The Washington Nationals will bring Davey Johnson back as their manager for the 2013 season, Jon Heyman of CBS Sports reports. The final details haven't yet been released, but it's just a matter of the legal paperwork, according to the report.

The Nats are 138-107 under Johnson in about a season and a half, and he took the franchise to their first division title and their first postseason birth since arriving in DC in 2005. Players clearly respect Davey for his experience both on the field and off, and the Nats players and fans should be excited about his return. Given Johnson's age, I'd expect this to be his last year with the team.

We'll update this post as more information about the deal comes out.

Throughout the offseason, The Nats Blog will look back at every player’s 2012 season to summarize and analyze his performance, and we’ll look ahead to his possible role in 2013. We’ll go from #1 Steve Lombardozzi all the way to #63 Henry Rodriguez with about two posts per week until Spring Training. Enjoy.

The Nats saw a lot from Danny Espinosa in his 2011 rookie season, and it got many excited for what he would produce throughout his career. He showed great defense, hit for power, and was a Rookie of the Year candidate for the first half of the season. He trailed off in the second half in a drastic way, and he didn't seem to totally recover in 2012 either.

While Espinosa increased his batting average by 11 points, his on-base and slugging percentages went down. His home runs went down, too. One thing that didn't struggle, though, was his defense.

Espinosa saw his UZR skyrocket from 1.0 in 2011 to 7.1 in 2012. To put that 2012 number in perspective, the only NL second basemen with a higher UZR were Darwin Barney, Mark Ellis, and Brandon Phillips. However, that number is deceptively low. Espinosa played more than 300 innings at shortstop due to Ian Desmond's injury this year, and he amassed a 5.9 UZR there. 

Throughout the season though, his biggest issue became one thing: strikeouts. In situations where he just needed to put the bat on the ball, he couldn't seem to do it. He finished the year with an astronomical 189 Ks. Only two players, Adam Dunn and Curtis Granderson, had more in all of baseball, and they both eclipsed the 40 home run mark. Espinosa didn't hit 20 this year.

You don't expect much of a bat from your second baseman, traditionally. There are very few second baseman currently in the league that have a significant offensive impact, and Danny Espinosa doesn't need to have one either. His defense is so outstanding, he still has enough value to leave him in. However, the guy hitting seventh or eighth in your lineup can't strike out close to 200 times in a season if you're not hitting 40-50 home runs a season. He absolutely must fix that issue.

Next year: I fully  expect Danny Espinosa to be the starting second baseman for the Nats next year. I know some would like to see Steve Lombardozzi in that role, but read my wrap up of Lombo's season to show why Espinosa still has more value to the Nats. And it's not just my opinion. It's math.

Next up: #10 Corey Brown

Throughout the offseason, The Nats Blog will look back at every player’s 2012 season to summarize and analyze his performance, and we’ll look ahead to his possible role in 2013. We’ll go from #1 Steve Lombardozzi all the way to #63 Henry Rodriguez with about two posts per week until Spring Training. Enjoy.

On the field Mark DeRosa wasn’t the Nationals biggest superstar this year by a long shot, but off the field as a 15-year veteran with a World Series ring, he served as a valuable veteran presence, which the young Nationals lacked.

Specifically sought out by Davey Johnson last offseason in his bench-remodeling project, DeRosa played in just 48 games this season and started 16, filling in at several positions when injuries claimed other players. He ended 2012 with a slash line of .188/.300/.247 -- the worst final numbers he ever tallied for a major league season. But the value he added to the Nationals’ clubhouse all but made up for it.

DeRosa saw a significant decrease in playing time at the end of the season after missing 50 games for an oblique injury and the death of his father. He was not included on the playoff roster, but throughout the stressful season’s end, he served as a mentor to his teammates, a confidant for Stephen Strasburg during the shutdown debacle, and an inspiration to the team during the postseason with his performance of former president Theodore Roosevelt’s famous “The Man in the Arena” speech before Game 4 of the NLDS.

Next Year: At 37 years old, retirement is an option for DeRosa, but one he isn’t sure if he’s ready for yet, according to the Washington Post. He would hope to rejoin the Nationals next year, but I’m inclined to think that he has served his purpose with the team as a veteran guy who helped guide the Nationals through their first competitive year. It's unlikely that he'll be asked back, and he may have trouble landing a team for the 2013 season.

Up Next: #8 Danny Espinosa

The Gold Glove Award is a joke. Yes, I mean it. Historically, the award almost never acknowledges all of the best defenders in baseball. It rarely ever gets close. This year was no exception.

