The Washington Nationals have signed former St. Louis Redbird and Kansas City Royals outfielder Rick Ankiel to a one year, $1.5 million deal — according to SI’s Jon Heyman. Ankiel becomes a fourth outfielder in the Nationals’ outfield mix, but is expected to compete for a starting job with Roger Bernadina. The Ankiel story is well-known: after burning up the league as a left handed hurler with the Cardinals, Ankiel lost his control and decided to become an outfielder, enjoying a dramatic talk-of-the-league 2008 campaign in which he hit 25 home runs. Ankiel signed as a free agent with Kansas City, before being swapped (with Kyle Farnsworth), to Atlanta last year. This is a good signing for the Nationals, it gives them another outfield option or (at a minimum) a good bat off the bench. Then too, Ankiel is still only 31 — and while his production at the plate has fallen recently (his BA hovered around .230 during his last year in St. Louis), he’s a solid defender who can sometimes hit the long ball.

The Washington Nationals’ search for a top-of-the-rotation pitcher continues, with Kansas City ace Zack Greinke headed to Milwaukee, where he will lead a revamped Brewers’ rotation. The Brewers landed Greinke on Sunday (along with Yuniesky Betancourt and $2 million) in exchange for Lorenzo Cain, Alcides Escobar, Jeremy Jeffress and Jake Odorizzi — a packet of four young, up-and-coming wannabes. Greinke is the second top pitcher acquired by Milwaukee this offseason: the Brewers landed Shaun Marcum in November. While the Royals gave up a top-of-the-line hurler, this was a haul for the Monarchs, who received an exciting shortstop, a near can’t-miss outfielder (in Cain), and two former first round pitching prospects. Milwaukee, however, received a best-of-the-best, top-of-the-rotation former Cy Young winner who — with Marcum, Yovani Gallardo and Randy Wolf — provides them with what should be a playoff bound rotation.

And the Nationals? Sometimes it’s what you don’t do that works out for the best. The Nationals were in the running for Greinke, but would have had to part with three of four top youngsters, including Danny Espinosa, Ian Desmond, Drew Storen and, perhaps, Jordan Zimmermann. The trade would have left huge gaps in the team’s middle infield and sacrificed a middle innings reliever who has proven to be a solid addition. Kicking in Zimmermann (if that’s what it had taken) would have meant that the Nats had given up on a “can’t miss” front-of-the-rotation guy, albeit one who has yet to really prove himself. In our estimation, the swap wouldn’t have been worth it. We’ll never know if Mike Rizzo would have pulled the trigger on such a deal, as Greinke vetoed a trade to Half Street because the Nats aren’t slated to go to the post-season.

Ben Goessling speculates that a Brewers-like trade with the Nats would have yielded a package that might not have been as steep (Zimmermann, Desmond and minor leaguer Michael Burgess), but then issues this judgment: “That would have put a bigger hole in the team’s major and minor league systems than getting Greinke would have filled.” We agree: sometimes the bad news is good. The addition of Greinke would have solidified the Nats rotation, but at a cost that would have been too steep. Zimmermann and Desmond aren’t untouchable, but the fact that they’re not on the first plane to K.C. isn’t exactly a tragedy. The Greinke swap to Milwaukee leaves the Nats pursuing Twins semi-ace Carl Pavano (who seems likely to re-sign with the Twinkies), Matt Garza (who’s being dangled by the Rays), or Arizona free agent Brandon Webb — who has a tin cup for a shoulder.

Josh Willingham has been traded to the Oakland Athletics for former Oklahoma State bopper Corey Brown and pitcher Henry Rodriguez, who features a 98 mph fastball and a devastating curve. It’s tough to see Willingham go and Nationals’ fans are bound to be disappointed in the return: neither Brown nor Rodriguez are considered among the top prospects in the A’s system, and both are unpolished. But the Nats front office was apparently impressed with Brown’s power (he was dominant this fall, in Arizona) and H-Rod’s eye-popping speed and both will get a good look in Spring Training. It’s not out of the question that, if Rodriguez impresses Riggleman & Co., he could be the Nats’ closer in 2011. He has the stuff to do it and was used out of the bullpen by the A’s in 2010. Corey Brown, on the other hand, might well be an experiment: he hit for power in the A’s farm system (with 15 home runs at AA and AAA), but he struck out 129 times in 530-some at bats. Even so, Brown is young enough and good enough (and he’s fast) to start getting more than a look-see in a new Nats outfield.

