Sunday Inbox, because watching this game makes me want to kill myself

One quick thought: Brian Moehler??? REALLY???

Here's your inbox:

Besides John Lannan, Jordan Zimmermann and Ryan Zimmerman, who fits in the Nationals' long-term plans?
-- Alex C., Montreal

Flores, Detwiler and Morgan jump out at me. I'm still not 100% sold on Stammen or Gonzalez, but they could easily be added to that list.

Do you think that there would be any benefit to the Nats making an offer to B.J. Ryan? He's certainly struggled this year, but he can't be any worse than what they already have?
-- Richard H., Toronto

Why not? Could he be worse than Julian Tavarez?

J.D. Martin has a pretty good record with Triple-A Syracuse. Why not bring him up to work out of the bullpen.
-- Jeff. H, Washington, D.C.

You're preaching to the choir. He'll start some games in September I bet.

Do you see the Nationals calling up Kory Casto this year? If so, at what position? I remember him playing left field, third base and some first base last year.
-- Patrick S., Fairfax, Va.

I doubt they would, and if they did it would probably be as a super-utility guy. It would be nice to have a legitimate 3B to backup Zimmerman, but I don't think Casto is that player.

I completely agree with sending outfielder Elijah Dukes down to Syracuse to work on his swing. At the same time, Dukes has 10 outfield assists, which leads all Nationals outfielders. So, on that note, do you believe that he's the long-term solution at right field, assuming he gets his swing going again?
-- Harris F., Silver Spring, Md.

I think he's in the team's long-term plans until they trade him. Up to that point, they'll play him once he heats back up.

The difference between '04, '08 and '09

Two fairly big trades were made in the majors today. The Mets sent former National OF Ryan Church to Atlanta for OF Jeff Francoeur and the Royals sent two prospects to Seattle for IF Yuniesky Betancourt. What does this have to do with the Nats, you may ask? Surprisingly, a lot.

The two trades each have clear winners: Atlanta and Seattle, which means they have two clear losers: Kansas City and the Mets. This is far from the first bad move former Expos GM Omar Minaya has made as the head of the Mets franchise, and I will not hesistate to say that he is one of the worst 5 GM's in the league. It's a vague connection, but I'd like to point out that if Minaya hadn't left the franchise for the Mets, we probably wouldn't be in much different shape than now, so there's your 2004 connection.

As for the connection to last year-both deals reek "Jim Bowden," collecting low-OBP, toolsy players. Again, a loose connection, but doesn't overpaying for guys who are allergic to getting on base sound like him? Makes me think somewhere, sometime there might be another job for him. Thank goodness, it won't be with us.

Monday Marching Link Parade

First of all, I would like to congratulate myself for being undefeated at Nats Park this year, with the Nats beating the Braves 5-3. I'm not sure of my all-time record at home Nats games, but I am positive it is above .500 (thanks to going to about 20 first-half games in 2005).

Here are your links:

-Strasburg named pitcher, player of the year (MLB)

-Brad Meyers promoted to Harrisburg (one of my favorite Nats prospects because one of my best friends goes to LMU-LA, where Meyers went-NFA)

-Keane (the band) likes the Nats (The Bog)

-Despite avoiding a fireworks fail (well, they didn't really avoid it), the Nats committed a spelling fail on Sunday (The Bog)

-All Nyjer, all the time (The Bog)

-Rizzo deserves full-time GM status (MASN)

-Zimmerman, Morgan make FanGraphs' defensive all-star team (FanGraphs)

-Kip Wells is gone for good!!! (MLBTR)

Thursday Inbox

Who do you think should represent the Nationals at the All-Star Game this month?
-- Joan J., Washington

As great as Lannan has looked lately, it's still gotta be Zimmerman. He's still head and shoulders above the rest of the team in value. I do agree with this Ladson quote: "I want to see the old Zimmerman, who was a complete player in 2006. I want to see him steal bases and bunt for base hits." I'm not usually on Ladson's team, but he hit the nail on the head here.

