By John Solomon
How the government's punishing of the exposure of official wrongdoing can linger for years
Faced with a choice between two No. 1-capable catchers, Nats manager Davey Johnson made an unusual call: Let's use both.
The grease boards, as he calls them, are stored in Washington Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo's office. The markers he uses on them have been worn out, replaced, and worn out again.
White cinder block walls lead the way. Past the security guard in need of a cup of coffee just after 8 a.m. on a cool March morning. Through the makeshift clubhouse kitchen at Space Coast Stadium where three plug-in griddles serve up pancakes and eggs with toppings stored in plastic containers.
For a roster that was all but set from the outset of camp, the decision on whether J.C. Romero or Henry Rodriguez will get the Nationals' final bullpen spot, it seems, will come down to the spring's final day.
Bernadina spoke glowingly of his time in the WBC. The best moment of the entire tournament for him was when the Dutch team beat Cuba to advance to the final round, even though he didn't play in that game.
Chris Young readily admits he doesn't know how the next few days of his career will play out. The day he can activate the out clause in his minor league deal with the Washington Nationals is Sunday. His next start is scheduled for Monday.
Soriano's first outing progressed with the same efficiency that prompted the Nationals to hand him a two-year, $28 million contract to bolster the back end of an already-strong bullpen.
As a pitcher who possesses one of the 10 best strikeout-to-walk ratios in baseball history, Haren's game starts and finishes with impeccable command of his pitches. It was unlike him, then, when he started his first spring game as a Washington National falling behind the first two hitters 1-0, and the third 3-0.
It didn't take Mattheus long to look around the Nationals' clubhouse this spring and realize that, of the relievers on the team's 40-man roster, there is precisely one who throws with his left hand: Zach Duke.
Ramos has already begun to conquer what was admittedly his biggest fear: blocking. He participated in a blocking drill on Sunday with bullpen coach Jim Lett throwing balls at the catchers, bouncing them in the dirt and on either side of them, and Ramos had no trouble.
Davey Johnson says he's going to retire when the Washington Nationals' 2013 season comes to an end. As Johnson met the media for the first time this spring training, it was clear he's in no rush to change a thing.
The goal this year is simple, as manager Davey Johnson has already laid out as plain as can be: World Series or bust. Here are five storylines to watch as the Nationals go through six weeks of preparation for the 2013 season.
Until last week, the Washington Nationals were set to decamp next month to the master-planned communities and chain restaurants of Viera, Fla., for spring training with a startling absence of dramatics. Enter Rafael Soriano.
A few minutes after Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo sat before a room full of media and team employees to introduce his new closer Thursday, he stood to the side and challenged the idea that Washington' latest moves should be interpreted as the team announcing it is "all-in" for the 2013 season.
If there was one takeaway from Soriano's introduction, officially installing him in a bullpen that already contained two right-handers with significant closing experience in Drew Storen and Tyler Clippard, it was that closing games was precisely what he was brought here to do.
There are differences, he said, in the way they control a game and receive the ball.
