The Washington Nationals' quiet offseason was granted some new life on Tuesday as the team re-signed their 2012 first baseman Adam LaRoche. It was a drawn out process between LaRoche and Rizzo, but ultimately, everyone knew that LaRoche had limited options.

LaRoche’s deal is for two years at $24 million, which is an extremely reasonable rate for arguably the best first baseman in the National League last season. There is an option for 2015 with a $2 million buyout, and the Nats stockpile of corner infielders (Tyler Moore, Anthony Rendon, etc.) seems to indicate a buyout is already the likely outcome. But on to the immediate ramifications of the deal.

The Nats seemed to know they would be re-signing LaRoche from day one of the offseason, and that patience paid off. They got a power hitting left-handed bat, for exactly the deal they wanted, who is still in the heart of the lineup without immediately putting pressure on Bryce Harper to fill that role. They also have one of the absolute best defensive first basemen in all of baseball on what should be the best defensive infield in baseball when you consider LaRoche, Danny Espinosa, Ian Desmond, and Ryan Zimmerman.

Inevitably, when you get something good, something bad must come. LaRoche’s re-signing likely means the end of the Michael Morse era in DC. With a stacked outfield of Harper, Denard Span, and Jayson Werth and a fully solidified infield, there’s no place for The Beast to go. It’s not often you see a .300 hitter with significant extra-base power unable to crack an MLB lineup, but that’s exactly Morse’s situation right now. Oh, how far the Nationals have come in just one season.

I fully expect Morse to be traded in the next few weeks, and unfortunately for the Nats, they have absolutely no leverage in getting something good in return. Every team in baseball knows he’s not a bench player and that the Nats don’t have a spot for him. It’s possible that they would consider keeping Morse around until spring training as an insurance policy in case an outfielder, or LaRoche, gets hurt, but it seems unlikely. There should be enough teams clamoring for a player of Morse’s caliber.

At the extremely reasonable cost, I do believe that the Nats made the right move in signing LaRoche, but I say that with mixed feelings if and when Morse is finally traded. Morse is really the first player to provide significant personality to a team on the rapid rise to success. Between the brilliant “Take On Me” walk-up song/sing along at Nationals Park,  The Cobra before walking into the box, the helmet slap rounding first base on his home run trot, and even his awkward jumping-in-place catches in the outfield to end innings, his personality will be sorely missed for fans and players alike.

Elation followed by despair. It’s the feeling that DC sports fans have become all too familiar with in the last three months. It started with the Washington Nationals NLDS Game 5 collapse and ended with the Washington Redskins loss to the Seahawks in the NFC Wild Card round. But how similar were those games, really?

Now, it’s difficult, if not impossible, to compare two different games from two different sports. But humor me for a moment. On that fateful night in October, the Nats had the game all but locked up through the first half of the game. They scored six runs in the first two innings. Unfortunately, they saw their lead get whittled away by reliever after reliever.

Last night, the Redskins did much the same. They came out with two quick touchdowns but then Robert Griffin III reinjured his knee, and it was never the same. The Seahawks scored 24 unanswered points to walk away with the victory.

The feel of these two games were incredibly similar. I was at Nationals Park for Game 5, and although I was watching the Redskins Wild Card game at home, you could feel the fan’s pain after watching the lead slip away. And it all culminated with RGIII’s brutal injury. If you’re a fan of both teams, you probably had that same pit in your stomach twice in the last three months.

Both teams were dark horses to make the playoffs to start the season, though the Redskins probably had the worse odds. Sure, the Redskins saw their lead disappear after the first quarter and dealt with an injury to their franchise player. For me, I truly believe the Nats loss was worse. The Nats had a lead through eight and two-thirds innings; they had the Cardinals all but wrapped up with their best reliever on the mound. After they won the division with the best record in all of baseball, they had higher hopes and expectations.

The goal of this post isn’t to say that Nats fans had it worse. I actually hope it makes you feel hope and optimism for the seasons to come for both teams. The pain from Game 5 is just starting to subside for me, and I expect those of you who are diehard Redskins fans will have the same kind of mourning period. But keep your chin up. Your team has shown they can compete in the playoffs. Here’s hoping both the Nats and Skins have deeper playoff runs in 2013.