Let me be clear about something. I’m not writing this because Ian Desmond didn’t win at shortstop, nor am I writing this to take away from Adam LaRoche’s award and his amazing season. It’s just that many of the awards handed out flat out ignored some of the best defensive players of the season.

Here’s the list of my top four outrages from the 2012 Gold Glove Awards.

4. J.J. Hardy over Brendan Ryan - Hardy had a fine year, both defensively and offensively, for perhaps the most shocking team in baseball, the Baltimore Orioles. That said, Ryan plays for the irrelevant Seattle Mariners and doesn’t hit particularly well, which sadly made him irrelevant in this conversation. Ryan lead the AL in UZR at 14.7 and is widely considered one of the best defensive shortstops in the league.

3. Jimmy Rollins over Zack Cozart and Ian Desmond - Rollins is getting older. While he’s still a pretty good defensive infielder, his range isn’t the same, and he certainly doesn’t compare well to either Cozart or Desmond. The worst part is the two best defenders at shortstop in the National League this year, Clint Barmes and Brandon Crawford, weren’t even nominated for the award.

2. Adam Jones over Mike Trout - This one is mind-boggling. Adam Jones had a -6.7 UZR this season, or second worst among American League center fielders. Trout, meanwhile, had a 10.6 UZR in center field in his rookie season, and he should be on his way to winning the AL MVP. But that’s a post for a different day. Trout’s incredible season just continues to be overlooked and/or forgotten. And while I was extremely frustrated by this decision, it was just edged out by this last one.

1. Carlos Gonzalez over anyone at all - Nothing is more outrageous than this. Let’s be honest, left field isn’t really where you tend to put your most elite defensive outfielders. Just look at the Nats solutions out there over the past several years: Michael Morse, Josh Willingham, Adam Dunn.

However, Carlos Gonzalez ranks dead last with a -8.5 UZR among all NL left fielders with more than 100 plate appearances as a left fielder. By UZR, this is more egregious than giving Michael Morse (-8.3 UZR) the left field Gold Glove Award. Martin Prado should have walked away with this award.

Throughout the offseason, The Nats Blog will look back at every player’s 2012 season to summarize and analyze his performance, and we’ll look ahead to his possible role in 2013. We’ll go from #1 Steve Lombardozzi all the way to #63 Henry Rodriguez with about two posts per week until Spring Training. Enjoy.

I was going to skip over the likes of César Izturis in these wrap ups, but I was encouraged by a few people not to pass them over. So here I am, writing about a guy with four plate appearances in five games in a Washington Nationals uniform this season.

Izturis never started a game or entered a game for the Nationals before the seventh inning, but he went 2-for-4 in those appearances. Izturis made his way to the Nats for two simple reasons: Ian Desmond was out with an oblique injury, and Mark DeRosa was out with a groin injury. With those two guys out and Danny Espinosa and Steve Lombardozzi playing regularly, the team had no back up middle infielders.

Before coming to the Nats, Izturis played in a good number of games with the Milwaukee Brewers as their shortstop.

Next year: To my surprise, César Izturis is only 32 years old. When I heard the Nats had acquired him off the waiver wire in early August, I was under the erroneous assumption that he was in his late-30s. It seems likely that Izturis will find a platoon/bench role with some team in baseball for next season. He provides a well-below average bat, but his defense is pretty good, and he could fit in with the right team. That team just won’t be the Nats.

Next up: #7 Mark DeRosa

Throughout the offseason, The Nats Blog will look back at every player’s 2012 season to summarize and analyze his performance, and we’ll look ahead to his possible role in 2013. We’ll go from #1 Steve Lombardozzi all the way to #63 Henry Rodriguez with about two posts per week until Spring Training. Enjoy.

Boy, did Wilson Ramos ever have a trying year? Between being kidnapped in his native Venezuela last winter and a torn ACL just 25 games into the season, it’s a year that the Nationals’ starting catcher will never forget.

The only question now: Is Ramos still the team’s starting backstop? With the addition of Kurt Suzuki, who has another year on his deal, it’s certainly a valid question to ask. It’s not a mortal lock that Ramos will be 100% healthy going into the 2013 season. All indications are that he should be close to it, but there are no guarantees in injury recover.

He did have a solid season in the 25 games he played before sustaining his ACL injury, sporting a .265/.354/.398 slash line and a 0.6 WAR. Over a 162 game season, that would average out to a 3.9 WAR. If that was the case, only three Nats players would have had a better WAR: Ian Desmond, Bryce Harper, and Ryan Zimmerman. That’s good company.

His competition, Kurt Suzuki, is due a lot more money than Ramos next year, and he had a playoff season to work with the best pitching staff in baseball. Ramos may be the long-term solution for the Nats, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he’s the short-term one.

