Mike MacDougal News

INDIANAPOLIS -- Central figures only one year ago, those involved in the creation and implosion of the 2009 Washington Nationals are now scattered, just part of the fallout from a year with many mistakes. Manny Acta, manager for the first half of Washington's season, is back at the winter meetings -- this time as skipper of the Cleveland Indians. Jim Bowden, architect of a team that could build leads but never retain them, is back, too. He's an XM radio host, and to refine his interviewing skills he now studies Matt Lauer and Larry King.

Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo thinks he has improved his club's bullpen by acquiring right-hander Brian Bruney from the Yankees on Monday for a player to be named.

As the winter meetings begin Monday, the Nationals have identified several areas where they'll be looking to improve their roster.

Looking to improve from this past season, the Nationals have expressed interest in reliever Mike Gonzalez and infielder/outfielder Mark DeRosa, according to two baseball sources.

Is Mike Morse being considered for any Major League role in 2010? He was as impressive as any player on the team.

The Arizona Fall League is a chance for organizations to get a feel for some of their young players.

Right-hander Drew Storen has been touted as a closer. If he makes the big league team, how about starting him off as a setup man, and then working him into the closer role by midseason? -- Shane B., Vancouver, Canada It's almost certain Storen will be invited to Spring Training and I could see him start the regular season as a setup man.

The Indians are working the phones to find a new manager. General Manager Mark Shapiro and Assistant GM Chris Antonetti , in Goodyear Ariz., for meetings, began phone interviews with candidates Tuesday, the next step in finding a successor for Eric Wedge , who was fired last month following Cleveland's worst season since 1991.

Sometimes you just feel frisky. It might be a on Friday night after a couple of shots of J.D., or it might be after receiving a particularly pleasing review from your boss at work.

Both knew their futures with the club would be handled in time. Now, they know they're staying in San Francisco.

General manager Mark Shapiro and assistant GM Chris Antonetti, in Goodyear Ariz., for meetings, began interviewing managerial candidates by phone.

Nationals closer Mike MacDougal had arthroscopic surgery on his right hip on Tuesday.

ATLANTA, Oct. 2 -- No matter the style in which the Washington Nationals end their 2009 season, they will likely be remembered more for their first week (winless) than their final week (wonderful). All the ugly truths have long been self-evident. When the season ends, the Nationals will have more losses than any other team in baseball. For all of Washington's spring training goals, the aspiration to claim the 2010 No. 1 pick and draft Bryce Harper was never quite included in the plan.

But here in the season's final days, baseball's poorest team is finishing as among its hottest. With Friday's 6-3 defeat of the Braves at Turner Field, the Nationals have a five-game winning streak -- no team in the National League has a longer one. They are firing on all cylinders, including a few they didn't even know they had. They're getting opposite-field power from September call-ups Ian Desmond and Justin Maxwell. They're getting quality starts from Livan Hernandez, the potbellied, late-August, low-budget acquisition. They're getting doubles from Adam Dunn, who started the night in an 0-for-26 slump. No 103-loss team is having more fun.

It is the bleakest form of theater, watching the 2009 Washington Nationals in their final days, seeing them slump and stumble and lose almost without exception. They lose even when they can't quite figure out why. In Sunday's 6-3, 10-inning defeat against the Atlanta Braves, they committed no single unpardonable sin, at least until extra innings, and still it ended with the familiar feeling -- another quiet clubhouse, another closer sitting at his locker.

For the Nationals, these are trying times. They are 51 games under .500, having lost 21 of 27 games. In that span, they're getting outscored by 2.5 runs per game. Their closer has an 11.57 ERA in September, their left fielder is 13 for his last 89, and their bullpen has allowed runs in 26 of its last 29 appearances. The foundation of their August surge to semi-respectability is gone. Mike MacDougal is throwing balls two feet out of the strike zone, Josh Willingham is slumping, Cristian Guzm?n is injured, Adam Dunn missed Sunday with overall bodily soreness and allergy problems, and almost every bullpen member but Tyler Clippard is unreliable.

The penultimate home game of a dismal baseball season belonged to the die-hards -- the eight fans in Section 234 who stood for the final three outs, and the fans behind the home dugout, snuggled into their hooded sweatshirts on a crisp evening, and the thousands who chanted 'Gold Glove' before every Ryan Zimmerman at-bat. On Tuesday, 19,614 showed up. There was a fall chill and a modest pitching matchup between two losing teams. Fan Appreciation Day? That was still 24 hours away.

But even in Game 157, the 80th at Nationals Park this year, baseball can still offer little self-contained surprises, no matter if the meaning only lasts as long as the postgame handshakes. When closer Mike MacDougal sealed Washington's 4-3 victory against the Mets, Nationals Park was roaring. Roaring with enthusiasm.

A day after giving up three runs in a 6-3 loss to the Braves in 10 innings, Nationals closer Mike MacDougal had a pep talk with interim manager Jim Riggleman, who wanted to make sure MacDougal didn't lose his confidence.

Several hours before Monday's game, Washington Nationals interim manager Jim Riggleman held a brief meeting with his closer, Mike MacDougal, whose ERA has taken a beating in the last few weeks. Riggleman, who was joined for the chat by pitching coach Steve McCatty, had a simple goal: He wanted to ensure that MacDougal's confidence didn't take a beating, too. Though the conversation won't help the closer curb his recent problems, Riggleman reminded the closer that he hasn't been hit hard. He's just been wild.

Mike Morse homered for the third straight game and Ross Detwiler earned his first career win as the Washington Nationals beat the New York Mets 2-1 on Monday night.

Closer Mike MacDougal couldn't control the strike zone in the 10th inning and it hurt the Nationals, who lost to the Braves, 6-3, at Nationals Park on Sunday.

The Mets have done one thing right in September and one thing wrong all season. In their 6-5 loss to the Nationals at Citi Field on Friday night, the two intersected at the pitcher's mound.