In Willingham, the A’s get a steady presence both in left field and at the plate where (prior to his August 15 injury) he hit .268 with 16 home runs. The trade for Willingham was set up by A’s General Manager Billy Beane by the signing of former Rangers pitcher Brandon McCarthy and the re-signing of yet-to-reach-his-potential Rich Harden. Then too, in light of a slow off season for the Belinskis, the continued cratering of the Mariners and the failure of Texas to land Cliff Lee, the A’s front office is calculating that the A’s can outdistance the Rangers for A.L. West honors. They might be right. With the addition of Willingham, the White Elephants have finished building an outfield that (in addition to Willingham) will now feature Coco Crisp and David DeJesus, and a revamped middle-of-the-line-up that includes newly signed Hideki Matsui. The A’s are also in the race for Adrian Beltre, whose prospective signing would give the A’s a middle of the order that would be the class of the other coast.

And the Nats? Considering Willingham’s mid-August injury and his reputation as a popular but not-quite-great ballplayer, Rizzo got what he could — and it wasn’t bad. Brown has power potential and is close to getting more than just a cup of coffee in the bigs, while Rodriguez is a comer — and is coming fast. We all loved “The Hammer,” but no one would mistake Willingham for Henry Aaron. Nor was Willingham ever picked as the player who could become a constant presence, or lead the team to the promised land. He was good. He was beloved. He was temporary. The Nats need to get younger, faster and better, which is what they just did.

Here is the new starting rotation of the Philadelphia Phillies: Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt, Cole Hamels — and Cliff Lee. Lee, the cherry-on-the-cake free agent of major league baseball, has signed a five year $120 million deal with the Phillies, a surprise for the Yankees and Rangers (who reportedly outbid the Phillies), and one that probably puts the N.L. East out of reach for the Braves, Marlins, Mets and Washington Nationals. The Phillies are now the favorites to win not only the division, but the N.L. pennant, as they feature the best starting rotation in the game. What can the Nationals do? The current thinking is that the best response for Mike Rizzo & Co. would be to sign a front-of-the-rotation pitcher (like Carl Pavano) or swing a trade for Matt Garza or Zack Greinke that would make the club competitive. The Nats are, seemingly, in no hurry — though all three of their prospective targets could easily sign elsewhere: the Twins likely have the inside track to sign Pavano, Garza will cost the Nats more than they might be willing to pay (perhaps Ian Desmond, certainly Jordan Zimmermann) and Kansas City has already let it be known that the Nats do not match up well on a Greinke trade.

Lee’s decision to re-up with Philly (where he had pitched before being shipped out to Seattle), has shocked the baseball world. The Yankees and Rangers were thought to be Lee’s first choices, with the Rangers seemingly leading the pack. A third “mystery team” was said to be in the mix: we at CFG had guessed it was the Angels. It’s easy to see why Lee signed with the Phillies, though — as a line-up that includes Halladay, Oswalt and Hamels looks unbeatable: which would give Lee the World Series ring that he covets. Indeed, the Phillies starting rotation may be the best in baseball since Greg Maddux and John Smoltz anchored the Braves starting four in the mid-90s.  MLB Trade Rumors draws some important lessons from the Lee signing: don’t make any assumptions about what a player wants, players can leave big money on the table, teams can change their minds (the Phillies made a mistake in shipping Lee to Seattle — and brought him back), the Yankees don’t always get their man, every off season has its share of surprises and you can never have too much pitching. All of that sounds right.

How should the Nationals respond? Our view is simple: they shouldn’t. While Mike Rizzo has let it be known that there are two “untouchables” on the Washington Nine (Ryan Zimmerman and, now, Jayson Werth), we would add a third: Jordan Zimmermann. What’s the point of developing pitching if you’re going to ship it to Tampa or Kansas City? Zimmermann has the command and control to be a front line pitcher in the N.L. — and neither Garza or Greinke are going to give the team the horse they need to compete with Philadelphia. It would be better to sign Pavano, if possible, or swing a trade for a mid-rotation righty that would upgrade the starting staff without gutting either the farm system or trading away the future. Anything can happen in baseball, and Philadelphia’s signing of Cliff Lee is not a guarantee that they will outgun and outpitch the Nationals this year. But let’s be realistic: the Phillies aren’t suddenly the odds-on favorite in the NL Least by accident.

