Washington Times: For Nats’ Rizzo, it’s about ‘character’

Manny Acta spoke earlier this season about “changing the culture” around the Washington Nationals’ clubhouse, a veiled reference to what he believed was an aspect of the organization’s rebuilding effort just as important as drafting top prospects and making smart trades.

The Nationals’ clubhouse the last two seasons boasted too many players who, while possessing talent, didn’t stack up in the character department. Plenty of people in the organization said that has been a significant factor in Washington’s losing record and poor reputation around the sport.

Slowly but surely, though, the Nationals are attempting to fix that problem. And two major transactions this week underscored that.

On Tuesday, the Nationals traded Class AAA Syracuse outfielder Lastings Milledge and reliever Joel Hanrahan to the Pittsburgh Pirates for outfielder Nyjer Morgan and left-hander Sean Burnett. The deal made sense because Washington needed a good defensive center fielder and a reliable reliever, but both Acta and acting general manager Mike Rizzo went out of their way to laud Morgan and Burnett as “good character” guys who would have a positive influence in the clubhouse.

plus, the Washington Post says Dukes Won’t Be Around To Run

Washington Post: Boras May Explore Japan for Strasburg (RR)

The Major League Rules is a sprawling, dense, little-known, 254-page document, periodically updated, that governs the business side of baseball. Among other things, it lays out, in painstaking legalese, the process and guidelines for the sport’s annual draft, and in recent years, these sections have provided a road map for a certain notorious agent bent on circumventing the draft itself.

In 1996, agent Scott Boras exploited a loophole to help gain free agency for four draftees who did not receive contract offers from the teams that selected them within 15 days of the draft, as required. A year later, he unsuccessfully attempted to make Philadelphia Phillies draftee J.D. Drew a free agent by taking him to the independent Northern League and thus changing his official status from “amateur” to “professional.”

This summer, Boras has another high-profile client, San Diego State pitcher Stephen Strasburg, for whom he would love nothing more than to blow apart baseball’s draft system, allowing Strasburg to be compensated in line with his talent—his asking price is believed to be around $50 million—as opposed to within the parameters of the current system, in which no player has ever received more than $10.5 million.

Even before talks began with the Washington Nationals, who made Strasburg the first overall pick June 9, Boras was dropping hints privately that he is preparing to explore a new frontier in his ongoing draft-busting crusade: Japan.

Washington Times: Dukes sent to Class AAA [updated]

...submitted specifically for the quoted segment

“He’s not a finished product,” Acta said. “Obviously, he was in a little bit of a slump the last month here. He needs to get down there and get his swing back. But for the most part, just work on his overall game. He’s still very young and talented, and that’s basically it. I don’t think we were going to be doing him any help by just sitting him here.”

There is one other angle to all this, of course, and that is Dukes’ non-playing issues. There are still plenty of people in the organization that don’t believe he has the right attitude to succeed up here. And that feeling was only strengthened when Dukes reported late to the ballpark this morning. Yep, players were supposed to be dressed by 10 a.m. Dukes didn’t arrive until after that, at which point he was told of his demotion.

Dukes, as is usually the case, would not speak to reporters today.

plus, Chris Needham’s variation on the theme

nbcwashington.com/Needham: Defense First for Nats

I didn’t realize Chris Needham had a gig with the local NBC affiliate…

After the number crunching is done, it gives an estimate for how good or bad a fielder is compared to his peers. It ain’t perfect, but it’s a good estimate.

The main Nats centerfielders (Dukes and Milledge) are basically 20-25 runs below an average centerfielder. That’s a lot of balls dropping that others would’ve caught, which can’t help a young pitching staff that’s developing on the fly.

Nyjer Morgan, on the other hand, has some impressive defensive statistics. While he hasn’t played a ton of centerfield (owing to the Buccos having an All-Star there), he’s a wiz in left. And when he’s played center, he’s been on the order of 20 runs better than average.

Even if you assume that he can’t keep that pace up for a full season and he’s only 10 runs better than average, that’s a 30-run improvement over Milledge and Dukes. That’s a lot of extra outs. And that’s why, even if the names going back and forth don’t make much sense, it should help the Nats’ on-field product, and the development of those young arms.

