Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com is reporting that the New York Mets are close to signing former Nationals closer Chad Cordero to a minor league deal.

Cordero earned his free-agency after previously declining a demotion from the Mariners. The 28-year-old former all-star had allowed 10 hits in 9.2 innings of work for Seattle this season. Cordero is returning to the mound this year after missing most of 2008, and the entirety of 2009 due to shoulder surgery and a strained oblique muscle.

Cordero became a household name in Washington from 2005-2007 as the Nationals shut-down closer, earning 113 saves in that span. The pudgy stopper with the flat brim fired up crowds in RFK with his intense demeanor and electrifying change up. Over the years however the often-used Cordero began to lose velocity on his already weak fastball, making his once dominant changeup no longer effective.

Despite his importance in the clubhouse and his relationship with the fans, the Nationals and Cordero parted ways in October of 2008 when he refused an assignment from Washington to Triple A. The closer spent almost the entirety of 2009 on the free-agent list after auditioning for many teams but falling just short. Cordero had only just now made it back to the majors during his short stint with Seattle.

The good news for Cordero is that the velocity on his fastball seems to be close to back. In his short stint this season the righty threw 80% fastballs with an average speed of 87.9 MPH, 14 % sliders with an average of 78.2 MPH, and 5% of changeups with an average of 82.3 MPH. These numbers are close to Cordero's 2007 outputs of 76.2% fastballs (89.6 MPH), 19.8% sliders (80 MPH) and 3.9 % changeups (83.6 MPH).

Regardless of whether or not "The Chief" resurrects his career with NL East foe the New York Mets, true Nationals fans will remember Cordero for the energy and life he brought to the club back in the franchise's infancy. Thanks Chad, and best of luck to you in New York.

According to an ESPN Deportes report from Enrique Rojas, the Nationals have reached an agreement with Cuban defector 28-year old right-handed pitcher Yunieski Maya.

In 2008-09, Maya posted a 13-4 record with a 2.22 ERA and 119 strikeouts. In December, a scout informed Rojas that Maya's fastball sat around 88-92 MPH, while the righty also featured a two-seamer, slider, curveball and change-up.

ANALYSIS:

Matt Cerrone of MetsBlog has done an extensive job of covering Maya, as he reported the New York Mets interest in the righty from Cuba. However, it's always hard to tell how defectors will pan out once they arrive to the Majors.

The Reds have taken a very conservative approach with Aroldis Chapman, but Chapman is much younger than the experienced Maya. He has enough pitches to maintain as a starter, but if those pitches don't turn out to be plus pitches, he may be destined for the bullpen.

I'm sure he'll get a few starts in the minors before being asked to pitch on the big club, so we'll see how he performs in Syracuse. Time will tell if he's the next Jose Contreras or the next Alay Soler.

In a post on his MLB Blog network yesterday, Nats beat writer Bill Ladson explains why Josh Willingham feels he will not be traded at this year's trade deadline:

"I have really gotten comfortable with the people in the organization -- the ownership all the way down to every employee," said Willingham, who is hitting .276 with 15 home runs and 49 RBIs entering Monday's action against the Reds. "That means a lot when you talk about being comfortable in baseball. I feel very comfortable here. I like everybody in the organization."

Asked if he would be traded after general manager Mike Rizzo said Willingham "is part of the family. We want him around long-term," the right-handed hitting slugger believes he would remain a member of the Nationals. It's not a secret that Willingham is one of Rizzo's favorite players on the team.

"Rizzo has never told me something that was not true and that started last year in Miami when I wasn't playing," Willingham said. "We had breakfast together and laid it out on the table. I told him how I felt and he told me how he felt.

"He told me how it was going to happen and it's exactly how it happened. He has been as honest with me as anybody. So I absolutely believe [I will not be traded]."

Willingham this year has been a force in the Nationals line-up, posting numbers of .276 with 15 homers and 49 RBI.

As I had written earlier this season, I was convinced that Willingham should've been the Nats representative at this year's All-Star game. He has been a breath of fresh air in the Nationals outfield ever since Jim Riggleman decided to play him every day last year.