As 2012 comes to an end, it only seems right that we take a moment to remember what this past year really meant to the Washington Nationals and baseball in DC. When the season started in April, expectations were high for the Nats. They were the first Nats team that had a real shot to finish over .500, and they even had a chance to finish third in the NL East, which would have been their best finish ever.

Talk about exceeding expectations. The Washington Nationals finished the season 98-64, which was good for the National League East Division Title, the best record in the NL, and the best record in baseball. They spent 149 of 162 days in first place in the division, and they were never one game below .500.

Built on pitching and an offense that got better as the season wore on, this team was one that brought excitement back to baseball in the Nation's Capital. We will all remember where we were when the Nationals won their first division title in team history, where we were during the first playoff game at Nationals Park, and where we were when Jayson Werth hit his masterful NLDS Game 4 walk of home run, the celebration for which is pictured above.

There are so many other great moments to remember from 2012, and I hope you'll share your favorites with us in the comments and on Facebook and Twitter as a way to ring in the new year. Happy New Year to you and yours, and be safe. We have lots of baseball to watch together in 2013.

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.

Drew Storen has been the topic for many, many offseason conversations because of his complete meltdown in the ninth inning of Game 5 in the NLDS with the Washington Nationals just two outs away from advancing to the NLCS. Even as I type that, it still makes me nauseous.

Nonetheless, Storen is still considered an integral part of this team for years to come, and for good reason. Why? Because you can't judge a player on one game, even if it was a crucial one, and Storen is still really, really good. It's easy to focus on just that one inning that caused many of us to avoid baseball for several weeks or even shed a few tears. But look at his body of work after returning from his elbow surgery during the regular season, and it tells the real story.

Storen struggled a bit after he came back as he got used to pitching with his newly sewn up elbow, but boy did he ever settle in quickly. He finished the 2012 campaign with 30.1 innings under his belt, an impressive 2.37 ERA, and an even better 0.989 WHIP. Both are marked improvements over his 2011 numbers, a season in which he earned 43 saves and was considered among the closers in baseball.

In the wake of the NLDS disaster, I spoke with many friends, family, and fellow fans who had some terrible things to say about Drew Storen. I understood the overall feeling of frustration, even though some of the comments crossed a line. I didn't watch an inning of baseball until the World Series after the Nats were unceremoniously ousted. However, when people asked me what the Nats would do with Storen on Opening Day 2013, the answer was simple. If the Nats have the lead in the ninth inning on Opening Day, Drew Storen will be in to close. And Nationals Park should erupt with support.

Next year: Drew Storen will be the Nats closer from Opening Day until their season ends. Period. Obviously that assumes health, but Storen is the only true closer the Nats have had since Chad Cordero.

Next up: #23 Jhonatan "The Onion" Solano

The Washington Nationals have used prospects from their highly-rated farm system to acquire talent, which has made some big tweaks to the top prospects lists from several organizations. Not to mention neither Stephen Strasburg nor Bryce Harper are on that list for the first time in four seasons.

Here are the Nationals' top 10 prospects according to Baseball America:

1. Anthony Rendon - 3B
2. Lucas Giolito - RHP
3. Brian Goodwin - OF
4. Matt Skole - 3B
5. Nathan Karns - RHP
6. Christian Garcia - RHP
7. Eury Perez - OF
8. Sammy Solis - LHP
9. Matt Purke - LHP
10. Zach Walters - SS

Just a few key points to point out about this list:

