 when Philadelphia made two World Series appearances, one of which ('08) resulted in their first World Series win since 1980 while the Nats lost 102, 103 and 93 games over the same three seasons...

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