Righties Drew Storen, Matt Clippard and lefty Sean Burnett will likely share save opportunities with Matt Capps off to Minnesota. Storen is one of the best young pitchers the Nationals have to offer. Storen has pitched in 29 games (0 starts) for the Nationals this season and he is 2-2 with a 2.64 ERA and a 1.27 WHIP. He is the pitcher the Nationals would love to give the job to in the near future if he can handle it. Clippard has been a workhorse in middle relief and I think the Nationals would be smart to leave him there. Clippard has pitched in 50 games (0 starts) for the Nationals this season and he is 8-6 with 1 save, a 3.26 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP. Lefty Sean Burnett would likely only close if a tough lefty were up to end the game. He has pitched in 47 games (0 starts) for the Nationals this season and he is 0-5 with a 2.78 ERA and a 1.32 WHIP. Despite Matt Capps doing a fine job as closer for the Nationals I don’t think they will miss him much as Storen, Clippard and Burnett are all solid pitchers.

The Nationals have traded 32-year old switch hitting 2B/SS Chrisitan Guzman to the Rangers for 25-year old righty starter/reliever Ryan Tatusko. Guzman played in 89 games for the Nationals this year and he was 90 of 319 (.282 avg, .687 OPS) with 44 runs scored, 2 homers, 25 RBIs and 4 stolen bases. He played in 550 games in his five years with the Nationals and he was 581 of 2,059 (.282 avg, .706 OPS) with 265 runs scored, 23 homers, 177 RBIs and 23 stolen bases. Ryan Tatusko has pitched in 24 games (13 starts) in AA-ball for the Rangers this year and he is 9-2 with a 2.97 ERA and a 1.34 WHIP. He has now pitched in 101 games (58 starts) in his four years in the minors and he is 22-26 with 1 save, a 4.09 ERA and a 1.35 WHIP.

UPDATE: (7/30/2010) - The Nationals have also acquired 23-year old righty starter/reliever Tanner Roark in this deal. Roark has pitched in 22 games (17 starts) in AA-ball this year and he is 10-5 with a 4.20 ERA and a 1.39 WHIP. He has now pitched in 78 games (35 starts) in his three years in the minors and he is 24-12 with 1 save, a 4.13 ERA and a 1.34 WHIP.

The Nationals have traded 26-year old closer Matt Capps to the Twins for 22-year old righty swinging catcher Wilson Ramos and 24-year old lefty reliever Joe Testa. Capps pitched in 47 games (0 starts) for the Nationals this year and he was 3-3 with 26 saves, a 2.74 ERA and a 1.30 WHIP. Ramos was the Twins’ #2 prospect heading into this season according to Baseball America. He got his first taste of the majors earlier this season playing in 7 games for the Twins in which he was 8 of 27 (.296 avg, .729 OPS) with 2 runs scored and 1 RBI. Ramos also has played in 71 games in AAA-ball this season and he is 67 of 278 (.241 avg, .625 OPS) with 25 runs scored, 5 homers and 30 RBIs. Ramos has now played in 375 games in his five years in the minors and he is 397 of 1,400 (.284 avg, .758 OPS) with 168 runs scored, 36 homers, 211 RBIs and 6 stolen bases. Joe Testa has pitched in 36 games (0 starts) in A+AA-ball this year and he is 2-5 with 1 save, a 5.50 ERA and a 1.76 WHIP. He has now pitched in 94 games (3 starts) in his first three years in the minors and he is 10-7 with 10 saves, a 3.33 ERA and a 1.35 WHIP. Testa has 196 whiffs in only 165 innings in the minors showing that he has good stuff, but, he has also walked 77 batters and he will need to tighten his control before ever getting a chance at the show. This was a nice haul for Capps as Drew Storen is more than capable of replacing him. Ramos will be the starting catcher for the Nationals in the very near future.

The Nationals have placed 21-year old righty starting pitcher Stephen Strasburg on the 15-day disabled list with right shoulder stiffness. Strasburg has started 9 games for the Nationals this season and he is 5-2 with a 2.32 ERA and a 1.07 WHIP. He has only given up 43 hits in 54 1/3 innings while whiffing 75 batters showing just how awesome he has been so far. Strasburg is also showing outstanding control as he has only walked 15 batters so far this season. The Nationals have activated 26-year old lefty starting pitcher Scott Olsen off the D.L. to replace Strasburg in the starting rotation. Olsen has started 8 games for the Nationals this year and he is 2-2 with a 3.77 ERA and a 1.37 WHIP. You better believe that the Nationals are going to use kid gloves with Strasburg despite the gate attraction that he has been.

The Nationals have lost 25-year old lefty reliever Jesse English for the rest of the season due to elbow surgery which he had today. English pitched in 19 games (0 starts) in rookie+AAA-ball this year and he was 2-1 with a 4.18 ERA and a 1.23 WHIP. He also pitched in 7 games (0 starts) earlier this year for the Nationals and he was 0-0 with a 3.86 ERA and a 1.71 WHIP. The Nationals hope that English will be ready to go in 2011 because they like him a little bit.