From the Nationals:

The Washington Nationals today agreed to terms with shortstop Cristian Guzman on a two-year contract extension through the 2010 season. Nationals Senior Vice President and General Manager Jim Bowden made this announcement.

Guzman has led the Nationals’ offense this season, batting .310 with 56 runs scored, 26 doubles, three triples, five home runs and 34 RBI in 96 games. For his efforts, he was chosen to represent the Nationals in this year’s All-Star Game, which was played last week in New York. Guzman entered today leading the National League with 129 hits (third in MLB), and boasts the circuit’s seventh-best batting average. His 38 multi-hit games are second in the NL, and his 13 three-hit games are tops in the league.

The switch-hitting shortstop has been the Nationals’ most-durable player this season, playing in a team-high 96 games. He also leads the club in batting, runs scored, hits, doubles and triples (tied). His 25 hits with runners in scoring position are tops on the Nationals, and his RBI total is second only to Jesus Flores’ 40.

Guzman became the franchise’s first All-Star shortstop since Wil Cordero represented the Montreal Expos in the 1994 Midsummer Classic. He became the first DC-based shortstop to represent The District in an All-Star Game since Rocky Bridges was selected but did not play in the 1958 game. This season marks the second All-Star campaign of Guzman’s career, as he also participated in the 2001 All-Star Game as a member of the Minnesota Twins.

The 30-year-old has batted .315 with 32 doubles, nine triples, seven home runs, 48 RBI and a .352 on-base percentage over the last two seasons (2007-08), since missing the entire 2006 campaign due to right-shoulder surgery. His batting average over the last two seasons is second-best among major league shortstops, behind only Florida’s Hanley Ramirez (.320).

Guzman was originally signed by the Nationals as a free agent on November 16, 2004, after playing his first six major league seasons with the Twins. The nine-year veteran has batted .268 with 193 doubles, 76 triples, 50 home runs, 368 RBI, 114 stolen bases and a .305 on-base percentage during his career.

A busy weekend of games prevented a full discussion here about the alleged Jim Bowden-Jose Rijo investigation by the FBI.  Nats Farm Authority and Fire Jim Bowden were actively updating and synthesizing reports, while the Post, the Times, MLB.com, The New York Times, the Associated Press and ESPN each had their own take on the situation.  In summary, ESPN says Bowden and Rijo are suspects.  Bowden has and Rijo will meet with FBI investigators but both claim not to be suspected of wrongdoing.  Sports Illustrated revealed that the investigation focuses on the 1.4 million dollar bonus given to Esmailyn “Smiley” Gonzalez in 2006.  Gonzales, heralded as a future star for the organization, is hitting .394 in 17 games this season with the Gulf Coast team.  At the time of the signing, Gonzales made it clear that he was signing with the team because of his special relationship with Jose Rijo, according to Bill Ladson, writing in 2006.  Kasten and Bowden said:

“…there were opposing teams who tried to sabotage them from signing Gonzalez. They would not name the organizations in question, but Kasten said the Nationals are considering taking the matter to the league office. “I don’t know how I’m going to react,” Kasten said. “I wanted [our front office] to keep their eyes on the ball and get the deal done [with Gonzalez].”

We’ll all continue to watch this unfold together.

Also frustrating this weekend were comments made by Mark Lerner about his take on building a successful team. Harper at Oleanders and Morning Glories echoes our sentiments, especially with regard to the Johan Santana criticism.  Since when did wins and losses for a pitcher mean much of anything?  Santana’s doing his job and doing it well.  It’s especially disconcerting that he chose that example because we’ve got a decent rotation that has battled throught the first half remarkably well without a lot of wins or run support to show for it. 

In other news, Bowden was awarded Sports Illustrated’s First Half Worst GM in the National League Award for constructing a team that has “one, maybe two, legit starting position players.”

Ryan Zimmerman begins a rehab assignment tonight with the Potomac Nationals.  He’ll play two games in Salem, VA with the P-Nats before joining the Columbus Clippers.

