The Nationals have signed 29-year old lefty reliever/starter Horacio Ramirez to a minor league deal. He pitched in 19 games (1 start) for the Royals this season and he was 0-2 with a 5.96 ERA and a 1.68 WHIP. Ramirez has now pitched in 157 games (105 starts) in his major league career to date and he is 39-35 with a 4.64 ERA and a 1.48 WHIP. The Nationals continue to pick up other teams’ garbage and you can see the results in the standings.

The Washington Nationals are not making the playoffs this season so it makes sense to start moving some players. The Nationals would need pitching back in almost any trade as the pitching staff that they have been running out this season is devoid of much talent. 1B Nick Johnson, OF Austin Kearns, OF Josh Willingham, IF/OF Willie Harris, 2B Ronnie Belliard and OF Lastings Milledge could all be moved without the Nationals losing much sleep. Lefty relievers Ron Villone and Joe Beimel could have some worth to contenders the rest of this season. If righty reliever Julian Tavarez keeps pitching all right the Nationals might be able to get something for him. The Nationals could get a King’s Ransom for Adam Dunn if they put him on the block but he’s signed for next season at a discount so they should really consider keeping him.

The Nationals will be without starting catcher Jesus Flores for up to 3 months with a stress fracture in his right shoulder. Flores has played in 26 games this season for the Nationals and he is 28 for 90 (.311 avg, .904 OPS) with 13 runs scored, 4 homers and 15 RBIs. The plan now is to replace Flores with veterans Josh Bard and Wil Nieves. Bard has played in 17 games this season for the Nationals and he is 11 for 50 (.220 avg, .610 OPS) with 4 runs scored, 1 homer and 6 RBIs. Nieves has played in 20 games for the Nationals and he is 18 for 64 (.281 avg, .647 OPS) with 8 runs scored and 9 RBIs. With the Nationals’ season spinning out of control don’t look for them to trade for a catcher.