The Washington Nationals are going to clean house. There will be no firesale. The Nationals will not trade Adam Dunn. Washington is "entertaining" offers for Adam Dunn. Josh Willingham is young, "under control" and a part of the Plan. Josh Willingham can be had for a price. Nick Johnson's our man. Nick Johnson is available. Joe Beimel loves LA, but Chi-town's interested...There are seven days until the deadline, let's see what you got, RZO. (ed. note - "RZO = "Acting DC GM Mike Rizzo.")
All The Rumors That Are Fit To Print: (AFTER THE JUMP...)
• CBS Sports.com's Danny Knobler - "More than just Halladay highlighting busy market with deadline approaching - MLB - CBSSports.com Baseball - "With the July 31 trade deadline approaching, it's no secret Roy Halladay is the biggest name out there. (ed. note - "Not anymore...") From rumors involving Matt Holliday to Cliff Lee, Danny Knobler says the wheeling and dealing will be busy."
Pertinent Info: Under a subheading, "The hitless wonders looking for hitters", Mr. Knobler notes/(restates the fact) that the San Francisco Giants (there's that name again) and the Detroit Tigers:
"...have had scouts watching the Pirates, and both teams have also spent time eyeing the Washington pair of Adam Dunn and Nick Johnson. The Giants like Johnson but prefer a right-handed hitter (and one who doesn't get hurt so often), while the Tigers don't like the idea of paying all of Dunn's $12 million 2010 salary (and would rather not add another first baseman-DH)."
-- (ed. note - "Nick Johnson = Always Hurt = Why He Can't Bring Value In Return.")
• SI.com: Teams step up pursuit of Roy Halladay, Matt Holliday, Victor Martinez and Cliff Lee - Jon Heyman - "With one week to go before the July 31 non-waiver trading deadline, the Phillies remain the favorites to land ace Roy Halladay and the Cardinals emerged as a possible landing spot for outfielder Matt Holliday. Meanwhile..."
Pertinent Info:
"The Nationals should deal veterans Nick Johnson, Josh Willingham and Adam Dunn, though there's been no buzz about Dunn, as it's possible the market isn't as great as one might expect for a consistent 40-homer hitter."
(ed. note - "Washington Post writer Chico Harlan notes in a Nationals Journal post entitled, "Olsen Has Surgery on His Shoulder"...):
"The Nationals have listened to a few offers for Dunn, a club source said, but are not actively shopping him. The Nationals are said to be demanding excessively high returns for Dunn. One source called the Nationals' asking price 'painful.'"
• According to the Latest Set of Game Notes (dated 7/24) for the Vermont Lake Monsters, the Washington Nationals' New York/Penn League affiliate has placed '09 2nd Round pick, IF Jeff Kobernus on the DL, though the press release doesn't state any more than that fact. (ed. note - "Brian Oliver at the Nats Farm Authority mentioned the injury as well in a post entitled, "Across the Affiliates 07/24/09", where Mr. Oliver writes, "2B Jeff Kobernus (knee - I know nothing more than that) was placed on the DL.")
• Cristian Guzman knows he's stinking it up (my words, not his), but he asked out of the 6-spot, (or did he, Manager Jim Riggleman says no), and now he's gotta step up. MLB.com's Bill Ladson discusses the Guz's struggles in an article entitled, "
• And speaking of troubling struggles, (If you have no stomach for bad Zimmerman thoughts stop here), Dave Nichols at the Nationals News Network broke down what we've all been noticing about the Face of the Franchise™ recently in his post game report on last night's 4-1 loss to St. Louis in the "Bad" section of his nightly "Good, Bad and Ugly" break down of the game, where Mr Nichols writes:
"THE BAD: Ryan Zimmerman. Another o-fer. 0-for-3 with four runners stranded. Zim is now hitting just .280. Since his average topped out at .366 in the middle of his 30-game hitting streak on May 16, the Face of the Franchise has hit .220/.297/.344 in 249 plate appearances.
To give you an idea how bad that actually is, Austin Kearns is hitting .198/.333/.311 this season in 201 plate appearances."
Ouch...it's cold out there, folks. And it's the last week of July...
Tonight's GameThread coming up at 4:30 pm EST. Bring on the Padres....