Everything on the Washington Nationals Here!

[Redskins1974]

Well, now that we're officially out of it, I have to say that the Nats took me for a great ride this season. They fought hard and truly scrapped 'til the end. What a great inaugural season!! Here's to building on this year and great things to come.

Thanks for the ride boys!

[Jake]

Former Redskins Join Smulyan Group in Bid to Purchase Nats

By Thomas Heath
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, September 28, 2005; Page E08

Indianapolis media mogul Jeffrey Smulyan has added several influential Washington figures to a group he heads that is trying to purchase the Washington Nationals, including former Redskins stars Art Monk and Charles Mann and former Dallas Cowboys and Redskins star running back Calvin Hill.

Smulyan has been aggressively wooing Washington business executives over the last few weeks in an attempt to add a local flavor to the investment group he has assembled. He would not say how much equity his partners were contributing, but Smulyan called the local contribution "a very, very significant amount of equity."

"They are all people with ties not only to this city but also to this region," said Smulyan. "They will all help in making us the best stewards possible of this franchise."

In addition to Monk, Mann and Hill, Smulyan has added local business executives Ernie Jarvis and William Jarvis, banker Bob Pincus and attorney Max Berry. Others include Eric Holder, former U.S. attorney for the District; Alfred C. Liggins III, chairman of TV One who has been the chief executive and the president of Radio One Inc.; lawyer Dick Wiley, former chairman of the Federal Communications Commission; lobbyist David Carmen; and business executives Jeffrey Thompson and Dickie Carter.

"I'm putting in a substantial sum for me, a seven-figure sum," said Hill, who said he joined the group because of Smulyan's "commitment to the idea of being inclusive. He understands this team is for the people of Anacostia, for people in the upper Northwest, for people in the suburbs and for all fans in the Washington region."

Smulyan has also hired investment banker Salvatore Galatioto of Galatioto Sports Partners, which specializes in sports property acquisitions, to advise Smulyan on his bid to buy the Nationals.

Ernie Jarvis, a developer who is the son of former D.C. Council member Charlene Drew Jarvis, said he and his cousin, William, joined the Smulyan bid because "Jeff really has local Washington sensibilities. . . . He understands the city and demonstrated it when he put together a team with deep local roots."

Smulyan has visited with council Chairman Linda W. Cropp (D), who has pushed Major League Baseball to sell the Nationals to a group with local members in high positions, including writing a letter to Commissioner Bud Selig last week.

Cropp, who has not endorsed any group, said recently that she wonders whether Smulyan's new partners will have a say in key decisions for the franchise if he wins the club -- or whether they are just political window dressing.

"The key is to make sure we do not just have people's names on a list, but that they are actually controlling partners," Cropp said

There are eight groups bidding on the team, which is going to cost at least $450 million. Baseball has said that no groups have been eliminated, and it is unlikely that an owner will be selected before the end of the week.

Price may not be the only factor in the sale. The financial soundness of each bid and MLB's comfort level with a prospective owner also carry a lot of weight. MLB wants a financially sound ownership group to manage the team. It also wants ownership that is welcome on Capitol Hill and in the halls of the D.C. government.

Staff writer David Nakamura contributed to this report.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 01711.html

[Redskins1974]

I read about that guy. I honestly hope they don't select him. He messed up the Seattle Mariners and bad mouthed the town before he left them. I'd prefer a true in-town ownership group and there are at least 4 viable one's out there with very deep pockets. This guy is not as wealthy as many of the local groups. It's one thing to be able to buy the team and it's another to be able to run them year in and year out.

Plus, a couple of the other groups also have Redskins on board.

[EA7649]

Fightin Phils "And the sweep the nationals on the final series of the year"

[air_hog]

ANGELS ANGELS ANGELS!!!!

World Series Baby!

[Jake]

Contract Extension in the Works For Nationals' General Manager

By Barry Svrluga
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, October 26, 2005; Page E05

The Washington Nationals, still without an owner or a solid plan for their front office structure for 2006, are in the process of completing a contract extension for General Manager Jim Bowden, two baseball sources said, though any announcement likely won't come until after the World Series.

Bowden's current contract expires Oct. 31, as do all the deals for the Nationals' front office staff. But with free agency approaching quickly after the World Series, the Nationals want to make sure they're in a position to pursue trades and other signings to improve a team that finished 81-81, last in the National League East.

Nationals President Tony Tavares wouldn't comment on an extension.

