• THE BIG STORY:
• via Marfa Mata (@MarfaMata), spokesperson and friend to the Ramos family as we learned last week, came the news Tuesday night that 24-year-old Washington Nationals' catcher Wilson Ramos had returned to the field today, working out with the Tigres de Aragua in anticipation of his 2011 debut with the Liga Venezuela Beisbol Profesional franchise. Ramos is expected to start playing next week, in spite of last week's well-publicized kidnapping ordeal. In an interview on ESPN 980's the Sports Fix this afternoon, D.C. GM Mike Rizzo told Thom Loverro and Kevin Sheehan that Ramos would be back in the nation's capital soon. "We want him to take a full physical," Rizzo said, "And see just where we're at with that. We're going to get him in here as soon as we can to do that. We'll sit him down and discuss [the situation] and have him talk to a few people that are fully-equipped to talk to people in these types of situations because it was a high-stress environment and we want to make sure he's physically, mentally and emotionally prepared to handle this and to deal with it."
• AFL UPDATE: The Scottsdale Scorpions are not going to the AFL title game. The Nats' filled roster of the Arizona Fall League team plays its last game on Thursday. Tuesday afternoon they dropped to 14-20 overall with a 4-1 loss to the Salt River Rafters who'll meet the Surprise Saguaros Saturday night in the Arizona Fall League Championship game. The Washington Nationals' 2010 no.1 overall pick Bryce Harper went 2 for 3, scoring the Scorpions' only run and raising his AFL average to .322 to go along with a .392 OBP, .611 SLG, six doubles, a triple, six home runs, 11 walks and 21 K's in 24 games and 90 AB's.
Fellow Nats' prospect Derek Norris was 0 for 4 with 2 K's. With one game left, the 22-year-old '07 4th Round pick has a .288/.379/.397 line in Arizona with two doubles, two home runs, 12 walks and 14 K's in 20 games and 73 AB's. The only other position player from the Nationals' organization in the AFL, Zach Walters, the 22-year-old former D-Backs' infield prospect acquired last July in the deal that sent Jason Marquis to Arizona, was 1 for 4 Tuesday afternoon, leaving him 16 for 80 (.200/.250/.288) with four doubles, a home run, four walks and 20 K's in 23 games and 80 at bats.
2011 3rd Round pick, 21-year-old left-hander Matt Purke pitched for what might be the last time this Fall, throwing a quick seventh in which he gave up a one-out single before striking out the next two batters to complete his fourth-straight scoreless inning of work on the mound after 16 pitches, 12 of them strikes. Purke gave up nine hits and 11 runs in his first 3.1 IP in the AFL, pitching for the first time as a pro against the league's top prospects after a long layoff. In his last four outings he struck out four batters in 4.0 IP in which he allowed two hits and a walk but no runs.
• GM Meetings In Milwaukee:
The only real Nats-related chatter out of the GM Meetings came from SI.com's Jon Heyman, who wrote on Twitter (@SI_JonHeyman) Tuesday evening that he'd heard from D.C. GM Mike Rizzo, who, "... said he could consider signing a free agent 1b but he'd have to make a companion move to open position up." The Nats' general manager told MLB Network Radio hosts Jim Bowden and Casey Stern last week that it was safe to assume the Nationals wouldn't pursue the likes of Prince Fielder, Albert Pujols, Jimmy Rollins or Jose Reyes, but, as Rizzo said, "Things can change rapidly in this business. If a spot were to become available because of a trade if you trade a shortstop or a first baseman type of thing then you may be in that market place, but as it stands right now today in November, we feel that we're set at shortstop, second base and first base."
• @Faridyu: Both SI.com's Jon Heyman and FOXSports.com's Jon Morosi wrote on the Twitter tonight that the current feeling is that 25-year-old Nippon-Ham Fighters' right-hander Yu Darvish will post this winter. "Yu Darvish still seen as more likely than not to post and play in US. No definitive word yet tho. Time running," Mr. Heyman wrote. "Source: Yu Darvish situation remains unchanged. It's likely but not certain that he will be posted. #Yankees #RedSox", Mr. Morosi noted. Yahoo!Sports.com's Jeff Passan wrote a real interesting article this afternoon about Darvish and the posting system and whether or not the pitcher will make the jump to the majors this winter. One major league executive SI.com's Tom Verducci spoke to, "... evaluated Darvish as a No. 2 starter. Another described him as 'a middle- to top-of-the rotation starter now," Mr. Verducci wrote.
• Rizzo on MLB Network's Hot Stove: