Tim Redding is scheduled to have toe surgery on Friday, but he's expected to be more than ready for Spring Training. I bet he's thankful (I know I am!) that's it's just the toe, not the foot, or the ankle, or worse! Full story here.

Get out there and vote next Tuesday, November 4th, Nationals fans!

From today's mailbag on http://washington.nationals.mlb.com :

Shouldn't Roger Bernadina be considered as an option for center field in 2009?
-- Luis H., San Juan, P.R.

You know, I was thinking about this recently and I agree with you. I saw a different person during the month of September than I did during his first callup. I saw a swagger in Bernadina off the field that I didn't see before. It was clear to me that Bernandina was nervous during his first callup. I hope what I saw in September isn't what Frank Robinson used to call "fool's gold." I hope it's the real thing.

From today's mailbag on http://washington.nationals.mlb.com :

Shouldn't Roger Bernadina be considered as an option for center field in 2009?
-- Luis H., San Juan, P.R.

You know, I was thinking about this recently and I agree with you. I saw a different person during the month of September than I did during his first callup. I saw a swagger in Bernadina off the field that I didn't see before. It was clear to me that Bernandina was nervous during his first callup. I hope what I saw in September isn't what Frank Robinson used to call "fool's gold." I hope it's the real thing.

Batting Stance Guy

Anonymous suggested I check out the Batting Stance Guy. Good recommendation. The guy's really funny. My favorite thing is the description at the top of his site..."the least marketable skill in America..." Ha.

Thanks, Anonymous!

Pope Hope!

I'm not Catholic or even particularly religious, but it seems like a visit from the world's biggest living religious figure can't hurt our team, right? What a way to start a season!

I think they should add a note to Washington Nationals Tickets that says: Endorsed by the Pope! Maybe with a little picture of him wearing one of our jerseys??

Dmitri Young named NL comeback player of the year

The news isn't all bad for the Washington Nationals - they didn't make it to the playoffs but first basemen Dmitri Young won the NL comeback player of the year award. It's inspiring that someone who had so many problems - divorce, alcoholism, recently diagnosed diabetes - can pull it all together and turn things around. Maybe he'll be an inspiration to the team to make next season a winning one!

Lost vs Marlins

Throughout Spring Training, Nationals manager Manny Acta stressed the importance of defense and fundamentals. Lack of those two areas was the reason the Nationals were pounded by the Marlins, 9-3, in front of 20,894 fans on Tuesday night.

Hopefully we can do better in game 2 today at 1:00pm EDT

The Washington Nationals reached an agreement with outfielder Chris Snelling--a one-year, $450,000 contract. Not bad considering his subpar '06 season!

Not Much Action for the Nationals

The Washington Nationals have been pretty quiet this offseason from what I can tell. The only report that I have heard is that Alfonso Soriano has moved to the Chicago Cubs with an 8 year contract. The Nationals had a dismal season this last year, and I hope they have something up their sleeve to become better in 2007.