Fangraphs - Cameron : Morgan = Dunn

When the Nationals signed Adam Dunn over the winter to a 2 year, $20 million contract, the reaction from the sabermetric community was almost unanimously positive towards the move for Washington. For a fraction of his original asking price, they got the guy who had become something of a poster boy for the kind of player that statistical analysts have been claiming is undervalued for years. The walks and power skillset produces a lot of runs, and Dunn has a master’s degree in the walks and power skillset.

When the Nationals acquired Nyjer Morgan yesterday, the reaction from the sabermetric community was almost unanimously negative towards the move for Washington. He was routinely called a no-power fourth outfielder, easily replaceable, and a 29-year-old with no upside. The Nationals were destroyed for giving up on a “talent” like Lastings Milledge to acquire Morgan. Analysts I have quite a bit of respect for, like Keith Law, Dan Szymborski, and our own R.J. Anderson, hailed this as an easy win for the Pirates, as none of them see much value in Morgan.

Here’s the problem. Nyjer Morgan and Adam Dunn are nearly equals in value, and the polar reactions from the sabermetric crowd puts the blindspots that have been developed over the last 10-15 years on full display.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: (Jack) Wilson says he is ‘beyond tired’ of such trades

The pattern has become familiar: The Pirates make a trade, a popular player leaves, and the remaining players complain. And, of the latter group, shortstop Jack Wilson invariably stands at the forefront.

So it was again yesterday, for the most part, after the two trades in which outfielder Nyjer Morgan and reliever Sean Burnett went to the Washington Nationals, utilityman Eric Hinske to the New York Yankees.

This time, Wilson, the Pirates’ most tenured player, described himself as “beyond, beyond tired” of such moves.

“We know that they’re looking to the future, which doesn’t say much about 2009,” he said. “That’s probably what’s so shocking. We’re five games out, and we lost two or three of our everyday players.”

That was a reference to the June 3 trade of center fielder Nate McLouth.

“That’s what hits us the most,” Wilson continued. “You can understand if it’s the end of July.”

plus, the Washington Times take on this last-day-of June blockbuster

Harlan: Nats, Bucs Closing In On Deal

The Nationals are close to finalizing a deal that would send Lastings Milledge to Pittsburgh in exchange for Nyjer Morgan, a team source said. I’m still trying to uncover the final wrinkle in this trade, though. It probably includes one other player that the Nats will send to Pittsburgh.

Morgan, who turns 29 on Thursday, represents that sort of player that Washington previously overlooked. He excels defensively, steals bases, and hits for adequate average but minimal power. Here’s his baseball reference page. He has played mostly in LF for the Pirates this year, but also has the tools of a natural center fielder.

Washington Times: Nationals Insider: Determining his value

The Washington Nationals have a valid list of reasons why they still value Austin Kearns, and it’s a list that’s publicly recited almost every time Kearns’ worth is questioned.

...

Most of those things, though, have little to do with Kearns’ actual production on the field. And none of them have to do with his production at the plate.

And then there’s this little problem: Kearns, who is making $8 million this season, has essentially become a fifth outfielder. He has started just 20 of the Nationals’ last 45 games before Sunday, hitting .151 during that span with a .174 slugging percentage and grounding into seven double plays. And on Saturday night, at the end of that 45-game stretch, Kearns drove in his first run since May 7.

Now, as the Nationals push toward the halfway mark of the 2009 season and the last month before the trade deadline, the question becomes whether they value Kearns’ intangibles enough to pay him the rest of that $8 million to be on their roster this year.

Bucs Dugout: We Don’t Need Lastings Milledge

When he came up in 2006, a Mets fan – or a paid hack i LM’s entourage – produced the website http://milledgefacts.blogspot.com which included, among others facts about LM ....

1. Lastings Milledge isn’t a 5 tool player. Lastings Milledge has more than 100 tools, many of which are unknown to most baseball scouts.

4. Lastings Milledge doesn’t hit 8th. Those seven other guys are just warming up the pitcher for the first real at bat of the game.

27. Lastings Milledge beat Jose Reyes in a race running backwards.

96. Lastings Milledge is his own species. His biological name is “Homerun Rakings.”

Milledge proceeded to hit .241 (with a .689 OPS) with only 4 home runs. He apparently so annoyed his teammates that a “Know your place, rook” message was left on his locker. He was late for a game in Philly.  He improved slightly in 2007, but was still traded, even though the Mets need some youth and speed in their outfield to go along with the youth, speed, and power they have with David Wright and Jose Reyes.

