
Sheinin - In 1996, agent Scott Boras exploited a loophole to help gain free agency for four draftees who did not receive contract offers from the teams that selected them within 15 days of the draft, as required. A year later, he...

Zuckerman - Manny Acta spoke earlier this season about "changing the culture" around the Washington Nationals' clubhouse, a veiled reference to what he believed was an aspect of the organization's rebuilding effort just as important as drafting top prospects and making smart...

Ladson - In this week's Inbox, beat reporter Bill Ladson fields questions from fans concerning who should be the Nats' All-Star, how GM Mike Rizzo is doing and the chances of a six-man rotation.

McElroy - The Nyjer Morgan era in Washington got off to a running start tonight, both offensively and defensively....
July 3, 2009
Chi Cubs 2 - Milwaukee 1 Box
Pittsburgh 4 - Florida 0 (Bot 3)
Washington 2 - Atlanta 1 (Bot 2)
Philadelphia 1 - NY Mets 0 (Bot 1)
St. Louis 0 - Cincinnati 0 (Top 1)
Arizona 0 - Colorado 0 (8:10)
LA Dodgers - San Diego (10:05)
Houston - San Francisco (10:15)
NY Yankees 4 - Toronto 2 Box
Oakland 2 - Cleveland 0 (Top 2)
Seattle 0 - Boston 0 (Bot 1)
Tampa Bay 0 - Texas 0 (8:05)
Chi White Sox 0 - Kansas City 0 (8:10)
Detroit 0 - Minnesota 0 (8:10)
Baltimore - LA Angels (10:05)
| NL East | W | L | Pct | GB | Strk | L10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Philadelphia | 39 | 37 | .513 | - | L3 | 3-7 |
| Florida | 41 | 39 | .513 | - | W3 | 7-3 |
| New York | 39 | 39 | .500 | 1.0 | W2 | 4-6 |
| Atlanta | 38 | 40 | .487 | 2.0 | W4 | 6-4 |
| Washington | 22 | 54 | .289 | 17.0 | L3 | 2-8 |
| Full League Standings | ||||||
| Batters | H | HR | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|
| Guzman | 88 | 3 | .318 |
| Gonzalez | 29 | 1 | .312 |
| Flores | 28 | 4 | .311 |
| Zimmerman | 92 | 13 | .296 |
| Johnson | 80 | 5 | .295 |
| Willingham | 44 | 9 | .288 |
| Bard | 26 | 1 | .280 |
| Morgan | 77 | 2 | .277 |
| Dunn | 70 | 20 | .260 |
| Hernandez | 50 | 1 | .256 |
| Pitchers | IP | W | SV | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MacDougal | 14.1 | 0 | 3 | 1.26 |
| Lannan | 99.0 | 5 | 0 | 3.45 |
| Villone | 22.2 | 3 | 0 | 2.78 |
| Burnett | 33.2 | 1 | 1 | 3.21 |
| Beimel | 30.2 | 0 | 1 | 3.52 |
| Tavarez | 31.1 | 3 | 1 | 4.31 |
| Stammen | 44.2 | 1 | 0 | 5.44 |
| Detwiler | 44.2 | 0 | 0 | 5.24 |
| Shell | 5.0 | 0 | 0 | 5.40 |
| Hinckley | 9.2 | 0 | 0 | 4.66 |
PHILADELPHIA -- There is no way we could've expected what we're getting this weekend. This was the weekend the Phillies would bid farewell to the Mets, September coming a little bit early this year, the Phils taking advantage of the Fourth of July...
Here are the voting procedures used to select rosters for all-star games by the major sports leagues. Major League Baseball
Kelly Johnson will have to wait until after the All-Star break to attempt to regain regular playing time. The Braves placed the second baseman on the 15-day disabled list on Friday because of right wrist tendinitis.

