Pete Orr Returning to Nats?

According to Mark Zuckerman at The Washington Times, Pete Orr will be returning to the Nationals.

Photo (c) C. Nichols 2008.

Nats Waive Cordero; Pena Re-ups

From the Washington Nationals this afternoon:

NATIONALS OUTRIGHT THREE PLAYERS TO SYRACUSE, ANNOUNCE WILY MO PENA HAS EXERCISED OPTION ON 2009 CONTRACT

The Washington Nationals today announced they have outrighted right-handed pitcher Chad Cordero, right-handed pitcher Ryan Wagner and infielder Pete Orr to Syracuse of the Triple-A International League. All three players elected free agency. The Nationals also announced they have rejected a $5 million club option on outfielder Wily Mo Pena, who subsequently exercised a $2 million player option for the 2009 season. Nationals Senior Vice President and General Manager Jim Bowden made the announcements.

Pena, 26, has batted .241 with 10 doubles, 10 home runs and 32 RBI in 101 games with the Nationals since being acquired from Boston on August 17, 2007 in exchange for a player to be named (first baseman Chris Carter). He is a .253 hitter with 77 home runs and 225 RBI in 560 big league games spanning seven seasons with Cincinnati, Boston and Washington.

The 26 year-old Cordero pitched in only six games last season and had season-ending right-shoulder surgery on July 8. Cordero’s 128 career saves rank second on the franchise’s all-time list behind only Jeff Reardon (152). He departs having pocketed 113 of the 157 saves recorded by the Nationals since 2005.

Wagner, 26, did not pitch in the big leagues in 2008 while working his way back from June 5, 2007 SLAP repair surgery on his right shoulder. He is 11-9 with 30 holds and a 4.79 ERA in 148 games with Cincinnati and Washington.

In 2008, the 29 year-old Orr batted .253 with seven RBI in 49 games in
his only season with the Nationals.

BOTTOM(FEEDER) LINE: This was totally predicted. Cordero couldn't return to the team for any kind of guaranteed money with his injury, and after Bowden told the media before Cordero about their intention to non-tender him, Cordero certainly wasn't going to do any favors for the team. Hopefully he gets healthy and someone gives him a fair shot, but I think it'll be into the season, just like Freddie Garcia this year, before someone signs him.

Wagner never fully recovered from his labrum surgery, like most who have it done. I will be shocked if he's ever a useful MLB player again. Orr will sign somewhere for organizational depth.

Pena, however, is another story. The Nats are stuck with him, and he with them. If it really was the injury keeping him from producing last year, the $2M salary won't look so bad. Then, the Nats will give him a two-year, $5M per deal just like Young and Guzman. I kid. Seriously though, if he still looks terrible in spring training, it'll be interesting to see if the Nats eat his salary, since outfield is one place on the team that they actually have some talent, and it'll be tough to carry Pena's dead weight all season, unless they hide him like they did Meathook this summer.

Photos (c) C. Nichols 2008.

GB&U: 99 Losses

RESULT: Marlins beat Nats 9-4. Nats stand one shy of 100.

GOOD: Emilio! went 2-for-5 with an RBI. Pete Orr went 2-for-4 with and RBI. Wil Nieves went 1-for-3 with an RBI.

BONUS GOOD: Roger Bernadina's diving catch in left field was as good as you'll ever see, and rightly earned him the Web Gem on ESPN's Baseball Tonight last night.

BAD: Roger Bernadina. He went 1-for-4 with a strikeout and stranded four base-runners.

UGLY: Tim Redding. Here's a guy that really wanted to end the season on a good note, after all the decent pitching he's done this year, and he just got roughed up last night. Only made it through 2.2 IP, allowing 7 runs on 7 hits and 2 BBs, 4 Ks and 1 HR allowed.

BONUS UGLY: The weather for tonight's game, the last home game of the season. Does not look promising. Let's hope they don't wash the whole thing out. I know, what's one more game? But it's the last one!

NEXT GAME: Tonight, weather permitting, at 7:10 pm from Nationals Park. Collin Balestar (3-6, 4.83) faces Anibal Sanchez (2-5, 5.57). Sanchez has a tweaked hammy though, so if they play in the rain it's questionable if Florida will allow him to go out there on the wet field.

FRONT OFFICE UPDATE: In a response to yesterday's Sporting News article about unrest at the top, Nats President Stan Kasten vehemently denied rumors of his demise to Bill Ladson at MLB.com. Reassuring to hear it straight from the horses mouth. Still, can't help but feel Monday will be an interesting day in Nats history.

