Report from NatsFest

The Nationals' first-ever fan fest, dubbed "NatsFest", has wrapped up and I think it's safe to say it was a pretty big success. I say this because... -- There were a lot of people here. Lines were long everywhere you looked. The club won't have an actual attendance figure until later this week, but it was several thousand, perhaps somewhere between 4,000-7,000 (though I'm purely estimating that number). -- Team executives were happy with the turnout and the various events that made up the afternoon. -- Fans were happy with the day. It did seem like there were some legitimate complaints from fans. Lines to get autographs were really long, maybe too long. It was difficult to get from one level of Nationals Park to another, and things were spread out. And concessions were pricey. But overall, I think most will agree this thing was a success. There will be some lessons learned for next year -- perhaps do this over two days to accommodate more people? -- but there seemed to be fewer hiccups than most expected going in. I'll give a more in-depth report tomorrow, but here are a couple of highlights from the day... -- Fans want the Nats to sign Ryan Zimmerman to a long-term deal. They really want this to happen. One fan, given a chance to ask Stan Kasten a question during a large Q&A session, asked if he could swap jobs with the team president for one hour, during which time he would sign Zimmerman to a six-year contract. That drew a loud roar from the crowd. Stan, for his part, didn't disagree with the sentiment. Though he did point out that the Nats have been trying for three years to lock up Zimmerman, and it's never as easy as it might look from the outside. -- Fans want the Nats to sign Adam Dunn. Thom Loverro will have more on this in his column in tomorrow's paper, but it's clear that fans want the big bopper in the middle of Washington's lineup. Will it happen? We'll see, but Jim Bowden believes the free agent market will finally start falling into place in the next couple of weeks as unsigned players get desperate with spring training fast approaching. -- Elijah Dukes was here, a surprise since he wasn't on the original list of players scheduled to appear. Dukes, who on Friday avoided a jail sentence in Tampa by paying more than $40,000 in child support and alimony to his estranged wife, signed autographs and posed for photos with fans. He did not speak to any media members, declining all interview requests through a team spokesman. -- Jim Bowden all but said the Nats will draft Stephen Strasburg with the No. 1 pick in June. Bowden calld the right-hander from San Diego State "as good a pitcher as we've seen in the draft in 10-15 years." He also indicated the club's other first-round pick (No. 10 overall) is likely to be a college player. -- Kasten said that while he's held productive talks in recent weeks about stadium naming rights, Nationals Park will not have a new name by Opening Day. -- Finally, Stan Kasten on the state of the franchise: "I couldn't be more optimistic about where we are and where we are going." I'll let all of you decide whether you share that rosy outlook.