Michael Morse’s home run and his three RBIs, combined with the steady pitching of Ross Detwiler, resulted in a 7-2 spanking of the Houston Astros on Thursday at Nats’ Park — and a three of four game series triumph. With Ryan Zimmerman and Adam Dunn out of the starting line up as a result of minor injuries, the kids led the team: in addition to Morse’s dinger, Roger Bernadina added a home run in the 6th and Danny Espinosa added one in the 7th. Ross Detwiler, slowed by a hip injury for most of the season, pitched six respectable innings, while a number of stellar defensive plays were made behind him — including a down-the-line pick-up from Alberto Gonzalez at third, good enough to be included as a BBTN “Web Gem.” But Morse was the hero. “I’m just trying to finish strong — finish on a positive note — and try to continue to show them that I could be an everyday player,” Morse said following the victory. “I would love to get 500 at-bats in a season one day and see what happens.”

The Kasten Resignation: The Nationals are soft pedaling Stan Kasten’s decision to resign his position as president, and so is Kasten himself. Kasten told reporters that the decision was made a year ago and that he simply wants to move on to other opportunities. But Adam Kilgore has this right — Kasten’s resignation shows that the Nats are at yet another crossroads, with the Lerners now under pressure to follow the model he set of developing younger players and increasing the team’s payroll to take advantage of the little on-the-field progress the team has made. Kasten “did everything,” Kilgore says, and he’ll be hard to replace. There are some dissenting voices. “The fact of the matter is that the natural progression of the Nationals’ franchise over the last five years left Kasten more and more marginalized within the front office,” Mark Zuckerman writes over at Nats’ Insider. “The team simply didn’t need a president in charge of day-to-day operations anymore.” Zuckerman makes a strong argument, characterizing Kasten as less important over the last year.

We’re agnostic: the litmus test of success for this franchise is not in the front office, but on the field. If the Nats can produce a solid and successful 2011, then Kasten’s legacy will be assured, and if they don’t . . . well, they’re be a lot of rethinking about why Kasten left. Then too, the real question here is not who runs the front office, or even who fills the role of being the face of the front office (that’s Mike Rizzo), but whether the Lerners are willing to increase the payroll sufficiently to bring in the players that will fill out a roster comprised of young and talented position players and even younger (and untested) arms. The question is: do the owners of this franchise want to be the Minnesota Twins (who spiked their payroll in 2010 to some $97 million — from $65 million in ’09), or do they want to remain the Kansas City Royals — the perennial bottom feeders of the N.L. Central? That question remains unanswered. Then too, and for the record, the Royals actually have a higher payroll than the Nats ($74.9 million vs. $66.2 million), while they’ve actually won two fewer games.

Washington Nationals fans, all agog over new team ace Stephen Strasburg, have come back to earth. That reality is reflected in team blogs, in newspaper reports — and in the young phenom’s own judgment. In a classic pitcher’s duel, Strasburg went head-to-head against Kansas City’s Brian Bannister, whose command of the strike zone and an up-and-down-in-and-out fastball and curve made the difference in the game. The result was a 1-0 Royals’ win, albeit with a dink and dunk, Texas leaguer contest in which the Monarchs refused to fold and (over the course of nine innings) slapped out nine hits. Strasburg lost the game, but took the booby prize: he eclipsed Herb Score’s strikeout record for the first four games of an MLB career — Score had 40 strikeouts in his first four, Strasburg had 41.

Jim Riggleman praised Strasburg, but there was a back handed caveat: “This time he was really good. The other times, he’s been spectacular,” the skipper said in his post game comments. Riggleman also took note of the difficulty of taking on the Royals’ order, a deceptively productive line-up that produces serial singles and station-to-station runs — if not wins. “The Royals have the highest batting average [in major league baseball] and Stephen competed with less than his best stuff today. They know how to hit.” Former Nats outfielder Jose Guillen was more specific: “He still has a little to learn about how to pitch in certain counts,” Guillen said. “He got me 1-2 or something and threw me a fastball right down the middle.” Those who sat through the sweltering oven of a game will add this — that Brian Bannister, lacking the Strasburg fastball (and slider, and change, and hook for that matter), won the duel, pitching six complete and giving up five hits. Bannister walked two (Strasburg none), but the final tally told the tale. When the Nats needed hits, Bannister shut them down.When the Royals needed hits, they got them.

