There is a lot of news flying out of the Winter Meetings. Nothing too big happened yesterday, but that is how it often goes. Monday sets the stage for Tuesday. Let's start off today with some human interest good news. Rick Eckstein is a family man and is going to help his brother Ken out with a new kidney. --Bill Ladson from nationals.com
This is breaking as I type this, but the Nationals are expected to throw a huge number at Lee. --Craig Calcaterra at nbcsports.com
Lot's of reaction to the Jayson Werth deal, and not all of it was happy. Boston lost out to D.C. on being the nation's capital, and now they have lost out on Jayson Werth. This really is a must read. It is so full of bitter and sour grapes, but one question I do have is who were all these talented players the Expos had when they moved? --Charles P. Pierce from boston.com
Boston isn't the only city that lost out on Werth, and it isn't often the Nationals get to one up the Phillies. --nationalsenquirer.com
Mike Rizzo isn't sorry. --Ben Goessling at masnsports.com
Remember this feeling of joy in 2014 when Werth isn't as good and gas cost $8.00 a gallon. --Racheal at natsfangirls.com
Misquoting Mike Rizzo makes Phil Wood mad. Also found it funny how Kevin Millar made the same mistake and kept referring to Werth as a complimentary piece and not a star. No one should be mistaken Ryan Zimmerman is still the star of the Nationals, at least until Harper comes along. --Phil Wood at masnsports.com
Signing Werth is a gamble. --Dave Nichols from natsnewsnetwork.com
But it might be the type of gamble the Nats needed to make. --Thomas Boswell in The Washington Post
Nationals owner joins the blogger ranks and is happy about the Werth deal. --Mark Lerner from natstown.com
As a baseball move the Werth signing is questionable, but as a statement of intent it makes sense. --Tim Marchman at si.com
I never knew that the Nationals had a facial hair policy. This might put Werth's most marketable aspect in some jeopardy. --David Brown at yahoosports.com
The Nationals are in a bit of a damned if you do damned if you don't situation. Don't spend for Werth and they are cheap, spend for Werth and ESPN will criticize you mercilessly. --Mark from centerfieldgate.com
Now with Werth in the outfield who will switch positions when Harper is ready, and will Morse and Bernadina be the much needed bench upgrade the Nationals need most important however might be the future of Willingham? --Ben Goessling at masnsports.com
The Nationals do have other outfielders in the minorsand with a good showing they could become important trade pieces in the near future. --Byron Kerr at masnsports.com
Winter Meetings day two agenda: The Hunt for Pitching. --Ben Goessling from masnsports.com
A mystery team has offered Cliff Lee a seven year deal. Remember the Phillies traded him because they weren't willing to go more than three. Could the mystery team be the Nationals. --Mark Zuckerman at natsinsider.com
New columns are popping up every minute. I start to make a dent in these clippings for today and five more columns pop up. These guys are trying to kill me. But anyway signing Jayson Werth was a much needed move for a hated ownership group. --Thom Lovero at washingtonexaminer.com
The Nationals also need a first baseman and it might have some effect on Willingham's future. --Adam Kilgore at washingtonpost.com
One of those answers might be James Loney, but the Dodgers want a lot in return. I think they have Loney confused with Fielder. --Bill Ladson from nationals.com
Today's agenda should mostly be about pitching (Cliff Lee), but LaRoche wouldn't be a bad add either. --Mike Harris natslooser.com
Riggleman has high hopes for 2011. He likes Werth and thinks Morgan can rebound. Whenever I hear a manager or GM refer to a player entering Spring Training as a starter I think to instances like Elijah Dukes entering 2010 as the starting right fielder. --Adam Kilgore from washingtonpost.com
Nationals signing of Jayson Werth might keep Crawford out of Boston*. --Ken Rosenthal at yardbarker.com
*It would be kind of ironic or funny if signing Werth keeps Crawford out of Boston so they trade for Willingham and it nets the Nationals Papelbon and Lars Anderson.
Back to pitching for a second. It has been debated if the Nationals even have enough to offer for Greinke or Garza, but it might not take as much as some think. --Mike Henderson at nationalsdailynews.com
Cliff Lee's agent hasn't ruled out the Nationals. --Adam Kilgore from washingtonpost.com
Adam LaRoche has interest in playing for the Nats. --Bill Ladson from nationals.com
Nationals interested in Carl Pavona and Jeff Francis. --Tim Dierkes and Ben Nicholson-Smith from mlbtraderumors.com
The Nationals are also looking to add bullpen help. --Adam Kilgore at washingtonpost.com
OBP is on the scoreboard at Citizens Bank Park. Short of removing it I don't know how Charlie Manuel thinks he can fix Francoeur, who the Phillies are looking at to replace Werth due to Domonic Brown's struggles this winter. --Jayson Stark via Twitter
Adam Dunn is a laid back guy. Ozzie Guillen is not. This relationship might be fun. --deadspin.com
General Baseball
Orioles trade for Mark Reynolds. Good trade for the O's. --Joe Lemire at si.com
Marvin Miller feels the Hall of Fame is out to get him, but they keep changing the rules to let Marvin Miller in. --Rob Neyer at espn.com
The Braves spent the last four seasons trying to platoon Matt Diaz, and the Yankees might finally have the perfect partner in Brett Gardner. --Ed Price from fanhouse.com
This second day of the Winter Meetings might be very interesting.