There’s a wealth of it in the big leagues now — young guys rising before their time, emerging as the stars of tomorrow, today.  Despite their stellar performances in their early 20s, they still have to wait through the MLB process before their hard work starts to pay off financially. 

We have a handful of young stars here in DC, but noone doubts that Ryan Zimmerman’s future is bright.  The 23 year old enters his third season this year.  The Nationals first ever first-round draft pick, Zimmerman’s journey to the big leagues was quick.  He spent only a short summer in Harrisburg.  He earned runner-up status in the Rookie of the Year voting in 2006.  The Nationals have used his face in countless promotions, marketing the young star as the face of the franchise and the future of the organization.

As such, it comes as a bit of a surprise that the organization refuses to reward Zimmeran with a competitive multi-year contract.  Zimmerman’s too composed, too loyal and too stoic to criticize the team publicly, but you have to wonder if we’ll really be able to keep him around at the beginning of free agency when teams are offering top dollar.  We can only hope his loyalty and enthusiasm about staying in DC lasts for a really long time.

“I really don’t have any feelings. Like I told you guys before, it’s a good relationship that I have here…I’m just happy to be here and I look forward to playing here for a long time.” — R. Zimmerman

His agent, Brodie Van Wagenen, acknowledged that the two sides were having difficulty reaching an agreement, but that the team had the right to renew automatically.  We should know in coming days how it will turn out.

The kid that plays hard everyday, appears in every game, shows up at community events throughout the entire year, serves as a clubhouse leader and puts up numbers that lead the team deserves more from this organization.

In the past few days, other clubs have handled similiar situations with star young players.  Notably, the talented youngsters are angry.  Cole Hamels was recently renewed for 500,000 by the Phillies.  Hamels said, “I felt like it wasn’t necessarily equal compensation for what I do and for what I can do.”

Up the road to Baltimore, Nick Markakis was equally frustrated.  His contract was renewed for 455,000.  “That’s just how the Orioles feel. I don’t have much of a choice. I’m just going to have to deal with it.”  Markakis led the Orioles with a .300 average last year and 23 homers, 112 RBIs and 18 steals.  Here’s Olney’s take.  Here’s Lemke’s.

Out in Milwaukee, Prince Fielder also went public with his frustration.  His contract was renewed for 675,000.  His 50 home runs last season were a first for such a young player. 

Perhaps some of their concern comes from the nice contract the Mets offered David Wright in 2006.   The 6-year extension was worth $55 million, with a $1.5 million signing bonus.  At 25, Wright is actually being compensated for the numbers, community work and leadership he brings to the Mets organization.  The contract has turned out pretty well for Wright and his team.  If only we were as insightful. 

Reunited and it feels so good:
Bret Boone joins brother Aaron and father Bob in the Nationals organization. The team offered the second baseman an invitation to the Accelerated Development Program and a non guaranteed minor-league contract. He has appeared in 3 All Star games and has won a pair of AL Silver Slugger Awards, as well as 4 Gold Gloves throughout his career. Boone hasn’t played since 2005.

A Lefty Joins the battle for rotation spots:
After a day of rumors, the Nats agree to terms on a minor league contract with Odalis Perez at a reported 800,000.

Position players report:
A fully recovered Ryan Zimmerman, a re-energized Felipe Lopez, a healthy Nick Johnson and a lighter Dmitri Young have all been spotted starting their spring training early.

Here’s a great quote from the “face of the franchise” with no long-term contract (yet):

We are tired of losing. We are good enough to win. The way we played the last month of the season — the last two weeks against teams that were competing for a playoff spot — we played them tough. So that shows we are not scared. We were scared before, but we know we can win. We have a little quiet confidence about us. That’s how it’s going to be this year. .. Competing isn’t good enough. We want to win and we want to win now.” — Zimmerman

Not all that surprisingly, infielder Felipe Lopez lost his arbitration case yesterday. Lopez will make $4.9 million instead of the $5.2 million he desired. The ruling still gives Lopez a $1 million raise over last year’s salary despite his subpar season.

His decision to actually go to arbitration was the big surprise. Last season, Lopez hit .245 with nine home runs and 50 RBIs. A lead-off hitter who struck out during almost 20% of his at-bats, his OBP was only .308. Lopez also struggled defensively collecting 20 errors. Only 11 players in Major League Baseball had more last season (though those players include Zimmerman, Wright, and H. Ramirez). Unfortuantely, Nats fans know that many of those errors were momentum changing moments that eventually cost the Nats a few wins and leveled a charge from some that he wasn’t trying.

Lopez said of the arbitration process, often known to be a difficult experience, that hearing the team talk about his terrible performance in 2006 just fired him up.

The club has said that Belliard and Guzman will come into spring training with the nod at 2nd and short, but Lopez wants to play hard and earn his starting spot. He said recently:

A lot of people have had bad years — a lot of good players — and they bounce back. That what I want to do. I want to bounce back.

We will see. There is little doubt that Lopez has a lot of potential but private personal problems have admittedly affected his on-field focus. A 2005 All-Star, we’re hoping Felipe Lopez can put last season behind him and have a big comeback in 2008.

With just about a week until pitchers and catchers report, the Nationals are still busy finalizing the details for next season. Stan gave a tour of the new stadium recently, and promised that the stadium will be completed by opening day. Hard to believe its only 53 days till the season opener!

We finally have the official word on radio extraordinaire Charlie Slowes. He and the Nationals have agreed to terms, and Charlie will rejoin Dave Jageler for the 2008 season. Hopefully we will hear a lot of Charlie’s trademark “bang zoom go the fireworks” next season. This is a step in the right direction.

Also somewhat buried in the news of Charlie’s contract, comes the blurb about the Nats signing Asian pitcher Katsuhiko Maekawa to a minor league deal with an invitation to spring training. Both Barry and WFY have more info, but it seems he’s had some trouble with the law also. Sure looks like he’ll feel right at home next to fellow misfits…er oops…I mean teammates.

Lastly, we kicked our baseball withdrawal a bit by following the Caribbean World Series. Both Jesus Colome and Ronnie Belliard had some great performances.

That’s about it for now. Let’s start the countdown…9 days till Spring Training!

ps - Both Babe Ruth and Ronald Reagan were born today in 1895 and 1911.

Yesterday, the Nationals agreed to a 1.25 million dollar one year contract with catcher Johnny Estrada. Estrada will be reunited with Stan Kasten and Pat Corrales. Sources insist the move had nothing to do with Lo Duca*’s recent knee injury, though Estrada had the same procedure performed last fall. The switch-hitter brings some balance to the lineup. Chris at Capitol Punishment chronicles Estrada’s attitude problems, calling attention to the most important consequences of this move.

Jesus Flores. The young impressive Flores will, according to these sources, be playing AA or AAA ball next season to develop into the backstop of the Nats future. We’re big fans and sad to see him go. Alas, what Jim wants, Jim gets.In other news:

Dmitri Young was honored at the 19th annual BAT awards, along with David Wright.

Elijah Dukes was back in a Tampa court yesterday for a disposition in a misdemeanor domestic violence case against him, stemming from a July 2007 incident.

Ryan Zimmerman will be appearing at a star studded pre-Super Bowl party this weekend. The Stars in the Skye party includes Nick Lachey, Vanessa Millano, Venus and Serena Williams, Ivanka Trump and others.

The Nats are expected to take on the Georgetown Hoyas at an exhibition game on Feb 28 in Viera. The game is free of charge and originally appeared as an off-day for the team.

After a good attempt to make it to Giffords on time last night (I blame the city’s lack of protected left turns), I arrived minutes after the Nationals crew had already departed. Others were there to fill you in on the details. It sure smelled like heaven in there. Sounds like it was a great event for the local business which will be selling products at the new Nationals Park.