FUN STUFF: If you haven't seen it yet, here's video shot by BF Staff Photographer Cheryl Nichols (alias: diehardnatsfan) of the radio guys, Charlie, Dave and Jack, dancing to Wil Nieves' batting song. It's fairly hysterical and Charlie couldn't stop laughing when she showed it to him after Tuesday night's game! We'll still trying to track down the song title and artist so you too can add to your iPod.

Game Photos and Video (c) C. Nichols 2008.

GB&U: Swept Away Again (and goodbye Mets fans!)

RESULT: Nats lose to Mets 9-3. Sweep. Seven-game losing streak.

GOOD: Pete Orr. Pinch-hittin' Pete comes through with a triple to make things interesting for a little while. Good for you, Pete. It's nice to see him have a little reward for sacrificing his shot at playing for the Canadian Olympic team to stay with this terrible, almost historically bad last place team.

BAD: Collin Balestar. Mama said there'd be days like these. 6 IP, 5 ERs, 4 hits, 5! BBs, 3 Ks, 2 HRs. For the season he's 2-5, 5.06. He looked good first time through, but lost something the second time through the line-up. Granted, the Mets can hit. But you can't expect to have success walking Argenis Reyes (.239) and Fernando Tatis three times!

UGLY: Mets fans. They apparently invaded the Ladies' Night tent pre-game last night, then committed a fan interference taking a David Wright foul ball from in front of Austin Kearns in the RF corner. And I don't know about the upper deck, but the lower bowl was crawling with them. I know it's an inherent problem in DC, but it still sucks.

INJURY: Guzman sat with lingering soreness in the bad thumb. Flores had a tummy ache. Gonzo finally put on the DL, with Boone returning from injury purgatory.

NEXT GAME: Tonight against the Rocks. Tim Redding (8-7, 4.61) hosts Jorge de la Rosa (5-6, 6.28) in game one at 7:35 pm from Nationals Park. See you there. Not too many Rockies fans in DC.

Photo (c) C. Nichols 2008.

Schneider, Mets Continue Pounding Nats, 9-3

Washington -- Brian Schneider and Carlos Delgado each hit home runs off Washington Nationals starter Collin Balestar, and the New York Mets took a one-game lead in the N.L. East over the Philadelphia Phillies as a result of their 9-3 victory over Washington Thursday night before 31,058 patrons at Nationals Park. Washington managed only six hits against Mets starter Oliver Perez and a trio of relievers. It was Washington's seventh straight loss.

Balestar was not sharp at all last night, as he allowed five earned runs on four hits and five walks in six innings. This is the second night in a row that walks have really hurt the Nationals' starters, as Jason Bergmann allowed six walks in Wednesday's start. Balestar took the loss, lowering his record to 2-5 and raising his ERA to 5.06. Balestar has yet to reach the seventh inning in any of his eight starts for the Nats. Last night was a season high for him in walks, and tied a season high in earned runs allowed. He also allowed five earned runs against Cincinnati on July 6, his second start.

The Washington rookie cruised through he first three innings, allowing no hits and just one walk, but the wheels came off in the fourth and things just got worse in the fifth. Mets OF Argenis Reyes led off the fourth inning with a single to left center field, and David Wright followed with a double to left that moved Reyes up to third. Carlos Delgado grounded to SS Ronnie Belliard, starting in place of Cristian Guzman, who was a late scratch with lingering soreness in his left thumb, and Reyes scored. Carlos Beltran drove a sacrifice fly to center that scored Wright on the next play, and the Mets took a 2-0 lead. In the fifth, OF Fernando Tatis walked on four straight balls, and Schneider drilled a 1-0 fastball to left center for his third home run of the season.

"This is the big leagues and guys make adjustments," Washington manager Manny Acta said. "That second time through the lineup, it looked like they made adjustments."

The Mets picked up another run in the sixth, as Delgado hit his 26th home run to straight-away left field, and the Mets held a 5-0 cushion.

Washington attempted to make a fight of it though. In the bottom of the seventh they finally got to New York starter Oliver Perez (W, 9-7, 3.91). Austin Kearns led off with a soft liner to center, but was erased on Aaron Boone's force out. C Wil Nieves walked, moving Boone up to second. Willie Harris fouled out for the second out, and Acta called for Pete Orr to pinch-hit for reliever Garrett Mock. Orr has been making the most of his time with Nats recently, and he has every right to relish his time with the team as he sacrificed a spot on Canada's Olympic team to remain with the last-place Nationals. Orr came though again last night, as he tripled to right field, driving in Boone and the slow-footed Nieves all the way from first base. Orr then scored on Emilio Bonifacio's bunt single -- not quite a suicide squeeze, but close enough -- and the Nats had cut the lead to 5-3. Unfortunately, that's as close as they could get.

