2011

The Nationalsgo ‘all in’ with

Jayson Werth / D4

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30, 2011 SECTION D>

> WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30, 2011D2 | BASEBALL EXTRA

20 11

Sometimes you wonder

whether the W on the Na-tionals’ caps stands forWait. Let’s face it, since thefranchise took up residence

in Washington in 2005, waiting isabout all the team’s fans have done.

First they waited for MajorLeague Baseball to find an owner forthe club. That took a year and a half.

Then they waited for a new sta-dium to be built. That took anotheryear and a half.

All along,they’ve waited forthe front office toput together acompetitive ros-ter, one capable ofchallenging forthe NationalLeague East title.

And now, ofcourse, they’rewaiting forStephen Strasburgto come backfrom Tommy Johnsurgery, for Bryce Harper to turninto Roy Hobbs and, quite a bit fur-ther down the list, for Teddy Roo-sevelt to win the Presidents Race.

(On the plus side, though, they nolonger have to wait for Cristian Guz-man to draw a walk or for AustinKearns to be worth all those millionshis benefactor, Jim Bowden, paidhim. Thank heaven for small favors.)

Fortunately for the Nationals,Washingtonians have a lot of prac-tice waiting. They waited 33 years forbaseball to return to the District.They’ve waited the same length oftime for the Wizards to win anotherchampionship. They’ve also waited37 years for the Capitals to claim theStanley Cup and — can it be? — twodecades for the Redskins to return tothe Super Bowl.

Waiting R Us, in other words.Still, you couldn’t blame Nats fol-

lowers if they were beginning to lookat their watches. After all, this wasn’tan expansion franchise, a startup,

that arrived in Washington in ’05. Ithad a farm system and — on themajor league level, at least — enoughtalent to finish .500 that first season.

But those 81 wins have been thehigh point so far of baseball’s returnto D.C. The past three years havebeen particularly gruesome, low-lighted by loss totals of 102, 103 and93; the firing of a manager (MannyActa) and general manager (Bow-den); the stepping down of presidentStan Kasten (the Lerner family’s tourguide); and a noticeable thinning ofthe crowds (except when Strasburgwas on the hill).

Indeed, when Nyjer Morganflipped out last summer, he almostseemed to be channeling Nats Na-tion’s smoldering rage. Especiallywhen he hit that Phillies fan with a ball

— the same Phillies who had recentlyadded Roy Halladay and Roy Oswaltto their rotation (and would further

beef up their pitching in the offseasonwith prize free agent Cliff Lee). Therewas something wonderfully symbolicabout Morgan’s act, even if it did bring

him great gobs of grief.In the offseason, owner Ted

Lerner and general manager MikeRizzo continued the “assault” onPhiladelphia by throwing $126 mil-lion at right fielder Jayson Werth.Aside from that, though, the past fewmonths have been relatively un-eventful in Nats Land. This isn’t nec-essarily a bad thing. The Bowdenyears had an unhealthy amount ofdrama; if a prospect wasn’t being un-masked as an imposter, then the GMwas being charged with DUI — orinterviewed by the FBI about thepurported skimming of signingbonuses by Latin American scouts.

Rizzo’s more understated ap-proach has brought some much-needed normalcy to the organiza-tion. Viera, Fla., seemed more like a

place of work this year and less likethe winter home of Barnum & Bailey.But it’s hard to envision the Nation-als making up much ground on thePhillies, not with Strasburg still onthe mend and Harper figuring tospend the season in the minors.(Heck, the acquisition of Lee makesPhiladelphia — winner of the pastfour division crowns — more of acolossus than ever.)

Aside from Werth, the Nationalshave brought in Adam LaRoche toplay first base — essentially replacingAdam Dunn’s 199 strikeouts and 36homers with LaRoche’s 172 strikeoutsand 25 homers. LaRoche also has a bet-ter glove. Defense, in fact, is a point ofemphasis with the Nats this season.

Manager Jim Riggleman wants hispitchers to throw more strikes andgo deeper into games, and the onlyway that’s going to work is if hisfielders can (a) cover ground and (b)catch the ball. Werth, with his rangeand arm, fits the bill nicely in rightfield, and Michael Morse should bean upgrade in left over the departedJosh Willingham. An infield of RyanZimmerman, Ian Desmond, DannyEspinosa (a shortstop playing secondbase) and LaRoche doesn’t look tooshabby, either, particularly if the ath-letic Desmond can whittle down hiserrors from an MLB-leading 34.

But without Strasburg, the startingrotation lacks an ace or even a certifiedNo. 2, and it remains to be seen whothe closer is going to be. (Drew Storenhas not had a great spring.) The battinglineup, meanwhile, doesn’t look muchmore murderous than it did last sea-son, when it produced fewer runs (655)than all but two other NL clubs.

So expectations once again willbe modest. The Nationals aren’tabout the here and now. They’re stillabout the future, still a team that’smore imagined than real.

Thus, the waiting continues.With successful clubs such as thePhillies and Braves, a W means onething. With the Nats, it meanssomething else.

Where ‘W’ has a different meaningFor D.C. baseball fans, it’s all about the waiting

DAN DALY

In the offseason,owner Ted Lerner andgeneral manager Mike

Rizzo continued the‘assault’ on

Philadelphia bythrowing $126 million

at right fielderJayson Werth.

BY AMANDA COMAK

THE WASHINGTON TIMES

Here’s a look at the nextwave of prospects the Nationalshope will be making their wayto Washington sooner or later:

LIKELY TRIPLE-A BOUNDChris Marrero, 1B: Marrero,

22, drew rave reviews thisspring for the strides he madedefensively at first base. TheNationals’ No. 1 pick in 2006,Marrero was drafted as a thirdbaseman, but he was convertedinitially to the outfield and nowto first base. The bat was alwaysthere — through a nasty brokenfibula that also resulted in tornligaments and ended his 2008season in June — and was espe-cially prevalent last year at Dou-ble-A Harrisburg, where he hit.294 with 18 homers and 82 RBI.Marrero was named an EasternLeague All-Star and added tohis progression in the PuertoRican Winter League, where hehit .306 in 23 games.

Cole Kimball, RHP: Kimball willpitch for the Nationals at somepoint this season. Several mem-bers of the organization said asmuch following Kimball’s dis-missal from major league camp,which was predicated on the de-sire to have the organization’s No.7 prospect (as ranked by BaseballAmerica) face minor league hit-ters at a higher level rather thanany issue with his performance incamp this spring, which was ter-rific. Kimball is a bulldog on themound and possesses the com-petitive fire teams love to see inpotential closers. He’s also gotthree effective pitches: a plus fast-ball, a split-finger fastball and anice curveball he can use as anout pitch as well. Kimball domi-nated at Double-A in 2010, going

8-1 with a 2.17 ERA, 18 saves and101 strikeouts in 782/3 innings ofwork, and he’ll most likely take histalents to Triple-A this year be-fore an eventual call-up.

Tom Milone, LHP: A craftyleft-hander, Milone has excep-tional control over all three ofhis pitches, and one talent eval-uator called him one of the best“feel the pitch” pitchers in theNationals’ organization. He wasnamed the Nationals’ 2010minor league pitcher of the yearafter a 12-5, 2.85 season at Dou-ble-A Harrisburg, where hestruck out 155 batters in 158 in-nings. After making the EasternLeague All-Star team in 2010,Milone should start the year ina crowded Triple-A rotation.

LIKELY DOUBLE-A BOUND

Derek Norris, C: Consideredone of the most advanced hit-ters in the Nationals’ organiza-tion, Norris displays excep-tional plate discipline andtremendous strike-zone judg-ment. Norris, ranked the Na-tionals’ No. 2 prospect by Base-ball America, has a short, quickswing and can hit the ball to allfields, helping him to a .286 av-erage in 2009 at Single-A Hager-stown. After having his hamatebone removed in October of2009, Norris regained fullhealth last fall and put up bignumbers in the Arizona FallLeague (.293 avg., eight dou-bles, three triples, .385 OBP).Norris has a strong arm and hasimproved enough defensivelythat the Nationals are not con-sidering moving him out of thecatching position.

Tyler Moore, 1B: Moore wasstraddling the Mendoza line inthe first half of the 2010 season atSingle-A Potomac and got so hotin the second half — hitting .346after the All-Star break — that hefinished the season with a .269average, 31 homers and 111 RBI.Moore has a lot of raw power,drawing comparisons to a youngDan Uggla. At 24 years old, theprogress Moore made in 2010sparked the idea that there maybe even more to come from him,which could put him on a path toWashington sometime in thenext one or two years, though notnecessarily as a first baseman.

Steve Lombardozzi, INF: Lom-bardozzi, a Maryland native andson of the former major lea-guer of the same name, is pri-marily a second baseman witha grinder mentality who is

lauded for quality at-bats andgetting the most out of his tools.Lombardozzi is a switch-hitterand profiles as a leadoff manwho can drive the ball to allfields. He hit .294 with 35 dou-bles and had 20 stolen basesand a .371 on-base percentage in2010 between Single-A Potomacand Double-A Harrisburg. Healso hit .283 in the Arizona FallLeague with a .385 OBP.

Brad Meyers, RHP: Meyers isone to watch this season be-cause it will be his first fullyhealthy season since he brokethe navicular bone in his leftfoot — an injury that limitedhim to just six starts for Double-A Harrisburg in 2010. The Na-tionals’ 2009 Pitcher of the Year,Meyers has a herky-jerky deliv-ery not unlike that of relieverTyler Clippard’s and is very de-

ceptive with his pitches (fastball,slider, change-up). He was 11-3with a 1.72 ERA between Po-tomac and Harrisburg in 2009.

LIKELY SINGLE-A BOUND

Danny Rosenbaum, LHP: Rosen-baum was very impressive in2010, posting a 2.25 ERA in 25minor league starts betweenHagerstown and Potomac, andwas even better the year beforein the Gulf Coast League (4-1, 1.95ERA). A 22nd-round pick out ofXavier in 2009, Rosenbaum hasstrong control over his fastball, aplus curveball and a developingchange-up. He could get the callup to Double-A Harrisburg earlythis season, if not at the start.

Sandy Leon, C: The 22-year-old out of Venezuela is about tobegin his fifth season in the Na-tionals’ organization and is con-sidered the best defensive catcherin the organization. Leon, aswitch-hitter who hit .249 in 2010at Single-A Hagerstown, pos-sesses sound fundamentals be-hind the plate and has beenlauded for his character.

Eury Perez, Destin Hood, J.P.Ramirez, OF: This trio of out-fielders played together last sea-son at Single-A Hagerstown,and all three have drawn ravereviews. Ranked the eighth-bestprospect in the Nationals’ or-ganization, Perez is a spark plugin center field and providesgreat speed on the base paths.He stole 64 bases for Hagers-town in 2010 and has strong in-stincts and lighting-quick batspeed. Hood, while still a bitraw, has shown great ability andsheer strength that has the Na-tionals high on his potential tobe a toolsy left-handed corneroutfielder at the major leaguelevel. Ramirez is perhaps theone who needs the most workdefensively but is a good con-tact hitter, driving the ball well,a gap-to-gap hitter.

Top prospects aim for short stay in minors

SSppoorrttss EEddiittoorr:: Mike Harris

DDeeppuuttyy SSppoorrttss EEddiittoorr//SSeeccttiioonn EEddiittoorr:: Marc Lancaster

CCoovveerr DDeessiiggnn//SSeeccttiioonn LLaayyoouutt:: Greg Groesch

SSeeccttiioonn WWrriitteerrss:: Amanda Comak, Dan Daly, David Driver

CCoovveerr PPhhoottoo:: Todd Anderson

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Washington Nationals reliever Cole Kimball, ranked by BaseballAmerica as the Nats’ No. 7 prospect, possesses the competitive fireteams love to see in potential closers.

2010 draftees whowill move quickly:1. Bryce Harper OF - There are nottoo many superlatives that haven’tbeen used to describe Harper. The No.1 overall pick in the 2010 draft, Harperbecame the Nationals’ best prospectthe minute the ink dried on his majorleague contract last August. Harperwas very impressive this spring duringhis time in major league camp and isexpected to start the season at Single-AHagerstown but could be in Washing-ton as early as this fall, though it’s morelikely he’ll hit the main stage sometimeduring the 2012 season.2. Sammy Solis RHP - The Nation-als’ second-round pick in the 2010draft, Solis is highly regarded within theorganization for his ability to pitch toboth sides of the plate with good move-ment and a good angle on his fastball.Solis, ranked the Nationals’ No. 6prospect by Baseball America, wasdrafted out of the University of SanDiego and is further advanced thanmany of the Nationals’ pitchingprospects so he’s expected to movethrough the system fairly quickly. Base-ball America, for one, projects him to bein the Nationals’ 2014 starting rotation,if not sooner.3. Rick Hague SS - Taken in thethird round of the draft last year out ofRice University, Hague is an impressivehitter who has the potential to be the or-ganization-wide batting championwhen all is said and done. Drawingcomparisons to Texas Rangers infielderMichael Young, Hague has played atelite levels with Rice and Team USA.While he figures to begin the year at Sin-gle-A, Hague centers the ball well andcan propel the ball to all fields so hecould one of the most fun minor leagueplayers to watch this season.4. A.J. Cole RHP - Cole fell to the Na-tionals in the fourth round last year overconcerns about signability — and im-pressed the Washington scouts enoughthat they offered him a well over-slot $2million signing bonus. Cole, at 6-foot-4,181 pounds, has a large, lean frame andis projected as a front-end starter. Just 19and drafted out of high school, Colelikely will start the season at one of theorganizationa’s Single-A levels while headjusts to a life of baseball.5. Robbie Ray LHP - Another wellover-slot signing, Ray, a 12th round se-lection, agreed to a $799,000 signingbonus — the second highest bonushanded out to any player drafted afterthe fourth round in 2010. It was be-lieved that Ray had a strong committ-ment to the University of Arkansas, thushis drop in the draft, but the Nationalslocked him up and are impressed bywhat they’ve seen so far. Ray has an in-credibly fluid, easy delivery and, at 19,already possesses a strong fastball,curveball, changeup repertoire. Look forhim to start the year at one of the Sin-gle-A levels.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30, 2011 > BASEBALL EXTRA | D3

20 11

BY AMANDA COMAK

THE WASHINGTON TIMES

VIERA, FLA.

Stephen Strasburg can’tpitch.He throws — playing

catch every other dayin right field at the

Nationals’ spring training homewith head athletic trainer LeeKuntz — and he takes pitchers’fielding practice, and he works out.

But he can’t pitch. Not yet.“Sure, we miss Strasy,” pitch-

ing coach Steve McCatty saidrecently before heading out tothe field to supervise Stras-burg’s session with Kuntz.

“There’s no doubt about it.But he’s not available, and to-morrow’s another day.”

So as the Nationals watchtheir prized right-hander makethe slow journey back to healthafter the Sept. 3 Tommy Johnligament-replacement surgeryon his throwing elbow, it’s easyfor the mind to wander towardthe future.

It’s a future that could be ex-ceedingly bright for a Nationalsrotation chock-full of home-grown talent.

Should Strasburg’s rehab goaccording to plan, the potentialtop of the Nationals starting ro-tation in 2012 could be Strasburg,the raved-about Jordan Zimmer-mann (himself a Tommy Johnsurvivor) and Ross Detwiler —a former first-round pick who,McCatty said, has “madetremendous strides” since 2009.

“That was the plan when wetook those three players,” saidNationals general managerMike Rizzo. “Things have to fallinto place for that to happen,but we’re confident we have theability to do it.”

Add to that list John Lan-nan, another product of the Na-

tionals farm system, who haswon 26 games the past threeyears with a 4.10 ERA, and thepotential addition of YuneskyMaya — the Cuban sensationMcCatty called “possibly thelast piece,” who signed a $6 mil-lion major league deal with theNationals in 2010 but has strug-gled adjusting to the majorleague game.

A rotation with five legiti-mate starters from their ownsystem?

“It would be great,” McCattysaid. “But it takes time to build.”

That’s a fact Nationals fansknow all too well after yearsspent watching the likes of J.D.

Martin, Garrett Mock, MikeBacsik and Jason Bergmann takethe mound night after night.Even with Strasburg sidelined,the Nationals’ pitching depth isclearly better than it has been inthe past. Case in point: CraigStammen, a right-hander reliedon to make 38 starts the past twoyears, was optioned to Triple-ASyracuse last week.

But when Strasburg stoodon the mound that hot Augustday last year in Philadelphiashaking his right arm, that timewas immediately set back. In-stead of 2011 being Washing-ton’s first full year with its aceatop the rotation and a fully

healthy Zimmermann behindhim, it immediately became abridge year — a year to ponderthe ‘what ifs’ of the future.

In that sense, Strasburg willalways be the headliner. There’sno telling what kind of pitcherhe’ll be when he does return tothe mound, and no way to knowif his 102 mph fastball will comewith him. But in Zimmermannthe Nationals have something ofa fail-safe.

The low-key right-hander isnow more than 18 months re-moved from his own surgeryand held opponents scoreless infive of his first six starts of thespring, his fifth victim a very

powerful Detroit Tigers lineup.He’s shown impressive controlof his fastball, a pitch that sitsaround 94 mph, and worked hiscurveball and his slider in well— all without feeling pain in hissurgically repaired right elbow.

“It’s just about Jordan Zim-mermann just living up to hiscapabilities,” veteran starterJason Marquis said. “Just doingwhat Jordan does. Jordan hasthe capability of being the topend of the rotation starter. He’sjust got to get consistent.”

The Nationals chose threeplayers ahead of Zimmermannin the 2007 draft, a drop manyattribute to Zimmermann com-

ing out of the little-known Uni-versity of Wisconsin at StevensPoint. The first of those threewas Detwiler.

But while Zimmermannmade a steady ascent to themajor leagues through 2007 and2008, debuting on April 20,2009, Detwiler burst onto thescene three months after he wasdrafted and couldn’t stay. Er-ratic control and a hip labruminjury that required surgery inFebruary 2010 helped produceugly major league numbers. In2009, he was 1-6 with a 5.00ERA, and in 19 major leaguestarts, he’s 2-9 with a 4.74 ERA.

Detwiler’s been a differentpitcher this spring, though,opening his direction to theplate, lengthening his stride andattacking hitters when he’s onthe mound. The results havebeen impressive: 2.65 ERA, 12strikeouts, three walks. Onescout called him a surefire No. 3starter in the Nationals’ rotation.

“He’s showing the stuff thathe was drafted No. 1 for,” Mc-Catty said. “The stuff is finallycoming out that we expectedhim to do.”

At some point this season,late August perhaps, the Na-tionals could get a glimpse intowhat could be if three of theirtop draft picks since 2007 —Strasburg, Zimmermann andDetwiler — all find themselvesin the major league rotation atthe same time.

There won’t be any instantgratification, but the optimismis there.

“I’m excited about our rota-tion,” Rizzo said. “We thinkthat we have a good group ofguys in those three [Strasburg,Zimmermann and Detwiler]and another wave of guys com-ing after them. We feel goodwhere we’re at.”

Without Strasburg, others will pitch in

BY AMANDA COMAK

THE WASHINGTON TIMES

VIERA, FLA.

On the day that BryceHarper was told forthe first time in hislife that he didn’t

make a baseball team, he wassitting in the Nationals’ majorleague clubhouse at SpaceCoast Stadium.

It didn’t matter that Harper,at 18 years old, should have beensitting inside a chemistry or cal-culus class at a high school inNevada, thousands of milesaway from a major leaguespring training game against theNew York Yankees.

Nor did it matter that Harper,who hit .389 in 18 games in big-league camp, knew from the dayhe reported to Nationals springtraining that there was no wayhe’d make the major league team.

Getting cut hurt.“I understood that I wasn’t

going to make the team,”Harper said that day, the eyeblack smeared across his cheekssmudged and worn.

“I understood that com-pletely from the first day, butI’ve got to tell myself, ‘Hey,you’re here, you’ve got to actlike you’re that star player onthe team. You’ve got to comeout here every day, and you’vegot to play like you’re the guy.’ ”

The good news for Harper— and the Nationals — is thateveryone involved thinks that,eventually, he will be the guy.

From the high fastballs hewas able to connect with anddrive, to his knowledge of thestrike zone, to his preparationand his maturity on the field,Harper left everyone impressed— and more than one personwondering if his debut as aWashington National couldcome this season.

“I would not be surprised ifhe got here this year, late, if atall,” Nationals manager Jim Rig-gleman said. “But I’ll tell you,minor league baseball is tough.We’ll see when he gets to Dou-

ble-A. There’ll be some wilyveterans in Double-A who aregoing to make his progress astough as possible.”

Harper will begin this sea-son at Single-A Hagerstownwhere, despite a sprained leftankle suffered March 21, he isexpected to be ready by theopener in Rome, Ga., on April 7.How fast he moves through theNationals’ organization afterthat will depend on just howwell he does.

One talent evaluator saidHarper is easily the best prospectin the organization, with “no ifs,ands or buts about it.”

Realistically, chances arethat Harper won’t make his firston-field appearance in Wash-ington until 2012, but no onehas officially ruled out a late

2011 call up. Unlike StephenStrasburg, whom the Nationalshad on a clear schedule of startsbefore he got the call to the bigleagues, Harper’s advancementwill depend more on how hehandles the rigors of each minorleague level.

“I don’t foresee him being inthe big leagues this year,” Na-tionals general manger MikeRizzo said. “Like any otherplayer, he needs development inthe minor leagues. . . . You lookaround, the guys that haven’tplayed very long in the minorleagues at age 18, and you cancount them on one hand.

“If he’s the greatest of thegreat players, even the greatones went to the minor leaguesand really got their jump-startseason at the age of 19 or 20.”

Youthful phenom Harper setfor minor detour to the majors

TODD ANDERSON/SPECIAL TO THE WASHINGTON TIMES

The Nationals are hoping ace right-hander Stephen Strasburg will return from the disabled list by late this season.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Bryce Harper is still adjusting to playing the outfield after spendingmuch of his amateur career as a catcher. Harper is slated to openthe 2011 season with Single-A Hagerstown.

There’s no telling whatkind of pitcher he’ll bewhen he does return tothe mound, and no way

to know if his102 mph fastball will

come with him.

> WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30, 2011D4 | BASEBALL EXTRA

20 11

BY AMANDA COMAK

THE WASHINGTON TIMES

VIERA, FLA.

The man who changeseverything wears hishair long and un-kempt.He brings with him

a ring, from the 2008 Philadel-phia Phillies — teammatesturned rivals — along with aswagger, a presence, lofty ex-pectations and a $126 millionprice tag.

When the Jayson Werth erain Washington officially beginsThursday at Nationals Park, hewill usher it in with the hopesof a franchise on his shoulders.For as much as Stephen Stras-burg, Bryce Harper and the un-known potential of youth rep-resent optimism for theNationals’ future, Werth is thebridge to get them there.

Werth, the Nationals hope, isthe player who legitimizes theoperation, who shows the base-ball world that the Nationalsare serious about competing inMajor League Baseball.

In their own clubhouse, it’salready working.

“The best way for me to sayit,” said shortstop Ian Desmond,one of three homegrown tal-ents who’ll reside in the Na-tionals’ infield this season, “isthat coming up in this organiza-tion, as a younger guy, you wenthome at the end of the seasonand you weren’t really excited.You didn’t take pride in being aWashington National.”

That all changed this offsea-son when Werth signed thelargest contract in franchise his-tory on Day One of baseball’swinter meetings. The Nationalsthen continued to show theywere serious by getting in-volved in the Cliff Lee sweep-stakes and the Zack Greinketrade talks, though neither po-tential move panned out.

“Now you’ve got guys push-ing for spots down in the minorleagues who want to be uphere,” Desmond said. “There’sveteran guys from other organ-izations, free agents that want tocome over here. Five years ago,Cliff Lee wouldn’t even havebeen in any conversation tocome here. There’s no chance.Not even a maybe.

“Now people are starting togravitate toward the Washing-ton Nationals.”

Signing Werth, the type of

big-name free agent the Nation-als had previously been unableto lure to Washington, is thenext step in general managerMike Rizzo’s plan for the organ-ization. It is the next step to-ward becoming a competitiveteam in the major leagues andbringing in the free agents who,like Werth, fit the profile of ac-complished, athletic two-wayplayers to complement Wash-ington’s growing stable ofyouthful talent.

But in achieving that, Rizzoand the Lerner family alsohanded out a seven-year con-tract to a soon-to-be 32-year-old, backloaded with a $21 mil-lion annual salary when he’s 36,37 and 38 that also includes a fullno-trade clause.

The deal was so large it com-pelled Mets general managerSandy Alderson to quip at thetime, “I thought they were tryingto reduce the deficit in Washing-ton.” It’s a contract on par withthose of players such as Alfonso

Soriano (eight years, $136 mil-lion) and Barry Zito (seven years,$126 million) — two of what arewidely considered the most un-tradeable deals in baseball.

It’s the 14th most lucrativecontract ever handed out in thegame and, quite simply, if itdoesn’t work, it could haunt theNationals for years to come.

One year after signing withthe Cubs, Soriano played in just109 games, and only 117 the fol-lowing year — when his .241 bat-ting average was a far cry fromthe .300, .290 and .280 markshe’d posted from 2002 through2004. Zito, despite being thehighest paid player on the team,wasn’t on the Giants’ World Se-ries roster when they won the

crown last fall. After six straightdouble-digit win seasons in Oak-land, Zito has lost 57 games thepast four years with a 4.45 ERA.

The Blue Jays sent shockwaves through the baseball worldthis winter when they were ableto unload Vernon Wells and al-most all of the $86 million left onhis seven-year, $126 million agree-

ment to the Angels. Getting outfrom under deals like that doesn’thappen often.

But that’s assuming the Na-tionals will, at some point, wantto rid themselves of an alba-tross. If Werth, a self-acknowl-edged late bloomer, continuesthe progression he was on dur-ing the past three years with thePhillies (averaging 29 home

runs and 84 RBI while batting.279), there won’t be any prob-lems paying him $83 million ofthat $126 million in the final fouryears of his deal.

“There’s no pressure what-soever,” Rizzo said. “The deal isdone. We got the player wewanted to get; he just has to behimself. If he’s himself, he’sgoing to put up terrific numbersand be the player we wanted tobring in here.

“I certainly don’t feel anypressure over it, and I don’t feelhe does either.”

In his first five weeks withthe team, Werth has been amodel citizen. He’s taken a lead-ership role within the club-house, shared his knowledge ofthe opposition and perspectivewith teammates, and, despite astatistically mediocre spring,his approach at the plate — tak-ing upward of five and sixpitches each at-bat, for example— and his preparation have al-ready been noticed.

“I couldn’t be happier withwhat he’s done,” said Nationalsmanager Jim Riggleman. “Butwe have to see how things shakeout when things get tough.There’s no team where every-thing’s good all the time, and theslightest thing can change peo-ple’s perception of each other.. . . Your character is judged inbad times, not good times, so wehave to hope that these goodvibes that are flowing will con-tinue through the season.”

“When you sign a big con-tract like that, a lot of responsi-bilities come with it,” Riggle-man added. “The only one ofthose responsibilities I wouldbe in tune to is effort. . . . Alleyes are going to be on him. Soif you ever drop your head, ifyou ever jog down the line, ifyou ever don’t chase a ball aftermissing it — anything that’s per-ceived as a lack of a great effort— people are going to feel like,‘We paid too much money forthis guy.’ “

Ted Lerner, who ultimatelyauthorized that expenditure,has a reputation for being a vi-sionary, for making calculatedbusiness deals and having theforesight to gauge what willwork in the future. A 2007Washingtonian magazine pro-file described the Nationals’owner as someone who “buys atthe right time, builds qualityproperties and rarely sells. Henever speculates or flips, hethinks decades into the future.”

The Lerner family has com-mitted its trust to Rizzo to do thatwith the Nationals and pledgedits commitment to bringing awinning team to Washington. Inmany ways, Werth and his con-tract symbolize everythingWashingtonian wrote aboutLerner four years ago.

How it plays out from herewill determine whether the Na-tionals invested their moneyand hopes in the right player —but they’ve got a long time tofind that out.

“Jayson’s here for sevenyears,” Riggleman said. “Hedoesn’t have to do it all the firstyear. I would venture to say thatin seven years, he’ll probablyhave some really big years andsome years that are good butnot [great].

“But the effort and intensityand body language — thosethings have to be such that wehave a positive feeling aboutwhat’s going on here.”

Nationals banking future on WerthPricey free agent brings new era to D.C.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Jayson Werth, who averaged 29 home runs the past three seasons with the Philadelphia Phillies, is under “no pressure,” according toNationals general manager Mike Rizzo, despite his hefty contract, the 14th most lucrative ever in the game.

When the Jayson Werth era inWashington officially begins on

Thursday at Nationals Park, he willusher it in with the hopes

of a franchise on his shoulders.

From Rodriguez to RamosThe Nationals have made it clear that, while

Ivan Rodriguez will be the team’s Opening Daystarter, Wilson Ramos is going to get every op-portunity thereafter to seize the starting catch-ing job. Rodriguez, a surefire Hall of Famer, is183 hits shy of becoming the first catcher inmajor league history to reach the 3,000-hit mile-stone, and his veteran presence and knowledgeare invaluable to the Nationals’ pitching staff.But Ramos has already been tabbed the team’scatcher of the future and has displayed the po-tential to become a force both at the plate andbehind it. The only question now is when willthe transition officially take place?

The process of finding a closerThe Nationals broke camp without a defined

closer, and they’ll likely spend the first fewweeks of the regular season trying to get onepitcher to take control of the role. The earlymoney is on either Sean Burnett or DrewStoren stepping up to take the job, but it will beinteresting to see if ei-ther those two orsomeone else(whether that’ssomeone alreadyon the staff,

someone up from Triple-A or a trade addition)emerges, and how long it’ll take them. The Na-tionals’ bullpen was the most taxed in the Na-tional League last year, as Washington’s startersranked 29th out of the 30 major league teams inpitching only 5.5 innings per game, but they puttogether an impressive 3.35 ERA as a staff anddid well even after Matt Capps departed at thetrade deadline. Can they repeat that success?

The wait for Harper Bryce Harper has made a believer out of just

about everyone who’s ever seen him play, buthe’ll be getting his first consistent professionalexperience this year, and it will be interestingto see when and if he struggles. At just18, Harper is one of the youngest play-ers in the organization, but has yet totruly hit a stumbling block in hisprogression as the next big thing inMajor League Baseball. He’ll startthe year at Single-A Hagerstown,but there’s no telling where he’llfinish it — and yes, it could be inWashington.

The Strasburg-less rotation

There’s been a lotof talk about the glar-ing weakness atop the

Nationals’ rotation whileStephen Strasburg continues the slowprocess of rehabbing his right elbow fol-lowing Tommy John surgery in Septem-ber. But what often goes overlooked inlamenting that absence is that JordanZimmermann will be starting his firstfull season since returning from his ownTommy John surgery. Zimmermann haslooked exceptional all spring, hittingaround 94 mph with his fastball and

showing good control over his slider and hiscurveball. There’s no telling what a fully healthyZimmermann can do, and the Nationals are ex-pecting a bounce-back season from Jason Mar-quis and average years out of Livan Hernandez,

John Lannan and TomGorzelanny. Strasburgcould reappear sometimein late August but, untilthen, the Nationals willbe hoping those five —and perhaps ChadGaudin, Ross Detwileror Yunesky Maya — canmake things as painless

as possible.

WhatwouldWerthdo?

JaysonWerth puttogetherfourstraightimpres-sive

years as amember of

the PhiladelphiaPhillies, and he

cashed in on themby signing a $126 mil-lion contract withWashington this off-season. Werth goesabout his businessas if he’s just an-

other player, but it goes without saying thatthere is significant pressure on the recipient ofthe franchise’s largest financial commitment.He’ll bat second, at least at the start of the sea-son, and be protected in the lineup by RyanZimmerman, but it’ll be noteworthy to see howhe does this year and if his game changes nowthat he’s looked upon to be “the man” more sothan he ever was in a stacked Phillies lineup.

Youth will be served in the infieldRyan Zimmerman is 26, Ian Desmond 25 and

Danny Espinosa 23. At age 31, first baseman AdamLaRoche is easily the elder statesman of the in-field. Zimmerman’s not young when measured byexperience, but with Desmond at short and Es-pinosa at second, the Nationals will have one ofthe youngest middle infield combinations in themajor leagues. The potential for both is exception-ally high, and with LaRoche upgrading the defenseat first base, seeing how Desmond, in his secondyear, and Espinosa, a rookie, work together shouldbe exciting for Nationals fans — and, along withZimmerman, a glimpse at what 75 percent of theinfield could look like for years to come.

— AMANDA COMAK

Top Nats storylines for 2011 ASSOCIATED PRESSPHOTOGRAPHS

Ivan Rodriguez

Bryce Harper

AdamLaRoche

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> WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30, 2011D6 | BASEBALL EXTRA

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30, 2011 > BASEBALL EXTRA | D7

20 11

NationalsRoster

Rotation

61 Livan Hernandez Age: 36 – B/T: R/R Making ninth Opening Day start,threw more innings (211 2/3) andwon more games (10) than anyother Nationals starter in 2010.

31 John LannanAge: 26 – B/T: L/L Worked to a 6–3 record, 3.42 ERAin second half of 2010 aftermid–season demotion to minorleagues.

27 Jordan ZimmermannAge: 24 – B/T: R/R Will be his first full season after ‘09Tommy John surgery, spunscoreless outings in five of sevenspring starts.

21 Jason MarquisAge: 32 – B/T: L/R Fully healthy after aninjury–marred start to 2010,should be closer to career normsthis year: 10–15 wins, 4.48 ERA.

32 Tom GorzelannyAge: 28 – B/T: L/L Won seven games with 4.09 ERAfor Cubs in 2010, best seasonsince 14–win campaign withPittsburgh in 2007.

Bullpen

22 Drew StorenAge: 23 – B/T: S/R Struck out 52 batters in 55 1/3 IPin the majors last season andsaved a Nationals rookie–recordfive games.

17 Sean BurnettAge: 28 – B/T: L/L Nationals’ best reliever in 2010with a 2.14 ERA, finished theseason with 17 consecutivescoreless innings, striking out 17batters in that period.

36 Tyler ClippardAge: 26 – B/T: R/R Was the Nationals’ most–usedreliever (91 IP) in his first full majorleague season and was incrediblyreliable with a team–leading 23holds.

60 Todd CoffeyAge: 30 – B/T: R/R Led the Milwaukee Brewers inappearances with 147 combinedthe past two years, struck out acareer high 8.1 batters per 9 IP in2010.

45 Doug SlatenAge: 31 – B/T: L/L One of only two LHP in thebullpen, held left–handers to a.151 batting average and 0 homeruns last season.

57 Chad GaudinAge: 28 – B/T: R/R Versatile right–hander is 21–28with a 4.72 ERA in 75 games as astarter, 14–11, 4.43 ERA in 183games as a reliever.

55 Brian BroderickAge: 24 – B/T: R/R Rule 5 pick from the St. LouisCardinals, allowed just oneearned run in his first 14 2/3

innings of work this spring.

Catchers

7 Ivan RodriguezAge: 39 – B/T: R/R Beginning his 21st season in themajor leagues, just 183 hits shy ofbecoming the first catcher toreach 3,000–hit milestone.

3 Wilson RamosAge: 23 – B/T: R/R In his first major league action,combined to hit .278 with sevendoubles, one homer and five RBIin 22 big league games betweenMinnesota and D.C. in 2010.

18 Danny EspinosaAge: 23 – B/T: S/R Hit six home runs and knocked in15 runs in 28 games as aSeptember call–up in 2010. Was9–for–16 with 3 HR and 10 RBI infirst five major league games.

Infielders

25 Adam LaRocheAge: 31 – B/T: L/L Has had six consecutive 20–plushomer seasons, including 25 ineach of the last three seasons.

6 Ian DesmondAge: 25 – B/T: R/R Hit .269 with 27 doubles, 10homers and 65 RBI in first full yearat the major league level.

11 Ryan ZimmermanAge: 26 – B/T: R/R Followed up Gold Glove and SilverSlugger 2009 campaigns byhitting over .300 for first time inhis career with .307 average.

15 Jerry Hairston Jr.Age: 34 – B/T: R/R Can (and has) played everyposition on the field in the majorsexcept pitcher and catcher, hit.244, scored 53 runs and drove in50 with Padres in 2010.

13 Alex CoraAge: 35 – B/T: L/R Has a .244 career batting averagein 10–plus seasons in the majorleagues. Nationals are his sixthprofessional organization.

Outfielders

28 Jayson WerthAge: 31 – B/T: R/R One of two major league players toincrease his slugging percentage ineach of the last four seasons, from.459 in 2007 to .532 in 2010.

38 Michael MorseAge: 29 – B/T: R/R Hit .289 with 15 homers and 41RBI in just 266 at–bats for theNats in 2010.

43 Rick AnkielAge: 31 – B/T: L/L Has hit 53 home runs sincebecoming a position player andmaking it back to the majorleagues consistently in 2007.

20 Laynce NixAge: 30 – B/T: L/L The Nationals are the thirdstraight team Nix has made as anon-roster invitee. He hit .291 as abench player for the 2010 NLCentral champion Reds.

24 Matt StairsAge: 43 – B/T: L/R The oldest player in theorganization is MLB’s all–timeleader with 23 pinch–hit homeruns.

Disabled List

37 Stephen StrasburgAge: 22 – B/T: R/R Rehabbing from Sept. 3 TommyJohn surgery on right elbow.

40 Chien–Ming WangAge: 30 – B/T: R/R Rehabbing 2009 surgery on torncapsule in right shoulder.

63 Henry RodriguezAge: 24 – B/T: R/R Acquired from A’s in JoshWillingham trade, he’s dealingwith neck spasms.

50 Elvin Ramirez Age: 23 – B/T: R/R Rule 5 draft pick from Mets hasright shoulder soreness.

— Compiled by Amanda Comak

> WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30, 2011D8 | BASEBALL EXTRA

20 11

With four aces, thePhiladelphia Philliesare all in. Because ifthis is the Year of thePitcher yet again,

then Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee and theirpals should breeze into the World Se-ries bracket and wind up in a paradedown Broad Street.

Obviously, the Phils are kings ofthe hill. Heck, Logan Morrison seemedshocked that someone even botheredto ask him during a Twitter chat fortheir No. 1 weakness.

“They have one?” the 23-year-oldFlorida outfielder barbed. “Thoughtthey were the best team ever.”

Ah, youth.Baseball 2011 is full of fresh faces.

Kyle Drabek in Toronto, Freddie Free-man in Atlanta and Jesus Montero inNew York pinstripes, all hoping to be-come the next Buster Posey chomp-ing for a chance in Triple-A, then cel-ebrating a championship in the bigs.

Lots of rookies in the dugout, too.Don Mattingly takes over the LosAngeles Dodgers, trying to provefine players can make fine man-agers. In all, a dozen teams go intoopening day Thursday with adifferent skipper than theystarted with last season.

Gone are Joe Torre andBobby Cox. They retired, as didall-time saves leader TrevorHoffman, top postseason win-ner Andy Pettitte and formerWorld Series MVP Mike Low-ell.

But there’s plenty ofroom for the old pros notincluding Jamie Moyer,who’s recovering fromTommy John surgery andwants to pitch next season atage 49.

Derek Jeter, at 36, is com-ing off a down year that ledto testy contract talks.Only 74 hits shy of No.3,000, this is the firsttime since he was arookie the Captain hasfans wondering whetherhe’s still an All-Star.

Chipper Jones, at 38, is

trying to bounce back from a knee in-jury that nearly finished him.

Jeter and Jones get early swings.There are six openers March 31, start-ing with Detroit at Yankee Stadium andAtlanta at Washington.

Then there’s 40-year-old JimThome, needing just 11 home runs tobe the eighth slugger in the 600 club.

“If it happens it’d be great. It’d be awonderful thing. Not many guys havedone it, so yeah, I respect it. The his-tory of the game, you respect it,”Thome said. “But on the other end,man, that World Series ring is some-thing every player should want andstrive to get. I’ve been close. But just notover that hump. We’ll see. We’ll see.”

That’s how a lot of San Fran-cisco Giants and their orange-

and-black

boosters felt going into last season. Ledby whirlybird Tim Lincecum andbearded Brian Wilson, the Giantsbrought the trophy to the City by theBay for the first time.

That made it nine different WorldSeries champions in the last 10 years.And after a flurry of winter moves, nodoubt a lot of teams are thinking it’stheir turn. Maybe even the ChicagoCubs, trying to end a 102-year drought.

Lee tilted the balance when he be-came a free agent, left the AL championTexas Rangers, turned down the Yan-kees’ big bucks and joined Halladay,Roy Oswalt and Cole Hamels in Philly.Stars Zack Greinke, Carl Crawford,

Adrian Gonzalez, VladimirGuerrero, Manny

Ramirez, VernonWells, Jayson

Werth, Adam Dunn and Series MVPEdgar Renteria also switched teams.

Albert Pujols stayed on the St. LouisCardinals. The three-time NL MVPdidn’t get a contract extension beforehe reported to spring training, and in-sists he will not negotiate again untilafter the season, when he can file forfree agency.

“I already blocked it out,” he said afew days ago.

Off the field, there’s a lot to trackthis year.

The New York Mets’ mess with theBernard Madoff scandal is sure to hangover the club, even if team manage-ment says it won’t. The All-Star gamein Phoenix will be a politically chargedevent, with Commissioner Bud Selig

the target of protesters upsetwith Arizona’s immigrationlaw and calling for him to movethe event to another state.

Major League Baseball’s dealbetween players and owners, mean-

while, expires in mid-December. Againstthe backdrop of an NFL lockout andbrewing trouble in the NBA, baseball’slabor landscape seems rather serene.

“I don’t know. ‘Peace’ is a relativeword,” said Red Sox reliever Daniel

Bard, Boston’s player representative.“It seems like everything’s happy-go-lucky and calm waters right now. Butsomething could come up, a topic thatmaybe hasn’t gotten a lot of publicitythat could become a big issue. Butright now it seems good.”

Said Colorado manager Jim Tracy:“This game took quite a blow when welost the World Series in 1994. No oneis interested to see that again. TheNHL lost a whole season, and that isdevastating to your sport.”

Barry Bonds and Roger Clemensare back in the lineup, lingering re-minders of the Steroids Era.

Bonds, the seven-time NL MVP, ison trial at a federal courthouse in SanFrancisco. The career home run leaderAlex Rodriguez needs 150 to beat himis accused of lying when he told agrand jury in 2003 he never knowinglytook steroids.

Clemens, the seven-time Cy Youngwinner, is set to go on trial July 6 in fed-eral court in Washington, D.C., on threecounts of making false statements, twocounts of perjury and one count of ob-struction of Congress stemming fromhis alleged use of performance-en-hancing drugs.

By then, the Phillies and Pitts-burgh Pirates probably will be farapart. The Phillies have won four

straight NL East crowns andled the big leagues with 97wins last year; the Pirates ab-sorbed a majors-worst 105 de-feats in 2010 and have endured18 straight losing seasons.

Listen to their stars, though,and they’re talking about thesame thing.

“A lot of us are to the pointin our career where you feellike the biggest thing left foryou to do is win a champi-onship, whether you’ve alreadydone it or you haven’t,” Halla-day said. “That’s why I stillwant to play this game. I wantto be part of a world champi-onship team.”

Echoed Pirates youngsterAndrew McCutchen: “WhatI’m looking for is a champi-onship with this team.”

New faces around MLB not all rookies

BY JAY COHEN

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Be it Red or White, thisshould be a good sum-mer to play for the Sox.

All-Stars Carl Crawford andAdrian Gonzalez wound up inBoston. Adam Dunn pickedChicago, plus Paul Konerko andA.J. Pierzynski decided to stickaround.

“They did a great job gettingplayers,” slugger David Ortizsaid of his Red Sox. “This is atough division to play at, andyou definitely want to go outthere and get whatever you can,whatever’s available, and that’swhat they did. So it all dependson us now.”

Konerko, beginning his 13thseason with the White Sox,echoed that sentiment.

“We certainly have what weneed in every area — starters,bullpen, lineup,” he said. “Wehave what we need, it’s just amatter of coming together as ateam and executing. That’s eas-ier said than done, and you haveto stay healthy on top of it.”

All that, and that’s not evenmentioning the four teams thatactually made the AL playoffslast season — the championTexas Rangers, New York Yan-kees, Tampa Bay and Min-nesota.

Health could be the biggestquestion in Boston, where2008 AL MVP Dustin Pedroia,Kevin Youkilis and Jacoby Ells-bury are coming back from se-rious injuries. But the Red Soxlanded the speedy Crawfordwith a $142 million, seven-yearcontract and traded for Gonza-lez, giving them an upgradedlineup to pair with their deeprotation.

The Red Sox finished thirdin the AL East in 2010, unable to

keep up with the first-placeRays and wild-card Yankees.Those teams aren’t planning onbacking up, and Toronto andBaltimore should be better, too.

So while Boston is much im-proved, there are plenty of po-tential challengers within its di-vision — and beyond.

“Like I always said, our divi-sion is the toughest in base-ball,” Yankees captain DerekJeter said.

The Central could get intothe act this season with its ownthree-team race. Minnesota isseeking its third straight divi-sion title, Detroit signed dan-gerous switch-hitter VictorMartinez and Chicago addedDunn to its strong core.

“Looking at the Twins overthe years, they’re always goingto be competitive,” said JimThome, who optedto return to Min-nesota in Janu-ary instead ofsigning withthe AL cham-

pion Rangers. “Look at whatthe White Sox and Tigers havedone; they’ve upped theirteams, too. It should be a fun,fun division.”

The White Sox got off to adifficult start last year, movedinto first place at midseasonand stumbled down the stretchwhile the Twins surged into theplayoffs.

Chicago responded with anoffseason spending spree thatrivaled the Red Sox, addingDunn’s big bat, shoring up itsbullpen and bringing back teamleaders Konerko and Pierzyn-ski. Now even manager OzzieGuillen and general managerKenny Williams are gettingalong again.

“The Central is going to betough, Central goes down tothe wire every year,” White Soxpitcher John Danks said. “If itdoesn’t come down to the wire,it will be a rarity.”

Texas ran away with theWest in 2010 on the way to thepennant. AL MVP Josh Hamil-ton is back, but the Rangerscould be pushed by improvingOakland and the Los Angeles

Angels.Of course, a major in-

jury or trade could jum-ble any one of the divi-

sions, setting thestage for anotherwild season.

“The Ameri-can League ingeneral, the last

couple years, hasbeen really good,”Konerko said.“Even the teamsthat were lastplace in each di-vision weretougher thanusual. There’s

no pushover.”

AMERICAN LEAGUE

Big years expectedfrom a pair of Sox

BY JANIE MCCAULEY

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Bruce Bochy has alreadypicked the Phillies as hisWorld Series favorite, and

that’s coming from the managerwho knows something aboutPhiladelphia’s aces.

The Colorado Rockies con-sider themselves a legitimatetitle contender, too, even if theyhave to take care of Bochy’schampion San Francisco Giantsin the pitching-heavy NL Westto get there.

“When you walk into thisclubhouse, it’s no longer, ‘Canwe win this division?’” Rockiesveteran Jason Giambi said. “Ithink it’s a failure for this yearif we’re not a World Series con-tender.”

With four No. 1 starters in itsrotation, Philadelphia is eager tomake up for an early exit to theGiants last fall in the NL cham-pionship series. The Phillieswere supposed to be the teamto beat. Now, the expectationsare even greater for this club:Win it all or bust.

“Obviously, that is the ulti-mate goal,” said Cliff Lee, whowas on the other end against theGiants while pitching for ALchampion Texas last season.“The first thing you’ve got to dois get there. We’ve got to play162 games to get to the postsea-son. Once you’re in the postsea-son, yeah, you’ve got to win thelast game to do the ultimate.”

Lee is far from the only newaddition in the National Leagueas he returns to Philly.

From Southern California toSouth Beach and north to thenation’s capital, changesabound in the NL. No moreBobby Cox on the top dugoutstep for the Atlanta Braves afterhe retired. No more Joe Torre

managing the Los AngelesDodgers. The four-time WorldSeries winning skipper is MajorLeague Baseball’s new execu-tive vice president for baseballoperations.

Slugger Jayson Werth is nowin Washington. The right fielderreceived a $126 million, seven-year contract from the Nation-als this winter, which includesa full no-trade clause.

And with another former ALCy Young Award winner, ZackGreinke, now with Milwau-kee, the Brewers figure tobe in the playoff chase.

And don’t rule outCincinnati in the Centralafter the Reds reached theirfirst playoff trip in 15years last fall only tobe swept by thePhillies in the firstround.

In the NL East,does anybody elsestand a chanceagainst CharlieManuel’s bunchin Philadelphiaand all of thoseaces: Lee, RoyHalladay, RoyOswalt, ColeHamels and JoeBlanton?

“We’ve still gotto go play. We’ve got tobeat people. That’s part ofit,” Manuel said. “If you’re good,you’ve got to stay good. Thatmeans you’ve got to play hard,stay focused on what you’redoing, can’t get distracted andyou’ve got to stay at it. Andyou’ve got to love to play.”

The new-look New YorkMets hope they are fine after awinter of transition — and fi-nancial trouble — and the samegoes for the Florida Marlins andChicago Cubs, two more NL

teams with new managers.The Mets fired manager

Jerry Manuel and GM OmarMinaya after two straight losingseasons, and now longtimebaseball executive Sandy Alder-son is in charge and will beeager to get things turnedaround in a hurry. New skipperTerry Collins is getting anothershot in his third managerial gigafter going 444-434 during1990s stints with the Astros andAngels.

“I think honestly the fa-vorite has to be thePhillies. You want topick the Giants becauseof the success last year,

but the way the Phillieshave built that rotation, itmight be one of the best

rotations ever,” Mil-waukee outfielderCorey Hart said.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Making a run at Phillies’ hot pitching staff

Cardinals sluggerAlbert Pujols, a three-time National LeagueMVP, didn’t get acontract extensionbefore he reported tospring training.