The Nats also announced their new Baseball America ranking for prospects. The Nats moved from dead last to #9 by adding the talented Detwiler, Burgess, McGeary and Smoker.

The team also announced their kick-off of the Spring Training season with single game ticket sales and a fan fest for those in the Melbourne/Viera area. Saturday’s fest will include Jason Bergmann, Ross Detwiler, Shawn Hill and Alex Escobar and feature batting practice, a pitching clinic, and dugout pictures. There are only 20 days to go until pitchers and catchers report.

We have not said much about Barry Svrluga yet — we were waiting for his official word. But it does turn out that beloved Post beat writer will be moving to Redskins coverage in the future. Can you think of just one person who might be okay with this change?

Sideline reporter Debbi Taylor has a fun blog post about her recent trip to the Professional Baseball Scouts Foundation In the Spirit of the Game Dinner and Auction.

Also the Hampton Roads MLB boys are coming together again. This time they are building a indoor sports facility — the Seven Cities Sports Complex. The idea belongs to Twins outfielder Michael Cuddyer who has dreamed about sponsoring such a place for years. The complex should be ready by early 2009. In general, there will be a fee to attend and train, however they also plan to offer scholarships to help send kids to college. The clinics and programs will shape the area’s youth and provide assistance to those that might not be able to afford to use the facility. The group is headed by Cuddyer with support from BJ and Justin Upton, Tim Hummel and Ryan Zimmerman.

Injury update: Nats catcher Paul Lo Duca* seems to have suffered a knee injury recently. It is unknown if it will affect his participation in spring training, but he will have an MRI today. He also has not yet publicly addressed accusations made against him in the Mitchell Report.

The Nats also agreed to terms with 12 players. The only remaining players without contracts are Felipe Lopez (arbitration), Jon Rauch (arbitration) and Ryan Zimmerman (long term contract??).

One by one the Nationals are avoiding the arbitration process with the players eligible. Yesterday, the Nats and Tim Redding agreed on contract terms. Redding received a one-year $1 million deal with additional bonuses if he pitches more than 180 innings. Tim’s performance last year was a pleasant surprise, he really stepped up when so many of our starters fell to injury. He was called up in July and went 3-6 with a 3.64 ERA. We are excited to have him back next year, and are interested to see what Spring Training will bring for the rotation.

As of now, the Nationals still have two players eligible for arbitration, Jon Rauch and Felipe Lopez. It sounds like the Nats had been trying to work with Rauch on a deal but nothing has been agreed on yet. It’s all quiet on the Felipe Lopez front, although we’ve heard he is expected to compete with Guzman for a starting position during Spring Training. We’d love for Felipe to prove himself, and have the kind of amazing season we all know he can have.

Less than a month to go now!

The Nationals just announced they avoided arbitration with Chad Cordero and signed the closer to a one year $6.2 million deal. This is great news for both the Chief and Nats fans. Chad has said on numerous occasions that he wants to stay in DC and loves playing for the Nationals. As the Nationals are trying to mold a group of young men into a championship team, it makes total sense to keep the talented young closer in Washington. While he keeps our hearts pounding in the 9th inning, Chief usually gets the job done. Congratulations Chad!

From the Press Release:

The 25 year-old Cordero, who has successfully converted over 80 percent of his save opportunities each of his complete three seasons as a closer, ranks second on the franchise’s all-time saves list with 128 (Jeff Reardon, 152). Last season—on June 12 vs. Baltimore at the age of 25 years, 86 days—Cordero became the second-youngest closer in big league history to reach the 100-save plateau (Francisco Rodriguez, 24 years, 246 days). Cordero is 20-14 with 128 saves and a 2.79 ERA in 299 career appearances spanning four-plus seasons with Washington and Montreal.

The Nationals now have three players left who remain arbitration eligible: Felipe Lopez, Jon Rauch, and Tim Redding. It will be interesting to see what happens for them in the next few weeks.