We have confirmed with a baseball source that the Nationals have agreed in principal to a deal with switch-hitting catcher Johnny Estrada. Though the deal is not finalized, it does appear he is heading to Washington, pending a physical performed Thursday.

While it's likely Estrada has been signed as a backup, he is not a severe downgrade from Paul Lo Duca and it is not improbable that he could snag considerable playing time. (In fact, the deal contains some incentives for plate appearances.) At the very least, Estrada will be the primary catcher at the start of spring training, as Lo Duca will be out until at least the beginning of March as he recovers from surgery on his left knee.

The Estrada signing is, at the very least, helpful in that it allows the Nationals to keep catching prospect Jesus Flores in the minors, where he can get plenty of at-bats and develop.

Estrada had been searching for a home since December, when he was non-tendered by the New York Mets, despite being traded from the Brewers in exchange for reliever Guillermo Mota. He had been seeking a starting job and came close to signing with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Estrada is a switch-hitting catcher who broke into the bigs with a solid season with the Phillies in 2001 when he replaced the injured Mike Lieberthal. He's a career .280 hitter with 42 home runs and 281 RBI in seven seasons with the Phillies, Braves, Diamondbacks and Brewers. He batted .278 with 10 homers and 54 RBI in 442 at-bats with Milwaukee last year, though he was often criticized for his rate in throwing out base stealers.

- Tim Lemke

With Paul Lo Duca hurt, it's natural the Nationals might seek the services of another catcher. And they have apparently found their man in former Braves and Brewers backstop Johnny Estrada, MLB.com is reporting.

According to the report, Estrada is expected to sign a $1.25 million contract with the team, pending a physical. Team officials declined to confirm the deal. A call to Estrada's agent, David Schwartz, was not returned.

Estrada is a switch-hitting catcher who broke into the bigs with a nice season with the Phillies in 2001 when he replaced the injured Mike Lieberthal. He's a career .280 hitter with 42 home runs and 281 RBI in seven seasons with the Phillies, Braves, Diamondbacks and Brewers. He batted .278 with 10 homeruns and 54 RBI in 442 at-bats with Milwaukee last year.

It's unlikely Estrada would compete for the starting job once Lo Duca comes back from his injured knee in March. But, the signing would allow the Nationals to keep catching prospect Jesus Flores in the minor leagues, where he can get more at-bats.

-- Tim Lemke

Washington Nationals catcher Paul Lo Duca will be unavailable at the start of spring training after having arthroscopic surgery this morning to repair a partially torn medial meniscus in his left knee.

The surgery was performed by Dr. Ben Shaffer at Sibley Memorial Hospital in the District.

Lo Duca hurt the knee while working out in New York last week. Initial reports were that the injury was not too serious, but an MRI revealed a tear. He will begin a rehab program later this week and will miss four to six weeks of action.

Even if Lo Duca comes back quickly, he will miss at least the first two weeks of camp in Viera -- obviously not a good thing for a team entering spring training with a host of young pitchers.

The Nationals signed Lo Duca to a one-year, $5 million contract this offseason after trading Brian Schneider to the Mets as part of a deal for Lastings Milledge.

Lo Duca's injury ensures that he will be a hot subject in spring training. The catcher has not addressed the media since being named in a report by former Sen. George Mitchell that outlined the use of performance enhancing drugs in baseball.

-- Tim Lemke

The Nationals' minor league system is one of the most-improved in all of baseball, according to Baseball America's latest Prospect Handbook.

The publication said the Nationals have the ninth-best organizational ranking, up from dead last out of 30 teams last year. It's the second-largest jump by a team since Baseball America began the rankings in 2001; the Texas Rangers jumped from 28th to fourth this season.

The Tampa Bay Rays lead Baseball America's rankings, followed by the Red Sox, Reds, Rangers and Yankees. The Nationals are ranked in between the Braves and Angels.