OUR BEST GUESSThe Washington Times’ writers pick the winners for the 2011 MLB season

Amanda Comak, Nationals beat writerAL Division Winners: Red Sox, Twins, RangersAL Wild Card: YankeesNL Division Winners: Phillies, Cardinals, DodgersNL Wild Card: GiantsWorld Series: Red Sox over Phillies

Dan Daly, sports columnistAL Division Winners: Red Sox, Twins, A’sAL Wild Card: White SoxNL Division Winners: Phillies, Brewers, GiantsNL Wild Card: BravesWorld Series: Phillies over Red Sox

Deron Snyder, sports columnist

AL Division Winners: Red Sox, Twins, A’sAL Wild Card: YankeesNL Division Winners: Phillies, Reds, GiantsNL Wild Card: BravesWorld Series: Phillies over Red Sox

Many players wearing new uniforms

Cliff Lee

Carl Crawford

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ASSOCIATEDPRESS

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BY DAVID DRIVER

SPECIAL TO THE WASHINGTON TIMES

SARASOTA, FLA.

Kevin McMullan,

now the associ-ate head coach atthe University ofVirginia, got a

telephone call after the 2005minor league season from oneof his former players.

Mark Reynolds, who had justfinished his first full pro seasonwith South Bend, the ArizonaDiamondbacks’ Low-A MidwestLeague affiliate, told McMullanhis team had won the leaguetitle and he hit 19 home runs alittle more than a year afterbeing drafted by Arizona.

But Reynolds, who wastraded by Arizona to the Balti-more Orioles in December, toldMcMullan he was most proud ofthe fact that more than half of hishomers that year were hit to theopposite field. That would haveseemed almost impossible be-fore McMullan, then the hittingcoach, and head coach BrianO’Connor arrived at Virginiaafter the 2003 season.

Reynolds, a former travelteammate of Nationals thirdbaseman Ryan Zimmermanwith the Tidewater Mets, was adead-pull hitter his first twoseasons in college. But whenMcMullan arrived in Char-lottesville, the coach began aprocess of trying to haveReynolds use more of the field.

“He did not have the toolboxto make the adjustments,” Mc-Mullan said in a phone inter-view. “We made a plan. He hadsome habits. We just changedthose routines.”

“It helped me understandwhat to do with a certain pitchand it translated into my first[full] year in the minor leagues,”said Reynolds, 27, sitting by hislocker during spring training.“That was a big step for me. Idid it right away, as far as buy-ing into what he was doing.”

Last year, Reynolds hit .198with 32 homers and 85 RBI forArizona. His 30th homer wasan opposite-field shot againstSan Diego as he became just thethird Arizona player to hit atleast 30 homers twice, joiningLuis Gonzalez and former Ori-ole Steve Finley. Reynolds, in2009, hit .260 with a career-high44 homers, 24 steals and 102 RBI.

Then there are the strike-outs. Reynolds, from VirginiaBeach, fanned a major league-record 223 times in 2009. In hisbig league career, which beganin 2007 with Arizona, Reynoldshas fanned 767 times in 1,982 at-bats with 121 homers and an av-erage of .242.

“I am never going to be the

guy that strikes out 50 times ayear,” Reynolds said. “I do what Ican to minimize how many thereare. There is no set limit I want tostay under. Even when I struckout yesterday [at Bradenton in aspring game], I saw six or sevenpitches. Those at-bats at least getmore pitches on the pitcher’stotal. When you first come up [inthe majors], you are nervous andtry to jump on the first pitch.

Now, I am not afraid to go strikeone, strike two if I have to.”

In the one year he played forO’Connor, Reynolds was theshortstop for the Cavs whileZimmerman played third.

“The biggest thing withMark is the homers and howmuch he strikes out,” Zimmer-man said before a spring train-ing game in Viera, Fla. “He canhit the ball the other way. If he

wanted to hit 20 homers and hit.300, he could do it. But he un-derstands what his role is. So hetries to hit more homers.”

And what about his defense?“He was good at short. He

was not as big as he is now. Hehad a strong arm. He was aleader in the middle of the field.He was above average at short-stop,” said O’Connor, who hasbuilt Virginia into one of the topprograms in the country.

Reynolds, who expects tohave family members at Cam-den Yards for the Baltimorehome opener April 4 againstDetroit, said he enjoyed his timeout West but is also glad to beback on the East Coast. He saidhe had few ties to the Oriolesbefore he was traded for pitch-ers David Hernandez and KamMickolio.

Reynolds had worked outnear his Arizona home withBrady Anderson even before thetrade. Anderson, who played forthe Orioles from 1988 to 2001,was an instructor in spring train-ing with the Orioles this year.

“I got a lot stronger and in alot better shape,” Reynolds saidof working with Anderson. “Hepounds in my head every day inthe cage with new techniquesand timing. I am seeing the ball

a lot better. I think he preparedme pretty well in terms of beingstrong and in shape and readyto go.”

Reynolds, drafted in the 16thround in 2004 by Arizona, saw4.31 pitches per at-bat last sea-son, the most of any regularthird baseman.

“I am more mature. I am justtrying to get better at-bats andbe more consistent. If I get 200hits down the left field line, Idon’t care,” he said.

But thanks to a lot of workwith McMullan in college,Reynolds could make Oriolesfans happy with hits — andhomers — to all parts of Cam-den Yards.

“He can impact the game de-fensively if he is not hitting. Ithink he is in a great frame ofmind. He is just 27,” Oriolesmanager Buck Showalter said.“If he does what he did lastyear, he would lead us in threeor four categories.”

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30, 2011 > BASEBALL EXTRA | D9

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AprilApril 1 at Tampa Bay, 7:10 p.m.April 2 at Tampa Bay, 7:10 p.m.April 3 at Tampa Bay, 1:40 p.m.April 4 Detroit, 3:05 p.m.April 6 Detroit, 7:05 p.m.April 7 Detroit, 7:05 p.m.April 8 Texas, 7:05 p.m.April 9 Texas, 7:05 p.m.April 10 Texas, 1:35 p.m.April 12 at N.Y. Yankees, 7:05 p.m.April 13 at N.Y. Yankees, 7:05 p.m.April 14 at N.Y. Yankees, 7:05 p.m.April 15 at Cleveland, 7:05 p.m.April 16 at Cleveland, 1:05 p.m.April 17 at Cleveland, 1:05 p.m.April 18 Minnesota, 7:05 p.m.April 19 Minnesota, 7:05 p.m.April 20 Minnesota, 7:05 p.m.April 21 Minnesota, 7:05 p.m.April 22 N.Y. Yankees, 7:05 p.m.April 23 N.Y. Yankees, 7:05 p.m.April 24 N.Y. Yankees, 1:35 p.m.April 26 Boston, 7:05 p.m.April 27 Boston, 7:05 p.m.April 28 Boston, 7:05 p.m.April 29 at Chicago White Sox, 8:10 p.m.April 30 at Chicago White Sox, 7:10 p.m.

MayMay 1 at Chicago White Sox, 2:10 p.m.May 2 at Chicago White Sox, 8:10 p.m.May 3 at Kansas City, 8:10 p.m.May 4 at Kansas City, 8:10 p.m.May 5 at Kansas City, 2:10 p.m.May 6 Tampa Bay, 7:05 p.m.May 7 Tampa Bay, 1:10 p.m.May 8 Tampa Bay, 1:35 p.m.May 10 Seattle, 7:05 p.m.May 11 Seattle, 7:05 p.m.May 12 Seattle, 7:05 p.m.May 13 at Tampa Bay, 7:10 p.m.May 14 at Tampa Bay, 4:10 p.m.May 15 at Tampa Bay, 1:40 p.m.May 16 at Boston, 7:10 p.m.May 17 at Boston, 7:10 p.m.May 18 N.Y. Yankees, 7:05 p.m.May 19 N.Y. Yankees, 7:05 p.m.May 20 Washington, 7:05 p.m.May 21 Washington, 4:05 p.m.May 22 Washington, 1:35 p.m.May 24 Kansas City, 7:05 p.m.May 25 Kansas City, 7:05 p.m.May 26 Kansas City, 12:35 p.m.May 27 at Oakland, 10:07 p.m.May 28 at Oakland, TBAMay 29 at Oakland, 4:07 p.m.May 30 at Seattle, 4:10 p.m.May 31 at Seattle, 10:10 p.m.

