After a challenging nine-game road trip that has left them with an even .500 record, the Nationals are on their way back to D.C. for a two-game set with the New York Mets followed by a three-game interleague series against struggling Baltimore.

Washington's probable Wednesday starter will be veteran right-hander Livan Hernandez (4-2 record, 1.46 ERA), who'll be going on just three days' rest after having taken a loss in the opener of last Saturday's doubleheader in Colorado.  He'll be followed on Thursday by rookie righty Luis Atilano (3-0, 3.90).

New York having sent struggling starter Oliver Perez (0-3, 5.94) to the bullpen, it's likely that on Wednesday they'll give right-handed knuckleballer R. A. Dickey his first MLB start of the 2010 season.  In eight starts for triple-A Buffalo, Dickey has accrued four wins, two losses and a 2.23 ERA over 60 2/3 innings, issuing 55 hits and 8 walks while striking out 37.

Thursday will most likely see right-hander John Maine (1-3, 6.13) take the hill for the Mets.  However, Maine's luck not having been much better than Perez' this season, it wouldn't be shocking to see his rotation turn bypassed some time soon -- perhaps even this Thursday -- in favor of left-hander Pat Misch who's gone 3-0 with a 3.30 ERA in seven triple-A starts so far in 2010.

Desperate as they are for reliable starting pitching, might the Mets be interested in bringing back one-time fan favorite Pedro Martinez?  It would appear not.

One wonders if any other NL East team might be willing, as the Phillies were last season, to engage the services of the future Hall of Famer.

What mark did the 2010 Nationals finally reach on Monday that it only took the 2009 squad until April 10 to get to?

Four losses in a row, an accomplishment to which last year's team was no stranger, having racked up losing skeins of at least four games on eleven separate occasions in 2009.

If it's any consolation to the Nats, they were a bit late to the party in 2010.  As of Tuesday morning, 20 of the other 29 MLB teams -- including current NL Central division leader Cincinnati and current AL West division leader Texas -- had each already recorded a losing streak of four or more games this season. 

Since a 162-game schedule has room for any number of peaks and valleys, it will be mildly surprising if any of the other nine teams doesn't drop at least four games in succession at some point in 2010.

      

Washington's just-completed three-game set in New York may have served as a humbling reminder that even the mighty Nats bullpen is mortal. But that wasn't enough to keep the Nationals from taking two of three from the Mets in methodical fashion and asserting sole ownership of second place in the National League East.

The Nats continue their nine-game road trip with a visit to Colorado, commencing a four-game weekend series on a note of hope -- if also apprehension -- on Thursday as left-hander John Lannan (1-2 record, 6.34 ERA) makes his first start since reporting elbow discomfort after his May 3 outing. While the news was good after Lannan's Monday bullpen session, he'll be on a strict pitch count to try to avoid further aggravation to his elbow. Following Lannan in the Nats rotation will be right-handers Livan Hernandez (4-1, 1.04) on Friday and Luis Atilano (3-0, 3.57) on Saturday and lefty Scott Olsen (2-1, 3.51) on Sunday.

Colorado will counter on Thursday through Saturday with right-handers Jhoulys Chacin (2-0, 0.00) and Ubaldo Jimenez (6-1, 0.93) and left-hander Greg Smith (1-2, 6.35). There's no word yet about who will get the call on Sunday; the next turn in the rotation is that of Aaron Cook (1-3, 5.80) who pitched the first game of Wednesday's doubleheader (which, by the way, was won by Nats alumnus Joe Beimel in relief) and would thus be going on three days' rest instead of the customary four.

Determining the Sunday starter might be expected to test the depth of the Rockies' pitching, which has been plagued by injury thus far this season. One guy the Rox are hoping to get back soon is left-hander Jorge de la Rosa, whose place Chacin is taking in the rotation. It's unlikely, however, that de la Rosa's bruised finger will let him rejoin the staff before June.

There's good news on the Denver horizon, though. Closer Huston Street, who's recovering from shoulder issues after making 67 appearances in the 2009 season and postseason, is scheduled to make some rehab appearances over the next several days at double-A Tulsa and triple-A Colorado Springs.

Even more encouragingly for the Rockies, arthroscopic shoulder surgery survivor Jeff Francis had a fine rehab outing for Tulsa on Tuesday night, issuing a miserly 86 pitches in seven innings over which he scattered six hits and no walks and struck out two. It wouldn't be a shock to see the big left-hander -- who missed the entire 2009 season after a dreary 2008 -- return to major-league action at Coors Field on Sunday.

