Capping a busy weekend in which the Nationals acquired a nearly major-league-ready pitcher (on a four-year, $8 million deal, as reported at lunch time today) and didn't deal their most impactful left-handed slugger, Sunday saw three more hopeful events for the Washington ball club.

First was the return of left-handed pitcher John Lannan to the starting rotation.  After Lannan was optioned to the double-A Senators in June, it was hoped that a reunion with Harrisburg pitching coach Randy Tomlin would help Lannan straighten out whatever mechanical issues were reducing the effectiveness of his sinker in inducing groundball outs.

Lannan's peripheral numbers during his double-A assignment were mixed.  As he did Sunday against Philadelphia, Lannan gave up quite a few hits (but few bases on balls) to the Eastern Leaguers, and couldn't always make it as far as the sixth inning.  Still, Lannan performed well enough for the major-league Nationals to recall him to the rotation when Stephen Strasburg made a sudden trip to the 15-day disabled list.

A side note of hope for Lannan is that he seems not to have had difficulty throwing hard when the situation called for it.  In fact, Lannan's fastball has increased in velocity every season of his MLB career, and now comes in around 89 mph on average.

As for Strasburg, Adam Kilgore at the Post reports that the big right-handed rookie had a successful outfield throw session on Sunday.  Barring any setbacks, Strasburg will throw a bullpen session on Tuesday and a simulated game on Thursday, and could be back for the Nats' next home stand.

The most exciting news to greet the month of August is that right-hander Jordan Zimmermann is off the 60-day disabled list not quite a year after he underwent season-ending Tommy John surgery last August 19.  After a half-dozen rehab starts in which he accrued a 2.38 ERA on no wins and two losses, the hard-throwing 24-year-old has been optioned to triple-A Syracuse.  It wouldn't be surprising to see Zimmermann back at Nats Park by Labor Day.

      

NATIONALS PARK, Washington --  The Major League Baseball non-waiver trading deadline of 4:00 p.m. EDT passed on Saturday without a deal being reached for Washington Nationals first baseman Adam Dunn.

Dunn, 30, is in the second and final season of a two-year, $20 million contract.  He joined the Nationals as a free agent in February 2009.

Rumors of interest in Dunn had intensified in the days before the trade deadline, but Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo indicated that no acceptable offer had been made.

While declining to name specific teams or players, Rizzo did state: "We never got a deal that we thought was equal or greater value to Adam Dunn."

According to Rizzo, a contract extension with Dunn is still a viable possibility.

"We are going to talk extension with Adam Dunn's representatives," Rizzo said.  "Adam Dunn is a big part of our ball club."

Other Nationals players were also discussed in the days leading up to the trade deadline.

"There were serious inquiries for Josh Willingham," Rizzo said.  "We didn't feel we got the return back to feel good about moving him."

Rizzo stated that the Nationals' roster has attracted significant trade interest from many teams this season.

"It was much more teams calling us than us calling them," Rizzo said.

      

After scratching out just six runs in their previous four contests, the Washington Nationals are traveling to Cincinnati in hopes that the cozy dimensions of the Great American Ball Park can encourage them to put some tallies on the board (or, more precisely, to push some runners across home plate instead of stranding them on the bases).

To be sure, whatever hitters' edge exists at the GABP works in favor of both the home team and the visitors.  Still, the Reds have maximized their home-field advantage this season by assembling a team that not only leads the National League in runs scored -- something they haven't accomplished since 2005 when the Cincinnati outfield of Adam Dunn, Ken Griffey Jr. and Austin Kearns combined to produce 93 home runs and 260 runs batted in -- but also, thanks to strong pitching, is just a half-game back in the NL Central.

Washington will summon four right-handed starting pitchers to the hill this week to try to keep the Reds in check.  Monday evening's starter for the Nats will be JD Martin (1-4 win-loss record, 3.35 ERA).  He'll most likely be followed by Luis Atilano (6-6, 4.85) on Tuesday evening, Stephen Strasburg (4-2, 2.03) on Wednesday evening and Livan Hernandez (6-6, 3.27) on Thursday afternoon.

Cincinnati will also send out all right-handers this week, starting with Johnny Cueto (8-2, 3.42) on Monday and rookie Mike Leake (6-1, 3.53) on Tuesday.  Wednesday's Reds starter will probably be veteran innings-eater Bronson Arroyo (10-4, 3.96), followed by Edinson Volquez (1-0, 1.50) -- who turned in a superb six-inning, nine-strikeout performance this past Saturday in his first start since Tommy John surgery in 2009 -- for Thursday's getaway contest.

      

If there'll be anything striking about the National League East's left fielders in 2010, it'll be a remarkable degree of parity and few areas of abject weakness.  (At least defensively, especially since Adam Dunn has decided to concentrate on becoming a first baseman.)