In my opinion, Josh Willingham is the type of player you need to keep on a team that wants to compete down the road. His attitude is so important to the younger players on this team. He is 31-years old and won't be much more than what he is now, which is a productive hitter playing without a strong defensive position.

But, he comes to the ballpark everyday to play and leave everything he has on the field. Nobody can put a specific price tag on what it is like to have a true veteran leader in the clubhouse on a team searching for an identity. I don't see any possibilities in the Nationals trading him because of what Willingham means to the mood in the clubhouse.

However, there are other players on the proverbial chopping block for the Nationals. Here's a quick look at four other names to pay attention to:

Adam Dunn: Dunn's situation comes down to two important factors. From what I have heard, the Nationals would like to find a way to sign Dunn to an affordable contract extension. But, in the event that an extension can't be had, they would prefer to trade him before the deadline to bring back some developing talent.

The problem with trading Dunn comes down to this; Adam Dunn refuses to be limited to a role as a DH, but no National League team feels comfortable playing Dunn in the field for nine innings.

He is the perfect DH, and a team like the Chicago White Sox, Los Angeles Angels or Detroit Tigers would benefit exponentially from acquiring the power bat to plug in the middle of the line-up.

One team that I feel could make a surprise move for Adam Dunn, now this is only my opinion and I haven't read or heard of any reported rumblings, could be the Oakland A's. The A's have fought back to .500 in the AL West and Billy Beane could think that trading for Dunn's bat now PLUS the two first round picks the team will receive next off-season if Dunn signs elsewhere could be great for now and for the future.

Adam Kennedy: Kennedy is a veteran bat from the left side of the plate a contending team will love to have on their bench for the stretch run. He is a good presence to have in the clubhouse and has the experience in the post season contending teams strive for.

The New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, San Francisco Giants or San Diego Padres could be looking to add depth to their benches, and surely Kennedy's name will be kicked around as we get closer to the trade deadline.

Cristian Guzman: Guzman is an interesting case. He has a good deal of money left on the tail end of his contract, so any team trading for him would like the Nats to pick up a portion of the tab if they acquire him.

Guzman, like Kennedy, is a valuable piece to a contending team's bench, because Guzman is a switch hitter and can play both middle infield positions. The Nats have even tried him in the corner outfield slots. The same cast of characters looking at Kennedy will look at Guzman, with the Yankees drumming up the most interest in my mind, due to their notoriously deep pockets.

Matt Capps: In the case of Capps, MLB Trade Rumors has recently posted an article stating that the Nats are reluctant to trade Adam Dunn, while insiders would be shocked if the team traded either Willingham or Matt Capps. Capps has a year of arbitration left, and has provided a steady, reliable arm to a bullpen that has been ravished with inconsistency over the last few years.

I fully expect Matt Capps to stay put in Washington, especially considering the market for relievers. Currently, the top three relievers on the market reportedly are Octavio Dotel, Scott Downs, and Kevin Gregg. None of those names are flashy or sexy, so it's safe to say Matt Capps isn't going anywhere any time soon.

During an offensive brown out in which the Washington Nationals haven't been able to put big innings together, the last thing the team needed was to surrender big RBI hits to the opposing teams starting pitcher.

Johnny Cueto shut down the Nationals attack and added a two-run single to propel the Cincinnati Reds to a 7-2 victory. Cueto's pitching numbers of six innings, four hits, two earned runs, four punch-outs and four walks. His single in the third inning off Nationals starter JD Martin marks his first RBI of the season.

For Martin, the second inning was where everything seemed to come apart. Martin surrendered a lead-off single to Jonny Gomes, then quickly walked the bases loaded. From there, Drew Stubbs pounded a two-run double to right to open up the scoring. After another walk to reload the bases and the opposing pitcher at the dish, Cueto singled to right center which chased home two more.

On the night, Martin concluded with a line of 5.1 innings pitched, six earned runs on six hits, two strikeouts and three walks. Martin also surrendered homers to Jonny Gomes and Miguel Cairo as part as his six hits allowed.

