39-year old righty swinging Ivan Rodriguez is starting to slow down. He will likely lose a lot of P.T. to Wilson Ramos in 2011. Rodriguez played in 111 games for the Nationals last season and he was 106 of 398 (.266 avg, .640 OPS) with 32 runs scored, 4 homers, 49 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. Rodriguez has lost his power and he’s no longer anywhere near a .300 hitter but he’s still a solid defender. Rodriguez had 4 errors and 2 passed balls in 102 games behind the plate last season for the Nationals. He threw out 19 of 64 (29.7%) runners trying to steal against him last season and Nationals’ pitchers had a 4.25 ERA with Pudge behind the plate. Rodriguez’ biggest role in 2011 will likely be to mentor Ramos.

23-year old Wilson Ramos came over from the Twins last season in the Matt Capps deal. Ramos played in 22 games for the Nationals & Twins last season and he was 22 of 79 (.278 avg, .710 OPS) with 5 runs scored, 1 homer and 5 RBIs. He also played in 91 games in AAA-ball last season in which he was 92 of 357 (.258 avg, .671 OPS) with 39 runs scored, 8 homers, 38 RBIs and 1 stolen base. Ramos will likely mature into a .290-.300 hitter with the Nationals in the very near future. Ramos didn’t make any errors and he had only 1 passed ball in 22 games behind the plate for the Nationals & Twins last year. Ramos only threw out 1 of 11 (9.1%) runners trying to steal against him last season and pitchers and a 3.70 ERA with him behind the plate. Ramos will likely share time with Ivan Rodriguez in 2011 and replace him full time in 2012.

32-year old righty swinging Carlos Maldonado will likely start the 2011 in AAA ball. He played in 4 games for the Nationals last season and he was 3 of 11 (.273 avg, .879 OPS) with 1 run scored, 1 homer and 3 RBIs. Maldonado also played in 66 games in Rookie+AAA-ball last season and he was 44 of 197 (.223 avg, .603 OPS) with 17 runs scored, 3 homers, 29 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. Maldonado didn’t make any errors but he did have 1 passed ball in 4 games behind the plate for the Nationals last season. Maldonado threw out both of the runners that tried to steal against him last season and Nationals’ pitchers had a 3.16 ERA with him behind the plate.

26-year old righty swinging Jesus Flores missed all of last season due to injury and he’s not likely going to be ready at the start of 2011. Flores has played in 198 games in his first three years with the Nationals and he is 149 of 574 (.260 avg, .719 OPS) with 57 runs scored, 16 homers and 99 RBIs. If Flores gets healthy in the near future he will battle Wilson Ramos for the starting job behind the plate for the Nationals.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE NATIONALS CATCHERS IN 2011: C

The Nationals have designated 27-year old righty swinging outfielder Justin Maxwell for assignment. Maxwell played in 67 games for the Nationals last season and he was 15 of 104 (.144 avg, .594 OPS) with 16 runs scored, 3 homers, 12 RBIs and 5 stolen bases. He played in 122 games in his three years with the Nationals and he was 44 of 219 (.201 avg, .698 OPS) with 34 runs scored, 9 homers, 26 RBIs and 11 stolen bases. Maxwell’s problem is that he looks like he has a hole in his bat as he has whiffed 83 times already in his major league career. It will be interesting to see if Maxwell clears waivers.

UPDATE: (2/2/2011) - The Nationals have dealt Justin Maxwell to the Yankees for 24-year old righty reliever Adam Olbrychowski. Olbrychowski pitched in 32 games (1 start) in A+AA-ball for the Yankees last season and he was 3-2 with 1 save, a 3.90 ERA and a 1.36 WHIP. He has now pitched in 100 games (35 starts) in his first four years in the minors and he is 16-17 with 2 saves, a 4.17 ERA and a 1.49 WHIP. His big issue has been his control as he has walked 145 batters in 287 1/3 innings so far in his his career and that will need to change if he’s ever going to get to the show. Kudos to the Nationals for getting something for Maxwell instead of losing him on waivers.

The Washington Nationals have designated 23-year old righty starting pitcher Shairon Martis for assignment. Martis pitched in 15 games (all starts) for the Nationals last season and he was 5-3 with a 5.25 ERA and a 1.42 WHIP. He walked 39 batters and gave up 11 homers in only 85 2/3 innings last season while only walking 34 batters. Martis had control issues last season and he got hit pretty hard but he is only 23 years old so the Nationals might have given up on him too soon. He has pitched in 20 games (19 starts) in his first two years in the majors and he is 6-6 with a 5.33 ERA and a 1.43 WHIP. I don’t see any way that Martis clears waivers because of his age and possible upside.

The Nationals have signed 30-year old righty reliever Todd Coffey. Coffey pitched in 69 games (0 starts) for the Nationals last season and he was 2-4 with a 4.76 ERA and a 1.41 WHIP. He has now pitched in 369 games (0 starts) in his first six years in the majors and he is 19-17 with 11 saves, a 4.15 ERA and a 1.45 WHIP. I like this signing for the Nationals as Coffey can help them late in games in 2011.

The Washington Nationals have signed 34-year old righty swinging infielder/outfielder Jerry Hairston to a 1-year, $2 million dollar deal. Hairston played in 119 games for the Padres last season and he was 105 of 430 (.244 avg, .652 OPS) with 53 runs scored, 10 homers, 50 RBIs and 9 stolen bases. Hairston has played in 1,148 games in his 13 years in the majors and he is 927 of 3,608 (.257 avg, .695 OPS) with 501 runs scored, 59 homers, 341 RBIs and 143 stolen bases. This was a good move for the Nationals as Hairston can handle playing 2B, SS, 3B and the outfield defensively and he can provide pop off the bencch.