33-year old righty reliever Tyler Walker has signed a 1-year deal with the Nationals. He pitched in 32 games (0 starts) for the Phillies last season and he was 2-1 with a 3.06 ERA and a 1.13 WHIP. Walker was now pitched in 262 games (1 start) in his major league career and he is 22-18 with 34 saves, a 4.32 ERA and a 1.39 WHIP. I love this signing for the Nationals who are building a solid bullpen for the 2010 season.

The Nationals have signed 28-year old 1B/OF Chris Duncan to a minor league deal. Duncan played in 87 games for the Cardinals last season and he was 59 for 260 (.227 avg, .687 OPS) with 25 runs scored, 5 homers and 32 RBIs. He has now played in 389 games in his major league career and he is 295 for 1,147 (.257 avg, .805 OPS) with 164 runs scored, 55 homers and 175 RBIs. Duncan could give the Nationals some power off the bench at some point this season.

38-year old righty swinging Ivan Rodriguez might be slowing down a little bit but he is still a clear upgrade over the Nationals’ catchers of 2009. He played in 121 games for the Astros & Rangers last season and he was 106 for 425 (.249 avg, .664 OPS) with 55 runs scored, 10 homers and 47 RBIs. The Nationals hope that I-Rod can hit closer to his career norms in 2010 of a .299 batting average with a .807 OPS. He made 7 errors and had 7 passed balls in 115 games behind the plate last season. But, Pudge still has a gun as he threw out 32% of the runners trying to steal on him last season and pitchers had a 4.57 ERA with him behind the dish. Rodriguez will do a good job of helping out the Nationals’ young pitching staff in 2010.

25-year old righty swinging Jesus Flores will likely miss the start of the 2010 season due to his rehab from shoulder surgery. He is probably the catcher of the future for the Nationals if they can just keep him healthy. Flores played in only 29 games for the Nationals last season and he was 28 for 93 (.301 avg, .876 OPS) with 13 runs scored, 4 homers and 15 RBIs. Flores only made 1 error and he had 2 passed balls in 24 games behind the plate last year. Flores did throw out 27% of the runners trying to steal on him last season but Nationals’ pitchers had a 5.16 ERA with him behind the plate.

32-year old righty swinging Will Nieves will likely be the back-up catcher until Flores is ready to return to action. Nieves played in 72 games for the Nationals last season and he was 58 for 224 (.259 avg, .612 OPS) with 20 runs scored, 1 homer and 26 RBIs. That is about Nieves’ ceiling as a hitter. Nieves had 6 errors and 4 passed balls in only 71 games behind the plate and that’s too many of each of them. Nieves did throw out 28% of the runners trying to steal on him but Nationals’ pitchers had a 5.06 ERA with him behind the plate.

38-year old righty swinging Jamie Burke will likely start the season in AAA-ball and get a call from the Nationals if the need arises. Burke played in 19 games for the Nationals & Mariners last season and he was 6 for 51 (.118 avg, .340 OPS) with 1 run scored, 1 homer and 2 RBIs. But, Burke is a career .277 hitter with a .679 OPS so the Nationals think he will hit a lot better in 2010 for them if they need him. In 18 games behind the plate last season Burke had 2 errors and 1 passed ball. He also threw out 40% of the runners trying to steal against him and pitchers had a 3.44 ERA with him behind the plate.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE CATCHERS IN 2010: C

Jose Vidro had bad knees by the time the Expos had moved to Washington so Nationals’ fans never really got to see how good he really was. Vidro played in 1,186 games for the Expos/Nationals and he was 1,280 for 4,257 (.301 avg, .821 OPS) with 614 runs scored, 115 homers, 550 RBIs and 21 stolen bases. Vidro finished his career #5 in franchise history in hits, #3 in batting average, #9 in OPS, #6 in runs scored, #6 in homers (tied with Andres Galarraga) and #6 in RBIs. He made the All-Star team three times for the Expos/Nationals. It’s too bad the Nationals’ fans didn’t get to see the real Jose Vidro.

The Nationals have designated 25-year old lefty reliever Victor Garate for assignment. He pitched in 4 games (0 starts) for the Nationals last season and he was 0-0 with a 22.50 ERA and a 4.00 WHIP. Garate also pitched in 47 games (0 starts) in AA-ball last season and he was 0-1 with 4 saves, a 2.04 ERA and a 1.13 WHIP. The Nationals have been loading up on lefty relievers which led to Garate getting DFA’d. Some team will likely take a chance on Garate so I don’t think he’ll make it through waivers.