The Nationals announced today they have picked up the 2009 option on Manny Acta's contract, ensuring the popular manager will remain with the club for at least two more seasons.

"We're very, very pleased with the job he has done here," general manager Jim Bowden said. "We believe he's our long-term solution as manager. We think he should be National League Manager of the Year this year. He's done a tremendous job leading this organization, communicating, motivating. He's well-prepared. He might be one of the youngest in the game, but he's certainly one of the best in the game."

Acta, 38, has molded a young Nationals club that was expected to be among the worst in baseball this season into a surprising success story. After opening the season 9-25, Washington has gone 63-62 entering this weekend's final series at Philadelphia.

Given a two-year, $900,000 contract when he was hired last winter, Acta had two club options included in the deal. The 2009 option, worth $600,000, has now been picked up. The Nationals will decide later whether or not to pick up the 2010 option, which is worth $700,000.

"It's very meaningful to me," Acta said. "It means the confidence they're showing in, and that they're satisfied with the job we've done this year. I'm looking forward to doing the same thing next year and for years to come. I'll stay here as long as they think I'm an asset to the organization."

Please send your questions to Mark Zuckerman at natsmailbag@washingtontimes.com, then check back in at 2 p.m. for our final live chat of the regular season. See you then!

Some discouraging news for the Nats: Shawn Hill is being shut down for the final week of the season and will have surgery on his right forearm to decompress the radial nerve. Sound familiar? That's the same procedure John Patterson just had done.

While the news comes somewhat out of the blue, it's not a total shocker. Hill had complained of forearm tightness since spring training, and though he managed to pitch through it, it did bother him most of the season.

Still waiting to get details of when/where the surgery will take place and what the recovery time will be. Hill also will have surgery to repair a tear in his left (non-throwing) shoulder two weeks after the forearm surgery.

Hill was scheduled to start Wednesday against the Mets. He'll now be replaced by Mike Bacsik.

First off, you're down to your final two opportunities to ask me questions for our weekly Nats Live Chat. Scheduled to start at 2 p.m. today (though I may be a few minutes late because Stan Kasten is holding an informal media luncheon at 1 p.m. and I'm not sure how long that will last). Send your questions in now to natsmailbag@washingtontimes.com, then check in here at 2 p.m. for the chat...

In other news, how 'bout those resilient Nats? Coming back from four runs down on back-to-back nights to topple the first-place Mets? Not bad. They're currently 68-83, and if they manage to go 5-6 the rest of the way, they'll finish 73-89. That would be a two-game improvement over last season. Who would have predicted they'd avoid 90 losses? (Certainly not this intrepid reporter, who had them going 66-96 back on Opening Day.) ...

I know there has been some scuttlebutt about Nats asst. GM Mike Rizzo being a candidate for several GM openings currently out there (most notably Pittsburgh) but, at least so far, there has been no development in that regard. A club scource told me last night that the Nationals have not been contacted by any other teams seeking permission to interview Rizzo ... yet. Doesn't mean it won't happen eventually, but it hasn't happened so far. ...

And finally, I made mention in this morning's paper about the Nats holding Firefighter Appreciation Night yesterday at RFK. It was a nice tribute, with players wearing "DCFD" hats that included the date "9-11-01" on the side during batting practice. I wondered whether it would have made more sense to hold the event closer to Sept. 11, since there was an obvious connection there. But as Nats VP of communications Chartese Burnett pointed out to me this morning, the event couldn't be held until yesterday because of D.C. Fire Chief Dennis Rubin's availability. Makes perfect sense.

Washington Times columnist Thom Loverro will appear on The Sports Reporters program on WTEM Sportstalk 980 Wednesday from 5 to 7 p.m.

Throw another name into the ring for a spot in next year's rotation: right-hander Enrique Gonzalez, who the Nationals just claimed off waivers from the Diamondbacks.

The quick story on Gonzalez: The 25-year-old was the D'backs minor-league pitcher of the year in 2004 and progressed through their system well. He struggled when given a chance to pitch in the majors last season, though, going 3-7 with a 5.67 ERA. Given a shot to make the rotation this spring, he struggled mightily and was sent down to Class AAA Tucson, where he never found his groove again. He went 8-10 with a 5.15 ERA and was given only one brief appearance in Arizona in which he surrendered three runs in two innings. The word on him is that he lost his confidence after getting sent down in spring training and has had a difficult time getting it back since.

That said, this is a low-risk move for the Nats. Gonzalez was placed on the 40-man roster, but because it's so late in the season, he won't report to the big-league club. He'll come to spring training next year with a shot to make the back end of the rotation, and even if he doesn't make it, he'll give the club a promising young arm at Class AAA, something they didn't have a lot of this year.

The Nationals completed the Ray King trade with the Milwaukee Brewers today, acquiring minor-league OF/1B Andrew Lefave as the player to be named from the deal. Lefave, 23, had 17 homers and 79 RBI while hitting .345 for the Class A West Virginia Power, winning the South Atlantic League batting title.

