Rafael Soriano is ours!!!! *evil laugh* 2 years $28 million

[Eddie the Expos fan]

I'm loving this signing of Soriano, I hope Storen and Clippard stay.

[cmdterps44]

HRod was unhittable when healthy, he'll be a comeback player of the year candidate.

Thanks for the laugh. I totally needed that one.

[PANatsFan]

Kilgore should recommend more signings. Unless kilgore is teddys pen name.

[Lintyfresh85]

It's funny, isn't?

[PowerBoater69]

Thanks for the laugh. I totally needed that one.

Me and Rizzo believe in HRod and ours are the only opinions that matter.

[PC]

Rizzo builds Nationals into near-flawless contender

So now the Washington Nationals have three closers, and isn't that going to be a problem?

Yes, I'm reaching. Otherwise, it's almost impossible to find a flaw with this team, and that's no fun. Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo has constructed a roster that's close to perfect, and now he's about to turn it over to a manager, Davey Johnson, with one of the best winning percentages in history (.564).

Rizzo's team won 98 games last season, the most in baseball. The Nationals led the National League in ERA and were fifth in runs. Only three teams made fewer errors.

When last season ended, they had one pressing need (if there's such a thing for a 98-64 team): an impact defensive presence in center field. If he could bat leadoff, so much the better.

The Nationals were widely linked to free-agent center fielder Michael Bourn, but Rizzo went another direction, sending his best pitching prospect, Alex Meyer, to the Twins for Denard Span.

Span is such a perfect fit, both at the top of the lineup and in center, that if Rizzo hadn't done one other thing, his team would have been favored to win the NL East again. And this time, the Nationals would be going back to the playoffs with Stephen Strasburg at the top of their rotation.

Only Rizzo wasn't done. He essentially swapped Edwin Jackson for Dan Haren in his rotation. And then he went to work on his bullpen, where he'd lost three left-handed relievers in free agency -- Sean Burnett, Mike Gonzalez and Tom Gorzelanny, who made a combined 162 appearances.

Still, the Nationals' bullpen was deep. Rizzo would have closer Drew Storen for an entire year and also Tyler Clippard, who saved 32 games while Storen was recovering from elbow surgery. He also signed former Reds lefty specialist Bill Bray to a Minor League contract. When healthy, he has been one of the best left-handed specialists in the game.

And when Rizzo re-signed first baseman Adam LaRoche, his work appeared to be done. LaRoche hit 33 home runs in the middle of the order last season, and he was equally huge in the clubhouse, a calming presence for a club going through the grind of a pennant race for the first time.

LaRoche's return seemed to make Michael Morse available, and us smart guys figured he'd be traded for a reliever or a prospect. Only Rizzo wasn't done. He was in Puerto Rico last week scouting Javier Vazquez, who has been touching 95 mph on radar guns after taking 2012 off. Vazquez made sense for the Nationals as insurance for the rotation or another quality arm for the bullpen.

All that was before Rizzo surprised baseball on Tuesday by signing free-agent closer Rafael Soriano to a deal worth at least $28 million over two years. He was one of the more intriguing names left in this free-agent market and had been mentioned in connection with the Dodgers and Tigers.

All Soriano does for the Nationals is make a solid bullpen one of the best in baseball. Regardless of how Johnson lines them up, the Nationals seem capable of reducing games to six innings.

Johnson will have the option of using three guys -- Soriano, Clippard and Storen -- for the late innings. All of them have had success closing games. This is where it helps having someone with Johnson's years of experience. He has such a good relationship with his players that regardless of who he uses and in what situations, his guys will understand he's only doing what he believes is best for the team.

As Spring Training approaches, it's fun to argue whether the Dodgers, Giants, Cardinals, Reds or Nationals should be the consensus favorite to win the NL.

That's the fun part of this thing. It would be easy to make a case for any of the five teams, and the D-backs, Brewers, Braves and Phillies aren't far behind. Baseball has never had this kind of parity, and maybe that's what Rizzo had in mind when he added a guy who saved 42 games for the Yankees in 2012.

Maybe he's looking beyond the regular season to another round of postseason play when the games are closer and when funny stuff sometimes happen. The Nationals learned how to win last season and had as much fun as any group in the game. Now they'll be dealing with expectations.

Rizzo did what the best general managers have always done. That is, he was unafraid to change a really good club. He kept the core guys together and added some more. Enjoy the ride, boys.

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20130115&content_id=40974452&vkey=news_was&c_id=was&partnerId=rss_was

[Kevrock]

The D-Backs aren't far behind? Really?

[Smithian]

LANC

[mitlen]

MLB TV giving a good wrap up on the deal.    John Hart seems to like it.

