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Wire Taps: Nationals reassign Spencer Kieboom, Pedro Severino; agree to terms with 18

The Washington Nationals announced this morning that Anthony Rendon will miss a few more days recovering from a "very mild sprain" of his left MCL. The Nationals also announced some "cuts" and contracts with 18 "0-3 service time" players...

By Patrick Reddington
Brad Barr-USA TODAY Sports

In addition to the update on Anthony Rendon's left knee ("very mild sprain" of left MCL), the Washington Nationals made two other announcements this morning.

The Nationals agreed to terms with "all 18 of their 0-3 years of service time 40-Man players," and reassigned catchers Pedro Severino and Spencer Kieboom to Minor League camp.

The Nats made both of the announcements via Twitter:

What else has been going on in NatsTown in the last 24 hours? Let's catch up before this afternoon's Grapefruit League game against the Houston Astros (which is only available via MLB.com's Gameday audio)...

Anthony Rendon's left knee stories:

• "He underwent an MRI Thursday, and the test revealed a mild sprain of Rendon’s left medial collateral ligament." - "Anthony Rendon to miss ‘a few days’ with MCL sprain" - Chelsea Janes, The Washington Post

• "Third baseman Anthony Rendon has a mild MCL sprain in his left knee and will be shut down for several days to let the injury heal..." - "Rendon has mild MCL sprain, plus other morning Nationals news" - Mark Zuckerman, Nats Insider

• "'It's mild, but it wasn't getting better as quickly as we thought it was and he wanted it to be so we got a picture of it yesterday,' Williams said." - "Nationals Pastime: Anthony Rendon has mild MCL sprain in left knee" - Chris Johnson, MASNSports.com

NATS BEAT: Williams on pace of play; Moore's hole-in-one; A.J. Cole

• "Mike Carp has been to the place where his new team wants to go." - "Mike Carp provides the Nationals with some World Series experience" - David Driver, The Washington Post

• "Cole, 23, wasn't thrilled with his performance that included three consecutive hits followed by a walk to load the bases in the first before getting John Mayberry Jr. to ground into an inning-ending double play." - "Nationals Pastime: Cole's desire excites Williams, no issues with Strasburg in minor league work" - Chris Johnson, MASNSports.com

• "The Nationals agreed to terms with all 18 of their pre-arbitration players, those with zero-to-three service time on the 40-man roster." - "Nationals agree to terms with 18 pre-arbitration players" - James Wagner, The Washington Post

• "Nationals manager Matt Williams said Span felt better this time compared to how he felt after he returned from hernia surgery in December." - "Span returns to camp, begins rehab on core muscle" - Jamal Collier, nationals.com

• "So this year, Tracy, 34, called Nationals General Manager Mike Rizzo, the man who drafted him in 2001 with the Diamondbacks, and explained his still burning desire." - "Chad Tracy returns to the Nationals as a special instructor" - James Wagner, The Washington Post

• "Williams played 17 big-league seasons. He said most of his adjustments — kick some dirt, wind the bat — took place when he was in the box." - "Matt Williams, Nationals won't let new pace of play rules become a distraction" - Todd Dybas, Washington Times

Moore, Moore, Moore:

• "Moore has eight hits in 16 at-bats,  including four doubles, a triple, and a home run. He’s driven in seven runs and showed easy opposite-field power." - "Tyler Moore’s miracle shot in keeping with hot spring" - Chelsea Janes, The Washington Post

• "Moore attributes some of his recent success to his decision to play in the Dominican Republic for seven weeks during the offseason..." - "Nationals Pastime: For Moore, home runs and hole-in-ones?" - Chris Johnson, MASNSports.com

Steven Souza called safe... go ahead and click that link:

NATIONAL(S) BEAT: Fangraphs, Grantland, NY Times and FOX on the Nationals

• "Yes, the Nationals look great, their rotation in particular. But two of their three starting outfielders, left fielder Jayson Werth (shoulder) and center fielder Denard Span (core) underwent recent surgeries..." - "Cage Match: Nats vs. O's" - Ken Rosenthal, FOX Sports

• "Desmond is swinging about the same amount and making much less contact at pitches up and out of the zone. Can we figure out why this is happening?" - "Ian Desmond Develops a Weakness" - Neil Weinberg, FanGraphs Baseball

• "We can say, at least, the Nationals have the biggest projected division advantage in a decade. The one bigger gap was all the way back in 2005..." - "Understanding the Nationals’ Projected Advantage" - Jeff Sullivan, FanGraphs Baseball

• "At one point in the book, Kettmann described Alderson as becoming agitated last August after the Mets were again steamrollered by the Washington Nationals at Citi Field." - "Book on Sandy Alderson Set for Release as Mets Try to Turn Page" - Jay Schreiber, NYTimes.com

• "'We have a lot of free agents coming up after this season,' Washington Nationals starter Jordan Zimmermann told reporters last week. 'So if it’s going to be any year, it’s going to be this year, and we all know that.'" - "All Teams Must Die: Six Factors That Could Stop the Seemingly Unstoppable Los Angeles Dodgers" - Ben Lindbergh, Grantland

NL EAST UPDATES: Phillies' rotation; Simmons back; Latos in MIA; Niese's 2014

• Mets: "2014 recap: Jonathon Niese's season got off to a nice start. He had a 1.82 ERA through six starts after a run of four straight starts allowing one earned run or fewer." - "What2Watch4 in 2015: Jonathon Niese" - Mark Simon, ESPN New York

• Phillies: "Cliff Lee's injured left elbow could end his season -- the Phils offered no update Thursday on Lee's health -- which would make Cole Hamels, Aaron Harang, Williams and Buchanan the team's first four starters." - "Lee's injury generates interesting rotation battle" - Todd Zolecki, phillies.com

• Marlins: "The Miami Marlins made a lot of improvements in this past offseason, but the costs for a lot of those moves were questionable." - "2015 Miami Marlins Season Preview: Mat Latos" - Michael Jong, Fish Stripes

• Braves: "When Andrelton Simmons told manager Fredi Gonzalez on Monday that he was feeling good enough to play, Gonzalez knew his young shortstop was ready." - "Andrelton makes smooth transition back into action" - Adam Berry, braves.com

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