      

By dint of their own lights-out pitching and superior defense -- not to mention a typically fine Tim Lincecum outing for the Giants in New York that not even an atypically poor Dan Runzler relief appearance could destroy -- the Nationals find themselves going into the week, and into Queens, deadlocked with the Mets at second place in the NL East, each team having put up a 17-14 record so far in 2010.

That deadlock won't exist after the Nats finish a three-game set at Citi Field that marks the beginning of a nine-day road trip.  And since Philadelphia is just two games ahead in the division, it's even possible that the victor of the Nats-Mets series could find itself atop the pack come Thursday morning.

To achieve that pinnacle, Washington will not only need the Phillies to drop at least two of three in Colorado this week, but will also have to log at least two victories behind right-hander Luis Atilano (2-0, 4.67 ERA), left-hander Scott Olsen (2-1, 3.54) and righty Craig Stammen (1-1, 5.63) on Monday through Wednesday respectively.  The Mets will counter with right-hander John Maine (1-1, 5.97), lefty Jon Niese (1-1, 3.60) and righty Mike Pelfrey (4-1, 2.65).

After their trip to New York, the Nats will travel to Colorado for a four-game weekend series.  The big question on their mind heading into that set is whether lefty John Lannan (1-2, 6.34) will be ready to take his Thursday start, having been skipped on Saturday while hoping that his elbow recovers from inflammation that was discovered after his outing last Sunday.

We're told by manager Jim Riggleman that the Nats intend to take no chances there.  If Lannan has any discomfort after his bullpen session on Monday, the Nats will keep him shut down and turn to an alternate starter -- perhaps, we suspect, left-hander Matt Chico who's going through a procedural designation for assignment after producing a decent five innings in Lannan's stead on Saturday.

What about all those guys on the DL, such as lefty Ross Detwiler -- currently recuperating from February hip surgery -- and right-handers Jason Marquis (bone fragments), Chien-Ming Wang (shoulder surgery) and Jordan Zimmermann (Tommy John surgery)?

Most likely we'll see Marquis back first, after some number of rehabilitation outings in the minors -- "a couple starts," Riggleman told reporters in Sunday morning's pre-game press conference.  "I don't know if it'll turn into three, but I think at least a couple." 

Marquis' first rehab start will be Tuesday at high-single-A Potomac; if all goes well there he'll follow up with a start at double-A Harrisburg on Sunday.

Who's next on the list of prospective returnees?  Probably Detwiler, about whom Riggleman has been hearing good news of late.

"Our trainers and rehab guys down [in Florida], they're doing a great job with [Detwiler]," Riggleman said Sunday.  "They're making a lot of progress."

Wang's situation is a bit more tricky, according to Riggleman.  "He's really coming along nicely, but we've got to make sure he's really got that injury totally behind him before we think about bringing him up here, because he's got a chance to be really special for us.  We're going to be real conservative there."

Riggleman's overall assessment is an optimistic one.  "The other guys are ahead of schedule -- Detwiler ahead of everybody."

      

After the third inning of the Washington Nationals' 10-4 blowout loss on Tuesday night at Nats Park to the visiting Colorado Rockies, the joke might have gone something like this:  the Nats' fielders darn well ought to be good, because Lord knows they get enough practice.

Such a gag would have fallen flat last season, when the Nats had about the worst Defensive Efficiency of any club in Major League Baseball for most of the year.

This season, as Bill Ladson points out, the team has improved remarkably on defense.  If you go by fielding percentage, they were tied for seventh among National League clubs as of Tuesday morning.  And by this Hutch's preferred measurement, Defensive Efficiency, they stood alone in sixth place out of 16 clubs.

If you imagine that has anything to do with the Nats' current .500 record, rather than the sort of dismal start that characterized previous seasons, we're right there with you.  (As for starting pitching, that's a topic for another day.)

Nats center fielder Nyjer Morgan appeared to overrun a Melvin Mora fly ball into a triple in the fourth inning on Tuesday, and came out later in favor of Willy Taveras.  This columnist asked Nats manager Jim Riggleman in the postgame press conference if there was anything to worry about there.

"No, just really taking an opportunity to get [Morgan] off the field a little bit," replied Riggleman.  "He's going to be in there so much, and when we're losing by that much, you try to get a regular or two out of the lineup the rest of the game."