The bright side if any for the Nationals was they were able to plate some runs tonight, thanks to a Nyjer Morgan sacrifice fly and a Cristian Guzman run scoring single in the top of the third. However, the Nationals were only able to combine for four hits in total, while going two for seven with runners in scoring position.

ANALYSIS

The Nationals are in full-on brown out mode right now. Over the last three games, as a team, the Nats have scored in 2-of-25 innings. That's how you manage across two runs in three games, for sure.

Martin couldn't find the strike zone in the second inning. The Nats were able to climb back in after the trouble in the second, but Martin couldn't stop the bleeding, which took all the wind out of the Nats sails. It's always hard to pull a starting pitcher early in a game after one bad inning, but Martin simply wasn't effective tonight.

Tomorrow, the Nationals offense tries to snap out of it against the Reds impressive rookie starter Mike Leake (6-1, 3.53). The Nats will respond with Luis Atilano (6-6, 4.85).

To help us get ready for our upcoming series with the Cincinnati Reds, I sat down with Slyde from one of the top Reds blogs on the net, Red Reporter.

The Nats Blog: I think this one is the most obvious to ask, what has made the difference in 2010 to put the Reds into contention?

Red Reporter: The biggest difference statistically has been offense. Last year, the Reds finished in the bottom 5 in average, OBP, and SLG in the NL. So far this year, they are in the top 5 in all three categories and lead in the NL in average and slugging. It's open for debate as to whether they can continue to be the highest scoring team in the league, especially since we questioned whether or not they could actually score 700 runs before the season started, but barring any major collapse by 2/3rds of the lineup, I think it's safe to say that if the Reds fall back offensively, they won't drop to the bottom of the league. Guys like Joey Votto, Scott Rolen, and Brandon Phillips are all having great years, and while all of them may fall-off, I don't think we should expect them to drop completely off the table. The real question for the offense is guys like Jonny Gomes and Jay Bruce. If they can maintain some of the success they had in the first half, I think we'll see a solid offense out of the Reds in the second half.

The good news for Reds fans is that after struggling for the first month of the year, the pitching staff has been lights out over the last month or so. Since mid-June, the staff has an ERA under 3.00. It has only led to a 15-12 record because the offense has started to falter a bit, but things could be much worse if the pitch and defense hadn't put things together.

The Nats Blog: Joey Votto may be one of the most underrated players in the majors, despite putting up strong numbers for three years now. Just how good is Votto, and what is he doing differently this year to have really taken that next step?

For the second consecutive game against their division rivals from South Beach, the Nationals were shut out by the Marlins pitching staff, falling 1-0 on Sunday.

After Josh Johnson continued to establish himself as a star pitcher at the expense of the Nats line-up, Marlins rookie hurler Alex Sanabia continued the dominating trend. Sanabia lasted 5.1 innings, allowing no runs on four hits while striking out five and walking two.

Brian Sanches, Jose Veras, Clay Hensley and Leo Nunez combined to shut out the Nationals for the reminder of the game, allowing only four hits total.

The most concerning part of the Nationals offensive brown out is for the second consecutive game, the team put together an 0-for-9 effort with runners in scoring position. Josh Willingham and Adam Dunn did not help the problem, combining for four of the nine failed opportunities.

The good news for the Nationals came from the performance of starter Craig Stammen today. Stammen lasted six innings, surrendering a lone Gaby Sanchez RBI single as part of the six hits he allowed, with six strikeouts and three walks. Sanchez's 5^th innings single was the only hit during the entire game either team capitalized with runners in scoring position.

The Nationals now travel to take on the Cincinnati Reds starting tomorrow evening.

ANALYSIS:

Good pitching will always trump good hitting regardless of the teams involved. But, it doesn't help when a team isn't hitting at all. Over the last two shutouts, the Nationals failed to record an extra base hit in any situation. That's 18 consecutive innings without an extra base hit. Can't win playing like that.

Good effort from Stammen today, though. Very encouraging start that has to have people within the Nats organization hopeful that he can remain a valuable piece for this team in the rotation now, but more likely the bullpen when the likes of Scott Olsen, Jordan Zimmerman and Jason Marquis return.

