Michael Morse, the Washington Nationals fan favorite, has been traded to the Seattle Mariners, according to Adam Kilgore of The Washington Post. It is a three-team deal that will bring top pitching prospect AJ Cole back to the Nats. Cole was traded to the Oakland Athletics in the Gio Gonzalez trade last offseason.

Most people accepted that this day was coming for Morse after the Nats re-signed Adam LaRoche last week, but now it is official. Nats fans will have to say goodbye to Morse's personality, which most will miss more than his production, but looking at the baseball side of this deal, Mike Rizzo has once again won a trade. And pretty significantly.

The Nats will get back Cole, who struggled at the beginning of 2012 in High-A but started to have some success after moving down to Low-A in the Oakland organization. Before being sent to the A's in the Gio Gonzalez trade, Cole was the number four overall prospect for the Nationals. Only Bryce Harper, Anthony Rendon, and Brad Peacock, who is now with Oakland, were ahead of him. And despite his 2012 struggles, Cole was the number three overall prospect for the A's last year. He leapfrogged Peacock in his new organization.

According to Amanda Comak of The Washington Times, the Nats will also get back a "good" prospect and a player to be named later, and the PTBNL will be from Oakland, says Jon Morosi of Fox Sports. This is cleaning house for the Nats, who had no on-the-field need for Morse with their lineup completely stacked.

All of this doesn't even account for the most obvious fact. Mike Rizzo, over the course of just three seasons, essentially traded Ryan Langerhans, who the Nats sent to Seattle in the 2009 Morse deal, for AJ Cole, who was in the Nats organization as recently as 2011. Luck obviously played into this equation a bit, but to get the Mariners to agree to this trade at all is absolutely remarkable. It's a very good trade for the Nats, but an absolutely horrendous trade for Seattle. Dave Cameron of USS Mariner and Fangraphs agrees.

On a human level, it's a sad day for the Nationals and Nats fans. Morse is a beloved character in DC, and that will never change. Further, as I've mentioned before, the team absolutely must find a way to incorporate "Take On Me" at Nats Park in his absence in 2013. But on a baseball level, it's just another brilliant move from the playbook of Mike Rizzo.

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 until Spring Training. Enjoy.

Until yesterday with the surprise signing of Rafael Soriano, first baseman Adam LaRoche was probably the hottest topic of the Washington Nationals offseason.

After LaRoche’s first season in Washington, which was derailed almost immediately when he injured his shoulder, Nats fans and even manager Davey Johnson’s expectations were low. LaRoche hit just .172 and struck out 37 times in 43 games in 2011, but he quickly proved to his D.C. audience that those were not numbers they should come to expect from him.

In LaRoche’s team-MVP-caliber season in 2012, he finished with an offensive slash line of .271/.343/.510 with 33 home runs and 100 RBI. He ranked among the top 25 players in the National League in six offensive categories: home runs (4th), RBI (8th), slugging percentage (12th), on-base plus slugging (13th), walks (12th), and doubles (18th).

LaRoche's offensive production earned him his first Silver Slugger award, and his steady defense (.995 fielding percentage) won him his first Gold Glove as he became known as the anchor of the Nationals infield.

His incredible contributions to the team are what prompted Johnson to say that the Nationals needed LaRoche back more than they needed him back (an especially radical claim after Johnson won NL Manager of the Year) and why he offered to fly LaRoche and all of his cattle to Florida for Spring Training if that was what it took to get him to be a National in 2013. When a manager is willing to go to those lengths to re-sign a player, even if only in jest, you know that player is something special. 

Next Year: After signing his $24 million deal, LaRoche is slated to be the Nationals’ first baseman for the next two years, with a mutual option for a third. His steady hand at first gave the Nats one of the best infields in baseball in 2012, and now all the pieces are in place for a repeat performance in 2013.

Up Next: #26 Jesus Flores

The Nationals signed Rafael Soriano, so it's time for a new podcast just one day after our last one. We heap more praise upon Mike Rizzo, talk about the Nationals' main competitors (hint: there aren't any), and remind you about how great the bullpen already was before the Soriano deal.

Just when you think Mike Rizzo is done, he goes ahead and does something like this: inking free agent closer Rafael Soriano to a two-year, $28 million deal with a vesting option for 2015 if he saves 120 games or more over the next two seasons, according to reports by Jeff Passan of Yahoo!. This is a huge move by the Washington Nationals front office for a ton of reasons.

Everyone assumed the Nationals were done after signing Denard Span and Adam LaRoche this offseason. Those two signings filled their biggest holes: a leadoff man and a left-handed first baseman. With those additions to the team the Nationals were already favored by many to win the National League in 2013. But they just got even better, which lead the likes of the Washington Post’s Barry Svrluga (Twitter link) and CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman (Twitter link) to question if anyone could top the Nats this year.

But now, what do you do with an overloaded bullpen? The Nats have this problem on their bench with Michael Morse and now they have it with their relievers, too. With that kind of contract, Soriano was obviously signed to be a closer, which likely puts Drew Storen out of a job. It has to be a crushing blow for Storen, who is surely still reeling from giving away Game 5 of the 2012 NLDS.

In Soriano’s career, which has spanned 11 MLB seasons, he has posted a 2.78 ERA, a 1.046 WHIP and a 153 ERA+. He’s a proven late-innings bullpen commodity, and he did a great job filling in for an injured Mariano Rivera with the New York Yankees in 2012. He certainly adds depth to the Nats relievers.