Mike Morse traded for outfielder Ryan Langerhans

David Morse was in The Langoliers. Coincidence or not? You decide!

Jack Zduriencik just announced that the Mariners have acquired outfielder Ryan Langerhans from the Nationals for Mike Morse. Langerhans, a left-handed hitter, plays all three outfield positions as well as first base. Though Langerhans characterized it as a minor-league trade, all indications are that Langerhans will be joining the Mariners Tuesday in New York.

“This gives us a degree of flexibility,’’ Zduriencik said. “We thought it was important to add another guy like this.’’

The 6-foot-3, 220-pound Langerhans, 29, was hitting .278 (57x205) with 16 doubles, 9 home runs and 40 RBI in 64 games for Class AAA Syracuse.

Langerhans has appeared in the majors in parts of the past seven seasons with Atlanta (2002-2007), Oakland (2007) and Washington (2007-08), playing a total of 474 games. He is a career .233 hitter with 50 doubles, 10 triples, 24 home runs and 105 RBI in his big league career.

MASN: Dibble: Never take the job lightly

Are they still casting for the Richard Biegenwald biopic?

What makes this such an important part of your game is that all hitters want to be the hero; all hitters get paid to beat you; and they don’t care if you lose your job.

Baseball is a game of mental toughness, matching wills, and I always knew my will would win out. Why? Because first, I never took any hitter, even the pitchers lightly.

Anyone at the Major League level is capable of beating you. Knowing that, you can never, and I mean NEVER let up on a pitch or think you have this game figured out.

...If you think you have this game figured out from one side or the other, you’re only fooling yourself.

Know the hitter. Think like a hitter. And don’t ever trust a hitter. His job is to beat you and beat you bad! Period.

Nationals pursuing Nyjer Morgan in trade

Washington is pursuing a trade for Pirates outfielder Nyjer Morgan, according to two sources late last night, including one source inside the Nationals’ baseball operations.

The teams began discussing this eight days ago, and a Washington proposal in which the Pirates would get younger outfielder Lastings Milledge crumbled when the Pirates came back seeking Milledge and starter Craig Stammen.

One of the sources said the teams plan to continue to talk, mostly because the Nationals are eager to have Morgan as a leadoff man.

Thanks to Montone.

NPR: Baseball’s Woeful Nationals Poised to Contend, Kasten Says

Thanks to Paul Dickson for the heads-up laugh.

Despite its 20-49 won-loss record—worst by far in the major leagues—the Washington Nationals baseball team is “not far from just being competitive, but contending” for a championship, its president, Stan Kasten, told a Club Luncheon Thursday.

“I continue to be optimistic about where we’re headed,” said the Nationals’ top executive, who echoed the rosy remarks he made in a previous NPC Luncheon appearance soon after taking his job three years ago. “We are on course.”

...He likened the Nationals’ situation to that of the Atlanta Braves in the late 1980s, an oft-losing team that, also in his role as president, he fashioned into perennial National League champions. He recalled that young pitchers on those Braves teams – Greg Maddox, Tom Glavine and John Smoltz—struggled early but went on to careers that likely will lead them to baseball’s Hall of Fame.

Despite his success at Atlanta and his confidence in the Nationals’ future, Kasten acknowledged that “right now, I’m [regarded as] the village idiot.”

MASN: Wood: Can we tone it down a little?

I can almost hear Frank DeKova mis-announcing..."It is Villooooooooooooone”

The P.A. announcer at Nationals Park has a terrific voice. A solid broadcaster’s voice. He does a terrific job announcing the upcoming promotions, and the visitor’s lineup.

It’s when he announces the Nationals that I have to resist the urge to find him and, to quote Fred Sanford, give him one across the lips.

Is it really necessary to announce the Washington shortstop as “Cristian Goooooooooooooooooooozmonnnnnnnnn.” Or the right fielder as “Elijah Doooooooooooooooooooooooooks.” What is this, professional wrestling?

It’s not just me who finds this annoying. It’s a frequent topic of conversation in and out of the pressbox, and I’ve yet to find anyone who likes it. That type of theatricality might be okay in the WWE, or maybe in the minor leagues somewhere, but this is neither of those.

Don’t try and tell me it revs up the fans. Please. It clearly does not. Nor does adding any extra testosterone to the names Johnson, Zimmerman, etc. Give the fans some credit for knowing who they are.