Credit for the Nationals jump can go to the flurry of top draft picks acquired by the team in the last year, several of which came as compensation for Alfonso Soriano and Jose Guillen's exodus via free agency after 2006. Many fans and media members criticized the Nationals for failing to acquire anything via trade for either player, but three of the team's top seven draft picks in 2007 -- pitchers Jeff Smoker and Jordan Zimmerman and outfielder Michael Burgess -- were acquired as sandwich picks following Soriano and Guillen's departure.

The Nationals have never ranked better than 16th in Baseball America's prospect rankings. The team ranked 26th, 24th and 30th in its first three years after moving to Washington from Montreal.

"The Nationals' march up our prospect rankings isn't unprecedented, but it's extremely impressive," said Baseball America Editor In Chief John Manuel. "It shows a commitment to building an organization, not just a team, and to building it creatively, through trades for prospects, through the draft and through international signings. The Nats have shown that with the resources they now have, they intend to be players for top amateur talent."

Baseball America ranks first baseman/outfielder Chris Marrero as the top prospect in the Nationals' system, followed by pitchers Ross Detwiler and Collin Balester, Burgess and pitcher Jack McGeary.

- Tim Lemke

Washington Times sports columnist Thom Loverro will be on The Sports Reporters on SportsTalk 980-AM from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 21.

I know there's suddenly a lot of chatter about the Nats trying to move their Class AAA affiliate to Richmond now that the Braves have announced they're pulling out and moving to Gwinett, Ga. Seems like a perfect opportunity for the Nats to swoop in, claim Richmond as their own and reap the benefits, right?

Not so fast.

It's not as easy as it looks. Actually, it's going to be almost impossible for the Nats to move their Class AAA club to Richmond. Why? Because this isn't a case of the Braves pulling their affiliation and latching on with a new one. No, the Richmond Braves (who are owned by the Atlanta Braves) are actually relocating the entire franchise to Gwinett, leaving nothing behind. (Think the Montreal Expos relocating to Washington, just on a smaller scale.) So there's no empty Class AAA affiliate sitting in Richmond for the Nats (or anyone else) to take over.

In order for that to happen, another existing Class AAA franchise would have to pack up and relocate itself to Richmond, then align itself with the Nats. And, there's almost no chance of that happening. There are only 30 Class AAA teams out there, and only 14 of them play in the International League. (None of the 16 Pacific Coast League teams are allowed to jump ship and join the IL without the league's consent.) And none of those IL franchises are looking to relocate, not now that the Ottawa Lynx are set to move to Pennsylvania and become the Lehigh Valley IronPigs.

So Richmond's hopes of landing another Class AAA team are miniscule.

What about a lower-level minor-league franchise? That's possible. There are more Class AA and Class A clubs to choose from, and those situations are usually less stable than the Class AAA ones. Perhaps the Nats could someday try to engineer a relocation of the Potomac Nationals or the Hagerstown Suns to Richmond, but that still would require ownership of those franchises -- remember, they're not owned by the Nats -- to want to move.

So for at least the foreseeable future, the Nats' presence in Richmond will have to remain strictly on the marketing level.

Chad Cordero and the Nats have come to terms on a one-year contract, avoiding arbitration. According to sources, the deal is for $6.2 million, which makes Cordero the highest-paid player on the Nats' current roster, ahead of Nick Johnson ($5.5 million) and Dmitri Young, Austin Kearns and Paul Lo Duca (all $5 million).

This leaves the Nats with only three remaining unsigned, arbitration-eligible players: Felipe Lopez (who could get around $5 million himself), Jon Rauch (perhaps $1 million to $1.5 million) and Tim Redding ($750,000 to $1 million). Those players can come to terms at any point with the club on one-year deals, but if they haven't agreed by next Friday, both sides must submit arbitration figures to the league. Arbitration hearings take place in February.

No FanFest, no Winter Caravan, but here's what community events the Nats have planned for the next two weeks. This is straight from the team's press release. (Interesting that Charlie Slowes, who has not officially had his contract extended, will be attending)...