[Mr Clean]

Did anyone catch Mid-Atlantic Sports this afternoon? They covered the trade for about 15 mins. but then went right to the Oh-rioles. I was in and out but every minute I saw was about Baltimore. I hope MLB can extract us from that network.

[mitlen]

Did anyone catch Mid-Atlantic Sports this afternoon? They covered the trade for about 15 mins. but then went right to the Oh-rioles. I was in and out but every minute I saw was about Baltimore. I hope MLB can extract us from that network.

Noticed the Oreo time bias as well.

[PowerBoater69]

Did anyone catch Mid-Atlantic Sports this afternoon? They covered the trade for about 15 mins. but then went right to the Oh-rioles. I was in and out but every minute I saw was about Baltimore. I hope MLB can extract us from that network.

15 minutes is a good amount of time for a single topic on a sports show.

[mitlen]

15 minutes is a good amount of time for a single topic on a sports show.

Not so much a topic PB  ...  Nats period.

[Mr Clean]

15 minutes is a good amount of time for a single topic on a sports show.

Except the show lasts an hour and a half, sometimes two hours.

[nats2playoffs]

Did anyone catch Mid-Atlantic Sports this afternoon? They covered the trade for about 15 mins. but then went right to the Oh-rioles. I was in and out but every minute I saw was about Baltimore. I hope MLB can extract us from that network.

They led with the Soriano trade at the 5 pm opening, went to an Orioles signing, and went to a live phone interview with Bell Ladzun at 6 pm. 

MASN is biased for the Orioles, but they talked heavily about the Nationals in last year's off season, drooling over the return of Strasburg.  This time last year, they were anticipating another losing Orioles team, (although they'd never say that on the air), and the hosts were jumping on the Nationals' bandwagon.


I asked Santa to put Kristina Akra on
MASN's Saturday morning Nats Talk show

[MorseTheHorse]

anyone else think this trade actually signals the team is keeping Morse.  I mean if we are spending this kind of money on a 3rd closer, I just don't' see us trading away anybody who can help the team win this year. 

[varoadking]

anyone else think this trade actually signals the team is keeping Morse.  I mean if we are spending this kind of money on a 3rd closer, I just don't' see us trading away anybody who can help the team win this year.

He will be traded if it further benefits the team...no different than it always goes...

[Tyler Durden]

anyone else think this trade actually signals the team is keeping Morse.  I mean if we are spending this kind of money on a 3rd closer, I just don't' see us trading away anybody who can help the team win this year. 

Definitely crossed my mind.  Keep all of Morse, Storen, and Clippard and go for it.  Or at least keep them until the trade deadline and see if another need comes up and then trade them to address that need.

[RobDibblesGhost]

Blockbuster signing and TV9 starts with the freaking Ravens.    Never mentioned the signing in the sports segment.

Channel 9 used to be great, but they've gone downhill since the great Glenn Brenner passed away.  Local news, and especially sports, is an embarrassment these days.  Did you see that they had their blonde bimbo sports chick live in Denver for the Ravens game this past weekend?  I don't think any local station sent anyone to St. Louis last October, but they're covering the freaking Ravens like they're a home team (Channel 9 is the worst offender).  Maybe Angelos runs the place now?

[Lintyfresh85]

I saw one local broadcast where the "sports reporter" claimed an NBA game ended in an 86-86 tie. She didn't even seem to know that, that wasn't possible.

[RobDibblesGhost]

I saw one local broadcast where the "sports reporter" claimed an NBA game ended in an 86-86 tie. She didn't even seem to know that, that wasn't possible.

    I think I saw that one too...

[imref]

MLB TV giving a good wrap up on the deal.    John Hart seems to like it.

The consensus is that Lerner and rizzo are "all in" this year. 

[BigMeech]

Adam LaRoche
Ian Desmond
Ryan Zimmerman
Danny Espinosa
Bryce Harper
Denard Span
Jayson Werth
Michael Morse
Steve Lombardozzi
Tyler Moore
Stephen Strasburg
Jordan Zimmermann
ROSS Detwiler
Gio Gonzalez
Dan Haren
Rafael Soriano
Drew Storen
Tyler Clippard
Craig Stammen

Look at all of this talent. Just look at it. The rest of baseball might not have enough talent to box with (the baseball) God.

[lastobjective]

You forgot Christian Garcia, and half of the goon squad but yes we are LOADED.

[BigMeech]

The jury is still out on Garcia imo but I'll gladly add him to the list if he continues what he was doing last season into this upcoming season.  If he does, that would make an even 20 players who I consider "solid to great."

I don't think we have anyone who truly stinks on our roster now that I think about it.  No more Xavier Nady's!