This week is full of housekeeping before the Winter Meetings, and the first order of business was players deciding to accept or decline arbitration. Adam Dunn declined the Nationals offer of arbitration. --Adam Kilgore from washingtonpost.com
The next order of business is Thursday's non-tender deadline where Wil Neives is expected to not be tendered a contract. --Mark Zuckerman at natsinsider.com
Then next week it is time for the Winter Meetings and GM Mike Rizzo is expected to be busy trying to find a pitcher, a first baseman, maybe an outfielder or two, and to bolster the bench. --Bill Ladson from nationals.com
As far as Adam Dunn goes he might be taking a big chance by publicly saying he doesn't want to DH. --Jon Paul Morosi at foxsports.com
I want to explain something funny that happened to me last night. When I got home I turned on the MLB Network and there were Mitch Williams, Ken Rosenthal, and a couple other guys talking about the Nationals, and to my surprise they were positive. They talked about a team with a lot of young talent, and a team that was headed in the right direction. I wonder if they meant some other Nationals, but no they talked about Zimmerman, and Harper, and Storen. So, I wonder to myself if we are standing behind the tapestry yelling at the knots to be beautiful while those on the outside are admiring the weaved pattern.
It is blog entries like this that make me wonder who is missing the picture. Us or them. It is true that the Nationals so far haven't gotten one free agent they have had interest in, but what is that level of interest. --DangerNat at natsnq.com
Here is a direct counter to the above blog. My only question as a fan, as someone that will be at Nats Park a good deal of the time, if 2011 is being punted why shouldn't the team at least try and make the experience more enjoyable? --traderkirk at bangzoomspot.com
A deeper look at the free agents the Nationals have so far lost out on. --Mac at section409.com
One of the things Rosenthal mentioned was that the Nationals were going to very soon have one of the collections of best young talent in the game. This ranking of pitching prospects shows me that yet again Nationals fans disagree. --Sue Dinem from nationalsprospects.com
If someone were to ask me right now who my surprise player for 2011 was going to be for the Nationals I would say John Lannan. After struggling in the first half of the year and being sent to the minors Lannan came back a different pitcher. So different that he put up a 3.36 K/BB as opposed to the terrible 0.69 of the first half. Do not discount John Lannan. he may not have the best stuff in the world, but he is smart, and he is continuing to learn more and more about pitching. --Byron Kerr at masnsports.com
Another player poised for a breakout is Jordan Zimmermann who would like to win more games in 2011. --Byron Kerr from masnsports.com
Carl Pavano is the last realistic option that isn't coming off of injury or Jeremy Bonderman that is left on the free agent market. --Mike Henderson at nationalsdailynews.com
One of those unrealistic options is Zack Greinke who now says he is fine pitching in New York. --Jeff Passan at yahoosports.com
General Baseball
The importance of relief pitching might be overstated or it might be important because starting pitching has gotten worse. Either way we are entering a new revolution and it revolves around the set-up man. --Joe Posnanski from si.com
If the Nationals are ready to contend in 2012 it might not be because the talent is that great. It might simply be that there is an extra Wild Card teams, and while it would bring excitement to the fans it is mostly about money and might not be the best for competition in baseball. --Jeff Passan at yahoosports.com