Sounds like a nice pickup for Washington, especially when you consider they gave up an aging left-handed reliever who would have been a free agent in three weeks anyway. To get what could be a promising offensive prospect in return for King is impressive. But before anyone starts referring to this trade as a steal, let's remember than Lefave is 23 years old and still in low Class A. He's running out of time to make it through the system, so there is some risk there.

In other news:

-- John Patterson had successful surgery this morning to decompress the radial nerve in his right arm, a one-hour procedure performed by Dr. David Ruch at the Duke Medical Center. Patterson will now begin his long rehab in hopes of getting back on the mound next spring (either for the Nationals or for another team).

-- Nats' starting center fielder tonight? Justin Maxwell. The rookie, who clubbed a grand slam for his first career hit the other night in Florida, gets his first career start tonight against Braves lefty Chuck James. Maxwell will hit eighth.

Washington Times columnist Thom Loverro will appear on The Sports Reporters on WTEM Sportstalk 980 today (Wednesday) from 5 to 7 p.m.

It's Wednesday, and you know what that means: Live chat time! And as an added bonus, I'll be taking and answering your questions from Dolphin Stadium right in the middle of the Nats' game against the Marlins. So if you're stuck in the office and unable to watch this titanic clash this afternoon, drop me a line and I'll fill you in on how things are going. The chat starts, as always, at 2 p.m. Send your questions in advance to natsmailbag@washingtontimes.com, then go to this link at 2 p.m. to join in.

(First, a public service announcement via the Nats: The club will be collecting gently used or new baseball equipment -- gloves, tees, baseballs, softballs, bats, etc. -- before the games Saturday and Sunday at RFK Stadium. The equipment, plus a $5,000 grant from the Baseball Tomorrow Fund, will be donated to the National Black Church Initiative Youth Baseball League. Collections will take place at all stadium gates from 1 1/2 hours before gametime through the second inning.)

Now, back to the topic of the day: The umpires' handling of last night's monsoon at Dolphin Stadium. For those who weren't watching, it absolutely started pouring during the top of the seventh inning, yet crew chief Tim McClelland allowed the game to continue for a good 10 minutes. At one point, Jesus Flores hit a routine pop-up to third with runners on first and second. Marlins third baseman Miguel Cabrera looked up, had no idea where the ball was, and threw his hands into the air. None of his teammates saw it, either, nor did Wily Mo Pena, who got caught between second and third. The ball landed just behind third base, at which point comedy ensued. Pena bolted from second base, Ronnie Belliard from first, Flores from the batter's box. Cabrera picked up the ball and tagged Pena, who rounded third still unsure what had happened. McClelland (one of the game's most respected umps) said he called "Infield Fly," declaring Flores out and Pena out for running at his own risk.

It was an embarassing moment on many levels, but that was only the beginning. At the end of the play, it was obvious to everyone in the stadium that the game should have been halted. McClelland, though, said he was told by the grounds crew that the storm would be brief, so he allowed play to continue. Finally, after two pitches to Shawn Hill, McClelland signaled for the tarp as players went scurrying for cover.

I don't want to get into too much of a rant on umpires here, because I don't like shooting fish in a barrel. But here's my question: Has baseball gone too far in instructing umpires to do everything they can to keep games going and to get the full nine innings in? I understand why it's important to try to limit delays and force makeup games. But at some point, they're risking serious injury to a player. It would have been easy for someone to get hurt last night as the game continued under torrential run. Was it worth the risk just to keep the game going a few more minutes before they brought out the tarp anyway?

I'm interested in anyone's thoughts on the subject.

Interesting article by John Ourand in this week's Sports Business Journal about Ron Darling, the former Mets pitcher who served as an analyst for MASN during the network's debut season in 2005. If you recall, Darling was skewered by fans and local media for his performance and was dropped from the network after just one season.

Darling is now an analyst for Mets games on SportsNet New York, and he seems content now. But his comments about his MASN experience make for a great read.

Some tidbits from the article:

-Darling had a mere two hours to decide whether to join MASN. He was sitting at his home in Lake Tahoe when he got a call from his agent just two days before the season started. He never auditioned for the job or even sent tapes of his in-booth performance. He met play-by-play man Mel Procter for the first time just three hours before the game.

-The first production meeting took place in a rented Toyota Corrolla three hours before the first pitch of the Nats' first game. Then-GM Bob Whitelaw was behind the wheel and got lost, resulting in a drive from the Four Seasons Hotel to the stadium that took more than an hour.

"We were like the Keystone Cops, with heads hanging out of windows. Our production meeting was held in a rent-a-car. What can I say?" said Darling.

-Darling admits to being so inexperienced that he often said nothing, even when Procter fed him lines.

-At one point, there were so many technical difficulties that Darling had to comment on a replay he wasn't even able to see.

