25-year old righty swinging Ian Desmond will be the starting SS for the Nationals once again in 2011, but they are hoping for improvement out of him with both the bat and the mitt. Desmond played in 154 games for the Nationals last season and he was 141 of 525 (.269 avg, .700 OPS) with 59 runs scored, 10 homers, 65 RBIs and 17 stolen bases. If Desmond hit a little bit better the Nationals could overlook some of his defensive issues. He made 34 errors in 149 games at SS last season while showing pretty good range. Desmond has a nice upside so the Nationals aren’t going to have a quick hook with him.

34-year old righty swinging Jerry Hairston, 35-year old lefty swinging Alex Cora and 27-year old righty swinging Alberto Gonzalez will battle for ABs behind Desmond this spring. Hairston played in 62 games at SS for the Padres last season and he made 6 errors while showing pretty good range. He’s likely to get one of the spots on the Nationals’ bench this spring. Cora made 1 error in 6 games at SS while showing excellent range and Gonzalez played in 16 games at SS for the Nationals but he showed poor range.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE NATIONALS SS IN 2011: C+

The Nationals have designated 25-year old righty starter Luis Atilano for assignment. Atilano pitched in 16 games (all starts) for the Nationals in his first taste of the majors last season and he was 6-7 with a 5.15 ERA and a 1.49 WHIP. The Nationals are hoping to sneak him through waivers as he had elbow surgery last August. But, Atilano looked pretty solid, so some team might claim him off waivers and stash him on their roster until he heals up.

The Washington Nationals will likely go into the 2011 season with 23-year old switch hitting Danny Espinosa as the starting 2B. Espinosa got his first taste of the majors late in 2010 with the Nationals. He played in 28 games for the Nationals last season and he was 22 of 103 (.214 avg, .723 OPS) with 16 runs scored, 6 homers and 15 RBIs. Espinosa did whiff 30 times in the majors so he does have some things to work on. But, he also played in 123 games in AA+AAA-ball last season in which he was 129 of 481 (.268 avg, .801 OPS) with 80 runs scored, 22 homers, 69 RBIs and 25 stolen bases. Espinosa was outstanding with a mitt on his hands for the Nationals last season too as he didn’t make any errors in 25 games with the team while showing out of this world range. The Nationals are really excited about Espinosa’s potential both as a hitter and a fielder.

27-year old righty swinging Alberto Gonzalez is going to have an uphill battle to save his roster spot this spring due to the fact that the Nationals brought in Jerry Hairston and Alex Cora to spring training to compete with him. Gonzalez played in 114 games for the Nationals last season but he was only 46 of 186 (.247 avg, .578 OPS) with 19 runs scored, 0 homers and 5 RBIs. Gonzalez doesn’t add much to the Nationals with a bat in his hands. But, defensively he’s pretty solid. Gonzalez only made 1 error in 38 games at 2B last season while showing outstanding range.

34-year old righty swinging Jerry Hairston can play all over the field but his natural position is 2B. 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 is a decent hitter but .260 is probably his ceiling. Hairston only made 1 error in 47 games at 2B for the Padres last season but he showed pretty poor range. His value lies in his versatility as he can almost play anywhere.

35-year old lefty swinging Alex Cora has made a decent career out of playing defense. He played in 66 games for the Mets & Rangers last season and he was 37 of 176 (.210 avg, .544 OPS) with 14 runs scored, 0 homers, 20 RBIs and 4 stolen bases. Cora is a .240-.250 hitter with little power and speed. He only made 1 error in 8 games at 2B last season while showing average range. Cora is also a pretty decent shortstop defensively.

25-year old righty swinging Matt Antonelli is also on hand to try to win a job in spring training. Antonelli played in 1 game in Rookie ball last season and he was 0 for 1 with a walk and a run scored. The former top prospect has never lived up to his “potential”, so maybe a fresh new start will spark him. Antonelli’s only major league experience came back in 2008 with the San Diego Padres. Antonelli played in 21 games in 2008 with the Padres and he was 11 of 57 (.193 avg, .573 OPS) with 6 runs scored, 1 homer and 3 RBIs.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE NATIONALS 2B IN 2011: C+

The Nationals have signed 32-year old switch hitting shortstop Alex Cintron to a minor league deal. Cintron played in 20 games in AAA-ball last season and he was 13 of 57 (.228 avg, .577 OPS) with 5 runs scored, 1 homer and 3 RBIs. He last played in the majors back in 2009 (with the Nationals) as he played in 21 games in which he was 2 of 26 (.077 avg, .220 OPS) with 1 run scored. Cintron has now played in 680 games in his first 9 years in the majors and he is 565 of 2,056 (.275 avg, .707 OPS) with 244 runs scored, 33 homers, 222 RBIs and 18 stolen bases.

31-year old lefty swinging Adam LaRoche will be replacing Adam Dunn as the starting 1B for the Nationals in 2011. LaRoche played in 151 games for the D-Backs last season and he was 146 of 560 (.261 avg, .788 OPS) with 75 runs scored, 25 homers and 100 RBIs. LaRoche whiffs about as much as Adam Dunn does (172 times last season) but he’s not got near his eye (48 walks). LaRoche bucked a trend of getting off to a slow start in 2010 and the Nationals hope that continues in 2011. LaRoche had 11 errors in 146 games at 1B last season but he’s a much better defender than Adam Dunn is. LaRoche is going to do a solid job for the Nationals in 2011.

28-year old lefty swinging Michael Aubrey will get a chance to win a job on the Nationals’ bench this spring. He played in 102 games in AAA-ball last season and he was 86 of 366 (.235 avg, .805 OPS) with 52 runs scored, 22 homers, 68 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. Aubrey has played in 46 games in parts of two years in the majors and he is 35 of 135 (.259 avg, .755 OPS) with 14 runs scored, 6 homers and 17 RBIs.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE NATIONALS 1B IN 2011: B