We'd expect to see Tony Plush back in action on Wednesday evening.

The family of Nationals Daily News extends its heartfelt condolences to the family of Colorado Rockies president Keli McGregor, who passed away Tuesday in Salt Lake City at age 48.

      

At the outset of the season, this columnist saw Colorado as the most likely National League West club to finish at the top of that division's standings.

They're not the team that's out to an early NL West lead:  that would be San Francisco, where Tim Lincecum is swinging a pretty mean bat these days to go along with his 0.90 ERA.  Nonetheless, the Rockies' roster is stocked with guys who can get the job done, and it's not hard to see them bettering the pace that's got them to a 6-6 record after a dozen games.

To do so, though, they'll need to get some players back to health and keep them there.  Carlos Gonzalez' strained hamstring evidently is on the mend, as is Brad Hawpe's strained quadriceps, so the outfield corners should be set for now.  However, the Rox will be counting the days (or weeks) until the return of Jeff Francis -- who is rehabilitating from left shoulder surgery -- to the rotation, and Huston Street -- currently plagued with right shoulder stiffness -- to his accustomed late-inning relief duties.

One guy they're probably less worried about is 26-year-old right-hander Ubaldo Jimenez (3-0, 1.29 ERA), Colorado's probable Thursday afternoon starter who just spun a no-hitter on Saturday night in Atlanta.  He'll be preceded on Monday through Wednesday by righty Aaron Cook (0-1, 5.56), portsider Jorge de la Rosa (1-1, 2.77) and right-hander Jason Hammel (0-1, 11.42).

For the Nationals who are enjoying a gaudy (for them, anyhow) 6-6 start to the season, Monday is Craig Stammen's turn.  Stammen got cuffed around pretty hard in Philly last Wednesday, and is now sporting a 0-0 record and 15.63 ERA over just six and a third innings in two starts that have seen the 26-year-old right-hander cough up 16 hits and a walk against only one strikeout.

Even so, manager Jim Riggleman seems to have his eye on the bigger picture.

"I think Stammen had the best Spring [Training] of anybody on our club, with maybe the exception of [John] Lannan," said Riggleman during Sunday morning's pre-game press conference.  "So you factor in what he did for us last year, the success he had, the Spring that he had, I'm not going to panic on a couple starts.

"I do feel the results could have been a lot better for him with just a little bit of luck," Riggleman continued.  "Three ground balls in the first inning [Wednesday], to get nothing to show for it, and then you give up four runs . . . that could've been a one- or two-run inning, and who knows where we go from there."

Tuesday's through Thursday's starts will likely go to lefties Scott Olsen (0-0, 6.35) and John Lannan (1-1, 5.74), and veteran righty Livan Hernandez (2-0, 0.00) who went the distance to deliver a 112-pitch shutout in just under two and a half hours on Saturday and has not yielded a run, earned or otherwise, in either of his 2010 starts.

Talking of pitching, which we frequently are, you could hardly be blamed should you want to run up to Harrisburg on Wednesday morning to get a glimpse of Stephen Strasburg (1-0, 1.23) if you haven't already.

Dress warmly if you decide to make the trip:  the current forecast for the Pennsylvania capital calls for partly sunny skies Wednesday, but a temperature in the low 50s with a southerly breeze for the 10:35 a.m. first pitch.

Still talking of pitching, what's Jason Bergmann up to these days?

Listening to the clock tick and the crickets chirp, no doubt, as he waits for the Nats to make a decision on his future, having been designated for assignment this past week.  There's still no word on the Nats' plans for the 28-year-old right-hander in the event some other team doesn't make a deal for him or snatch him off the waiver wire (should it come to that; contrary to our earlier report, going on waivers is not an immediate consequence of being DFA'd, but is only a final resort if nothing else happens in the meantime). Bill Ladson at MLB.com reiterates earlier rumors we'd heard that Toronto might be interested.  If the Nats want to try to work a trade, reports MLB Trade Rumors, they'll need to do so some time between now and ten days from last Thursday (roughly, Sunday, April 26).

And still talking of pitching (and chirping crickets), what the hell is wrong with Jason Marquis, who failed to record a single out on Sunday afternoon while yielding seven earned runs?  It's not as if he's been showing, or complaining about, elbow soreness, or exhibiting other mechanical indications of injury.

Anyhow, we're staying tuned and will pass along whatever we find out.

