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MLB.com released its 2012 Top 100 Prospect list earlier this week. The Washington Nationals have a solid prescence on the list, having four players ranked among the top prospects in all of Major League Baseball. The organization has been steadily building their farm system into one of the better ones in all of MLB, but the system seemed relatively depleted after the recent trade to acquire Gio Gonzalez which cost the Nationals four players ranked in Baseball America’s organizational Top 10. For what it’s worth, two of those players made it to MLB.com’s Top 100: right-handed pitchers Brad Peacock (#75) and A.J. Cole (#88).

Bryce Harper was named the #2 prospect, coming in just behind Tampa Bay’s Matt Moore and in front of Los Angeles’ Mike Trout. Harper, who really doesn’t need much of an introduction on this site anymore considering how much we’ve discussed him, batted a combined .297/.392/.501 with 17 HR and 58 RBI in 387 at bats between Hagerstown and Harrisburg. How he performs this Spring will determine whether he begins the 2012 season in Washington or Syracuse.

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The Nationals have made yet another move to shore up their pitching staff, agreeing to terms with former Philadelphia Phillies closer Brad Lidge, the team announced on its Web site.

According to Jim Salisbury of CSNPhilly.com, who first reported the deal, it is  worth $1 million over one year and includes incentives.

The 35-year-old right-hander established a reputation as one of baseball’s top closers in six seasons with the Houston Astros, before moving to Philadelphia in 2008 to help the Phillies win the World Series, going 41-for-41 in save opportunities during the regular season with 92 strikeouts in 59 innings. He saved seven more games in the postseason that year, including the final game of the World Series. For his career,  he has compiled 223 saves in 266 opportunities with 789 strikeouts in 594 innings, with a 3.44 earned run average, according to mlb.com.

But Lidge has been limited by injuries the past two seasons, and the Phils permanently replaced him as their closer this off-season, signing Jontahan Papelbon away from the Red Sox to fill that role. Lidge was effective when he was able to pitch last season, holding hitters to a .250 average over 19 innings, pitching to a 1.90 ERA.

With the Nationals, he will reportedly join Tyler Clippard and Henry Rodriguez as setup men for closer Drew Storen, according to Adam Kilgore of The Washington Post.   His most important contribution, though, may be adding veteran leadership to an inexperienced, albeit talented, bullpen.

Earlier this week, Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus – easily one of the more authoritative voices on minor league prospects – released his 2012 Top 20 Nationals rankings. Goldstein is usually one of the later sources to release their rankings – as we’ve seen and covered those from Baseball America, MLB.com, FanGraphs, Seedlings to Stars, and of course, introduced our first annual DoD Top Prospect list (which I’ll conveniently remind you can be found using the “Featured Posts” page atop our home page). Goldstein delves into scouting reports after listing his Top 20 prospects, but those are behind BaseballPro’s Insider wall – so you’ll need an account to read them.

One of the best parts of Goldstein’s annual rankings is the very beginning, where he sums up the team’s farm system in 20 words or less:

Thinned out by the Gio Gonzalez deal, but a strong 2011 draft has the potential to make up for it.

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Wednesday afternoon, the Washington Nationals held a formal press conference to introduce Gio Gonzalez to the local media and fans. These typically take place shortly after deals are officially completed, but due to timing and logistical factors, the press conference itself comes just over a month after the trade was completed and nearly two weeks after Gonzalez (who was a high school teammate of first baseman Chris Marrero – cool fact) signed a contract extension with the organization.

Image courtesy: Associated Press

Most Nationals blogs have already dissected and discussed the addition of Gonzalez to the projected starting rotation – we did this over a month ago when the deal was completed – but the press conference served as a great excuse (and opportunity) to divert discussions back to the current roster after yesterday’s surprising decision by Prince Fielder to sign with Detroit. The press conference itself wasn’t televised (from what I’ve been told) but the hard working beat writers for this team – specifically Mark Zuckerman, Adam Kilgore, Bill Ladson, and Pete Kerzel – have shared a number of quotes and thoughts from the afternoon. All of the following quotes have been passed along from those four, unless otherwise noted.

Kilgore also reported two additional details. Gonzalez’s new contract does not include any no-trade protection. Presumably that won’t become much of a concern moving forward as I think the general consensus is that the deal should be a positive one for both sides. Also, right fielder Jayson Werth met Gonzalez at the ballpark this morning to show him around the facilities before the press conference. Good to see the team’s highest paid player taking on a semi-active leadership role.

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A hallmark of the Washington Nationals surprising 80-win season in 2011 was their fine bullpen. According to Baseball-Reference.com, the pen’s 31 wins topped all National League staffs (the Miami Marlins were second with 30).

The Nationals bullpen pitched 520.2 innings (source: MLB.Com), second most in the NL behind Atlanta’s 522.1. Their 3.20 ERA marked the fourth best in the NL and the fifth lowest in major league baseball. Overall, the Nationals’ bullpen contributed more to the club’s third place finish than any other facet.