The rankings below, from highest to lowest, account for both defense and offense.

• Chris Coghlan has impressed the Marlins enough to convince that penurious outfit to part with a salary some $50,000 over the league minimum.  He's certainly worth it, as he's apt to outperform his predecessor, current Washington National Josh Willingham, at the position.  Brett Carroll will be Coghlan's backup.
• Not that Washington will suffer.  Although Willingham's better known for his offense, you could do far worse than to deploy him in left field every day.  (Or almost every day, with supersub Willie Harris as the number-two guy in left.)
• The man Harris spelled in Atlanta, Matt Diaz, will most likely be a backup himself this year for former Pinstripe Melky Cabrera.
• Philadelphia fans will be hoping for another great year from Raul Ibanez instead of the more likely regression to the mean.  Ben Francisco, whom the Phillies picked up in the deal with Cleveland that also brought them two-plus months of Cliff Lee, will be the team's fourth outfielder and bench bat.
• Jason Bay was a smart and perhaps somewhat lucky pickup for the Mets, whose fascination with Bay's venerable backup Gary Matthews Jr. cannot be characterized so easily or hopefully.  (That fascination may linger for a while; Matthews is having a good Spring Training so far.)

      

Friday morning saw the Washington Nationals trim their major-league Spring Training roster by two more players, from 53 to 51.  Catcher Devin Ivany and first baseman Josh Whitesell were reassigned to minor-league camp.

Ivany, 27, was selected by the then-Expos in the sixth round of the 2004 First-Year Player Draft.  While he's shown himself capable of nailing wayward baserunners at the high-A level, Ivany -- like his better-known organization mate Derek Norris -- is a bit more error-prone behind the dish than a major-league club would like.  Unlike Norris, Ivany hasn't been a particularly patient or powerful hitter, though his .269 / .360 / .474 batting line over 52 games at Potomac in 2009 was his best yet as a pro.  Barring a continued breakout, it's hard to imagine Ivany's career extending past the end of the 2010 minor-league season.

Whitesell, 28, was another Expos sixth-round draftee (in 2003) and remained in the system until Spring Training 2008 when he was claimed off waivers by Arizona, in whose organization he saw some major-league service time in both '08 and '09.  The Snakes put him back on the wire in December, enabling the Nats to reacquire him to add to their first-base depth chart.  Whitesell possesses decent range, an average glove and some bat pop, so should start the season at triple-A Syracuse and might get a cup of Nats Park coffee if Adam Dunn or Mike Morse should become unavailable for any non-trivial length of time.

      

We continue our position comparisons of the NL East by rating the division's teams according to whom they'll be deploying at first base in the 2010 season.  The rankings below, from highest to lowest, account for both defense and offense.

• If the Nats have a strength in this division, first base would be it.  Not that Adam Dunn's mobility will ever remind anyone of Keith Hernandez', but Dunn's hoping to show improvement at the position over 2009.  For Dunn to become a league-average defensive first baseman -- as, for example, Baseball Prospectus ($) thinks he could -- would be an astounding improvement, in itself adding a couple wins to the Nats' tally that they didn't get from him at the position in 2009.  Expect Mike Morse to draw the duty when Dunn gets a day off.
• Daniel Murphy and Fernando Tatis will man the station ably for the Mets.
• Big Ryan Howard will anchor first as usual for the Phillies, who might well be at the top of this list had they found a more powerful backup than Ross Gload.
• Bye-bye again, Adam LaRoche, and good luck with the Snakes; Atlanta will get by with Troy Glaus and Eric Hinske.
• Florida's weaknesses will be apparent at first base as well as at third base, center field and the bullpen.  Gaby Sanchez should do OK, but Logan Morrison -- unless his mitt has turned from iron to leather during the offseason -- will make the Fish wish they'd found a way to hang on to Nick Johnson when they had him.

      

Not having obtained an advance copy of the menu for today's Hot Stove Luncheon -- the Friday highlight of the Nationals' Winter Caravan -- there's no telling whether chili will be a prominent feature of the noon meal as it's been on Wednesday and Thursday.

But the Friday event is scheduled to feature a number of prominent Nats, including first baseman Adam Dunn, pitchers Jason Marquis, John Lannan, Craig Stammen, Drew Storen and Ryan Speier, third baseman Ryan Zimmerman and outfielders Josh Willingham and Nyjer Morgan.

They'll be joined by team president Stan Kasten, general manager Mike Rizzo and manager Jim Riggleman as well as MASN color commentator Rob Dibble.  Master of ceremonies will be Nats season-ticket holder and Meet the Press moderator David Gregory.