      

Having played six of their first nine contests against defending NL East champion Philadelphia, the Nationals have still managed to come out three games ahead of where they were at this time last year. (Since they had won but one game at this time last year, they had almost nowhere to go but up.)

The schedule isn't going to ease up much on the Nats. Two of Washington's three opponents in the upcoming ten-day homestand -- Colorado and Los Angeles -- were in the playoffs last October. And while the NL West should provide an interesting race this season as the San Francisco club continues to make progress, neither the Rockies nor Dodgers rate to roll over for the Nationals.

Neither does Milwaukee, who will be coming into the District this weekend, but the Brewers -- who currently sport the same 4-5 record as the Nats -- do have some vulnerabilities.  Recent back-to-back blown saves by Trevor Hoffman put one in mind of the Phillies' trials at the end of last summer with Brad Lidge. National League partisans with long memories may also be reminded of the blown save and loss that Hoffman hung his NL squad with in the 2006 All-Star Game.

As for recent neck-pain victim Jeff Suppan, one suspects from his so-so Thursday afternoon outing against Chicago that the key to his 2010 success may indeed lie in limiting the number and thickness of pillows at the head of his bed.

You won't see Suppan at South Capitol Street this weekend; the Crew will be sending out right-hander Yovani Gallardo (0-2, 6.75 ERA) on Friday evening and lefties Randy Wolf (1-0, 4.05) and Doug Davis (0-1, 12.27) on Saturday and Sunday afternoons respectively. Washington's starts are slated to go to John Lannan (1-1, 8.31), Livan Hernandez (1-0, 0.00) and Jason Marquis (0-2, 12.96).

The Nats have made no secret of their shift in pitching philosophy from "pitch for strikeouts" to "pitch to contact."  But the latter is something they may want to start thinking about confining to pregame batting practice:  as of Thursday their pitching staff had allowed the third-most hits in the National League.

Another shift in emphasis -- viz., not to save the closer for the ninth inning, an approach in favor of which this columnist has dropped a hint here and there -- has the capacity to show better results.  At least it did on Thursday afternoon when closer Matt Capps got the call in the eighth inning and, while giving up one run on three hits, also rang up the last five outs of the game to earn his fourth save of the young season.

How did that Baby Beltway Series between double-A Harrisburg and the Baltimore-affiliated Bowie Baysox work out?

Not well at all, as the Senators got swept out of Maryland on Monday through Wednesday evenings of this week, thanks in large part to four Harrisburg errors that translated into a half-dozen unearned runs on Monday and Tuesday.

Still, none of the losses was a blowout; two were by a single run.  And on a possibly hopeful note, left-hander Matt Chico managed on Monday to strike out three batters while walking just one and scattering five hits across three and two-thirds innings.

That won't earn Chico much of a chance to return to the major-league Nats' rotation any time soon but we'll see how he does this weekend against visiting New Britain.  We'll also be interested to see how Stephen Strasburg does in his Friday evening start.

      

Fresh off a series win against the Mets in New York, the Nationals will be taking their 3-3 record to Citizens Bank Park on Monday afternoon for a three-game set against torrid Philadelphia.

While the Phillies, having just swept their series against Houston, will be looking to continue to slug their way to victory, their pitching staff will still be minus starter Joe Blanton as well as relievers J. C. Romero and Brad Lidge.  The probable matchup for Monday's Philly home opener will be the Nats' Jason Marquis (0-1, 13.50 ERA) against Philadelphia's Cole Hamels (1-0, 3.60), while swingman Kyle Kendrick (0-0, 11.25) and rotation regular J. A. Happ (1-0, 0.00) are apt to draw the Wednesday evening and Thursday afternoon starts for the Phils.

Washington, having just optioned Garrett Mock (0-0, 5.40) -- who didn't make it out of the fourth inning against Philly this past Thursday -- to triple-A Syracuse, hasn't designated a starter for Wednesday.  However, Adam Kilgore at the Post reports the team has recalled Scott Olsen (0-0, 5.68 ERA at AAA) for the Thursday start -- although it would seem equally likely, if not more so, that Olsen, having last pitched for Syracuse on Friday night, would get the call on Wednesday so the Nats could use John Lannan (1-1, 8.31) on regular rest Thursday.  [UPDATE:  Whoops, we forgot about Craig Stammen (0-0, 7.20); Wednesday will be his turn.]

