22 year old Ryan Zimmerman exploded onto the scene last year as a rookie.  Zimmerman played in 157 games and he hit .287 with 84 runs scored, 47 doubles, 20 homers, 110 RBIs, 11 stolen bases and a .822 OPS!  Zimmerman also showed off good range and made 15 errors last season.  Zimmerman is a force for the Nationals and the sky is the limit for him.

33 year old Tony Batista has been signed to a minor league contract and he will get a shot to make the Nationals as a back up 3B.  Batista played in 50 games last season for the Twins and he hit .236 with 5 homers, 21 RBIs and a .690 OPS.  Batista made 6 errors 50 games at third base and he showed slightly below average range for the Twins.  Batista is a long shot to make the Nationals, but he can make it with a solid Spring.

A lot of eyebrows were raised when Christian Guzman was signed to a big money contract by the Washington Nationals.  Guzman has been cashing checks for two seasons even though he hasn’t done a thing to earn them.  Guzman missed all of last season with a serious injury.  In the first year of his contract (2005), Guzman hit only .219 with 4 homers, 31 RBIs and a .574 OPS.  It seems like Guzman is more suited to play in the American League and on the fast turf of the MetroDome which could have given his batting average a huge spike.  The Nationals aren’t gettting greedy with Guzman, they would just like him to produce his career norms of a .260 batting average and a .671 OPS.  Guzman has turned himself into a really good defender at shortstop over the years but he will still have to hit a little bit.  Guzman will be better than he was in 2005, but still not good.

27 year old switch hitter Bernie Castro will likely get a chance to back up Guzman this season.  Castro will be learning shortstop this season as he’s been mostly a second baseman in his career so far.

25 year old Melvin Dorta will also get a chance to win a reserve job on the Nationals this season.  Dorta played in 116 games between AA+AAA ball last season and he hit .270 with 6 homers, 33 RBIs and 36 stolen bases.  He played in 15 games and went 4 for 19 (.211 avg) with the Nationals last season.  He’s been a solid defensive player in the minors.

This is a great signing by the Nationals.  If Christian Guzman struggles or isn’t all the way back from injury Belliard could find himself as the starting second baseman of the Nationals.  Belliard is a pretty good hitter as he hit .272 last season with 13 homers and 67 RBIs.  Offense could be a problem this season for the Nationals and Belliard has been consistent over the last few seasons so he should help them even if he’s in a back-up role.  He’s got about average range at 2B and plays really deep which helps him get to some balls that a lot of second basemen can’t get to. 

Nick Johnson could be out until June as his leg still hurts when he goes for a walk.  He hasn’t even been able to jog yet so the Nationals are bracing for the bad news.  Veterans Travis Lee, Dmitri Young, Robert Fick and youngster Larry Broadway will likely be competing for the starting job until Johnson returns.

It’s looking as if the Nationals are going to move 27 year old switch hitter Felipe Lopez from SS to 2B this season.  Actually this move will help the Nationals tighten up their defense because Lopez really didn’t have the range to play well at SS, plus he made 28 errors there last season.  Lopez didn’t hit for much power after the trade to the Nationals (2 homers, 274 at bats) but he hit a solid .281 with a .727 OPS.  For the season, Lopez hit .274 with a .739 OPS, scored 98 runs, hit 11 homers and knocked in 52 runs.  Look for similar type numbers from him this season as he will be batting near the top of the order for the Nationals.

37 year old lefty swinging Tony Womack has been brought in on a minor league contract and he will get a chance to make the Nationals as a reserve infielder/outfielder.  He played in 28 games and hit .265 for the Reds & Cubs last season.  He doesn’t have any juice left in his swing, but he stole 27 bases in 2005 for the Yankees so he still has some speed left.  He didn’t make any errors at 2B last season in 144 innings.

27 year old switch hitter Bernie Castro got some playing time in September for the Nationals last season.  He has a lot of speed but he found out that he couldn’t steal first base.  Castro only hit .227 with a .577 OPS in 110 at bats for the Nationals.  He did steal 7 bases for the Nationals and would get a lot more if he had more discipline with the bat in his hands.  He didn’t play too well in the field as he made 2 errors in 228 innings and he didn’t show much range.

29 year old righty swinging D’Angelo Jimenez has been brought in on a minor league contract.  He only hit .181 with the Rangers & A’s in 71 at bats last season.  He’s had two off-seasons in a row so don’t expect miracles from him.  He also made 4 errors in only 141.2 innings at 2B.

27 year old lefty swinging Joe Thurston went 4 for 18 (.222) for the Phillies last season.  He did have a decent year in AAA as he hit .282 with a .785 OPS with 9 homers, 55 RBIs and 20 steals.  He’s running out of time as he once was a highly thought of prospect.  He likely will be in AAA again unless the Nationals suffer any injuries.

35 year old switch hitting Jose Macias has been brought in to compete for a job this Spring.  Macias last played in 2005 with the Cubs and he hit .254 that season.  Macias just sat out last season.  He has played in 659 games in his career and has a career batting average of .256 with a .669 OPS.  He has a decent chance of making the team because he’s versatile in the field and he’s a good pinch hitter.