7/3/2009 3:30 PM - More photos by Evan Vucci - AP about 1 month ago: Washington Nationals' Ross Detwiler delivers a pitch against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the first inning of his debut in the majors, in a baseball game Monday, May 18, 2009, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) Browse more photos Next Game Atlanta Braves @ Washington Nationals Friday, Jul 3, 2009, 6:35 PM EDT Nationals Park Kenshin Kawakami vs Ross Detwiler --> Mostly sunny. Game time temperature around 80. ?'s For The DC Faithful: * Who Starts In Right Tonight? Hammer Or Kearns? * We Saw Sean Burnett's Debut? What Do You Expect From Nyjer Morgan? * When Will Ross Detwiler Get His First "W"? * If Morgan's In The Leadoff Spot, Where Does Guzman Hit? * Anyone Else Really Looking Forward To Seeing Tommy Hanson Pitch Tomorrow? DC Starting Lineup...(courtesy of MASNSports.com's Pete McElroy.) Nyjer Morgan - CF Nick "Two-Spot" Johnson... | More
7/3/2009 2:50 PM - Cristian Guzman will be batting 6th and newly acquired center fielder Nyjer Morgan takes over the leadoff spot tonight as the Washington Nationals make a brief holiday weekend stop back in DC before hitting the road again on Monday. If many in attendance tonight are caught saying Nyjer who?, it will still be an [...] | More
7/3/2009 12:58 PM - I am writing this post to the tunes of Bob Marley because Marleys music was something special. There was something calming, pure, and real about his music. Whether you liked reggae or not (and I usually dont), you cant deny the magic of his lyrics and the message of love and peace. Frankly, I need [...] | More
7/3/2009 10:39 AM - A few of our favorite Nats-related quotes from today's papers... Former Expos manager Felipe Alou, commenting on the sorry state of the Nationals in the Montreal Gazette: "The way I see it, they are the Washington Nationals now. And they... | More
7/3/2009 10:29 AM - More photos by Lenny Ignelzi - AP Browse more photos I was looking around for the latest information on Stephen Strasburg's negotiations with the Washington Nationals when I came across two very interesting articles, one by MLB Trade Rumors.com's Ben Nicholson-Smith entitled, "Aroldis Chapman's Value", which deals, in part, with the effect the Cuban defectee's signing might have on Strasburg's contract with the Washington Nationals, and another by Washington Post writer Dave Sheinin entitled, "Boras May Explore Japan for Strasburg", which details rumors of Mr. Boras' "unique" approach to securing a deal for the former SDSU Aztec starter. Mr. Sheinin's article actually inspired me with a little hope for the Nationals' chances of signing their No. 1 overall pick, but the combined effect of the two pieces left me wondering if the Nationals' negotiations with super agent Scott "Maximum" Boras over Stephen Strasburg's deal might lead to an international incident?... | More
7/3/2009 10:20 AM - With the mid-point of the season approaching, now seems like a good time to check in on my pre-season predictions.Nick Johnson, Ryan Zimmerman, Lastings Milledge, Jason Bergmann, and Austin Kearns will be better in 2009 than they were in 2008.Well... I got the first two right. If you factor in Bergmann's 0.97 ERA at Syracuse I think you'd actually have to say he's been better, but this isn't what I had in mind. Who knows what Milledge would be doing right now if he'd stayed in DC and stayed healthy. As for Kearns, who knew he could be worse?Cristian Guzman, John Lannan, Joe Beimel, Joel Hanrahan, Anderson Hernandez, Ronnie Belliard, and Scott Olsen will be worse.One could make a case for Lannan being improved, but his strikeout rate and groundball rate are both down. So are his walks, but he really isn't improved at all. The rest of these guys... | More
| Pitchers | Pos. | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 50 | Tavarez | P | |||||
| 54 | MacDougal | P | |||||
| 97 | Beimel | P | |||||
| 27 | Zimmermann | P | |||||
| 35 | Stammen | P | |||||
| 36 | Clippard | P | |||||
| 31 | Lannan | P | |||||
| 48 | Detwiler | P | |||||
| 19 | Olsen | P | |||||
| 17 | Burnett | P | |||||
| 43 | Colome | P | |||||
| 41 | Villone | P | |||||
| Catchers | Pos. | ||||||
| 7 | Bard | C | |||||
| 23 | Nieves | C | |||||
| Infielders | Pos. | ||||||
| 10 | Belliard | 2B | |||||
| 11 | Zimmerman | 3B | |||||
| 12 | Gonzalez | SS | |||||
| 6 | Hernandez | 2B | |||||
| 24 | Johnson | 1B | |||||
| 15 | Guzman | SS | |||||
| Outfielders | Pos. | ||||||
| 25 | Kearns | RF | |||||
| 1 | Morgan | CF | |||||
| 16 | Willingham | LF | |||||
| 22 | Harris | CF | |||||
| 44 | Dunn | LF | |||||
Full Roster |
|||||||
| RND | PLAYER | POS |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stephen Strasburg | RHP |
| San Diego State University | ||
| 1 | Drew Storen | RHP |
| Stanford University (CA) | ||
| 2 | Jeffrey Kobernus | 2B |
| University of California-Berkeley | ||
| 3 | Trevor Holder | RHP |
| University of Georgia | ||
| 4 | A.J. Morris | RHP |
| Kansas State University | ||
| 5 | Miguel Pena | LHP |
| La Joya HS (TX) | ||
| 6 | Michael Taylor | SS |
| Westminster Academy (FL) | ||
| 7 | Andrew 'Dean' Weaver | RHP |
| University of Georgia | ||
| 8 | Roberto Perez | SS |
| Dorado Academy (PR) | ||
| 9 | Taylor Jordan | RHP |
| Brevard CC (FL) | ||