The Washington Nationals today announced the schedule for their 2008 Winter Tour. The teams' third winter event since their return to Washington in 2005 will be conducted in two phases, with the first running from Saturday, January 12 through Thursday, January 17. Manager Manny Acta, infielder Aaron Boone and pitchers Jason Bergmann and John Lannan will participate in the first leg, with events moderated by Nationals' Radio Broadcaster Charlie Slowes. The team will begin the second portion on Thursday, January 24, concluding the appearances on Monday, January 28. Nationals Mascot "Screech" and the Racing Presidents will also participate in the slate of activities.

"The 2008 Winter Tour is an opportunity for the Nationals family to reach out to the Greater Washington community prior to the kick off of the 2008 season," said Team President Stan Kasten. The team will attend a variety of events, including, but not limited to, school appearances and book donations, autograph sessions and hospital visits. Following the conclusion of the tour, Nationals players will report to Viera, Fl for the start of Spring Training. Pitchers and catchers will report to camp on Friday, February 15 and position players will follow on Wednesday, February 20.

Media Alerts with details on each event and its participants will be distributed daily throughout the tour. A schedule for the Washington Nationals 2008 Winter Tour is attached. Additional players will be named for the second series of events.

For information on tickets for the Washington Nationals Spring Training games in Viera, Florida or for 2008 regular season games at Nationals Park, please log on to www.nationals.com or call 202-675-NATS (6287). The Nationals open the 2008 season and new Nationals Park on Sunday, March 30 at 8:05pm when they host the Atlanta Braves on ESPN.

2008 WASHINGTON NATIONALS WINTER TOUR
SATURDAY JANUARY 12 - THURSDAY, JANUARY 17
THURSDAY, JANUARY 24 - MONDAY, JANUARY 28

Participating Players, Manager and Front Office Staff
Manager Manny Acta January 14-17
Pitcher Mike Bacsik January 24-26
Pitcher Jason Bergmann January 12-16
Infielder Aaron Boone January 12
Pitcher John Lannan January 14-16
President Stan Kasten January 12
Nationals Mascot "Screech" and the Racing Presidents

Moderators
Washington Nationals Radio Broadcaster Charlie Slowes January 12-16

Saturday, January 12
9:00am - 5:00pm*
NBC4 Health & Fitness Expo, Washington, DC
*Noon - 3:00pm
Players Skills Demonstration, Q&A and Autograph Session

Sunday, January 13
9:00am - 5:00pm*
NBC4 Health & Fitness Expo, Washington, DC
*1:00pm - 3:00pm
Players Skills Demonstration, Q&A and Autograph Session

Monday, January 14
9:00am - 11:00am
Food & Friends, Washington, DC
Players will assist in food preparation for delivery later that day.

Tuesday, January 15
1:00pm - 2:00pm
Children’s National Medical Center, Washington, DC
The team will donate toys to the hospital and visit with patients
6:00pm - 7:00pm*
Autograph Session at Washington Capitals Game, Washington, DC

Thursday, January 17
6:00pm - 10:00pm
Smart CEO Future 50, Washington, DC
Manny Acta will serve as keynote speaker

Thursday, January 24
11:00am - 1:30pm
National Naval Medical Center, Bethesda, MD
5:00pm - 7:00pm
Gifford's Ice Cream and Candy Co. Washington, DC
Players will serve ice cream to customers

Friday, January 25
10:00am - 11:30am
William Wirt School Assembly, Riverdale, MD
School assembly and book donation to school library

Saturday, January 26
11:30am - 2:00pm
Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Washington, Prince William County, VA
Youth Clinic

Sunday, January 27
12:00pm - 3:00pm
Autograph Session at Washington Auto Show, Washington DC

Monday, January 28
10:00am - 11:30am
Arlington County Public School Visit
School assembly and book donation to school library