The Nationals have signed 24-year old righty reliever Dan Cortes to a minor league deal. Cortes pitched in 10 games (0 starts) for the Mariners last year and he was 0-2 with a 5.91 ERA and a 1.78 WHIP. He also pitched in 32 games (0 starts) in AAA-ball last year and he was 1-2 with 3 saves, a 5.08 ERA and a 1.85 WHIP. Cortes has now pitched in 14 games (0 starts) in his first two years in the majors and he is 0-3 with a 5.06 ERA and a 1.56 WHIP. Cortes will likely miss the start of the 2012 season after he underwent surgery to repair a partial tear of his rotator cuff and a tear to a biceps tendon. This was a good pickup for the Nationals as Cortes was a pretty good prospect before getting injured last year.