The Washington Nationals have signed 28-year old lefty Wil Ledezma to a minor league contract. Ledezma pitched in 28 games (6 starts) last season for the Padres and D-Backs and he was 0-2 with a 4.17 ERA and a 1.58 WHIP. He has now pitched in 155 games (40 starts) in his major league career and he is 15-22 with a 5.10 ERA and a 1.58 WHIP. Ledezma will also have a job with some team because he has good stuff and he’s left handed. The Nationals hope that they can unlock his talent in 2009.

The Nationals have signed 31-year old righty starting pitcher Josh Towers to a minor league deal. Towers pitched in 31 games (15 starts) in AAA last season and he was 6-7 with a 6.27 ERA and a 1.59 WHIP. He has pitched in 137 games (112 starts) in his major league career to date and he is 45-55 with 1 save, a 4.96 ERA and a 1.38 WHIP. Towers will compete for the #5 starting job in the Nationals’ rotation in 2009 and he will do it with pinpoint control as he has only walked 1.5 batters every nine innings in his major league career. But, he’s a very hittable pitcher because he’s always around the strike zone.

The Washington Nationals have re-signed 26-year old righty reliever Ryan Wagner to a minor league contract. Wagner pitched in 23 games (1 start) in A + AAA ball last year and he was 0-3 with 2 saves, a 4.44 ERA and a 1.82 WHIP. He has also pitched in 148 games (0 starts) in his major league career and he is 11-9 with a 4.79 ERA and a 1.59 WHIP. If Wagner can stay healthy he could help the Nationals in 2009. With that in mind this was a nice low risk signing for the Nationals.

The Washington Nationals have re-signed 28-year old lefty swinging outfielder Ryan Langerhans to a minor league contract. He played in 73 games for the Nationals last season and he was 26 for 111 (.234 avg, .776 OPS) with 17 runs scored, 3 homers and 12 RBIs. He has now played in 474 games in his major league career and he is 228 for 978 (.233 avg, .713 OPS) with 140 runs scored, 24 homers and 105 RBIs. This was a good move for the Nationals as Langerhans is a good backup outfielder.

Spring Training for the Nationals will be a time when they get to look at a lot of players as they have signed four more to minor league contracts. Freddie Bynum, Brad Eldred, Joel Guzman and Mike Vento have all been signed to minor league contracts. 28-year old lefty swinging SS/2B Freddie Bynum played in 40 games for the Orioles last season and he was 20 for 112 (.179 avg, .443 OPS) with 13 runs scored, 8 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. He has now played in 188 games in his major league career and he is 82 for 351 (.234 avg, .654 OPS) with 54 runs scored, 6 homers, 32 RBIs and 18 stolen bases. 28-year old lefty swinging Brad Eldred is definately a all-or-nothing hitter. He played in 114 games in AAA-ball last season and he was 104 for 427 (.244 avg, .851 OPS) with 62 runs scored, 35 homers, 100 RBIs and he whiffed 144 times! Eldred has now played in 74 games in his major league career and he is 47 for 236 (.199 avg, .670 OPS) with 26 runs scored, 14 homers, 30 RBIs and 93 whiffs. 24-year old righty swinging 1B/3B Joel Guzman has also been brought in to compete for a job this spring. He played in 116 games in AAA-ball last season and he was 108 for 436 (.248 avg, .714 OPS) with 52 runs scored, 20 homers and 72 RBIs. He has now played in 24 games in his major league career and he is 13 for 56 (.232 avg, .627 OPS) with 7 runs scored and 7 RBIs. 30-year old righty swinging outfielder Mike Vento did not play last season due to injury. He has played in 11 games in his major league career and he is 5 for 20 (.250 avg, .675 OPS) with 3 runs scored and 1 RBI. These guys are all long shots to make the Nationals out of spring training with most of them landing in AAA to start the year.