How do you think Mike Rizzo is doing as an acting general manager?
-- Curtis K., Washington

He's doing well but not perfect. The draft looked nice for a low-budget one, but without much of the upside I had hoped. The trades have been iffy and at times it has looked like he has been a little too honest with the media with snipey remarks on Shell and Cabrera. Still, he's been decent at worst and will be a good GM when they're ready to pull the interim tag off of him. Despite taking small shots at some players, he has calmed many's fears that he would melt in front of the media.

What exactly is "the plan" now for the Nationals?
-- Trey O., Washington

We're halfway there. The pitching is ready once Strasburg gets signed (Strasburg-Zimmermann-Lannan-Detwiler-Martis/Stammen is looking like a good rotation), but we have very little hitting-wise in the minors. Bryce Harper will help, but I think the Nats might need to have a real hitter-heavy draft next year.

Since the Nationals are reportedly talking about limiting the innings of their young starting pitchers, is it possible to go to a six-man rotation instead of shutting them down later in the year? I really liked John Smoltz's remarks about not limiting them at all.
-- Conrad S., Accokeek, Md.

I would like the idea of a 6-man rotation more if our bullpen was better, but it's still intriguing. The team plans on calling up the likes of Mock, Balester and Estrada to fill in holes come September when ZNN and Detwiler are shut down, but won't those guys be near their inning limits as well?

Why isn't Willie Harris playing every day? He has the speed and plays good defense. What do you think?

-- Ron P., Lock Haven Pa.

He should play 3 of every 4 games in my opinion. He's a guy you want off the bench too, don't forget that-on a good team, he's a bench player.

You mentioned that the front office has concluded that both Josh Willingham and Adam Dunn are best suited for the American League as designated hitters. Do you think that the team will be trying to trade both of them?

-- Greg, Washington

If they haven't dealt Willingham yet, I am not convinced they will. That being said, I only expect them to deal one of them. They can handle one poor defensive outfielder, just not 2.

Trade, Dukes, Tickets

First impression of the trade from yesterday: Ugh. After sleeping on it, it's not SO bad anymore, but the kicker for me really was the inclusion of Joel Hanrahan. Morgan for Milledge is whatever...I have given up on Millz myself, so that's fine. But why we threw in Hanrahan for Burnett I have no idea. Burnett is nothing special (as you saw today), whereas Hanrahan, despite his flashes of "WTF," has good stuff. While it is only 1 team, apparently Colorado was interested in him, and I'm sure many others were as well. Selling low on Milledge is fine by me, but Hanrahan not so much.

Overall, I'm trying to align my feelings with Dave Cameron's analysis of the deal, but feel myself closer to that of most others.

In other news, the Nats sent Dukes to AAA today. Smart move...while Dukes is at worst the 3rd best OF we've got, he's the only one with options, and you simply can't bench Dunn/Willingham. Get Dukes the AB's he needs and call him back up when one of Dunn/Willingham/Johnson is dealt.

Some links:

Morgan = Dunn (Fangraphs)

Elijah Dukes Next? (FakeTeams)

Zimmermann: Best Rookie Pitcher? (Fangraphs)

Lastings' impression not positive (Post-Gazette)

In the meantime, does anyone have any tickets for this Sunday's game against Atlanta that they're not planning on using? I'll buy them off of you if the price is right, just email me at sean.t.hogan@gmail.com. I'm ideally looking for 4-6, but we can talk.

Sunday Inbox, various notes

To start out, here's the inbox:

With Guzman struggling defensively at shortstop, is there any chance he could be the Nationals' second baseman next year? The guy is a hitting machine, and I would love to keep his bat in the lineup.
-- Rich R., Slingerlands, N.Y.

I could see it happening, but there is no way for us to see how Guz could make the transition unless we actually tried it out. I'd say the chances of this happening are low (mainly because I think they'll deal him at the deadline), but wouldn't be shocked if it happened.

Is Dunn in the team's long-term plans?
-- Yu-Hung Su, Chiayi, Taiwan

Ladson says no, but I have a feeling he is. The Nats need a more interesting icon than Zimmerman (unfortunately, he is very boring) and it appears that Nats fans are more accepting of his shortcomings because he is worth so much offensively. No matter what the team may say about wanting to be better defensively, he is in the long-term plan until he is dealt in my eyes.