"We had momentum for a little bit," Orr said. "But they did a good job of shutting us down the next three innings."

The Nats got two walks from Lastings Milledge and Austin Kearns in the bottom of the eighth, but Boone struck out and Nieves grounded out to end the inning without further incident. Milledge went hitless, ending his career-best 14-game hitting streak.

New York added four runs in the top of the ninth against closer Joel Hanrahan on a Damion Easley RBI single and errors on ground balls by Belliard and Bonifacio. Only two of the four runs charged to Hanrahan were earned.

Friday night Washington hosts the Colorado Rockies for the start of a three-game set. Tim Redding (8-7, 4.61) squares off with Jorge de la Rosa (5-6, 6.28) in game one at 7:35 pm from Nationals Park.

NATS NOTES: The loss drops Washington to 44-78 and are 21.5 games behind now division-leading New York, who move to 65-56 with the win. The Nats are now two games ahead of the Seattle Mariners and three ahead of the San Diego Padres for the worst record in the Major Leagues.

As of this post, the Nats have still not signed their first round selection from this year's Amateur Draft, RHP Aaron Crow from University of Missouri. Crow's agent, Randy Hendricks, issued a statement yesterday that Crow had signed a contract with the Independent League Fort Worth (TX) Rock Cats and will play there this season if their demands for an over-slot bonus and a Major League contract are not met. It is believed that Crow and Hendricks are looking for a bonus in the $5MM - $8MM range. MLB recommended slot bonus for the #9 pick is $2.15MM.

SS Cristian Guzman (thumb) and C Jesus Flores (stomach virus) were scratched from Washington's lineup. Guzman was originally listed with the starters but was a late scratch.

The Nationals activated INF Aaron Boone from the disabled list and placed SS Alberto Gonzalez on the DL. Gonzalez had lingered on the Nats bench for eleven games with his glut injury before finally being relegated to the DL.

Photo of Balestar (c) C. Nichols 2008.

GB&U: There Was a Game Last Night?

RESULT: Nats lose to Phillies 8-4. That's nine in a row. If they continue, I'm gonna have to write a book about 2008.

GOOD: Pete Orr was 3-for-4. Rhymes and everything. Mock and Colome cleaned up without adding to the mess. Wonder how Mock likes pitching out of the pen?

BAD: Austin Kearns. 1-for-5 with four left on base. He's the clean-up hitter hitting .212.

UGLY: Ryan Zimmerman's right hand. Did you see him at first base after he got hit? HIs hand blew up like a cartoon, and was varying shades of purple. The Nats said nothing was broken and he's day-to-day (aren't we all). Great, now the Nats entire left side of the infield have hurt hands and not going on the DL, limiting Manny to a two-man bench. Bad and short-handed (pun intentional).

INJURY UPDATE: Guzman DNP, still day-to-day. Seriously, why not bite the bullet and get a body up here?

NEXT GAME: Tonight against the Griffey-less Cincinnati Red Legs. Odalis Perez (3-8, 4.387) faces Homer Bailey (0-4, 6.52) for the Reds. Game time is 7:35 pm.

GB&U: Another Walk Off Win

RESULT: Nats beat Angels 5-4.

GOOD: Lastings Milledge. 2-for-4, home run (7), two RBIs. Dukes was 2-for-3 with two walks. Flores has the game-winning hit after going 0-for-4 with 3 Ks. Redding gave up two earned in six innings. There was a lot to like last night.

BAD: Luis Ayala. One-third of an inning, two runs on two hits. He's just not getting it done right now. He's given up more runs than innings pitched three of his last six appearances. Yuck.

UGLY: Pete Orr. Another defensive replacement assignment. Yet another error. Sorry, he's just not a major league player.

NEWS: Shawn Hill placed on the 15-day DL today. After meeting with the doctors, the prescription was rest and therapy. I guess it's wait and see with Hill.

NEXT GAME: Friday at Nationals Park against the Baltimore Orioles, in for a three game set to FINALLY wrap up interleague play. Odalis Perez (2-5, 4.09) will come of the disabled list to face Daniel Cabrera (5-3, 4.46).

Photo courtesy of MLBAM.