TSN: Did Nats Fans Send Sox Fans to Gay Bars

“Hi Everyone, I’m coming in this week for the Sox series. Are there any decent sportsbars near the ballpark?” one apparent Red Sox fan asked on the Nats’ online forum.

“There’s only a beer garden next to the park,” replied one famously instigator from the team’s boards. “you’re better off up the street on Capitol Hill, Remingtons (639 Pennsylvania Ave SE) is a NE Patriots bar so they’ll probably have a large Red Sox crowd this week.”

If you have a well-developed sense of skepticism, here’s where you might start to doubt this story.

Childish? Sure.  Was the guy kind of asking to be trolled, in the “there are mean people on the internet” sense, and would a modicum of street smarts probably help him out? Sure.  Does the headline curiously act like this was more than one incident and also invite question as to why on earth this is a story for TSN? Sure!  It’s still funny.

WaPo: Joe Beimel on Throwing at Dunn, and His Beard

But he got a good story out of it, at least. The reason he was watching old tape was to show Adam Dunn two games from that 2002 season. On June 15, facing the Reds, Beimel gave up a three-run homer to Dunn with two outs in the bottom of the seventh, leading to a 4-3 Reds win. That was what they watched first, together in the clubhouse.

“I told him he pimped it,” Beimel recalled. Dunn denied the charge.

So then Beimel popped in another game. July 24. Beimel was starting. He retired the first two guys. Then he intentionally threw at Dunn on the first pitch. His aim was true.

“Right on the ribs/kidney/back, somewhere in that area,” Beimel said. “Got him pretty good.”

I wondered whether that was satisfying, for a pitcher to claim his piece of slugging flesh. Not really, Beimel said. After Dunn reached first, Austin Kearns singled, and Brandon Larson homered, and Beimel’s kidney shot had given him three earned runs. Despite entering the bottom of the first with a 4-0 lead, Beimel wound up with a loss that dropped his record to 1-5.

“Didn’t work out well for me,” he noted with a straight face.

Washington Post/Boswell: A Rooting Interest in the Bottom Line (RR)

To some, the capacity crowds at Nationals Park this week for Red Sox games have been a heart-lifting sight. This is what baseball in Washington was always supposed to be: a roaring crowd of about 41,000 in a beautiful ballpark on a perfect, balmy summer night.

To others, the sold-out scene has been an embarrassment for loyal local fans of the Nats, who watch as zealots of the visiting Red Sox occupy one-half of the seats and easily out-cheer the home crowd. It’s a sight with which they are all too familiar. At the home opener, Phillies fans, invited to come on down by team president Stan Kasten, made a full house of 40,386 possible. Since then, vocal fans of the Mets, Phils and Orioles have also helped the Nats have five healthy crowds that averaged more than 30,000. In three weeks, Cubs fans will occupy Nats Park and make it feel like the Unfriendly Confines to Washington fans.

But there is another perspective: the view from the owner’s box. Those invading fans sure do make the turnstiles spin. The poor Nats, all they do is rake in the money. As far as they care, root for anybody you want, as long as you buy a ticket. And have a $6 beer.

Washington Times: Loverro: For Boston’s Lucchino, This Still Feels Like Home

The subject matter is a bit of a stretch for me, but there just aren’t enough positive articles about Washington lawyers.

This is where Lucchino grew up professionally, first as a lawyer with the prominent firm of Williams & Connolly, then as an executive with the Washington Redskins and Baltimore Orioles under the guidance of his mentor, Edward Bennett Williams.

. . .

“I knew how much Ed revered the Red Sox, going back to his childhood days in Hartford,” said Lucchino, who Tuesday returns to the District for Boston’s first visit to Nationals Park. “I never thought I would wind up there, but I love Boston. It is a great city, a real American city. ... It is one of the best places in the nation for a baseball executive to work. They love their Red Sox, they love Fenway Park and they love their history and heritage.”

Washington Times: Passion for Red Sox igniting nationwide

A lot has changed for the Red Sox since they last visited the District in 1971. After excruciatingly close World Series losses in 1975 and 1986, Boston has finally broken out of its championship drought by capturing two of the last five titles.

The Red Sox also return for a three-game series with the last-place Nationals as arguably the most popular team in baseball, if not all of professional sports.

“Winning the World Series [in 2004] just lit it on fire,” said Jeff Gooding, senior vice president of the Chicago-based sports marketing firm rEvolution. “Continuing to be good has helped to keep that burning.”

