CHATTER
Only at The Washington Times: Mark Zuckerman and Ben Goessling blog on the Washington Nationals.
Latest Blog Entries
No deal for Crow
The Nationals could not come to terms with first-round draft pick Aaron Crow before the midnight deadline.
The waiting game
Well, it's almost 4 p.m. and I'm sorry to say there's nothing of substance to report right now about either Aaron Crow or Ronnie Belliard.
Belliard to Dodgers?
No deal has been consummated yet, but the Dodgers have put in a waiver claim on Ronnie Belliard and are now attempting to acquire him in a trade.
Lineup changes galore
Cristian Guzman (sore thumb) and Jesus Flores (stomach virus) have each been removed from tonight's lineup, replaced by Aaron Boone and Wil Nieves.
Boone activated, Gonzalez to DL
To the surprise of no one, the Nationals activated Aaron Boone off the 15-day DL today, about five weeks after he strained a calf muscle trotting from the dugout to first base for a pinch-running appearance, and placed infielder Alberto Gonzalez on the DL with a strained left hamstring.
An Aaron Crow development
Interesting development regarding Aaron Crow, the Nationals' first-round pick. The Fort Worth Cats of the independent Texas League announced they have signed Crow, and that the former Missouri pitcher will play there if he doesn't sign with the Nationals.
Bad Bergmann
The Nats are making a real play tonight for worst game of the season. After three innings, the Mets are ahead 10-0. Yes, 10-0.
Lineups
Here are the lineups for tonight's game against the Mets:
Before and after
Wondering how some of the everyday Nats players have fared in recent weeks compared to earlier this season? You may be surprised how dramatic the differences have been.
Live chat today -- 1 p.m.
It's Wednesday, so that means it's time to live chat. I'll be online, as always, at 1 p.m. ready to take your questions on the Nats.
Taking it to Santana
Well, that may not be entirely accurate. But the Nationals are putting up a good fight against Johan Santana.
Aces are low
Bad omen for tonight's opener against New York: Johan Santana is on the mound. As if the prospect of facing the former AL Cy Young Award winner wasn't tough enough, consider how poorly the Nats have done this season against big-name pitchers.
Nationals sign two more
UPDATE AT 1:02 A.M.: Just got word from a league source the Nationals gave Espinosa a $525,000 bonus and Hicks a $475,000 bonus. The Nationals just announced they've signed two more of their picks from the June MLB draft: third-rounder Daniel Espinosa, a shortstop from Long Beach State, and fourth-round pick Graham Hicks, a left-handed pitcher from Florida.
One more Nieto item
Just wanted to direct you to a blog post from Joshua Kusnick, Adrian Nieto's advisor. Some interesting stuff in there about how Nieto got to the U.S.
Nats sign fifth-rounder
The Nationals announced today they have agreed to terms with fifth-round pick Adrian Nieto, a switch-hitting catcher from American Heritage High School in Hialeah, Florida. They actually finished negotiations with the catcher a week ago, according to a source familiar with negotiations, but the team had to OK the $376,000 bonus with team president Stan Kasten and the Lerner family before confirming it with Nieto yesterday.