Despite the loss, Strasburg remains the ace of the staff, garnering praise from teammates and opponents alike. It’s not everyday that your manager calls you a “treasure” (a descriptive used by Jim Riggleman in a post game interview), or that your teammates are lavish in their support. Ryan Zimmerman has, at least lately, been outspoken in his support and it seems that Pudge Rodriguez actually seems to like the kid. It shows that Strasburg is starting to fit in — not an insignificant challenge for a 21-year-old who just arrived and needs to show that he can not only pitch, but wants to win. He seems to have convinced the doubters, if there ever were any. This morning Tom Boswell reported that Strasburg summarily dismissed a reporter who asked about an auction of his rookie card on eBay. “Let’s focus on the game,” Strasburg said. “It was a tough loss for us.”

That kind of comment has to bring a sigh of relief to Riggleman and Rizzo, who have focused a lot of their attention on building a united clubhouse, which (at least in baseball) is a minimal condition for building a winning team. Gone now too (we hope) is all this talk of whether Strasburg should be an All Star, that he deserves to have his name mentioned among the NL’s probables — who might well constitute the best group of senior circuit starters in many years: Jimenez, Halladay, Lincecum, Carpenter, Pelfry, Hudson, Latos, Johnson, Wainwright, Cain, Oswalt and Silva. That’s a veritable gaggle of greatness. If Wednesday’s rare-back-and-throw hot-as-a-firecracker duel in the sun proves anything it’s that Strasburg is not there. Yet.

Monday’s 2-1 win at Nationals Park may be taken as “Exhibit #1″ that pitching — good pitching — wins ballgames. While the Nationals squeezed out only three hits against the more-than-mediocre Bruce Chen (et. al.), Livan Hernandez mastered the Royals line-up through seven complete innings, scattering eight hits and striking out five. The Nats relied on the long ball, with super-sometime-starter Mike Morse and second sacker Cristian Guzman providing the fireworks. The victory was closed out by Washington’s “Clipp & Save” crew of Tyler Clippard and Matt Capps — who notched his 21st save. Nats starter Livan Hernandez returned to his winning ways, and his by now traditional slow-slower-slowest methods — a turnaround from his last outing against the Kalines in which he was scorched. “I left the ball up a little bit, but the slider was working very well,” Hernandez said after his victory. “The cutter was working perfectly. I had a bad game in Detroit, so today I knew I had to come through and stop the losing streak.”

The Wisdom Of Section 1-2-9: There’s a familiar touch that comes from sitting in the same section, game after game after game. It’s not like you’d want to live with these people, but after ten games (or more), you learn to value the comments of your section. Or not, as the case may be. There are times when you want to turn around, facing the guys in the row behind you and say: “Hey listen, I understand that your sale of software is important, but Gavin Floyd is pitching a great game here. Not to mention Strasburg.” You don’t do it, because people come to the ballpark for all kinds of reasons, some of them apparently having nothing to do with baseball. There’s no legislating intelligence, as they say. Still, there are those valuable moments that only a new set of eyes can see. A fan looked over my shoulder, two weeks ago, as I was scoring. “Remember, there’s no RBI on a run scored on a double play,” he said. I looked down at my score book, eraser poised. Mmmmm. Right.

“Nyjer’s act is wearing thin,” a 1-2-9 partisan said this week. A man two rows up leaned forward: “Tony Plush!” — which brought groans from down the row. The guy next to me weighed in. “He has trouble with a fastball, it’s all this dink and dunk stuff, bringing the bat down to bunt and pulling it back. That’s a clear message — he can’t catch up to the fastball. And he doesn’t read pitchers well.” There was silence through the next inning, until Morgan came to bat. He faked a bunt to third, running down the first base line. Strike two. One pitch later he was on the bench. Heads turned, checking his BA on the scoreboard. .251. “So what do we do?” Silence, and then this: “Center field is Bernadina’s natural position and Morse needs playing time.” A dissent was issued, one row back, where talk of software had been ceded to the game on the field. “We wouldn’t be saying this last year.” Two batters later, the response came, from a bright new Nats Cap three seats away. “We were a different team last year. Last year Nyjer Morgan looked like our salvation. This year he looks like a .251 hitter.” True.