Although Boston is known as a passionate baseball town, it hasn’t always been this trendy to like the Red Sox. As recently as 1998, the team ranked in the bottom half of the American League in attendance.

Nationals Park: a “proper place to get drunk and moan “Yoooouuuuuuk” like a water buffalo in heat.”

Nats 320: 17 Minutes With Manny Acta

3 Years With Manny Acta...as Met Manager?

Question: When you were first hired, one of the things you talked about was for stolen bases to make sense you had to be over 70% in success rate. Last two years, we’ve been more in the low-60’s. What’s going wrong there?

“We just don’t have the guys with that blazing speed to have that success rate. We have to be honest. I told people over and over and over that talk about us not running enough, that if you bring me Jose Reyes and Hanley Ramirez and Wily Tavares, and Nyjer Morgan in Pittsburgh, I would run you out of the ballpark—because I know those guys will run and they will make it. I am very optimistic, but you have to be realistic too. We just don’t have them here. Most of the guys that can run a little bit on our club, they’ve had green lights since I have been here.That’s the way I manage, I give the guys the green light. But to me it just doesn’t make any sense to be running just so 30,000 people can say he is aggressive while guys are getting thrown out left and right. There are 27 outs (in each game) and they are precious. I know that you guys (bloggers) being involved in doing what you do, you do a lot of research and stuff. But the average guy at home still doesn’t go out of his way to understand that just running into outs is not good. You don’t run to run. You don’t bunt to bunt. You run and you bunt when it makes sense. And that’s the way I do things. I don’t think we have the guys on our ball club for me to not have three or four guys say they can steal 30 or 40 bases—to be honest with you. And so you have to manage accordingly to what you have. And if I had those guys I just mentioned to you—we would probably be going to run crazy. I don’t have them, so I really have to take care of those 27 outs....

Washington Times - Nationals Insider: Still out of order

With each passing day, it’s becoming more and more obvious that the Washington Nationals have an impressive stable of young starting pitchers. Those five impressionable hurlers have drawn rave reviews, not only from within the organization but from opponents, too.

And with more help still on the way in the form of Stephen Strasburg, Collin Balester and another wave of starters in the system’s lower levels, it’s clear the Nationals are well-positioned in the pitching department for years to come. What has also become clear, though, is that this franchise is lacking impact offensive players. And until that is addressed, Washington is going to continue to have a difficult time escaping the NL East cellar.

For all the talk and all the roster moves they’ve made the past three years in an attempt to bolster their lineup, the Nationals remain woefully thin offensively. They’ve identified only two starting position players who are sure to be here in 2011: third baseman Ryan Zimmerman and catcher Jesus Flores.

Fake Umps Phenomenon Hits Nationals Park to Great Delight of Fans

If you’ve tuned into a Blue Jays game at the Rogers Centre this year, chances are you’ve seen Tim Williams and Joe Farrell. If those two names aren’t ringing a bell—and there’s really no reason they should—how about a description.

Williams and Farrell, both Jays season-ticket holders, often take their seats in the first row behind home plate dressed from head to toe as umpires. Their impersonation of the men in blue doesn’t end there. For the entire game, Williams and Farrell mimic the calls of the umpires, raising their arms and bellowing out strike calls, sticking up their fingers to let fans behind them know the count and brushing one hand over the other emphatically to signal foul tips.

“There are 7 billion people on the planet. Do you know how many of them travel to another city to fake umpire a game? You’re looking at ‘em,” Williams tells FanHouse Friday night at Nationals Park.

For the first time this weekend Williams and Farrell, who have a bit of a cult following in Toronto, took their show onto American soil, traveling to Washington for a three-game series between their hometown Blue Jays and the Nationals.

If the fans at Nationals Park—even the stuffy ones sitting in the $325-a-game President’s Club seats—are any indication, that cult following could grow quickly.

During Friday night’s game, a 2-1 Nationals win in extra innings, Washington team president Stan Kasten approaches Williams and Farrell to shake their hands and compliment their work. Scores of fans rush up during every half-inning to get their picture taken with the faux men in blue, while others take delight in either cheering or heckling their calls.

NANANANANANANANA- FAKE UMPS! NANANANANANANANANA- FAKE UMPS! FAKE UMPS! FAKE UMPS!

