The Nationals have re-signed 30-year old infielder Pete Orr to a minor league deal. Orr played in 27 games for the Nationals last season and he was 19 for 75 (.253 avg, .618 OPS) with 5 runs scored, 1 homer, 10 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. He has now played in 347 games in his 5 years in the majors and he is 135 for 519 (.260 avg, .623 OPS) with 80 runs scored, 3 homers, 35 RBIs and 13 stolen bases. Orr is a nice guy to have around as he can play almost everywhere.

The Nationals have signed 33-year old righty reliever Joel Peralta to a minor league deal. Peralta pitched in 27 games (0 starts) for the Rockies last season and he was 0-3 with a 6.20 ERA and a 1.58 WHIP. He has now pitched in 221 games (0 starts) in his five years in the majors and he is 4-11 with 2 saves, a 4.61 ERA and a 1.30 WHIP. I like this signing for the Nationals as they are building a potentially effective bullpen on the cheap.

The Nationals did not tender a 2010 contract to 32-year old righty reliever Mike MacDougal making him a free agent. The Nationals didn’t want to give him the raise he would have likely got in arbitration so they decided to just let him go instead. MacDougal pitched in 52 games (0 starts) for the Nationals and he was 1-1 with 20 saves, a 3.60 ERA and a 1.52 WHIP. He also walked 31 batters in 50 innings which always seemed to get people nervous. Brian Bruney will likely get the chance this spring to replace MacDougal as the closer.

The Nationals have signed 29-year old righty reliever Ryan Speier to a minor league deal. Speier pitched in 5 games (0 starts) for the Rockies last season and he was 0-0 with a 4.76 ERA and a 1.47 WHIP. He has now pitched in 90 games (0 starts) in his 4 years in the majors and he is 7-3 with a 3.99 ERA and a 1.47 WHIP. This was a good signing for the Nationals as Speier is a decent reliever.

The Nationals have released 26-year old righty reliever Zack Segovia. Segovia pitched in 8 games (0 starts) for the Nationals last season and he was 1-0 with a 7.84 ERA and a 1.65 WHIP. He also pitched in 51 games (3 starts) in AA+AAA ball last year in which he was 3-5 with 6 saves, a 3.24 ERA and a 1.41 WHIP. Some team will likely snap up Segovia so it will be interesting to see if the Nationals gave up on him too soon or not.