"There won't be decisions until after the World Series is over," Tavares said yesterday. Bowden also declined to comment yesterday. Any extension would have to be approved by Major League Baseball, which owns the team.

Meanwhile, MLB President Bob DuPuy indicated yesterday for the first time that an owner for the Nationals could be selected before a lease agreement is reached between MLB and the D.C. Council, which has yet to approve the lease deal.

If negotiations bog down, "then we will have to review the situation," DuPuy said yesterday in Houston. "We have to get the new owners in place before next season. It's not fair to the new owners to not have this done."

Though Bowden has been in contact with the Arizona Diamondbacks about their vacant general manager's job, he prefers to stay in Washington. The Diamondbacks are pursuing Kevin Towers, the general manager of the San Diego Padres.

Still, while an extension for Bowden would provide near-term stability, it likely won't extend into next season, one source said. Baseball officials are still in the process of choosing from among eight groups interested in purchasing the Nationals from MLB. Tavares has said he believes the new owner should have the right to choose the team's president, general manager and manager.

Bowden took the job as Washington's general manager last November. His reputation is as a wheeler-dealer, and he said last week that he is already working on trades for the 2006 season.

"I talk about trades every day," he said. The team has offers out to the two free agents it would most like to retain, pitchers Esteban Loaiza and Hector Carrasco, though both are expected to test the free agent waters. Players can begin filing for free agency after the World Series.

Meantime, Tavares, who is also unsure of his future, has begun thinking of different ways to structure ticket prices, including making more desirable games, such as weekend dates against teams such as the Baltimore Orioles and the New York Yankees, more expensive, but offering discounts for games that would traditionally draw smaller crowds, such as Monday and Tuesday nights against lackluster opponents.

"There wouldn't be any difference in cost for the season ticket holder," Tavares said. "It's something we're thinking about. It's something we'll continue to discuss."

Tavares also said the club is trying to figure out how to combat ticket scalping, which he considered to be a major problem during the Nationals' first season in town. He said the club may offer a service in which season ticket holders who know they won't be able to use a set of seats on a given night could offer the tickets back to the club and pay a processing fee. The club would then be able to offer some of those prime seats back to the public, perhaps taking scalpers out of the equation.

"We're going to knock these ideas around," Tavares said.

Staff writer Les Carpenter contributed to this report from Houston.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 01936.html

I hope we bring him back. I love this guy.

[Jake]

The Nats extended Bowden and signed a couple of players already.

Damien Jackson:

For those who don't know him, he is arguable best known for his collision with Johnny Damon a couple of years ago.



http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f ... 26QC91.DTL

The Nats also signed Bernie Castro, who made his MLB debut with the O's last season:

[Jake]

Castilla Dealt For a Pitcher
Trade Clears Way for Zimmerman

By Barry Svrluga
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, November 4, 2005; Page E01

The Washington Nationals last night discarded one of their most celebrated additions from last offseason, third baseman Vinny Castilla, and all but certainly thrust rookie Ryan Zimmerman into the Opening Day lineup for 2006 when they traded Castilla to the San Diego Padres for right-hander Brian Lawrence.

Although Nationals General Manager Jim Bowden said his top priority for the offseason is pitching, this move has far more to do with Zimmerman than it does with Lawrence, who went 7-15 with a 4.83 ERA in 33 starts for the Padres last season. The Nationals took Zimmerman from the University of Virginia with the fourth pick in the June draft, and his quick development, along with Castilla's lack of production during an injury-plagued year, made the move possible.

"This move is completely designed to open up third base for Ryan," Bowden said. "When we signed Vinny, we thought it would be a stopgap until we were able to develop a third baseman. We thought it would take two years. It turned out it only took one."

In 20 games after being recalled from Class AA Harrisburg on Sept. 1, Zimmerman, now 21, hit .397 with six RBI and 10 doubles, impressing his teammates and the coaching staff with his poise. When the Nationals selected him in the draft, Bowden gushed about his defensive ability, comparing him to the greats who have ever played the position, including Brooks Robinson and Mike Schmidt. Asked last night if he thought Zimmerman would develop as quickly as he did, he said, "I think you can check back on my quotes when we drafted him and see that I did."

"I'm definitely excited," Zimmerman said. "Not that I needed anything to get ready for in the offseason, but this gives you kind of a sense of security. If Vinny was still here, it's his job until someone says otherwise. But now, I can go into the spring knowing I have a really good shot."

