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.