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We are four months away from pitchers and catchers reporting to Spring Training, but right now the Arizona Fall League is going on. Lombardozzi* had a pretty good game yesterday as the Scottsdale Scorpions won their second game of the season to remain undefeated. --Danny Wild from mlb.com
*Performing in front of scouts from other teams has to be a good thing as I imagine Lombardozzi could be a part of any trade for the #1 that Rizzo wants. He could also provide depth if Desmond or Espinosa have to be traded.
It was reported yesterday that Bryce Harper will indeed play in the AFL. His first game will be next Wednesday. --Bill Ladson from nationals.com
This in no way changes the plan for Harper who will start in A ball, which could mean one of three different teams. --Bill Ladson via Twitter
More information on Bryce Harper and how he is a taxi squad member and can only play two games a week, but will get to practice and the benefit of extra coaching as he continues to learn the outfield. --Ben Goessling at masnsports.com
Bryce Harper is an excitable young man from what we have seen so far and he is excited to go oppo boppo in the AFL. --Byron Kerr from masnsports.com
The plan right now for Bryce Harper is that his perfomance will dictate when he makes the majors. Remember Ryan Zimmerman started at a lower level of A ball when he was drafted in 2005 and still made the majors that same year based on perfomance. The idea of the AFL has some Nats bloggers as excited as Harper himself and ready to predict his Nats Park 2011 debut. --nationalsenquire.com
Non-Harper Nats news and playoff information after the jump.
Good column from Boswell today on if it is time for Washington baseball fans to forgive the Rangers, because honestly rooting against the Yankees and Phillies is just too much fun. I also don't think the people that never had a team should be forgoten in all this. I will live my life forever missing a piece of my childhood because of guys like Short. --Thomas Boswell in The Washington Post
Who are some of the free agent starters that the Nationals should go after. We know they are going to take the longshot on Lee and the lesser longshot on Darvish, but don't forget about guys like Lilly, Vazquez, and De La Rosa. --nationalsreview.com
That whole Yu Darvish thing might not be so easy. Of course if $80 million is what the Diamondbacks plan on spending in total it might not be enough to get them Darvish, but don't forget about how Dice-K hasn't exactly been worth $100 million. --Craig Calcaterra from nbcsports.com
Here is an interesting question for Nats fans. I have already described my love of hoping for longshots, and let's face facts here last season wasn't much fun and next season isn't likely to be much fun either. Why not have a little fun in the off-season? But some bloggers hope the Nats fans end their silly pipe-dream and hopes for Cliff Lee. And Jason Bergman was cut. --DangerNat from natsnq.com
Starters aren't the only position on the Nats wish list and a very good Right Fielder reportedly has requested a trade from the Cleveland Indians. This is all from a Korean reporter's twitter so take that with how many grains of salt you want, but personally I can't imagine being happier than if the Nats got Choo. --Jeeho Yoo via Twitter
A look at some of the starters the Nats could try and trade for including the known and a few interesting ones like Joba Chamberlain and Carlos Zambrano. --Harper at natsbaseball.com
An examination of why spending $100 million for Cliff Lee might not be the best idea. Hint: Mike Hampton. Of course the counter to this is inflation. There used to be a time when $100 million contracts were unheard of and their might be as many as three and as few as two (Werth is the wild card) handed out this off-season alone. --Mark Zuckerman from natsinsider.com
General Baseball
A rundown of where the managerial opennings stand right now, and an interesting tidbit about the Diamondbacks possibly looking to get rid of either Reynolds, LaRoche, or both. Either one could be a replacement for Dunn. --Jon Heyman from si.com
Lincecum vs. Halladay. --AP via mercurynews.com
Crawford doesn't want to leave Tampa. It is things like this that make me doubt that he will go to the Yankees or Red Sox, because I think he is a genuine guy and in his heart part of him will always be a Ray. --Craig Calcaterra from nbcsports.com
Would the playoffs be better with less rounds and less teams? I think they would be better if after the first round they wanted me as a customer and didn't start games at 9:00 PM. --Joe Posnanski at si.com
A profile of Giants centerfielder Andres Torres and how conquering ADHD made him a better player. --Joe Lemire from si.com
San Antonio wants a baseball team, and feel the Rays are up for grabs, but it all might be a pipe-dream. If San Antonio gets a team I bet they will do all the foundamental things right and just keep winning championships with small ball and an overall boring style of play. --Maury Brown from fangraphs.com
A preview of the ALCS using what we learned from the ALDS. The Rangers are willing to run with anyone even noted slow people like Bengie Molina and Nelson Cruz, and a little too much might have been made about the Yankees lack of pitching. --Cliff Corcoran