JuneJune 1 at Seattle, 3:40 p.m.June 3 Toronto, 7:05 p.m.June 4 Toronto, 7:05 p.m.June 5 Toronto, 1:35 p.m.June 6 Oakland, 1:35 p.m.June 6 Oakland, 7:05 p.m.June 8 Oakland, 7:05 p.m.June 10 Tampa Bay, 7:05 p.m.June 11 Tampa Bay, 7:05 p.m.June 12 Tampa Bay, 1:35 p.m.June 14 at Toronto, 7:07 p.m.June 15 at Toronto, 7:07 p.m.June 16 at Toronto, 12:37 p.m.June 17 at Washington, 7:05 p.m.June 18 at Washington, 1:05 p.m.June 19 at Washington, 1:05 p.m.June 20 at Pittsburgh, 7:05 p.m.June 21 at Pittsburgh, 7:05 p.m.June 22 at Pittsburgh, 12:35 p.m.June 24 Cincinnati, 7:05 p.m.June 25 Cincinnati, 7:05 p.m.June 26 Cincinnati, 1:35 p.m.June 28 St. Louis, 7:05 p.m.June 29 St. Louis, 7:05 p.m.June 30 St. Louis, 7:05 p.m.

All Times EDT, subject to change

JulyJuly 1 at Atlanta, 7:35 p.m.July 2 at Atlanta, 7:10 p.m.July 3 at Atlanta, 1:05 p.m.July 4 at Texas, 8:05 p.m.July 5 at Texas, 8:05 p.m.July 6 at Texas, 8:05 p.m.July 7 at Boston, 7:10 p.m.July 8 at Boston, 7:10 p.m.July 9 at Boston, 7:10 p.m.July 10 at Boston, 1:35 p.m.July 14 Cleveland, 7:05 p.m.July 15 Cleveland, 7:05 p.m.July 16 Cleveland, 7:05 p.m.July 17 Cleveland, 1:35 p.m.July 18 Boston, 7:05 p.m.July 19 Boston, 7:05 p.m.July 20 Boston, 12:35 p.m.July 22 L.A. Angels, 7:05 p.m.July 23 L.A. Angels, 7:05 p.m.July 24 L.A. Angels, 1:35 p.m.July 26 at Toronto, 7:07 p.m.July 27 at Toronto, 7:07 p.m.July 28 at Toronto, 7:07 p.m.July 29 at N.Y. Yankees, 7:05 p.m.July 30 at N.Y. Yankees, 1:05 p.m.July 31 at N.Y. Yankees, 1:05 p.m.

AugustAug. 2 at Kansas City, 8:10 p.m.Aug. 3 at Kansas City, 8:10 p.m.Aug. 4 at Kansas City, 8:10 p.m.Aug. 5 Toronto, 7:05 p.m.Aug. 6 Toronto, 7:05 p.m.Aug. 7 Toronto, 1:35 p.m.Aug. 8 Chicago White Sox, 7:05 p.m.Aug. 9 Chicago White Sox, 7:05 p.m.Aug. 10 Chicago White Sox, 7:05 p.m.Aug. 11 Chicago White Sox, 7:05 p.m.Aug. 12 Detroit, 7:05 p.m.Aug. 13 Detroit, 7:05 p.m.Aug. 14 Detroit, 1:35 p.m.Aug. 15 at Oakland, 10:07 p.m.Aug. 16 at Oakland, 10:07 p.m.Aug. 17 at Oakland, 3:37 p.m.Aug. 19 at L.A. Angels, 10:05 p.m.Aug. 20 at L.A. Angels, 9:05 p.m.Aug. 21 at L.A. Angels, 3:35 p.m.Aug. 22 at Minnesota, 8:10 p.m.Aug. 23 at Minnesota, 8:10 p.m.Aug. 24 at Minnesota, 8:10 p.m.Aug. 25 at Minnesota, 1:10 p.m.Aug. 26 N.Y. Yankees, 7:05 p.m.Aug. 27 N.Y. Yankees, 7:05 p.m.Aug. 28 N.Y. Yankees, 1:35 p.m.Aug. 29 N.Y. Yankees, 7:05 p.m.Aug. 30 Toronto, 7:05 p.m.Aug. 31 Toronto, 7:05 p.m.

SeptemberSept. 1 Toronto, 7:05 p.m.Sept. 2 at Tampa Bay, 7:10 p.m.Sept. 3 at Tampa Bay, 4:10 p.m.Sept. 4 at Tampa Bay, 1:40 p.m.Sept. 5 at N.Y. Yankees, 1:05 p.m.Sept. 6 at N.Y. Yankees, 7:05 p.m.Sept. 7 at N.Y. Yankees, TBASept. 9 at Toronto, 7:07 p.m.Sept. 10 at Toronto, 1:07 p.m.Sept. 11 at Toronto, 1:07 p.m.Sept. 12 Tampa Bay, 7:05 p.m.Sept. 13 Tampa Bay, 7:05 p.m.Sept. 14 Tampa Bay, 7:05 p.m.Sept. 16 L.A. Angels, 7:05 p.m.Sept. 17 L.A. Angels, 7:05 p.m.Sept. 18 L.A. Angels, 1:35 p.m.Sept. 19 at Boston, 7:10 p.m.Sept. 20 at Boston, 7:10 p.m.Sept. 21 at Boston, 7:10 p.m.Sept. 22 at Detroit, 7:05 p.m.Sept. 23 at Detroit, 7:05 p.m.Sept. 24 at Detroit, 7:05 p.m.Sept. 25 at Detroit, 1:05 p.m.Sept. 26 Boston, 7:05 p.m.Sept. 27 Boston, 7:05 p.m.Sept. 28 Boston, 7:05 p.m.

Orioles’ scheduleBaltimore’s newest basher

ASSOCIATED PRESS

New Orioles third baseman Mark Reynolds, a University of Virginia product, hit 32 home runs lastseason with the Arizona Diamondbacks.

UVA’s Reynoldsspreads powerto all fields

Reynolds, draftedin the 16th round

in 2004 by Arizona,saw 4.31 pitchesper at-bat last

season, the mostof any regularthird baseman.

2010: 66-96, last place.Manager: Buck Showalter

(1st full season).He’s Here: DH Vladimir

Guerrero, 3B Mark Reynolds,1B Derrek Lee, SS J.J. Hardy,RHP Justin Duchscherer, RHPJeremy Accardo, RHP KevinGregg.

He’s Outta There: 1B TyWigginton, RHP Matt Albers,RHP David Hernandez, RHPKevin Millwood, RHP KamMickilio, OF Corey Patterson.

Projected Lineup: 2B BrianRoberts (.278, 4, 15 in 59 games),RF Nick Markakis (.297, 12, 60,.436 slugging), 1B Derrek Lee(.260, 19, 80 with Cubs and At-lanta), DH Vladimir Guerrero(.300, 29, 115 with Texas), LFLuke Scott (.284, 27, 82), CFAdam Jones (.284, 19, 69), 3BMark Reynolds (.198, 32, 85, 211Ks with Arizona), C Matt Wi-eters (.249, 11, 55), SS J.J. Hardy(.268, 6, 38 with Minnesota).

Rotation: RH JeremyGuthrie (11-14, 3.83, 32 starts), LHBrian Matusz (10-12, 4.30, 143Ks), RH Brad Bergesen (8-12,4.98), RH Jake Arrieta (6-6,

4.66), RH Justin Duchscherer (2-1, 2.89 in 5 starts with Oakland).

Key Relievers: RH KevinGregg (2-6, 3.51, 37 saves in 43chances with Toronto), RHKoji Uehara (1-2,2.86, 13 saves in 15chances), RH JimJohnson (1-1, 3.42),RH Jeremy Ac-cardo (0-1, 8.10 infive games withToronto), LHMike Gonzalez (1-3, 4.01), RH JasonBerken (3-3, 3.03).

Hot Spots:Starting rotation,3B. Beyond open-ing-day starterGuthrie, whowent 11-14 lastyear, the Orioles’ rotation con-sists of three pitchers with acombined 41/2 years of experi-ence and the oft-injured Duch-scherer, whose nagging hipproblems have been an issueduring spring training. If Balti-more needs its offense to win,Reynolds has the power toprovide the necessary home

runs. But he could be a rallykiller if he can’t cut down hisstrikeouts (211 last year) andraise his batting average (.198).

Outlook: The Orioles wenton a spendingspree during theoffseason, break-ing the budget tovastly improvetheir startinglineup. The sign-ing of free agentsLee and Guerrero,along with tradesthat landed Hardyand Reynolds,should boost anoffense that se-verely lackedpower in 2010. Bal-timore had a win-

ning record after Showaltertook over as manager in August,providing hope for a carry-overthat will enable the Orioles tobreak their string of 13 straightlosing seasons. For that to hap-pen, a young starting rotationwill have to mature under fire inthe talent-laden AL East.— Compiled by The Associated Press

2011 Orioles at a glance

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Buck Showalter

> WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30, 2011D10 | BASEBALL EXTRA