If you fail to score a ticket to the luncheon, you can try stopping by Verizon Center at 6:00 before the NHL Capitals host the Florida Panthers at 7:00.  The front-office folks and Gregory won't be there.  However, the gathering -- which is slated to include all the players named above except Zim -- will be augmented by pitchers Matt Capps, Brian Bruney and Tyler Clippard and minor-league middle infielder Danny Espinosa as well as by several nearby chili options including the Greene Turtle next door, Rosa Mexicano across F Street and Austin Grill at 8th and E.

      

How much will the Nationals' lineup have changed from last season to the one ahead?  Plenty -- and the changes may not be done yet.

If Opening Day were tomorrow, the only familiar face you could count on seeing in the same place on the field that it occupied last Opening Day would be that of third baseman Ryan Zimmerman.  It would be reasonable, now as then, for Zimmerman and Adam Dunn to hit in the third and fourth slots respectively -- but only after Dunn had manned first base in the top of the inning, instead of left field where he started last season.

That assumes that Josh Willingham will be patrolling left this coming April, which is not necessarily a safe assumption.  As has been the case off and on for most of the offseason, we've been hearing this week of rumors that Willingham is being shopped by the Nationals.

There was talk a while back of Atlanta being interested in Willingham, and there's talk now of the Braves wanting to free themselves of 37-year-old starter Derek Lowe and the $45 million left on his contract.  A trade of Willingham for Lowe, even if Atlanta could be persuaded to pick up most of Lowe's remaining salary, would not be a step forward for the Nats except perhaps in the unlikely event that a couple of the Braves' top prospects were thrown in.

No matter where Willingham were to go or whom he'd be traded for, his production at the plate would be missed at Nats Park.  That could account for Washington GM Mike Rizzo's admitted interest in free agent Mike Jacobs, an up-and-down hitter who accrued a mediocre stat line in 2009 (somewhat like that of 2007) but who, if due for an up year in 2010, might produce something on the order of the 32 home runs and 93 RBI that he logged for Florida in 2008.

A Jacobs acquisition would also potentially benefit the Nats' defense.  Were Jacobs to come on board, he could take over first base and possibly save a few runs there, while -- as ESPN's Buster Olney reminds us -- Dunn and his big bat could move back to left field, in which the neighboring presence of Nyjer Morgan would somewhat mitigate Dunn's leaden glove.

And none of the above speculation takes into account the possibility that the Nats might get an offer they can't refuse for Dunn himself (perhaps, for example, from the White Sox who could use some muscle at DH), which could give Roger Bernadina and Justin Maxwell an opportunity to shine.

Might either Willingham or Dunn start the season in another team's uniform?  Or will both begin (and end) the season under the curly W?

What do you think?

      

Plenty of Washington Nationals fans miss first baseman Nick Johnson, and rightly so.  While it's nice to know that Adam Dunn can play every day, his defense at first base could stand to tighten up a notch.  And Chris Marrero will probably benefit from at least one more season in the minors.

So it can't hurt to add some insurance to the position, particularly from someone already known to the organization.  This no doubt was the thinking behind the Nationals' decision on Monday to claim Josh Whitesell off waivers from Arizona and to sign him to a minor-league contract with an invitation to Spring Training.

Ironically, Whitesell, drafted in 2003 by the Expos, was a veteran of just under five years' service in the organization when the Nats exposed him to waivers in mid-March 2008 (perhaps to make room on the 40-man roster for a potential acquisition of Jeff Weaver, which wasn't happening) and saw him snapped up by Arizona, in whose organization he proceeded to accrue large chunks of triple-A service time between cups of MLB coffee.  While D-backs then-manager Bob Melvin saw Whitesell as a hitter with real major-league potential, Melvin wasn't around long enough to see whether his hopes would be vindicated, instead becoming the first MLB skipper of 2009 to be handed his walking papers.

Bill James' forecast sees Whitesell appearing in 46 major-league games in 2010, the same number as he logged in 2009, but also envisions him accruing about an .800 OPS versus the anemic .633 that he racked up last season.  Since a quarter of a season is a small sample size, there's little point to placing much confidence in James' prediction; barring Dunn being injured or traded, Whitesell will likely spend most of his time at triple-A Syracuse anyhow.

      

Saturday afternoon's Southeastern Conference football championship game saw the number-2-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide roll over Florida in a 32-13 rout in which the top-ranked Gators were held scoreless throughout the second half.

This result didn't please Florida quarterback Tim Tebow at all, but no doubt gave great joy to Nationals outfielder Josh Willingham, a native Alabaman who is a huge fan of the Tide.

Next stop for 'Bama:  the BCS National Championship Game.  No word yet on whether Willingham will be in attendance at the Rose Bowl, but we'll be staying tuned.

UPDATED 12/6/09 7:20 am: The Tide's opponent in the BCS title game? That would be Texas, alma mater of Willingham's fellow Nats slugger Adam Dunn...