Next year: I suspect that Suzuki will be named the Nats’ Opening Day 2013 starting catcher. The Nats may veil it with Ramos’ recovery, but Suzuki’s performance from August through the postseason speaks for itself. As the season rolls on, if Ramos is 100% healthy and Suzuki is struggling, I imagine we’ll see Ramos return to his starting role again. If either of those to things aren’t true, expect Ramos to work one to two days a week as long as Suzuki is on the roster and healthy.

Next up: #6 César Izturis

Rawlings Sporting Goods released their 2012 Gold Glove Award finalists today, and they'll be announced at 9:30 pm Tuesday on ESPN 2. Among the NL's finalists are two Washington Nationals' infielders: Adam LaRoche and Ian Desmond.

Both LaRoche and Desmond have real chances to win the award because of their offensive impact this season. That may seem silly for an award rewarding defense, but Rawlings has historically considered good defensive players with good offensive numbers rather than great defensive players with average-to-poor offensive numbers.

LaRoche put up an impressive 6.1 UZR at first base this season and was perhaps the most consistent defensive performer for the Nats. He was able to save Desmond, Danny Espinosa, and Ryan Zimmerman from sure errors all year with his incredible glove. Meanwhile, Desmond's defense has improved greatly over the years. This is the first season of his three full years in the major leagues that he has a UZR in positive territory at 4.8.

Ultimately, Votto has far fewer innings than LaRoche, but he has a slightly higher UZR, one fewer error, and a higher WAR and slash line. LaRoche was far more durable, only missing eight games this season, and although my gut tells me Votto will walk away with the first base award, it will be close.

Ian Desmond is dwarfed by Zack Cozart in UZR, but his offensive numbers pale in comparison to the Nationals' shortstop. I think Jimmy Rollins is the main competition for Desmond here, but I actually believe Ian Desmond will win his first of many Gold Gloves at shortstop.

Two (three?) snubs: Neither Ryan Zimmerman nor Danny Espinosa were nominated for the Gold Glove award this year, even though both of them probably deserve the nomination. Zimmerman had little chance to win the award because of stiff competition this year in David Wright, Chase Headley, and Aramis Ramirez, but Espinosa seems like a snub. I don't think he would have won the award, but Aaron Hill was nominated over Espinosa, likely due to his incredibly impressive offensive season.

You could even add Bryce Harper to the list of snubs for outfielders. However, because they now nominate by position rather than outfield as a whiole, I think that hurts Harper, who split time between center and right fields this season due to Jayson Werth's injury. 

Throughout the offseason, The Nats Blog will look back at every player’s 2012 season to summarize and analyze his performance, and we’ll look ahead to his possible role in 2013. We’ll go from #1 Steve Lombardozzi all the way to #63 Henry Rodriguez with about two posts per week until Spring Training 2012. Enjoy.

Roger Bernadina has gone through many roles with the Washington Nationals since he was selected by the Montreal Expos as an amateur free agent in 2001. A fan favorite known as “The Shark,” Bernadina finally showed some promise this year as a bench role player and spot starter.

Even when this season started, I felt that Bernadina’s time with the Nationals was going to be limited. He’s an above-average defender with great speed, but his bat has never shown much promise besides the occasional swing for power or bunt for a hit. That changed this season.

Bernadina probably saw the career pinnacle of his productivity in 2012, finishing the year with a .291/.372/.405 slash line, all of which are career bests by a landslide. He had 261 plate appearances, more than 60 fewer than last season, but he was able to be very effective when given the opportunity.

Despite having far fewer opportunities, Bernadina’s 2012 WAR (1.9) was more than double his 2011 WAR (0.8). That increase is attributed to a few factors. First, his .359 BABIP is astronomical, but not terribly uncommon for a successful pinch hitter. Second, just look at that on-base percentage. The .372 OBP is 81 points higher than his average, which is the largest differential of his professional career in seasons with more than 200 PAs.

Bernadina walked in more than 10% of his at bats, which is up more than four points from last season, while his strikeout percentage went up by fewer than two points. That’s a tradeoff that I would have killed for from a guy with a lot of untapped potential.

Next year: Bernadina is one of the few players associated with this organization from its days in Canada, and he may associate himself with them for a bit longer after a great year this season. His speed alone is valuable as a pinch runner, and he is a good defensive replacement for guys like Michael Morse in late innings. Bernadina is arbitration-eligible for the first time in his career under Super Two status, so he’s probably due for a raise. If he performs even close to his 2012 stats in the future, he will pay for himself in spades.

Next up: #3 Wilson Ramos