Washington Nationals

Well, it finally happened. Adam Dunn has gone the way of Al Capone, making his living on the South side of Chicago.

And at $14 million per year for four years, he's making Capone-type money too.

Now, let's be objective for just a moment. This is like that time our favorite girlfriend jilted us, and we hurt and were angry, but didn't see at the time that it was the best thing that could have happened.

You might not know it, but Javier Vazquez has been one of the most dominant pitchers in Major League Baseball since 2000.

He has pitched for the second-most innings with 2,320.1 innings, and is second in strikeouts with 2,122.

Vazquez cost the Yankees $11.5 million with the most awful year of his career this season: 10-10, 5.32 ERA, 157.1 IP, 32 HR.

Prior to suffering a season ending knee injury, the Washington Nationals’ Josh Willingham showed that he is the same player that he’s been over the past few years.  Just look at the numbers to see how consistent he’s been:

370 At Bats
.268 Batting Average (99 Hits)
16 Home Runs
54 RBI
56 Runs
8 Stolen Bases
.389 On Base Percentage
.459 Slugging Percentage
.304 Batting Average on Balls in Play

Now that baseball's version of LeBron James has signed his $10 million dollar deal,  the waiting game is officially over.

Late last week, Bryce Harper: SI cover boy, made his debut in the Instructional League.

There is not much that can be said that already hasn't.

Harper is a phenom for now, and only time will tell if this new version of the "next big thing" can live up to all the hype.  

I came across an article on AOL Fanhouse today about Washington Nationals’ super-prospect Bryce Harper that I found interesting.

AOL Fanhouse scout Frankie Piliere believes Harper is not ready for the very competitive Arizona Fall League.

TEAM PRESIDENT SAYS "THIS IS JUST ABOUT ME."

With his college aged son sitting beside him on the top ledge of the Washington Nationals dugout, curly W's adorning the wall, Nats President Stan Kasten confirmed to the media that he would be resigning, effective at the end of this season.

Let's get one thing straight shall we fair readers?

The Nationals’ Mike Morse has become an intriguing source of power for fantasy owners.  With eligibility at first base and the outfield, his value is certainly diminished, given the depth of other options, but looking at the numbers there’s certainly a chance he is usable (statistics are through Monday):

213 AB, .296 AVG (63 Hits), 10 HR, 30 RBI, 29 Runs, 0 SB, .343 OBP, .502 SLG, .340 BABIP

Derek Lowe hasn’t lived up to the lofty four-year, $60 million contract the Atlanta Braves gave him two winters ago.

Lowe has produced a combined 5.0 WAR (wins above replacement) over the last two years, which makes him an average starter.

The Washington Nationals have 19 games remaining in the 2010 season.  If they win three of them, they will avoid losing 100 games for the third straight season.  It's little solace for Nats fans that harbored illusions of a wild-card berth when the team got off to a 20-15 start.