Craig Stammen News

When the Winter Meetings began Monday, it was the Nationals getting most of the publicity.

My, how the tide has turned. When reports first broke late last night that the Washington Nationals had signed future Hall-of-Fame catcher Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez to a two-year, $6 million contract, comment boxes around the Internet were filled with "Oh my gosh, I can't believe it!" responses.

There are plenty in the Natosphere that want Mike Rizzo and the Washington Nationals to make a big splash and sign a bunch of free agents this winter to improve the product on the field.

Thanks to the 73,367,659 fans who attended Major League Baseball games in 2009. Thanks to the ballplayers who keep us coming back for every pitch and every year.

Numbers don't always tell the whole story. If they did, fans of the Nationals might not have much reason to feel optimistic, after their big league team suffered through its second consecutive 100-loss season .

The Nationals are expecting big things from pitcher Stephen Strasburg, whom they are paying $15.1 million after making him the No.

With free agency starting at 12:01 a.m. ET on Friday, the Nationals are expected to be players.

The Nationals will soon announce that John McLaren will be Jim Riggleman's bench coach and they have retained Rick Eckstein, Pat Listach and Steve McCatty as the hitting coach, third-base coach and pitching coach, respectively, according to a baseball source.

Eight months ago, Mike Rizzo and Jim Riggleman were midlevel lieutenants -- Rizzo an assistant general manager, Riggleman a bench coach -- for an organization full of mismatched parts and internal intrigue. On Thursday afternoon, they sat together on a stage in the interview room at Nationals Park as the new faces of the Washington Nationals' management, united in the quest to change the direction of the franchise.

Rizzo, the general manager who got the 'interim' tag removed from his own job title in August, performed the same merciful surgery on Riggleman's title, selecting the former interim manager for the full-time managing position at the end of an interview process that smacked of being extraneous -- in that Rizzo, it appears, knew who his choice would be all along.

Craig Stammen pitched pretty well as a rookie in 2009, though he had not looked nearly as crisp over the last month of the season.

The Washington, D.C. chapter of the Internet Baseball Writers Association is an organization comprised of Internet writers, online media outlets and bloggers.

It could be the busiest offseason in Nationals history, and if the Nyjer Morgan/Sean Burnett trade was any indication, look for general manager Mike Rizzo to improve the team in a big way.

Eight years as one of the sport's most consistent and most productive hitters, yet not one of them spent on a winning team.

In this June, 25, 2009 file photo, Washington Nationals starter Jordan Zimmermann pitches during the first inning of a baseball game against the Boston Red Sox in Washington.

At the beginning of the year, it was the key to whether the Washington Nationals would be improved enough to reach the realm of respectability.

Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Great, The Washington Nationals are on a pace to finish the season at 56-106, four games worse than last year's woeful effort.

Counting time in the Grapefruit League, the International League and the major leagues, Jordan Zimmermann pitched 111 innings this year. Craig Stammen pitched 149 2/3 . Both only stopped when elbow pain became too much to bear.

The ends for both rookies came with similar epitaphs. They spent weeks -- or months, in Stammen's case -- keeping quiet about elbow soreness, and when they finally spoke up, they needed season-ending surgeries.

The growth of the Washington Nationals, with a backbone formed by young pitching, will largely depend on the development of players such as Stammen and Zimmermann. But Washington's blueprint for rebuilding also places extra emphasis on its ability to balance sometimes opposed desires: The Nationals like to see an attitude that allows pitchers to work through pain; they don't necessarily like the consequences of pitchers who do it.

Five September call-ups, promoted en masse from Class AAA Syracuse at the end of the minor league season, arrived on Tuesday at Nationals Park. Each unpacked his belongings, looked around. None saw the same thing. Each, indeed, will encounter a distinctly different opportunity.

The group of call-ups included four pitchers and one position player, four with major league experience and one making his debut.

Ross Detwiler is a 23-year-old former No. 1 draft pick who's already spent two months with the Nationals this year, and will now pitch out of the bullpen. Marco Estrada is a 26-year-old who spent September 2008 as a Washington reliever, and will now start. Zack Segovia is a 26-year-old reliever who washed out of the Philadelphia organization and is now getting his first shot with the Nationals. Logan Kensing is a 27-year-old reliever, hard hit in two prior stints with the Nationals, who's back for a third and perhaps final chance. Ian Desmond is a 23-year-old, a third-round pick in 2004, whose playing time this month will largely depend on the health of starter Cristian Guzman.

On Wednesday afternoon, the Nats, again looking punchless/hapless/toothless , lost to the Padres 7-0. The updated math is pretty depressing.

J.D. Martin may or may not ultimately prove to be a successful big league pitcher.