Nats Notes: Fans want Dunn Signed and Zimmy Extended

Hey, we have been slack on the Washington Nationals, you don’t need to tell us, we know.
We ran into the Redskins season (which is always time assuming and for the most part, always disappointing), the exciting Caps season (uhhhh, DC has an unexpected winner and exciting franchise), and the stunningly painful Bullets season (painful as in, well, painful, literally and figuratively).  But we will get back to the Nationals, not that there is much to report, because, well, the Nats have done little, as we expected.
One things the Nats should be moving on, since they are doing little else, is inking 3B Ryan Zimmerman to a long term deal.  Currently, Zimmy is up for arbitration, which could net him $3.9 million, but also cause hard feelings between Zimmy and the Nats.  Considering the Nats have no serious draw, no formidable players, no real ‘star power’, Ryan Zimmerman is about as close as they get.  Can the Lerner’s really manage to screw that up as well?

Given an audience with the team’s front office — including Bowden and President Stan Kasten — during an event-ending Q&A, fans expressed a similar sentiment. One fan, Sal Johnson, went a step further, grabbing a microphone and mentioning that he had an Internet company. He asked Kasten to trade jobs with him for one hour. Johnson told the crowd that he’d use that hour to sign Zimmerman to a six-year deal. The room roared with applause.

“I think that’s a great suggestion,” Kasten said. “I’d like to turn that over to Jim because, Jim, you’ve been working on this for three years. Now it will only take this gentleman one hour!”

Read into that what you may.  But, do you get the feeling that the nationals front office is a bit dysfunctional and that Stan Kasten may be pretty unhappy? 

Glover Signed … The Nationals inked P Gary Glover to a minor league deal.  Nothing really else to report here, Glover is not an answer for anything.
Fans want Dunn … Having lost out to the NY Yankees for the services of 1B Mark Teixeira, fans at FanFest wants to see the next best thing, 1B Adam Dunn in a Nats uniform.  I support bringing Dunn to DC as well, simply because the Nationals desperately need power hitting.  They also need a big name, a name that can possibly help draw new fans.  A 40 home run hitter may be able to do just that.  Dunn is a better fit for the Nats anyways, simply because he will be a ton cheaper than Teixeira.

Make no mistake about it: Dunn, the free agent slugger who split last year between the Cincinnati Reds and Arizona Diamondbacks, is the No. 1 topic of debate and lobbying within the Nationals’ organization right now – even among the players. Ryan Zimmerman has spoken to Dunn and made it clear Sunday the player who is also known as “the big left-handed bat in the middle of the lineup” is very interested in joining the Nationals.

The only problem I see is, if we have been stumbling for nearly 3 years on trying to extend Zimmy, why should I have confidence that the front office can get a deal done with Dunn?
Federal Baseball asks — what do you expect from the Nationals this year?  Well, if you want to keep attracting visitors to the Blogs, we think it is best to plead the 5th and not supply an answer.
Here’s a short story on pitching ace John Lannan.  Yes, we call him the ace, who else would it be?  Got any ideas?
Winter Ball Update … Here is your winter ball stats update for Nationals players in winter ball.  Seems to be some solid reason to have a little bit of optimism as well.

Obviously, the Nationals have to be very pleased with 2B Anderson Hernandez, who they will likely turn to to fill the second base job this season.  Hernandez wrestled the job from Emilio Bonafcio last season, allowing the Nats to trade Bonafacio in a multi-player trade to Florida for P Scott Olsen and OF Josh Willingham.  Hernandez hit .333 in the last part of the season.  He is putting up big, impressive numbers, hitting .365 with 41 runs scored in winter ball.  1B Bill Rhinehart, after a very successful two minor league season since being selected in the 11th round of the 2007 draft is hitting .326 in 92 at bats.  He seems destined for Harrisburg (AA).  Jorge Padilla has hit 10 homers and knocked in 44 runs in 139 at bats.  Paduilla hit over .300 combined last season between Hagerstown and Potomac.