All-Star Tyler Clippard cemented his place as one of the National League’s top set-up men with a NL-leading 38 holds and an insane WHIP of 0.84, the best in baseball for all pitchers who pitched at least 60 innings last season. Drew Storen quietly became an excellent closer, saving 43 (in 48 save opportunities) of Washington’s 80 wins. His 1.02 WHIP was best among NL closers except for the St. Louis Cardinals’ tandem of Fernando Salas and Jason Motte. Both appear poised for strong 2012 campaigns.

How about the rest of the group? While Sean Burnett, now departed Doug Slaten, free agent Todd Coffey, as well as Henry (H-Rod) Rodriguez struggled at times, by the end of the season, Johnson had a solid “A” group – Burnett, Rodriguez, Clippard, and Storen and “B” group – Atahualpa Severino, Coffey, Ryan Mattheus, and Rodriguez to turn to in any situation.

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Many Nationals fans might be disappointed that the team has missed out on signing free-agent first baseman Prince Fielder. After all, at first blush, who wouldn’t want to see a left-handed slugger who’s hit as many as 50 home runs taking aim at the right field porch at Nationals Park? The team has been missing that since Adam Dunn left for Chicago.

With his power and plate presence, Fielder is, no doubt, very good. Maybe even good enough to be worth the roughly $23.8 million a year the Detroit Tigers are reportedly going to be paying him. He might be worth that much for three or four years, but will there still be a payoff after seven, eight or even nine years, which seems to be what put the Tigers over the top in the bidding war? Let’s face it, at 5-11 and 275 pounds (at least that what’s listed on MLB.com), it’s easy to see what he has in common with his father, Cecil Fielder, who was known as “Big Daddy.” There’s always the risk that he could eat his way out of the lineup, and Nats fans would be comparing him with Dmitri Young, rather than Dunn.

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Tomorrow afternoon, roughly around 3:30 PM EST, the Washington Nationals will hold a formal press conference. No, they won’t be introducing Prince Fielder (we’ll have some more direct thoughts on his signing with Detroit a little later), but rather the organization will finally introduce Gio Gonzalez to the Washington fans and media. Yes, that’s the same Gio Gonzalez who the organization acquired just over a month ago in a blockbuster trade with the Oakland A’s.

The deal was completed just prior to Christmas and the Nationals’ front office was closed for the holidays (as most team’s front offices are). A press conference could have been scheduled just after the beginning of the new calendar year, but the team preferred to address his uncertain contract situation (Gonzalez would have headed to arbitration had a deal not been reached) first. In effect, they waited and will hold one press conference instead of two. We’ll bring additional details of anything relevant that is said/asked/etc. during tomorrow’s press conference.

News is now coming out through Twitter that longtime Nationals target Prince Fielder has agreed to a 9 year, $214 million deal with the Detroit Tigers. The deal is pending a physical, but barring that, Fielder is officially off the market.

There have been rumblings for the past few months that the Washington Nationals and Ryan Zimmerman have discussed (or, are discussing) a possible contract extension. The team’s third baseman and incumbent “Face of the Franchise” is scheduled to reach free agency after the 2013 season if an agreement can’t be reached in advance. According to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports, Zimmerman’s representation has given the team an idea of what terms

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Zimmerman is prepared to accept. Those details have not been made public (and presumably they won’t) so we’re left to speculate on what it might take to keep Zimmerman in Washington for the long haul.

So, where do we begin in trying to predict what a potential new contract may look like?

The two most common comparisons brought up in discussions surrounding a Zimmerman extension are Troy Tulowitski and Ryan Braun. After the 2010 season, with four years remaining on his current contract, the Colorado Rockies awarded Tulowitski with a six year extension worth roughly $119 Million. The deal will keep him a Rockie through the 2020 season. Meanwhile, just a few weeks into the 2011 season the Milwaukee Brewers awarded Braun with a five year extension, valued at $105 Million. He also had four years remaining on his contract at the time of the extension and will be a Brewer through the 2020 season. Aside from the pair, Albert Pujols is the only other player currently under contract beyond 2019.

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For the most part, this site strictly focuses on the Washington Nationals. While we respect and appreciate the history that came before the Nationals were born, we don’t really discuss the Montreal Expos much. That is unless, of course, there’s some sort of connection to the present-day organization. However, the baseball fan in me feels that news regarding one of the two players in baseball’s Hall of Fame to wear an Expos cap is worth noting here on a Nationals blog.

Late last week news first broke that former catcher Gary Carter’s health had taken a turn for the worse. Carter was first diagnosed roughly 8 months ago with a number of inoperable brain tumors. He has since undergone a series of aggressive chemotherapy treatments in an effort to shrink the tumors but has seen little success. Carter suffered a setback in December, collapsing on Christmas Eve. A second fall occurred last week, causing doctors to conduct a series of MRI exams. Carter tore his rotator cuff in the fall, but more importantly has developed additional tumors in his brain.

Carter was quietly one of the best catchers of his generation. Growing up in New York in the 1980s, he was always a joy to watch when he was a member of the Mets because he always seemed to play the game the right way. Carter was Davey Johnson’s catcher on the 1986 Mets team that won the World Series. He’s an under-appreciated baseball great and it’s sad what he and his family are now going through.