In additional roster moves, the Nats have placed four-corners utilityman Mike Morse -- who suffered a right calf strain in last Wednesday's game -- on the 15-day DL and have recalled outfielder Roger Bernadina from Syracuse.

Friday will see the Nats return home for ten days.  They'll be facing Milwaukee, Colorado and Los Angeles in those teams' only visits to Nationals Park this season.

This columnist had the privilege of attending the Nats' Saturday afternoon tilt at Citi Field alongside Wigi Tozzi of Planetary Nats Blog.  Besides enjoying the fine early-Spring weather and the enthusiasm and good-natured jibes of the hometown Mets fans, we'd have to say that worked out to be some cliffhanger of a contest -- wouldn't you agree?

Mark Zuckerman -- late of the Times and now writing at Nats Insider and Comcast SportsNet -- sure would, and has produced as fine a piece of game reporting as we've seen from a Washington keyboard, or any other town's, in quite a while.

The double-A Harrisburg Senators visit Baltimore-affiliated Bowie for a three-game set on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday evenings this week.

In the first of two 2010 installments of the Baby Beltway Series (the second will be in June), you won't see phenom Stephen Strasburg who delivered a fine five-inning performance in Altoona on Sunday.  However, you just might get a glimpse or two of Strasburg's fellow 2009 draftee Drew Storen in relief.  Game time at Prince George's Stadium will be 7:05 pm all three nights.

      

When this columnist was a tot, roughly during the Don Draper generation, a popular saying in business circles went something like "Nobody ever got fired for buying IBM."

Meaning that -- whether in reference to the company's stock, which might tank (as it did in 1973-74) or its products, for which cost-effective alternatives might become available (as they did in the '70s and '80s) -- buying IBM might be an unfortunate decision, but not a damnable one, because everybody else was doing it too.  Or so it seemed.

Over time I've been about as successful at selecting pennant races as at playing the market.  (There are still some Pan Am stock certificates in the back of my filing cabinet.)  But some of the predictions I've seen this spring have been real head-scratchers.

Why?  Not because they go out on a limb, but because they seem to go out of their way not to.

Sporting News Today is typical.  Here's who they think will make the playoffs in 2010, and what I think about what they think.

AL East:  Yankees.  (Nuts.  No matter how much money they spend, they're in too competitive a division -- no, really they are -- to be elected by acclamation.  They could even be edged out of the playoffs entirely, not for want of effort.)

AL Central:  Twins.  (Fine, but it's a pure guess.  This may not be the tightest race ever but it will be tight enough that Manny Acta's Indians could luck into an 82-80 record and slip away with the prize.)

AL West:  Angels.  (Another tight race, and I'm not sure who'll be first on closing day, but I'm picking Anaheim to miss.)

AL wildcard:  Red Sox.  (As predictions go that's just kicking the can down the road.  Why shouldn't they win the pennant?  And the Rays are not going away.)

NL East:  Phillies.  (I'm down with that, but not as confidently as I'd be if both Joe Blanton and Brad Lidge weren't starting the season on the DL.)

NL Central:  Cardinals.  (This is the hardest to argue with.)

NL West:  Rockies.  (Most likely, but I wouldn't rule out anyone but the Padres.  Especially with Huston Street and Jeff Francis on the Rox' DL.)

NL wild card:  Cubs.  (Breathes there the man with soul so dead, / Who never to himself hath said, / The Cubs could win a ring this year?  Yes, there does:  me.  The serious, thoughtful answer would be the Braves who -- granted, a bit unexpectedly -- are going all in on Jason Heyward, and are also strong in the bullpen and behind the plate.)

World champion:  Yankees over Phillies.  (Is it Groundhog Day at SNT?  The Phillies will win and it won't be over the Yankees.)

      

Right-handed pitcher Jason Marquis, who logged 216 innings and a spot on the National League All-Star roster during the 2009 season as a starter with the Colorado Rockies, has finalized a contract with the Washington Nationals.  The pact, announced on Tuesday afternoon at a team press conference, will earn Marquis $15 million over two seasons.

Along with fellow New Yorker John Lannan, Marquis will be vying for the title of Nationals staff ace in 2010.  Each put up over 200 innings in 2009, and although neither is noted for high strikeout totals, both seem to possess an above-average ability to induce groundball outs by pitching to contact.