Zimmerman, who is playing in the Arizona Fall League, said he is realistic about what to expect from his first year as a starter.

"I felt the month I had went really well," he said. "I put up good numbers. But if I'm there the whole year, I know it's not going to be like that. Anyone who tells you different is wrong. I think the main thing for me will be to play good defense, and to be consistent, to hit well in situations."

Zimmerman's potential left the Nationals essentially having to move Castilla, who is 38 but wants to remain starter, according to his agent, Eric Goldschmidt. "He still thinks he can play every day," Goldschmidt said.

Castilla got off to a blazing start in April, but struggled through the summer and wound up hitting .253 with 12 homers and 66 RBI, a fraction of his 2004 production, when he hit .271 with 35 homers and a National League-leading 131 RBI for the Colorado Rockies. He was bothered nearly all year by an injury to his left knee, which he said prevented him from shifting his weight properly so he could drive the ball.

Castilla had $3.2 million remaining to be paid on the two-year, $6.2 million deal he signed with the Nationals last year. Lawrence was due to be paid $3.5 million had he stayed with the Padres next season, but received an extra $250,000 because he was traded, according to a source with knowledge of the contracts. The Padres agreed to pay the difference between the two contracts, making the deal a financial wash for the Nationals.

Lawrence also has a club option for 2007 that Washington could buy out for $550,000, the source said. The Padres agreed to pay $425,000 of that buyout should the Nationals exercise it, leaving Washington to pay $125,000.

Lawrence is 49-61 with a 4.10 ERA in five major league seasons, all with San Diego, and he only has one winning season, when he went 15-14 in 2004. He said last night that the move would take some getting used to because he and his wife make their offseason home in San Diego.

"I have to treat it like an opportunity," he said. "We'll make the best of it."

Lawrence, 29, has thrown at least 195 innings in each of the last four years, but he considers 2005 a lost season.

"It was a horrible year," he said. "It was the worst year of my career. But I'm going to start over, and I'm going to start fresh. I'm committed to getting better."

Bowden envisions Lawrence, an offspeed pitcher who relies on locating his fastball and working in a slider, to fit into the fourth or fifth spots in the Nationals' rotation. Bowden said the trade for Lawrence does not alter the Nationals' pursuit of other pitchers, including two of their own, free agents Esteban Loaiza and Hector Carrasco.

"This doesn't change our plans, not at all," Bowden said. "You never get enough pitching. The only thing it changes is that now we know we have a fourth or fifth starter."

The Nationals have already been in contact with the agents for the top starters on the market, Florida's A.J. Burnett, Cleveland's Kevin Millwood and lefty Jarrod Washburn of the Los Angeles Angels. Teams can begin making offers to free agents on Nov. 10.

Bowden said the move to trade Castilla and essentially put Zimmerman in the starting lineup was made easier by the performance of infielder Brendan Harris in the Arizona Fall League. Harris, who briefly appeared with the Nationals over the summer, is leading the league with a .397 average, and he could prove a useful insurance should Zimmerman struggle, Bowden said.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 02139.html

[John Manfreda]

What do u all think about the trade, I kow nothing about this guy, I am fired up about Ryan Zimmerman though.

[John Manfreda]

I love the Nats I bet one of my friends 20 dollars they would have a better record than the O's and I won. Do I look like a genuis now or what.

[tcwest10]

I hate to say it, but not even Monk could make this team go.

[Redskins1974]

My sentiments exactly....

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/columns/s ... id=2225932

Nationals need an owner nowBy Tim Kurkjian
ESPN The Magazine
Archive

It was a miracle that the Washington Nationals finished .500 in 2005 given all that was working against them, including a $50 million payroll, a substandard ballpark and little help from ownership, which happens to be Major League Baseball. At this rate, it will be a bigger miracle if the Nationals finish .500 next year, thanks to MLB's indecisiveness.

The Nationals still don't have an owner. That decision was supposed to come in July, then September, then by the beginning of the World Series. And every day the Nationals go without an owner is another day closer to next season, and another day lost in a critical juncture for every team -- the free-agent signing period.

The Nationals need to be working on improving their team for 2006, but for now, they don't know who will be their owner, general manager, manager or coaches, nor what their payroll will be. Their GM, Jim Bowden, has publicly interviewed for the Red Sox GM job, as is his right, and their manager, Frank Robinson, who deserves far better treatment than this, is angry, as he should be. It is ridiculous that he and Nationals are in this precarious situation.

