It was quite a scene out on the field the last few hours, with an unparalleled level of media spotlight shone on Nationals Park. Here are a couple of photos from Strasmas so far.

Karl Ravech and Tim Kurkjian interview Mike Rizzo on for ESPN's Baseball Tonight.

Drew Storen does an interview with WJLA.

MLB Network's Harold Reynolds talks with MASN's Debbie Reynolds and Bob Carpenter.

Reynolds jumps into a game of flip with Nationals players.

Jim Riggleman's pre-game briefing with the "electronic" media.

Stephen Strasburg's (and Bryce Harper's) agent, Scott Boras, talks to reporters.

      

We're going to roll out some major changes this weekend, but none more obvious or significant than the name of the site.

NationalsPride.com will become Nationals Daily News.

It's more than a cosmetic name change. It's representative of a renewed commitment to providing comprehensive news coverage of the Nationals and is the first of several changes designed to further cement the site's position as an independent, hyperlocal news web site.

NationalsPride.com has never been a traditional "blog." There's certainly nothing wrong with blogs, it's just that this site isn't one.

Every day, NationalsPride.com compiles news coverage of the Nationals in the "mainstream media," and aggregates news coverage of every team in Major League Baseball. It features league standings, box scores, rosters and player statistics. It catalogs the team's press releases verbatim and indexes posts from two dozen Nationals fan blogs. It provides informational resources about the ballpark and features original photo albums, original videos, and a sometimes-monthly podcast. And it's home to 10 unique voices who regularly publish their insights on individual blogs.

The site has long had a newspaper feel, with an eye toward better organization of editorial content than traditional blogs. Nationals Daily News will take that commitment a step further.

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There wasn't really a name for it when we launched the site back in 2005, but now we'd call Nationals Daily News a "hyperlocal" news site.

The first time I'd heard of hyperlocal coverage was in an article about a suburban newspaper that was giving the high school football teams in its county the type of coverage you'd normally only see for a professional team. Beat reporters, columnists, rosters, statistics, even in-depth video. Pick a topic and provide extraordinary coverage of it to over-serve a particular audience.

The Washington Post experimented with hyperlocal coverage with its LoudonExtra.com, devoted to saturated coverage of Loudon County. The Post gave up on the experiment, with a spokeswoman saying it "was not a sustainable model" because of "the large amount of special features and technologies" involved with operating the site. The problem was the need to make a profit -- a problem with which we, fortunately, are not so burdened.

The New York Times' hyperlocal news experiment, "The Local," is being conducted in a few carefully selected communities in New Jersey and New York. Like was the case Post's project, it utilizes professional reporters to cover meetings, criminal happenings, etc.

Even ESPN jumped into the hyperlocal game, succesffully launching sites focused exclusively on Chicago, Boston, and Los Angeles. A New York-focused site will go live on Friday.

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We've dabbled in original reporting over the years, but the design and organization of the site inadvertantly gave those stories less prominence than our blog posts. As a result, our traditional reporting tended to get channeled intoour blogs instead.

In launching Nationals Daily News, we're renewing our commitment to original reporting -- and to presenting it as such. There will be a far more evident wall between our news and opinion content.

We won't be filing daily game recaps, but we will do our best to tell the stories that the beat writers don't have the time or column inches to publish during the regular season -- player features, extended interviews, and looks behind the scenes.

If things go as planned, those stories will come in a blend of written words, photo essays, and video segments. And don't worry -- our terrific columnists will continue to share their insights and analysis on their blogs.

It's all part of our commitment to running a one-stop hyperlocal news site covering the Washington Nationals. We look forward to launching it and hearing what you think!

      

Speaking to a NatsFest crowd in the Red Porch on Sunday, ESPN baseball analyst Tim Kurkjian heaped praise on the Nationals' progress over the last year, but warned against expectations of a transformation as sudden and dramatic as the 2008 Tampa Bay Rays.

"The Rays' turnaround was unbelievable," Kurkjian said. "Their 10-year stretch was the worst 10-year stretch by any team in 60 years. Of any team in Major League Baseball. And then they went to the World Series. It was unbelievable what they did. So the thought that the Nationals or anyone else is going to do what the Rays did -- that happens about twice a century. That's it."

Kurkjian, a Bethesda native and a graduate of Walter Johnson High School, went on to emphasize the Nats were "going in the right direction."

"They've got people on the field that they didn't have last year. They've got people in the front office and the manager's office -- they're much more stable than it was at this time last year. Clearly. And this team is going in the right direction."

"Don't gauge them by where they finish in the standings or how many more wins they have," Kurkjian continued. "Just keep an eye on the players and see the ones going in this direction. There are way more going in this direction than they used to have, and that's a really good sign."

      

This is going to be one of those rare times I directly and publicly agree with the spin offered by an anonymous Nationals team official.

An ESPN.com report Tuesday said the Nats were "not on pace" to sign their No. 1 draft pick, Stephen Strasburg, by the Aug. 17 deadline. "Sources close to the negotiation" are credited with this shocking report. (Oooh I wonder who those sources could be?!)

The team's front office went on the defensive. Anonymously. (Ugh.)

"I can tell you that's not consistent with the actual talks we've had with [Strasburg and Boras]," a team official told the Washington Times.

The ESPN report also cites quotes from interim GM Mike Rizzo, though it's not clear when exactly those statements were made.

"There are a lot of things that are happening behind the scenes that nobody is going to know about because we're not going to talk about it," Rizzo is reported to have said, insisting the team wouldn't negotiate through media reports.

Honestly, I agree with him here. The ESPN report was filed by Pedro Gomez and frankly, I think he was being used.

This story was clearly planted by Strasburg's agent, Scott Boras, in an attempt to make the Nationals' front office look foolish, get fans in Washington riled up and applying pressure, and ultimately to get Rizzo and Stan Kasten to cave.

Boras knows the Nats are under pressure to sign Strasburg no matter what, and he's manipulating the press coverage to try to turn up the heat.

Don't fall for it. There are 26 more days until the deadline and of course it's going to go until the end since signing early would mean Boras was backing off his outrageous contract demands. He can't let that happen until there appears to be no other choice. It's bad for his own business interests.

I don't know what the true state of the negotiation is, and frankly neither do you. So let's just take a breath, trust that Rizzo and Kasten, like us, believe Strasburg is an incredible talent and it's in their interest to sign him. They wouldn't have drafted him if they didn't think that, right?

So just, for now, don't panic. Don't fall for it. Let's regroup in three weeks.

      

ESPN's recap of President Obama's first pitch at the All-Star Game Tuesday night.

      

Reports in the Washington Post, Washington Times, Nationals.com, and ESPN say that Manny Acta has been fired as manager of the Washington Nationals.

ESPNDeportes, which is being credited with breaking the news overnight, is running the following quote from Acta:

"I thank the Nationals for giving me this opportunity and I'm sorry that things didn't work out as expected. It's normal for the manager to pay the price when the team is not doing well."

Jim Riggleman has been promoted to manager.

The Nationals have not yet officially announced either move.

Acta helmed the struggling ballclub for more than two years, building a 158-252 record. At the All-Star break this season, the team is 26-61.