So with that, the Nats probably have two options: trade Storen or trade Tyler Clippard. Both players should be eighth and ninth inning pitchers, and with Soriano on board, one of them won’t fit into that role anymore. Good closers are hard to come by in baseball, and both of these guys have shown that they are capable of being exceptional ones. I fully expect one of them to be traded at some point this offseason, though they don't necessarily have to be. We’ll put together a separate post on the Nats’ possible trades soon, because there are some key players on the block right now.

How’s that for your random Tuesday afternoon surprise? The Nats just keep getting deeper at all positions, and it’s hard to not count down the minutes until Opening Day.

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 until Spring Training. Enjoy.

In January of 2012, pitcher Gio Gonzalez hung up his Oakland Athletics cap and exchanged it for a Washington Nationals one after an offseason-defining trade. Eight months later, Gonzalez’s longtime battery-mate, Kurt Suzuki, followed him to D.C. in a less glamorous but equally influential trade.

After leaning heavily on Jesus Flores and other Minor League call-ups throughout the season when injuries plagued the Nationals catching staff, the team needed a fresh, Major League-caliber catcher to call their games through their pennant race and into the postseason. After trading minor league catcher David Freitas to the A’s, Suzuki became that catcher, and he performed exceptionally for the Nationals in their most crucial period.

Suzuki played in 43 games with the Nationals, and put together an offensive slash line of .267/.321/.404 in 146 at-bats. Behind the plate, he made just five errors all year (three with the Nats), and allowed only six passed balls (two with the Nats). He also threw out 28 base stealers, which ranked in the top ten of all Major League catchers for the season.

Next Year: Suzuki’s contract extends through 2013 with a vesting option for 2014, which will apply if he plays in at least 113 games in 2013. He will also most likely fill the role of starting catcher for the beginning of the season, and possibly beyond, until Wilson Ramos is able to make a full recovery from his two knee surgeries. Either way, the Nationals look to employ two very talented players behind the plate.

Up Next: #25 Adam LaRoche

If you're ready for a Question of the Week that will blow your mind, we have it in this week's podcast. (Hint: It's about Bryce Harper and Giancarlo Stanton.) We talk about the Adam LaRoche signing and what it means for Michael Morse. We heap praise upon Mike Rizzo, talk about the projected Nats lineup, and a lot more. Join us for one of the last offseason versions of the podcast this year. Spring training is just a few weeks away!

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 until Spring Training. Enjoy.

The bittersweet feelings of many Washington Nationals fans over the current Adam LaRoche-Michael Morse debacle of not having enough room on the field to keep all their favorite players first surfaced this summer with Rick Ankiel. On July 19, which also happened to be his birthday, Ankiel was designated for assignment by the team to make room on the active roster for Drew Storen to come off the disabled list.

The pitcher-turned-outfielder brought his bazooka of an arm to Washington in 2011 and was the everyday centerfielder for the majority of that season. But in 2012 with the emergence of Bryce Harper and Tyler Moore and the improved performance of Roger Bernadina, Ankiel was reduced to a member of the Goon Squad as a late-innings defensive replacement.

Despite his defensive contributions, when the time came to make room on the roster Ankiel was the choice to DFA because of his dwindling offensive production. He was striking out too much for a pinch hitter, holding the seventh-most strikeouts on the team (59) with only 158 at-bats. The six other players with more strikeouts had between 400 and 600 at-bats. He finished his time with the Nationals with a slash line of .228/.282/.411 a WAR of zero according to FanGraphs.

Ankiel was well respected by Nationals management and by his teammates – Harper called Ankiel one of his biggest mentors – so the decision to cut him was a difficult one. But the good news for Nats fans is that when your team is faced with hard decisions like this, when it is allowed to be more selective with the players it fields, and when “sufficient” is no longer an adjective worthy of describing its players, that means your team has entered into a new era.           

Next Year: Ankiel is only 33 years old and is still a legitimate Major League player. Although the Nationals outgrew him, he still has a great chance of landing a Minor League deal with another team to start the 2013 season. His 10 years of experience could prove invaluable to another team looking for a veteran clubhouse presence.

Up Next: #24 Kurt Suzuki

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.

When a team has already watched four of its catchers limp off the field and onto the disabled list in the first two months of the season, that usually isn’t a good sign for the fortunes of that team. But because of players like Jhonatan Solano, the Washington Nationals were able to continue their dominance of the National League East with their fifth-string catcher behind the plate. 

When Solano was called up on May 29 – just eight days after his younger brother Donovan came up for the Miami Marlins – he went to work right away. He got his first Major League hit in his debut against the Marlins with his brother watching from the dugout and his family cheering from the stands, haphazardly clad in mismatched Nats and Marlins gear. 

Solano’s success at the plate continued through his time with the Nationals. He went 11-for-35 with three doubles, two home runs, six RBI’s and a stolen base.

Behind the plate Solano was just as effective, making no errors, allowing only two passed balls and throwing out three of eight base-stealers in 12 games before he also fell victim to The Curse of the Nationals Catchers on July 19. 

Although he wasn’t with the big club for long, his ability to skillfully play his position at the Major League level when Nationals Park had become a graveyard for catchers was key to the Nats ascendance in 2012 and spoke incredibly well of the depth of the Nationals farm system. 

Next Year: 2013 will likely be Solano’s eighth year starting his season at the Minor League level because Wilson Ramos and Kurt Suzuki have the position locked up for the Nationals. However, based on his performance in 2012, Solano has proved that he is a viable choice for a Major League catcher should either of those two players become injured. 

Up Next: #24 Rick Ankiel