MLB representatives, led by chief negotiator and White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf, were in Washington Tuesday to negotiate a new stadium lease with the city's government, which, in MLB's defense, is not the easiest group with which to work. Still, it's time to get a lease deal and choose an owner. The Nationals need both to begin marketing, which was virtually nonexistent last season; to get on TV, which didn't happen often enough in 2005; and to upgrade the talent on a team that went 31-50 after a 50-31 start.

The issues are indeed complicated, and as always the biggest issue is money -- roughly $1 billion when the sale price of the team ($450 million) is combined with the estimated cost ($535 million) for the new ballpark. The D.C. government wants additional financial protection from MLB against, among other things, a work stoppage or a terrorist attack.

MLB wants to clear as much money as possible because most every penny it makes goes into the pockets of the 30 owners. But isn't $450 million enough, especially since the franchise may not be worth half that much? The money issue isn't so complex that the process should be dragged out this long. It is helpful, if not necessary, for ownership to have a lease in place for a new ballpark at the time of the sale. But it seems it would be easier for the new owners, not MLB, to work out the lease with local government because the team and the city will be partners -- and must develop trust -- on many levels for many years.

The picking of the potential owners seems less complicated. There are eight good groups, but only two -- maybe three -- with a realistic chance of being chosen. There is the Washington Baseball Club, a group consisting mostly of local businessmen led by Fred Malek, the chairman of Thayer Capital Partners, a D.C.-based merchant bank. The group, which also includes Colin Powell, has been working the longest and hardest to buy the team, and has ties to the community, something that is very important to MLB.

There is the Lerner group, led by Ted Lerner, a real estate developer, and a highly respected businessman and negotiator. He, too, is a local guy. And Lerner represents something MLB values greatly: One man who will write all the checks, not a group of investors, such as the Washington Baseball Club.

Jeff Smulyan, a communications magnate who once owned the Seattle Mariners, appears to be running third. He is a good friend of Reinsdorf, which is significant. But Smulyan is not local; he operates out of Indianapolis, but has done a tremendous amount of work recently aligning himself with some of the money men in Washington.

A fourth group, led by developer Franklin Haney of Tennessee, "can't be discounted," said a source close to the negotiations, "because he and Malek are the only ones who have said they will pay for any cost overruns for the new stadium. Building costs have gone way up lately. If the D.C. government was making the call, it would be Malek or Haney because they say they'll pay."

With all due respect to Smulyan and Haney, the new owners must be local. Washington's baseball history is not a pretty one; two owners, Calvin Griffith and Bob Short, moved the team -- Griffith to Minneapolis in 1961, and Short to Arlington, Texas, in 1972. The Nationals should be owned by the Washington Baseball Club, and if not that group, by the Lerners.

These are good people who want to buy the team. One investor in the Washington Baseball Club wants a part of the club so he can bring baseball back to his hometown for the sake of his parents, who are in their late 70s, and would be able to see a potential new ballpark in southeast Washington from where their house is. Can there be any better reason than for pride, for community and for family?

"It's getting close," said a source close to the negotiations.

Close isn't good enough. A decision must be made. Finish the deal, and give the Nationals a fighting chance for 2006.

Tim Kurkjian is a senior writer for ESPN The Magazine.

[Jake]

Nats Lose Loaiza To the Athletics
Pitcher's Deal Worth Over $21 Million

By Barry Svrluga
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, November 29, 2005; Page E01

Last January, when the Washington Nationals signed right-hander Esteban Loaiza to a one-year, $2.9 million contract, the idea was that it could benefit both parties. Loaiza, run out of New York after a failed stint with the Yankees, would be able to regain his reputation, and the Nationals, in a constant state of flux after moving from Montreal, would get a cheap, reliable pitcher.

Yesterday, Loaiza cashed in on his rebuilding year, signing a three-year deal with the Oakland Athletics that baseball sources said was worth $21.375 million. And the Nationals are left where they were a year ago -- having to pursue pitching elsewhere on a tight budget limited by the fact that Major League Baseball still owns the team.

"We were not prepared to go to those kind of dollars," Nationals General Manager Jim Bowden said. "We wish him luck, and we wish we could have kept him, but we couldn't pay that kind of money."