Is there any timetable for the return of Lastings Milledge and Roger Bernadina?
-- Ray U., Washington

From Ladson: "Milledge is playing in the Gulf Coast League after breaking his right hand more than a month ago. However, I don't see him playing in the big leagues for the Nationals, because many in the organization believe he is not an impact player.

As far as Bernadina goes, he still is recovering from a left ankle injury, and the Nationals are hoping he will be playing in Major Leagues by September."

I disagree with Ladson-I bet Milledge will be up soon after he returns because that will be a chance for them to deal Willingham while his value is high.

Can the Nationals do something about Austin Kearns and Ronnie Belliard when it comes to the low batting averages?
-- Shelton A., Silver Spring, Md.

Besides being patient, I don't really think so. Like Ladson said, Eckstein will work on it with them, but there's no guarantee it will work.

Do you think the Nats should re-sign Nick Johnson? He arguably is the most consistent player on the team.
-- Ted P., Alexandria, Va.

The Nats should trade Johnson at the deadline and then sign him in the offseason, as he will be no higher than a type B free agent (since he didn't play enough last year).

I'm a big Elijah Dukes fan, but I want to know how the Nationals feel about him?

-- Eric S., Washington

He's not a center fielder and his baseball IQ is not all there yet, but he will be a stud in RF for years to come if he can continue to behave.

Would you say Pedro Martinez is a good fit for this rotation? Someone with his kind of resume could help out a lot.
-- Philip G., Brandywine, Md.

I campaigned hard for the Nats to sign him a while ago, but every day he sits in free agency he makes less and less sense. They've found some nice young pitchers that need time in the majors. Maybe it could happen if he wants to take an offer to build up his value over the offseason in late August or early September when the young guns need to be shut down for innings totals but not now.

Some other thoughts:

J.D. Martin does deserve a shot. He'll hopefully get one when the Nats start to shut down the rookies toward the end of the year.

Craig Stammen will stay in the rotation while Shairon Martis will be sent to AAA. It's the correct move in my opinion, with age being the deciding factor. Let Martis learn to make adjustments in AAA and let Stammen pitch for his future in the majors.

I'm torn on the Langerhans-for-Morse (or as Ladson says, "Mores") swap. Morse makes more sense for the Nats, but Langerhans was one of my favorites and could have been our Nyjer Morgan defensively without us having to move Milledge. But since the organization obviously wasn't doing anything with Langerhans (heck, they called up Corey Patterson before him!), it's good to get a guy who is still young-ish, has had moderate offensive success in the majors, and can be a passable shortstop if they decide to move Guzman. But for the record, I wish they didn't have to deal Langerhans.

Buster Olney reports (via MLBTR, since I don't have insider) that the Nats are trying to get rid of their "dysfunctional players" such as Milledge. Not a bad idea at an appropriate time, but I don't support moving him when his value is at it's lowest.

Stan Kasten on C-SPAN

Kasten spoke for about an hour to the National Press Club on the state of the Nationals and the process of building the club.

Here is the link. Thanks to my buddy Marcus for the heads up.

Strange things are afoot at the Circle K...

MLBTradeRumors.com reported two odd Nats rumors/speculations today. And by odd, I mean they would be stupid and I applaud Rizzo for not making moves like these.

First up, they just relayed a MASN blog post by Pete McElroy saying the Nats should give up on Joel Hanrahan. Ummmmm, no. I stand by what I said on Monday-Hanrahan is an incredibly unlucky pitcher this year. Put a real defense behind him to give him some confidence back and he'll be fine. You don't give up a young-ish reliever who throws in the high 90s for nothing when you're in last place. I'm sorry he gives up a lot of runs sometimes, but

They also noted that Fanhouse.com reporter Ed Price said (via his Twitter) that the Nats shot down a potential Lastings Milledge-for-Nyjer Morgan deal because the Pirates also asked for Craig Stammen. Kudos for Rizzo for not accepting the deal...while Morgan is a great defender, he is crap with the bat and is not much of an overall improvement over Roger Bernadina...why sell low on Milledge for a guy you won't even need in a month or two (or how ever long it takes the rehabbing Roger to be back)?