While the third through fifth spots in the rotation are up for grabs at the moment, it's possible one or more of them could be claimed by a free-agent or trade acquisition; a number of intriguing possibilities remain on the market, including Jon Garland, Aroldis Chapman and Doug Davis.  Asked during the Tuesday press conference whether the Nationals were done making additions to the pitching staff, general manager Mike Rizzo would say only that "[w]e're always in the market to improve our ballclub any way we can.… You never have enough pitching."

      

The 2010 season rates to be the third in a row in which catcher will be the most difficult position for the Nationals to fill.

Much is still hoped for from 2006 Rule 5 acquisition Jesus Flores, but those hopes continue to be frustrated by Flores' ongoing health issues.  The timetable for the popular 24-year-old Venezuelan's recovery from September labrum surgery is uncertain, and Nats manager Jim Riggleman didn't hide his disappointment when discussing the matter during an internet writers' teleconference last Friday:

This is a big part of our lineup that we want to get in there, but we can't rush him back. . . . We're not anticipating, necessarily, that he's going to be ready when Spring Training starts.

(Recall that a similar shoulder ailment sent shortstop Cristian Guzman to the surgeon's table in May 2006 and cost the Nats his services for almost the entire season.  Nor should we forget that Guzman had yet another shoulder operation last month; better news this time, as Riggleman reports that the surgery was successful, the damage found was minimal, and Guzman should be "throwing fine by January or February.")

If it's reckless to assume that Flores will be available at the beginning of 2010, whom can the Nats turn to within their system?  No matter how you build your list of names, every one comes with a caution:

• Wil Nieves, Flores' backup for the last two seasons, is no terror at the bat or wizard behind the dish, but does show up every day -- or did until he was sidelined with a left hamstring injury on September 17.  Nothing indicates either that Nieves, 31, will be anything but healthy at the beginning of Spring Training or that the Nats have any intention of moving forward with him as the first-string catcher.
• Thirty-one-year-old veteran Josh Bard -- who caught all or part of 79 games for the 2009 Nats, and whose defense will never set any records except for hopefulness -- has departed to free agency.
• Derek Norris, 20, appeared at position #7 on Baseball America's Prospect Hot Sheet at the end of the 2009 minor-league season.  While Norris batted his way to an impressive .286 / .413 / .513 line at low-A Hagerstown in 2009, he also committed 18 errors and allowed 28 passed balls in 100 games behind the plate for the Suns.  It's hard to imagine that we'll see him at Nats Park before 2012 at the earliest.
• Seven-year minor-league veteran Luke Montz, 25, from whom greatness -- or at least utility -- was hoped as recently as a year ago, showed some disinclination to excel during 2009.  Montz was designated for assignment shortly after the end of the farm campaign.
• Jamie Burke, 37, acquired by the Nats from Seattle on the very night that Nieves pulled his hamstring, is neither defensively gifted nor an exceptional hitter.  He may be back with the M's in 2010.
• Thirty-year-old utilityman Pete Orr was slated to go to the Florida Instructional League after the season to acquire catching skills.  (Don't laugh:  on the night that Nieves was injured there was talk of outfielder Josh Willingham pulling backup duty behind the plate.)  There's been no word on how Orr fared in instructs.

The Nats will thus be forced to explore the trade and free-agent markets for viable candidates.  Here are a few they'll likely be looking at.

• Brian Schneider served as the Expos' / Nats' everyday catcher from 2003 through 2007, after which he was dealt to the Mets with outfielder Ryan Church for outfield prospect Lastings Milledge.  Schneider, 32, has filed for free agency and is unlikely to be back with New York in 2010.
• Colorado has declined the option of 30-year-old Yorvit Torrealba, whom Phil Wood at the Examiner sees as a possibility depending on Flores' recovery timetable.
• Atlanta's David Ross, 32, is a solid defensive backstop whose bat revived smartly in 2009.  Ross' name hasn't been mentioned in any trade rumors audible to this Hutch, but the Braves have reportedly expressed interest in Willingham.  (Presumably not as a catcher.) While Ross plus a prospect would be a welcome return if a Willingham deal were made, the Braves should be loath to part with Ross as their system has little depth at catcher beyond him and 25-year-old frontliner Brian McCann.
• Chris Coste, 36, whom the Astros picked up off waivers from the Phillies in July, is now a free agent and could be had for the cost of a minor-league contract if he's not yet ready to hang up the tools.  RZ at The Rays Party offers a list of similar possibilities.

Finally, reader, suppose the Lerners handed you the checkbook for a day... what free-agent (or trade-candidate) catchers would be on your wish list?