The deal, which follows the five-year, $47 million contract granted to former Baltimore closer B.J. Ryan by the Toronto Blue Jays, is an indication that pitchers will again be handsomely rewarded this offseason. And Washington simply was unable to compete for Loaiza's services. MLB is still haggling with the D.C. Council over a lease for a new stadium for the Nationals, and is delaying the choice of a new owner until the lease is in place.

That, in turn, hampers the Nationals' entire operation. Bowden is still unsure of his budget for next season -- and is even unsure who will set it, MLB or the new owner. With baseball's winter meetings set to begin next week in Dallas, the Nationals are preparing for transactions they don't know they'll be able to pull off.

"I've got a lot of compassion for Jim," said Loaiza's agent, John Boggs. "He's dealing with an unfair situation. He's got his hands tied when 29 other teams don't."

Loaiza went 12-10 with a 3.77 ERA in 217 innings for Washington, a solid if unspectacular year that put his career back on track after a half-season with the Yankees in which he lost his starting job and posted an 8.50 ERA. In 2003, he was the runner-up for the American League's Cy Young Award when he went 21-9 for the Chicago White Sox.

The Nationals will receive a first-round pick in the 2006 draft as compensation for losing Loaiza. They initially offered him a two-year deal worth just more than $8 million, and a club source indicated the team might have been willing to go as high as $5.5 million per season. But Boggs said the Nationals never offered more than two years, "and we knew, with the kind of pitcher Esteban is and the way the market is, it would take more than that."

Loaiza's loss, for now, leaves the team with a gaping hole in its already thin rotation. Livan Hernandez and John Patterson are the only starters guaranteed to return from the 2005 team. Brian Lawrence, acquired earlier this month in a trade with San Diego, will likely fit in the fourth or fifth slot. Ryan Drese is a less-than-palatable candidate even if he returns healthy from season-ending shoulder surgery. So Bowden's objectives at the winter meetings are plain.

"We are interested in whatever pitching is out there -- free agents, trades, whatever," he said.

Bowden wouldn't comment on any potential targets. A club source, however, said that trade talks with Arizona about right-hander Javier Vazquez are "very much alive." Vazquez, who spent the first six years of his career with the Nationals franchise when it was the Montreal Expos, has requested a trade from the Diamondbacks in hopes of getting closer to his home in Puerto Rico. He went 11-15 with a 4.42 ERA in 2005, and his reputation is for having a superior arsenal but not always delivering results.

Vazquez has two years and $24 million remaining to be paid on a four-year, $45 million deal, but because of the trade demand, the Diamondbacks are willing to eat a significant portion of the remaining money, the source said. Because Vazquez is a veteran who was traded -- from the Yankees to Arizona -- in the middle of a multiyear contract, he has the right to request a trade, and he will become a free agent on March 15 should the Diamondbacks not comply.

The Nationals have also met with the perceived stud of the free agent class, former Florida right-hander A.J. Burnett, and they remain in the running, in part because Burnett's wife is from Maryland. But they still haven't extended an offer, though a club source said that could change at the winter meetings. Burnett has reportedly been offered a five-year, $50 million deal by Toronto, and it's unlikely the Nationals could reach that range without a new owner.

Washington is still speaking with the agents for reliever Hector Carrasco, who filled in as a spot starter at the end of the season. One strategy would be for the Nationals to take the money they would have spent on Carrasco and Loaiza and make an all-out effort to sign Burnett.

Bowden, meanwhile, awaits his fate with the Boston Red Sox, with whom he has interviewed for their GM position twice in the last three weeks. Nationals President Tony Tavares said yesterday that a decision on the future of Manager Frank Robinson likely won't be made until Bowden's situation is resolved, which should be by the end of this week.

"Even though he's not signed, Frank's still our manager," Bowden said. "All of our top brass here is unsigned, but we're still operating. But he's still the manager, and at some point, when we get the go-ahead and can proceed, we'll resolve the situation in the next couple of weeks."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 01066.html

[Jake]

Nats Lose Carrasco to Angels

Man, we're gonna suck this year.

[EA7649]

the phillies will kill you!!!

[air_hog]

Nats Lose Carrasco to Angels

Man, we're gonna suck this year.

Sweet!!

Um, so is that guy any good

[Jake]

Nats Lose Carrasco to Angels

Man, we're gonna suck this year.

Sweet!!

Um, so is that guy any good

He was ok this year. I think he is a little overrated but he may come through for you guys. He was the next best thing compared to Chad Cordero.