-"I was on an island," Darling said. "I never had one meeting with the powers that be at MASN over my inability to express myself. Because I was getting such criticism, I thought at some point I'd either be fired or they'd tell me to start doing something differently. That just didn't happen."

Update: Sorry for the lack of link, folks. SBJ's site is subscription only.

Greetings from muggy South Florida, where summer never ends. It's been a while since I last posted anything -- sorry, took the Atlanta series off -- but we're back in full swing this week and ready to kick off what should be a thrilling series with the Marlins. Ugh, is it just me, or does it seem like these two teams have played each other 37 times this season? Fortunately, the Nats have played well against their NL East rivals, going 9-6 this season. Unfortunately, most of those wins came at RFK. They're only 2-4 here at Joe Robbie/Pro Player/Dolphins/Dolphin Stadium.

This, however, would be a good time for Manny Acta's boys to put the hurt on the Fish. They already come into the series three games up on Florida for fourth place in the East (thanks to last week's sweep in D.C.). Another sweep down here would all but end this "race" and position the Nats nicely heading into their final homestand at RFK.

Speaking of which, I've heard there are a good number of seats still available for the Sept. 23 game against the Phillies, the final baseball game ever at RFK. Just went online to check myself, and it appears most of the lower deck is sold and most of the upper deck behind the plate. Still plenty of seats down the lines and in the outfield. My guess is it won't be a sellout, not unless the Phillies are still alive in the playoff race and a bunch of their fans truck down I-95 to see them in person.

Is that significant? Is there any other ballpark in the majors that wouldn't be sold out for its final game? Hmm, probably Miami, perhaps Tampa Bay. But those venues don't have the same history as RFK does. Then again, much of RFK's history is from way back in the '60s, with a 33-year gap before the Nats arrived in 2005. So we're not talking about Yankee Stadium (or even Royals Stadium) here. Still, it would be nice to think there are 45,000 people in the area who care enough to witness history.

Perhaps there will be a mad rush on tickets over the next 13 days.

Good news on Tim Redding, who appeared to seriously injure his right arm diving for a ball in the third inning tonight. X-rays came back negative, and he's been diagnosed only with a right elbow contusion. He'll be out seven to 10 days.

Breathe a sigh of relief, everyone.

Mark Zuckerman will be online to answer your Nats questions today at 2 p.m. Click here to join the live chat, or e-mail your questions directly to natsmailbag@washingtontimes.com.

The Nationals have traded left-hander Ray King to the Milwaukee Brewers for a player to be named, a move that was surprising only in that it didn't happen sooner.

King, 33, is a veteran left-handed specialist who had been performing quite well over the last two months or so. Most figured someone would want to pick him up before the Sept. 1 deadline to set postseason rosters. The Brewers finally came calling today, and his addition should help Milwaukee's bullpen for the stretch run. But, should they make the playoffs, King won't be eligible to pitch. Strange, but sometimes teams get desperate, and clearly the Brew Crew is desperate to make the postseason for the first time in 25 years.

King's absence from the Nationals' clubhouse will be notable, both because he had pitched well but also because he was a popular, jovial veteran on a roster full of kids. King had become a clubhouse leader, someone who was always willing to give a younger pitcher advice or play a practical joke on anyone who walked through the door.

From a practical standpoint, the Nationals will have plenty of other left-handed relief options, especially now that rosters have expanded to 40. Look for recent addition Arnie Munoz to get a shot at some late-game, lefty-on-lefty situations, as well as former starter Mike Bacsik and veteran Micah Bowie (fresh off the DL).

The Nationals just announced another batch of September call-ups, and look who's on the list:

-- LHP Ross Detwiler
-- OF Justin Maxwell
-- OF Ryan Langerhans
-- LHP Micah Bowie
-- RHP Jonathan Albaladejo
-- LHP Arnie Munoz

Yes, Detwiler, this year's first-round draft choice, is being promoted to the major leagues after only nine minor-league appearances. Not a huge surprise, because Jim Bowden had been dropping hints for a while that the left-hander could be in line for this promotion. Still, it's pretty amazing to think that a 21-year-old who only four months ago was pitching for Missouri State will be pitching in the big leagues.

Detwiler won't pitch a whole lot up here. He may only make a few relief appearances. And Maxwell, who is also being called up from Class Potomac, may not make too many starts in center field down the stretch. But as we've seen, this organization isn't afraid to give young players a chance. Detwiler becomes the organization's third No. 1 pick in the last five years to make it to the majors the same season they were drafted. The first two (Chad Cordero in 2003 and Ryan Zimmerman in 2005) turned out all right.

Everyone already knows about Langerhans and Bowie (who is finally healthy after a hip injury). The two unknowns from the bunch are Albaladejo and Munoz, both relievers from Class AAA Columbus. The organization is really high on Albaladejo, who posted an 0.78 ERA in 14 appearances (23 innings). And Munoz, who had a 2.56 ERA in 54 games with Columbus, is a left-handed specialist who will be given a chance to earn that role on next year's squad.