The Washington Nationals have re-signed 35-year old righty starting pitcher Livan Hernandez to a minor league deal. Hernandez pitched in 31 games (all starts) for the Nationals & Mets last season and he was 9-12 with a 5.44 ERA and a 1.56 WHIP. He has pitched his best baseball for the Expos/Nationals in his career. He has pitched in 135 games (all starts) for the Nationals/Expos and he is 52-47 with a 3.97 ERA and a 1.35 WHIP. Hernandez has now pitched in 413 games (412 starts) in his major league career and he is 156-151 with a 4.45 ERA and a 1.45 WHIP. The Nationals didn’t promise Hernandez anything so he will have to win a job this spring.

25-year old righty swinging Ryan Zimmerman is on the rise for the Nationals as he is coming off his best season in the majors. Zimmerman played in 157 games for the Nationals last season and he was 178 for 610 (.292 avg, .889 OPS) with 110 runs scored, 33 homers, 106 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. The bad thing for the National League is that Zimmerman can still get better. Zimmerman made 17 errors in 154 games at 3B for the Nationals last season but he showed outstanding range getting to a lot of balls that most 3B could only dream about getting to.

26-year old righty swinging Alberto Gonzalez could get some P.T. at 3B in 2010. He played in 3 error free games there for the Nationals last season.

27-year old righty swinging Mike Morse could also play in a couple of games at the hot corner in 2010. He played in 32 games for the Nationals last season and he was 13 for 52 (.250 avg, .772 OPS) with 4 runs scored, 3 homers and 10 RBIs. Morse has a career batting average of .293 in the majors with a .764 OPS but no one has really given him a chance in the show as he has only played in 139 games. Morse played in 1 error free game at 3B for the Nationals last season.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR 3B IN 2010: A

The Nationals talked all winter long about adding a shortstop and converting Christian Guzman to 2B but it didn’t happen. Guzman played in 135 games for the Nationals last season and he was 151 for 531 (.284 avg, .696 OPS) with 74 runs scored, 6 homers, 52 RBIs and 4 stolen bases. The Nationals need him to hit to make up for his defense at SS. Guzman played in 117 games at shortstop last season and he made 20 errors while showing good range.

24-year old righty swinging Ian Desmond might be the Nationals’ shortstop of the future but that won’t likely be until the 2011 season. He played in 21 games for the Nationals last season and he was 23 for 82 (.280 avg, .879 OPS) with 9 runs scored, 4 homers, 12 RBIs and 1 stolen base. Desmond also played in 97 games at AA+AAA last season and he was 115 for 348 (.330 avg, .878 OPS) with 54 runs scored, 7 homers, 32 RBIs and 21 stolen bases. His big year in 2009 came out of the blue as he now has a career minor league batting average of .259 so the Nationals will likely start him at AAA to make sure he is for real.

26-year old righty swinging Alberto Gonzalez will likely be Guzman’s backup in 2010. He played in 41 games at SS last season and he made 9 errors there while showing poor range.

31-year old righty swinging Eric Bruntlett will also be on hand this spring to play some SS and try to earn a job with the Nationals. He played in 9 games at SS last season for the Phillies and he made 1 error while showing poor range.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE SS IN 2010: C

The Nationals have placed 23-year old righty starting pitcher Jordan Zimmerman on the 60-day disabled list to make room on the roster for Chien-Ming Wang. Zimmerman will likely miss most if not all of the 2010 season as he underwent Tommy John surgery last August. Zimmerman pitched in 16 games (all starts) for the Nationals last season and he was 3-5 with a 4.63 ERA and a 1.36 WHIP. Zimmerman whiffed 92 batters in 91 1/3 innings for the Nationals last season which just gave the team a glimpse of his future as he is a top prospect.

The Nationals have re-signed 40-year old lefty reliever Ron Villone to a minor league deal. He pitched in 63 games (0 starts) for the Nationals last season and he was 5-6 with 1 save, a 4.25 ERA and a 1.71 WHIP. Villone has now pitched in 717 games (93 starts) in his major league career and he is 61-65 with 8 saves, a 4.73 ERA and a 1.50 WHIP. This was a good move for the Nationals as it never hurts to bring in a lefty with Villone’s experience to battle for a job in the pen.