The Nationals have released outfielder Wily Mo Pena. Pena played in 11 games this spring for the Nationals in which he was 8 for 29 (.276 avg, .654 OPS) with 1 RBI. Pena played in 101 games over two seasons with the Nationals in which he was 79 for 328 (.241 avg) with 34 runs scored, 10 homers and 32 RBIs. Pena will likely get picked up by another team soon as he has quite an upside.

The Nationals have signed 30-year old switch hitting catcher Josh Bard to a minor league contract. He will get to battle for the right to back up Jesus Flores this season. Bard played in 57 games for the Padres last season and he was 36 for 178 (.202 avg, .549 OPS) with 11 runs scored, 1 homer and 16 RBIs. He has now played in 431 games in his major league career in which he is 348 for 1,311 (.265 avg, .728 OPS) with 128 runs scored, 28 homers and 168 RBIs. This was a good signing for the Nationals as Bard could improve their bench for 2009.

The Nationals have released 27-year old righty starting pitcher Shawn Hill to make room on the roster for Joe Beimel. Hill pitched in 12 games (all starts) for the Nationals last season in which he was 1-5 with a 5.83 ERA and a 1.75 WHIP. He has now pitched in 37 games (all starts) in which he was 7-15 with a 4.93 ERA and a 1.46 WHIP. It wasn’t Hill’s pitching ability that got him released by the Nationals it was his injury filled past. Look for some team to quickly snap him up.

The Nationals have signed 31-year old lefty reliever Joe Beimel to a 1-year, $2 million dollar contract. Beimel pitched in 71 games (0 starts) for the Dodgers last season in which he was 5-1 with a 2.02 ERA and a 1.45 WHIP. He has now pitched in 390 games (23 starts) in his major league career in which he is 21-23 with 3 saves, a 4.31 ERA and a 1.50 WHIP. This was a good signing for the Nationals as it appears that they expect to win this season.

24-year old righty swinging 3B Ryan Zimmerman is one of the best players the Nationals have to offer so they need him to stay healthy. He played in 106 games for the Nationals last season and he was 121 for 428 (.283 avg, .775 OPS) with 51 runs scored, 14 homers and 51 RBIs. He showed good range in the field while making 10 errors in 104 games at 3B for Washington. If healthy, Zimmerman should put up numbers like he did in 2006+2007 when he averaged 91.5 runs scored, 22 homers and 100.5 RBIs per year.

Jose Castillo will likely back up Zimmerman at 3B if he makes the team. He played in 110 games at 3B for the Giants and Astros last season making 15 errors while showing below average range.

24-year old righty swinging Joel Guzman is trying to get back to his once highly thought of prospect status. He played in 116 games in AAA-ball last season in which he was 108 for 436 (.248 avg, .714 OPS) with 52 runs scored, 20 homers and 72 RBIs.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 2009 SEASON: A-