Wire Taps: Washington Nationals Weekend Notes - Davey Johnson, Yu Darvish, Alex Meyer.

There was little doubt Davey Johnson would return to manage the Washington Nationals in 2012 even before sources within the Nats' organization told Washington Post writer Adam Kilgore they expected him to return and before D.C. GM Mike Rizzo "all-but-confirmed" the fact that the 68-year-old skipper would be on the bench next season in his interview with CSNWashington.com's Mark Zuckerman. Rizzo also mentioned that the Nationals have apparently interviewed several candidates with few or any reports escaping the Nats' GM's leakproof front office as to who the Nationals may have spoken to. Boston Globe baseball writer Nick Cafardo acknowledged the fact that Johnson is expected to return, but speculated in his Sunday baseball column "Sunday Baseball Notes", that Red Sox' bench coach DeMarlo Hale, "... will likely be a candidate given the strong backing he’ll receive from Nationals special adviser Bob Schaefer."

Schaefer, now a special assistant to the GM, oversaw the Red Sox' system as the Director of Player Development while Hale was a manager for the Double-A Trenton Thunder. 

The Boston Globe's Mr. Cafardo also talked about Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters' right-hander Yu Darvish, quoting an anonymous source who said that the posting fee for the 25-year-old starter will get nowhere near the the $51M+ dollar fee the Boston Red Sox paid for the right to negotiate a 6-year/$52M dollar contract with Daisuke Matsuzaka. Mr. Cafardo's source suggests that, "...one could expect a posting fee in the high $20 millions.’"

"Another" source offered Mr. Cafardo the following scouting report on Darvish:

"'He’s going to be a legitimate No. 3 starter because he has the rare combination of being a hard thrower with command. The command is the big thing with Japanese pitchers, and I think that’s what separates him from someone like Daisuke Matsuzaka.'"

All of which we mention of course, because Mr. Cafardo's sources say that, "... the Cubs, Red Sox, Yankees, Rangers, Nationals, and Mariners," will be among the teams bidding for the pitcher's services. Darvish is expected to pitch in the first game of the Nippon-Ham Fighters' Climax Series First Stage matchup with the Seibu Lions which begins on October 29th. Once the Fighters are eliminated the right-hander is expected to make a decision about whether or not he'll move to MLB for the 2012 season. 

• MASNSports.com's Byron Kerr spoke to Nationals director of player development Doug Harris about the Nats' 2nd 2011 1st Round pick Alex Meyer for an article this weekend entitled, "Nationals adjust Meyer's delivery during instructional league work", in which he writes that, "Under the direction of Nationals pitching coordinator Spin Williams, the Nationals decided to make a slight change to Meyer's delivery, which will allow him to use his imposing size to generate more leverage." 

D.C. GM Mike Rizzo talked on the night of the 2011 Draft about the 21-year-old Meyer being, "... a tweak away from being a front-end of the rotation guy. You know, mid-to-upper 90's with a power slider and a good changeup and beginning to have a good feel of the pitch." Asked to explain what sort of tweak Meyer needed, Rizzo said simply, "I think he just needs to smooth out his delivery and we think with repetition and with professional coaching, we feel that this guy, when he stays within his delivery, his stuff is as good as anybody's in the country."

• Meyer, a 6'9'' right-hander out of the University of Kentucky, was also cited by Baseball America's Aaron Fitt in another article by MASN's Mr. Kerr about the Nats having the best draft this past season.