Washington Times: Gloves were the difference vs. Yankees

The synthesis of what Washington Nationals manager Manny Acta said has shown up in flashes this season finally presented itself Thursday.

The Nationals had beaten the New York Yankees the night before in part because they managed to get through 27 outs without an error for just the third time in 11 games. But Thursday was different. Washington’s fielders weren’t just making solid plays - they were saving runs with defense.

In the 3-0 win against the Yankees on Thursday, the Nationals made a handful of plays that, either directly or indirectly, took runs off the board.

Whether it was Austin Kearns throwing out Nick Swisher at second base right before Hideki Matsui singled, Willie Harris robbing Alex Rodriguez of a hit right before back-to-back hits or Cristian Guzman taking away an RBI (or two) from Derek Jeter by ranging deep in the hole behind second, the Nationals probably made enough plays with their gloves to account for the difference between winning and losing.

Loverro: Stench of Bowden era makes judgment unfair

Thom in D.C.: To remove most smells from soiled leather pants...cover them with baking soda and vermouth, leave it in the sealed potato bag for a few days, making sure to shake the liver-snaps out of the bag a few times a day. Then after a few weeks go by, take it outside and open the bag up and beat the hell out of the garment with a studded bondage crop or a nearby cat until the baking soda/vermouth mixture has flaked off. That should do the trick.

That tie was Bowden, who unfortunately had the ear and the trust of the Lerners that ultimately led to a good manager’s job in jeopardy, the Dominican baseball scandal and speculation that the team president was looking for a way out.

You can’t judge any of these three - Acta, Rizzo and Kasten - until most, if not all, of the poison left behind by the Bowden regime is out of the organization’s system. That may be a tough wait for Nationals fans, who rightfully believe many of these so-called growing pains were self-inflicted, and they have waited long enough.

But to make judgments on the people who could lead this franchise out of these tough times, based on the product Jim Bowden left behind, just continues the influence of the former general manager within this franchise.

And who wants that?

Washington Post: For Nats, This One Is Worth The Wait (RR)

break up the Nats!

Waiting is all relative. On a day defined by a 5-hour 26-minute rain delay, the Washington Nationals finally pulled off the sort of accomplishments they’d long been waiting for. The kind of things that required weeks, if not years.

With Thursday night’s 3-0 victory against the Yankees at Yankee Stadium, the Nationals won their second in a row; not since May 8 and 9 had they won two straight. New closer Mike MacDougal, who before Wednesday had gone 1,066 nights without a save, finished off his second ballgame in a row. And the Nationals, now 18-46, left town able to savor a rare high point.

They’d outlasted a patience-testing storm. They’d secured the first big league win for starter Craig Stammen. They’d committed no errors. They’d bested a playoff-caliber team. They’d even alleviated, at least briefly, the scrutiny on their under-fire manager.

“It’s been a long day,” Manager Manny Acta said. “When you have three meals at the ballpark before you start the game, it’s been a long day. But it was worthwhile.”

The session at the ballyard ended at 9:30, some 8 1/2 hours after the scheduled first pitch, but during that span, the Nationals refused to play their role. (One New York tabloid referred to anything short of a Yankees sweep as “inexcusable.” This was just Washington’s third series win of the year.)

Hartford Courant: Red Sox Richer Yet For Having Penny

Maybe the old saying is wrong. Maybe you can have too much pitching. The Red Sox seem intent on testing it.

“We come to the ballpark every day feeling like we have a great chance to win,” shortstop Nick Green said after the Red Sox beat the Marlins 6-1 Wednesday night at Fenway Park, the crowd of 38,196 extending the MLB record for consecutive sellouts to 500 games. “We don’t have just one or two guys where we have to win for them. We feel like we’re going to get great pitching every night. From top to bottom, they did a great job assembling this pitching staff.”

To this point, the back end of the rotation has been even more productive than the front, with Brad Penny (6-2, 4.94 ERA), who gritted through five innings Wednesday to get his 100th career win, and Tim Wakefield combining to go 15-5.

And it gets even deeper with John Smoltz, who made his last rehab start, ready to tack onto the conga line. The Red Sox are toying with the idea of a six-man rotation rather than rushing into trading Penny or giving up on Daisuke Matsuzaka.

plus, the Boston Herald says John Smoltz set to make ’09 debut next week and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution claims Chipper, Francoeur didn’t want to face Smoltz in Atlanta

NY Daily News/Feinsand: Don’t blame Wang for National disaster

Chien-Ming Wang did his job tonight.