• Third Base Firewall: Ryan Zimmerman has a hold on first base for the forseeable future, so both Rendon and Skole will have to find another way to make the Nationals' big league roster. This could involve moving Zimmerman to first base, but that seems unlikely at this point. Rendon is often discussed as a future MLB second baseman, and his solid 2012 after getting healthy backs up that idea. Skole was the organizational player of the year in 2012, but it's hard to see him finding a way to the MLB level with the Nats.
• Call Up Turned Prospect: Christian Garcia had an incredible 2012, both in the minors and majors. What makes it even more impressive? He had two Tommy John surgeries before he turned 25 years old. For most pitchers, that's a career ender. Garcia's resilience paid off. Not only was he on the postseason roster for the NLDS after his September call up, he's going to be stretched out as a starter this offseason. 
• Righty Studs: Lucas Giolito is the 18 year old with an elbow injury that no one wanted, so the Nats drafted him 16th in the 2012 draft. Before his injuries popped up, he was widely regarded as the number one overall pick. Meanwhile, Nathan Karns was named the organizational pitcher of the year in 2012.
• Lefty Starters: Sammy Solis is recovering from his own Tommy John surgery, but he should be ready for spring training. He could be a huge piece for the Nats down the road, especially if some of the higher prospects don't pan out or get traded for other talent. Meanwhile, Matt Purke, one of the Nats most risky draft picks, had shoulder surgery in October. Purke could easily slot into the top of the Nats' rotation if he ever gets healthy. But that is now a huge, huge "if."

BA's projected 2016 lineup shows why the Nats were built as they were by Mike Rizzo. It could mean significant success for a number of years. This obviously assumes no trades or roster moves, but it's fun to look at. Even in four years, this team would be fairly young and full of matured talent. Even Jayson Werth, the $126 million man, can't find a way into this lineup.

C: Wilson Ramos

1B: Ryan Zimmerman

2B: Danny Espinosa

3B: Anthony Rendon

SS: Ian Desmond

LF: Brian Goodwin

CF: Denard Span

RF: Bryce Harper

#1 Starter: Stephen Strasburg

#2 Starter: Lucas Giolito

#3 Starter: Gio Gonzalez

#4 Starter: Jordan Zimmermann

#5 Starter: Ross Detwiler

Closer: Drew Storen

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 your team wins 98 games, you don't get to talk about useless or impactless players from that season very often. This is absolutely one of those exceptions. Xavier Nady 

Nady was pulled off of his couch in spring training with virtually no opportunity to make the team. He was even signed to a minor league deal. But enough injuries allowed the veteran journeyman to make it onto the Nats Opening Day roster in 2012.

He's never been an exceptional defender, and his offense had declined steadily over the past three to four seasons. Nevertheless, Nady found his way into 40 games for the Nationals before being released in late July. During that time, he mustered a pitiful .157/.211/.275 slash line and 24 strikeouts in just 102 at-bats.

The Nats merciful release of Nady turned out pretty well for him. He landed with the San Francisco Giants, who went on to win the World Series. That's right, folks. Xavier Nady, who amassed a -0.6 WAR last season, will be getting a World Series championship ring. Something isn't quite right with that.

Next year: The 34-year-old Nady is still a free agent, but he will land with a team and serve as a fourth outfielder and bench player. It may not happen until spring training when teams really evaluate their needs, but it's only a matter of time.

Update 10:45 am: Xavier Nady has just been signed to a minor league deal by the Kansas City Royals, according to the Royals twitter account. So it was only a matter of a very short time.

Next up: #22 Drew Storen

In this post-Winter Meetings episode, Craig rejoins Joe to discuss things from inside and ouside of Washington Nationals news. For NatsTown, we talk about the Denard Span deal and the impressive Nationals defense, readdress the LaRoche vs. Morse deal, and evaluate the Dan Haren signing. Across the league, we discuss the Rays and Royals trade, the Marlins Fire Sale (if only a few months late), and some other signings across the league.

One of the first things Bryce Harper showed us as a Major Leaguer this year was his unbelievable cannon from the outfield. It was a tool that was so powerful that the team had to work hard just to get him to not overuse it and learn the value of the cutoff man. Descision making aside, anytime Harper rears back to throw, fans get excited. As a result, I'm sure than just a handful of you have wondered what it would be like if he were ever to take the mound.

Fortunately, I stumbled accross this video showing his one and only pitching appearance at the College of Southern Nevada (fast forward to the 4:16 mark):

CSN brought Harper on in the bottom of the eighth with the game tied 4-4. He pitched scoreless first frame before gettng tuned up a bit in the ninth, but overall not bad for a 17-year-old kid who had not trained to pitch much all year. 

To me, the best part of this video is how pumped up Harper is after finishing the bottom of the eighth without allowing a baserunner. Not many outfielders have the true passion of a closer.