Far less hyped than Stephen Strasburg or even Ian Desmond, Roger Bernadina, 26, is putting together a nice surprise of a rookie season for the Nationals. Through 65 games this season the outfielder is batting .286/.346/.434.

Bernadina's .346 wOBA compares favorably to much more hyped Rookie of the Year candidates such as Jason Heyward (.356) and Tyler Colvin (.360), and is much better than his teammate Desmond's mark of .299. To give a little more context, hitters with wOBAs close to Bernadina's this season are Ichiro Suzuki (.345) and Justin Upton (.347).

If there is a knock on Bernadina, however, it's his defense. The Dutch outfielder's defense seems to be fairly average, as he has a not very good UZR of -3.6 but a pretty good Defensive Runs Saved (DRS or Dewan +/-) rating of 0. We will have to wait until a larger sample size-three seasons is the preferred sample size-is available to get a truer picture of Bernadina's defensive skills.

The same is true, of course, of his offensive skills. Bernadina is outperforming his preseason ZiPS projection by a fairly wide margin at the moment (.305 projected wOBA) and is also above his updated ZiPS (.330 wOBA). Yet, even if he ends the season with a .330 wOBA as projected, it is very likely that Bernadina will have the 4^th highest wOBA on the team behind the trio of Adam Dunn, Josh Willingham, and Ryan Zimmerman.

The remaining criticism is then that for his position, corner outfielder, Bernadina is simply not productive enough. With power prospects Michael Burgess and Chris Marrero in the minors, this criticism carries some weight, since Bernadina could be replaced in the coming years.

Instead of replacing Bernadina, however, the Nationals could consider benching or trading Nyjer Morgan, 30, and then moving Bernadina to center. With Morgan playing disappointing defense along with his perennially disappointing offense, it could be an opportune time to move Bernadina to center field to continue building his confidence this season while establishing him as a cheaper, longer term alternative to Morgan.

Moving Morgan would also open up a corner outfield spot for Mike Morse, 28, who is a better offensive option-Morse has a .386 wOBA in his 77 PA this season and a .346 wOBA for his career-than either Bernadina or Morgan.

Although he's unlikely to attract much press and probably won't get mentioned in ROY discussions, it's been enjoyable watching Bernadina exceed expectations during the first half of the season. I only wish his fortune rubs off on the other Nationals.

On a night where Washington racked up 11 hits while holding Florida to just four, the Nationals came away with the loss, 2-0.

It was one of those scenes that has become all too familiar to Nats fans the last several months. A team that finally has the ability to make outs, and the ability to rack up hits, but seemingly doesn't have the ability, for whatever reason, to put it all together for a win. Again Nationals fans would see a resurrected-from-the-dead starting pitcher overachieve on the mound, as Livan Hernandez tossed junk for six innings allowing only one earned run while striking out six. Yet despite another stellar performance Hernandez would lose his sixth game of the season, and the Nationals would fall to 40-51.

Of course, it didn't help that the hurler on the mound for Florida was arguably the best pitcher in the National League so far this season, Josh Johnson. Johnson has combined a nasty combination of strikeout stuff (130 on the season) with ground ball forcing ability (49%) to put up a 10-3 record with and a NL low 1.62 ERA.

Despite giving up seven hits Johnson was able to contain the Nationals by forcing them into an 11-4 ground ball ratio and striking them out seven times while giving up no free passes. The Nats got on base against the ace, but simply couldn't convert in key situations as evidenced by Johnson's extremely high .353 WPA on the night. Simply put, Johnson made the outs when he needed to, and the Nationals didn't get the hits when they needed to.

The biggest scapegoat on the night was Josh Willingham. The Hammer lined out in the first to end the inning with two runners on base, struck out to lead off the fourth and sixth innings, and popped out in the eighth with a runner on first. Four big outs culminating in a game low -.171 WPA on the night.

He wasn't alone though. Adam Dunn struck out three times on the night, and Ian Desmond made his 22nd error of the season resulting in an unearned run.