The Nationals have acquired 27-year old righty swinging SS/2B Brian Bixler from the Pirates for cash considerations. Bixler has played in 75 games in AAA-ball this year and he is 70 of 265 (.264 avg, .869 OPS) with 33 runs scored, 3 homers, 28 RBIs and 12 stolen bases. He has played in 68 games in parts of two years in the majors and he is 27 of 152 (.178 avg, .475 OPS) with 21 runs scored, 5 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. Bixler is a good defensive player but he can’t hit too well so I don’t think he’ll have much of a role with the Nationals even if they do call him up.

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 signed 44-year old righty starting pitcher Orlando “El Duque” Hernandez to a minor league deal. Hernandez pitched in 8 games (0 starts) last season in AAA-ball for the Texas Rangers and he was 2-0 with a 2.45 ERA and a 0.73 WHIP. El Duque last pitched in the majors in 2007 with the Mets. Hernandez has pitched nine years in his major league career and he is 90-65 with 2 saves, a 4.13 ERA and a 1.26 WHIP. It will be interesting to see if Hernandez has anything left but this signing sure made his half-brother Livan happy.

33-year old righty reliever Mike MacDougal has opted out of his minor league contract with the Nationals making him a free agent. MacDougal pitched in 18 games (0 starts) in AA+AAA-ball this season and he was 4-1 with 2 saves, a 4.71 ERA and a 1.67 WHIP. He pitched in 52 games (0 starts) for the Nationals last season and he was 1-1 with 20 saves, a 3.60 ERA and a 1.52 WHIP. The Nationals didn’t have room in the pen for MacDougal so I don’t blame him for looking for another team.