[Jake]

YESSS!!!!!!

We got Soriano!

12/07/2005 11:32 PM ET
Nationals acquire Soriano from Rangers
By Bill Ladson / MLB.com


Alfonso Soriano posted a .268 average and knocked in 104 runs for the Rangers in 2005. (Linda Kaye/AP)

DALLAS -- According to a high-ranking baseball official, the Nationals have acquired Rangers' second baseman Alfonso Soriano in exchange for Brad Wilkerson, Terrmel Sledge and a Minor Leaguer to be named later.

Soriano is the leadoff and power hitter Washington has been craving. Last season, he hit .268 with 36 home runs, 104 RBIs and recorded 30 stolen bases. During his seven-year career, Soriano has a .280 average with 162 home runs, 465 RBIs and 169 stolen bases. He is best known for playing with the Yankees, appearing in two World Series, in 2001 and 2003.

In D.C., Soriano would play left field with Jose Vidro remaining at second base. Soriano made $7 million in 2005 and is arbitration eligible. He is slated to make around $10 million in 2006.

Wilkerson can play all three outfield positions and first base. Wilkerson has been Washington's primary leadoff hitter the last three years, but he had a down season in 2005, hitting .248 with 11 home runs and 57 RBIs. Many feel that Wilkerson's down year was caused by injuries to his left shoulder and both forearms.

Wilkerson's best season was in 2004, when he hit .255 with 32 home runs and 67 RBIs and was named the Expos' Player of the Year.

Soriano wasn't the only player the Nationals showed interest in Wednesday. According to two baseball sources, the Nationals and Diamondbacks tried to work out a deal that would have sent right-hander Javier Vazquez to Washington for outfielder Ryan Church, infielder Jamey Carroll and a Minor League pitcher. One source said Arizona wanted either Collin Balester or left-hander Michael Hinckley, who was the Expos' Minor League Player of the Year in 2004.

"We thought we had a deal, but when we walked into the room, the deal completely changed," the source said. "The talks broke off and they are done now."

Earlier there is a rumor circulating around the Wyndham Anatole hotel that has the Nationals involved in a three-way deal with the Reds and Blue Jays. The deal would send Wilkerson to Toronto, Shea Hillenbrand and another player to Cincinnati and Wily Mo Pena to Washington. Nats GM Jim Bowden told MLB.com that rumor was false.

"I have not had any dealings with [Blue Jays general manager] J.P. Ricciardi since the Winter Meetings started, other than to say congratulations on his three-year extension," said Bowden.

Two additional baseball sources familiar with the Nationals' thinking said that no such deal was talked about.

Agent Scott Boras said the Nationals made competitive offers to three of his clients -- Kevin Millwood, Jarrod Washburn and Kenny Rogers. Boras also said his clients are not afraid to play for a team that doesn't have an ownership group in place.

"We understand the commitment the ownership has to make to buy the franchise," said Boras. "Whomever gets involved, we feel they will be committed to winning. The revenue is going to be great. My clients have not had any [hesitation] in terms of considering Washington."

Bill Ladson is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

http://washington.nationals.mlb.com/NAS ... p&c_id=was

[Steve Spurrier III]

YESSS!!!!!!

We got Soriano!

I hate to burst your bubble, but the Nationals got ripped off.

2005 Road Splits
Soriano: .224/.265/.374/.639
Wilkerson: .257/.337/.414/.751

The numbers clearly show that Soriano was terrible away from home and Wilkerson has hurt by RFK. At the very best, you could try to argue that Wilkerson and Soriano have close to equal value. But since the Nationals are losing both prospects and cash in the deal, in addition to the fact that Soriano plays a terrible second base and has refused to switch positions in the past, makes this deal downright awful.

[andyjens89]

i heart soriano

[John Manfreda]

I love this trade.

[Jake]

Accord Reached On New Stadium

[Kentucky Fried Hog]

Trouble in paradise already?
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2253650

[air_hog]

I HATE THE YANKEES

they just got Damon

[JansenFan]

Living in the DC area, I have no choice but to follow the Nationals. I think that the team has made a COLLOSSAL mistake in their trade of an up-and-coming Brad Wilkerson for a guy in Soriano who has already refused to play the outfield (which was the plan when the trade went through) AND a guy who has already said he wants to play in the AL, meaning he is one and done.

This has all the makings of the TO-Philly debacle.