Both Bryce Harper and Derek Norris were 2-4 last night while Kimball and Carr pitched a scoreless inning each. --Sue Dinem from nationalsprospects.com
Harper gets restless when he doesn't get to play baseball, but current AFL teammate Culberson is helping the phenom to learn on his days off. --Jonathon Mayo at nationals.com
As for where Bryce Harper will play when the regular season starts it could be single A Hagerstown if Rizzo had to make the descision right now. Interesting thing is he doesn't have to make it right now. So, don't go planning that trip up I-70 too soon. --Adam Kilgore from washingtonpost.com
Scorpions select Lombardozzi for Stenson Award which honors the player that works the hardest and is the best leader. --Jonathon Mayo from mlb.com
Gardenhire and Black win manager of the year in the AL and NL, and it might be the hardest award to quantify. --Joe Lemire at si.com
Nationals somehow end up in the top half of baseball in lowest number of negative WAR players. --Jeff Zimmerman at fangraphs.com
Rizzo said he wanted a top of the line starting pitcher, and now he is finding out that it isn't that easy to get one. With as many clubs that are interested in the likes of De La Rosa and Pavano it might be hard to get a pitcher at all. --Ben Goessling from masnsports.com
The difficulty of getting starting pitcher led one GM to go off the deep end and proclaim it the Tooth Fairy. With Jim Bowden no longer in baseball guessing the Tooth Fairy GM might be tough. --Adam Kilgore from washingtonpost.com
People beating their heads against the wall and demanding that the off-season be called a failure need to step back from the ledge and recognize that this is a slow moving process and the more names the Nationals involve themselves with the more likely they are to end up with somebody. --Mark Zuckerman at natsinsider.com
There are a lot of irons in the fire after the jump.
Remember when Adrain Gonzalez was going to be traded last off-season? As it turned out it was more a story driven by media speculation than anything else, and the same might be true this off-season for the Royals and Zack Greinke. --Will McDonald at royalsreview.com
Assuming the Yankees or Rangers get Lee and Greinke isn't being traded then the Nats need to look at lower tier pitchers, but those might be the guys that have the biggest impact this off-season. --Jayson Stark at espn.com
One of those guys is Jorge De La Rosa and his current club the Rockies are unwilling to offer more than a three year deal. --Tim Dierkes from mlbtraderumors.com
Then their is Pavano who's name scares away most people. He was healthy last season and put up some decent numbers and is also better than anyone the Nationals currently employ, which might be one reason they have made contact with his agent. --Adam Kilgore from washingtonpost.com
It has been a long time since the Nationals have had a decent starting catcher, but those days might be returning. With Ramos and Pudge expected to split time and Norris lurking in the minors the depth looks good, but it still isn't great. --Mike Henderson from natsdailynews.com
With Uggla already traded the availability of right handed power hitters is that much smaller. Josh Willingham could be one of the best available and with news that the Nats aren't interested in offering an extension his days in Washington could come to an end sooner rather than later. --Adam Kilgore at washingtonpost.com
Rumors broke yesterday that Adam Dunn was close to a deal with the Tigers. This ended up not being the case, but it can be added to a handy primer on all that has gone down in the Hot Stove so far. --Barry Petchesky from deadspin.com
General Baseball
Cardinals current first baseman, Albert Pujols, wants a lot of money, and really who can blame him. He is the best player in baseball and should be paid more than anyone else. --Jon Heyman at si.com
Former Cardinals first baseman, Stan "The Man" Musial to be honored with Presidential Medal of Freedom. --Derrick Goold and Bill Lambrecht at stltoday
Two of my favorite players of all time are Stan Musial and Hank Greenberg. There is no logical reason for this. Both of them retired long before I was born, and Greenberg died when I was five years old. I obviously never saw either play. I like them because of what I have read about them and the way in which they played the game of baseball. They were both quiet men that simply got the job done. I do have to admit when I see an 18 or 20 year old kid listing Jackie Robinson or Mickey Mantle as their favorite players a part of me wonders how that is possible, but then I just need to realize I am the same way with Musial and Greenberg.