I know that won’t be a popular thing to say to Yankees fans right now as they deal with the humiliation of losing a game to the Nationals, but it’s true. Wang gave up three runs in five innings, and if not for a terrible call by the first-base ump in the fifth, it probably would have been two runs in five, possibly allowing him to come back out for the sixth.

Was it vintage Wang? No. Was it much closer to vintage Wang than anything we’ve seen this year? Absolutely. For that reason alone, he deserves to remain in the rotation. As long as he doesn’t take a huge step backwards and get lit up in his next start, this is likely going to be his spot for the foreseeable future.

Wang used his sinker effectively, getting 10 ground ball outs in five innings. Three of the five hits he gave up were seeing-eye grounders (the other three were very hard-hit balls, but every pitcher gives up some of those) and he only walked one batter unintentionally. More important, he looked much more confident, like the silent assassin that mowed down the rest of the AL from 2006-08 before his foot injury sidetracked him.

Girardi said it was “pretty safe to say” that Wang would get the ball again on Tuesday in Atlanta, though the manager wanted to review a tape of the game before making any official announcements.

WaPost: Team Plans for Another Wave of Young Pitchers (RR)

On the surface, the trade the Washington Nationals pulled off late Tuesday night—they dealt left-handed pitcher Mike O’Connor to the San Diego Padres for a player to be named later—had few implications. O’Connor was in the starting rotation with Class AAA Syracuse. He had a 5.45 ERA. He hadn’t appeared in the big leagues since May 2008, and his odds of reappearing any time soon were Powerball-small.

But despite all that, the O’Connor deal connects with something relevant to Washington’s plans. Right now, the Nationals have four rookies in their starting rotation. Three of them—Jordan Zimmermann, Ross Detwiler and Shairon Martis—figure to remain there for the bulk of the season.

That said, there’s a good chance none of the three will be available by September. By then, each will have reached his season limit for innings—likely somewhere between 140 and 170. The Nationals, then, are already plotting a B-list rotation for the final month. That replacement unit, right now, is taking root in Syracuse, where rotation spots have suddenly become quite important. “We needed roster space,” acting general manager Mike Rizzo said, explaining the O’Connor trade.

...

Austin Kearns, batting just .201, was not in the starting lineup on Wednesday night. Since May 7, the date of his last RBI, Kearns is hitting .151 and slugging .178 in 73 at-bats. In that span, he also has grounded into six double plays.

Washington Post/Boswell: Stronger Link Than Most Think (RR)

today’s Manny Acta coverage, hot off the wires…

The last person you’d ever expect to see in Yankee Stadium on Tuesday night walked into the visiting manager’s office. Why, it’s Manny Acta. What are you doing here? Weren’t you fired yesterday?

“Haven’t you heard? I’ve got three more days,” said Acta, smiling with that nothing-bothers-me manner that drives his detractors nuts.

So, eventually, Manny, if you lose a few more games and get fired, whom will the Washington Nationals name as interim manager? Bench coach Jim Riggleman or Class AAA manager Tim Foli? Or will it be Bobby Valentine, now in Japan; or perhaps ex-manager Buck Showalter, who worked with acting GM Mike Rizzo in Arizona; or even semi-retired Davey Johnson? More important, after the whole offseason search process is complete, who’s the manager in ‘10? The baseball grapevine has good reasons why it won’t be any of those five.

“It’s going to be me,” said Acta. And this time, he wasn’t smiling. Instead, he was poking his finger into his chest, his face animated with the kind of pride you know must be in him; otherwise, how could he have come from the depths of poverty and a brief low-minors career to become the only Dominican manager in the majors.

“It’s going to be me,” he repeated, not hostile but defiant. “Watch.”

also, Rizzo: Reports of firing Acta have ‘no basis’ from the Washington Times and Players Know Acta’s Future Is Up to Them from the Post

Yahoo: Brown: Is this Acta’s last act?

Generally speaking, I’d say he has about as much to do with the Washington Nationals’ 45 losses as one of those big-headed, galloping presidents who tour Nationals Park most nights, but if it’s going to make the Lerners and Stan Kasten feel better about themselves then, by all means, they should have at it.

I don’t know what you’re talking about, and I refuse to acknowledge it.