Did you hear something? I think it was the other shoe dropping.
On Saturday, outfielder Elijah Dukes got into a little brouhaha during a Dominican Republic game; on Monday the Tampa Bay Devil Rays traded Dukes to the Washington Nationals for minor-league left-hander Glenn Gibson.
The Nats are in a good position to take on high-risk, high-reward players. If Dukes doesn’t get his act together, it only cost them a pitcher who is a long way from the big leagues. If Dukes does figure it out, Washington could have quite the player on its hands.
Other Voices

Capitol Punishment
Mr. Irrelevant
Rays Anatomy

The New York Mets have traded outfielder Lastings Milledge to the Washington Nationals for outfielder Ryan Church and catcher Brian Schneider. Bizarre to see Milledge dealt just days after Delmon Young was traded, but rumors had been swirling for a long time.
Milledge has batted .257/.326/.414 in a shade under 400 plate appearances spread across two seasons. That’s not great for a guy who slots more as a corner outfielder, but when you consider that he turns 23 in April, it’s just fine.
There have been questions about Milledge’s character ever since he was drafted, but there’s no denying his talent. I …read more

Fish Stripes reports that Wednesday’s game between the Washington Nationals and Florida Marlins drew 375 people. Both teams are pulling up the rear of the National League East, so low attendance should come as no surprise, but triple digits?
Two aspects of this story fascinate me:

The announced attendance was 10,121, but a photo from the game tells a very different story. Er, forget steroids for a moment; someone is cheating here, and it ain’t the players.
The Marlins are a great case study in the difficulties of promoting a team that has no identity. This is a franchise that came into existence …read more

With the season winding down, I thought it might be fun to look back at some of the bigger surprises this year. In no particular order, here are nine things that have blown my mind:

The Washington Nationals have recalled left-hander Ross Detwiler, their first-round pick in the 2007 draft. The Nats tried something similar with a pitcher back in ‘03, seemed to work out okay for them. Kid by the name of Chad Cordero?
The other amusing part of the story linked above is that apparently shortstop Felipe Lopez is no longer speaking with the media. I guess Lopez is happy to let his .246/.309/.360 line speak for itself.

St. Louis Cardinals infielder Aaron Miles got the thrill of a lifetime when he was called upon to work the eighth inning as a pitcher in his club’s 12-1 loss to the Washington Nationals. Well, maybe not the “thrill of a lifetime” — really, getting blown out by the Nats can’t qualify as anyone’s high point — but pretty cool nonetheless.
Miles, apparently chosen because of his height (5′8″; Tony LaRussa wanted a “short” reliever, ba dum bum), retired the Nationals in order on seven pitches. Mike Maroth, the Cards’ second pitcher of the game, retired just two of the eight …read more

Anthony Amobi and Andrew Stebbin pick apart the Washington Nationals’ first half over at Oleanders and Morning Glories. I actually understand what the Nats are doing in terms of gutting the big-league team and rebuilding from scratch, but it’s got to be tough as a fan to watch. Still, Anthony and Andrew manage to keep their heads up:
They aren’t historically bad. In a way not even embarrassingly bad. It was a blessing in disguise when everyone (who didn’t follow the team closely) predicted 110+ losses this season.
They might not even lose 100 games.
Here’s what I don’t understand. Remember how we …read more