Marlins leading 1-0, thanks to a leadoff homer by Alejandro De Aza in the top of the first off the Nats' Tyler Clippard. In Clippard's defense, the strong breeze blowing out to right greatly aided the ball's flight. But nevertheless, not the best way for Clippard to debut with Washington.

The right-hander wound up pitching two innings, allowing two hits, only the one run, while walking one and recording no strikeouts. Not horrible by any means, but not anything to write home about either. A bigger concern, I would imagine, to Manny Acta and Randy St. Claire: Clippard fell behind three of the first four batters he faced. The homer came on a 2-0 pitch. Clippard then went 3-1 on Robert Andino before getting a lineout to left. And he threw four straight balls to Mike Jacobs for his lone walk of the afternoon.

Meanwhile, not much going on for the Nats offensively. Ryan Zimmerman had a couple of nice singles in his two at-bats of the day. Nick Johnson also recorded his first hit of the spring, a bouncer up the middle in the bottom of the first. The two guys at the top of the lineup (Cristian Guzman and Lastings Milledge) went 0 for their first 4, though.

Mark Lerner is in the house. He and his wife Judy arrived at Space Coast Stadium shortly before 11:30 a.m. The Nationals owner was sorry he didn't get here earlier to watch the batting practice show put on by Wily Mo Pena and Elijah Dukes, but said he heard it is quite the power display and said he plans on getting a first-hand look before Saturday's game against Baltimore here in Viera.

Speaking of Wily Mo and batting practice power, let's get it on the record right here and now -- Wily Mo has to be in the home run contest at this year's All Star Game at Yankee Stadium. This is a no-brainer. If he competes like he hits in batting practice here, the next day people will be talking about the great Wily Mo and his monster home run shots.

Greetings on a rather lazy morning in Viera. That cold front we were all complaining about the other day has passed through, leaving blue skies and temperatures that will be back in the 70s today. In other words, it's a beautiful day for baseball.

The Marlins are on their way up from Jupiter for today's 1 p.m. game -- is it just me, or do the Nats and Marlins play each other like 57 times a year? -- and the Nats are currently stretching out in right field and preparing for batting practice.

Today's starting lineup:
SS Cristian Guzman
CF Lastings Milledge
3B Ryan Zimmerman
1B Nick Johnson
DH Austin Kearns
LF Wily Mo Pena
RF Alex Escobar
2B Ronnie Belliard
C Wil Nieves
P Tyler Clippard

Interested to see Clippard in action. He's the guy, you'll remember, that the Nats acquired from the Yankees during the winter meetings for reliever Jonathan Albaladejo. The 23-year-old right-hander had a cup of coffee with New York last season, making an impressive debut on Sunday Night Baseball, but was behind the Yankees' other pitching studs like Joba Chamberlain and Phil Hughes on the depth chart and thus was expendable. He's not an overpowering pitcher, but he's got a bit of a funky delivery and outstanding command (640 strikeouts and only 173 walks in his minor-league career). Manny Acta was looking forward this morning to seeing Clippard pitch in a game for the first time.

"He's a guy who relies a lot on deception," Acta said. "There's only so much you can see in the bullpen with a guy that has some deception. You need to see him on the field. Is he really deceiving people with his delivery and all that? Deception in the bullpen takes you nowhere. We have to see him in the game."

Clippard definitely is in the mix for one of the last two spots in the Opening Day rotation. My best educated guess says that Shawn Hill, John Patterson and Jason Bergmann are in (provided they're all healthy) and that Odalis Perez and Tim Redding are the frontrunners for the fourth and fifth spots. That's based on the fact neither of those veterans has minor-league options left, so they can't be sent to Class AAA without first passing through waivers. Now, that doesn't mean both guys are locks. They need to perform this spring. But they've probably got a leg up on the three young starters who are also in the mix (Clippard, Collin Balester and Garrett Mock). Any of those three could in theory make the club, but it's going to require both impressive performance from them and poor performance from Perez or Redding.

Today's game is on the radio (107.7 FM and 1500 AM, with Charlie and Dave calling the action) for those who want to listen. I'll try to provide a few in-game updates on the blog as well. Oh, and MASN is going to be televising Tuesday's split-squad game against the Dodgers at 1:00, giving everyone a first chance to actually see these guys in living color.

One last item: I've been meaning to post something about Manny Acta's recently created foundation: impActa Kids. He's really done an impressive job helping children in his native Dominican Republic play ball in their home country by providing resources to build fields and acquire equipment. Thom Loverro will be writing plenty more about the foundation in tomorrow's paper, but for those interested, you can go to www.impactakids.org to learn more and find out how to make a donation. It's well worth your time.

That's it. It's all over. Final score: Nationals 15, Georgetown 0. Not exactly a barnburner. But the Hoyas players and coaches were appreciative of the opportunity to face a big-league team, and Manny Acta made a point to speak to their players after the game.

"I just wanted to talk to their kids," he said. "Hopefully we can make this an every year type of thing."

The highlights, of which there were many...

-- Jason Bergmann: 2 ip, 0 h, 0 r, 1 bb, 3 k
-- Josh Smoker: 2 ip, 2 h, 0 r, 1 bb, 3 k
-- Collin Balester: 2 ip, 1 h, 0 r, 2 bb, 5 k
-- Mike Hinckley: 2 ip, 1 h, 0 r, 2 bb, 1 k (Incidentally, Acta mentioned that the club is thinking of looking at Hinckley now as a reliever, where he might have a better chance of success.)
-- Dmitri Young: 1-for-1, RBI
-- Ryan Zimmerman: 1-for-1, run
-- Matt Whitney: 2-for-3, double, 3 RBI
-- Javi Herrerra: 1-for-2, double, 2 RBI
-- Willie Harris: 2-for-2, walk
-- Yurendell DeCaster: 2-for-4, RBI
-- Garrett Guzman: 2-for-3, double, RBI

... and it's only getting more lopsided. Nats lead 13-0. Outhitting the Hoyas 13-2. Washington hasn't committed any errors. Georgetown has five.

I don't have all the pertinent details, because I was down in the clubhouse for the last two innings talking to Jason Bergmann (one of the great parts about spring training -- we're allowed to talk to players once they leave the game). But one highlight was the professional debut of left-hander Josh Smoker, one of last summer's first-round draft picks. Smoker, who at 19 was younger than some of the Georgetown hitters he faced, threw two scoreless innings. He allowed two hits, walked one and struck out three.

Obviously, he's got a long way to go to even be considered on the big-league roster, but this was a nice start for him.

Manny Acta didn't wait long to call off the dogs. He started pinch-hitting for everyone in the second inning, so Belliard, Zimmerman, Young and Kearns are done for the day, replaced by Willie Harris, Yurendell DeCaster, Jason Dubois and Frank Diaz. The Nats still managed to score another run.

Meanwhile, Jason Bergmann issued a leadoff walk to Matt Iannetta (brother of Rockies catcher Chris) in the top of the second, then got a line drive double play and a called strikeout to end the inning and his afternoon. Final line: 2 ip, 0 h, 0 r, 1 bb, 3 k.

Through two, it's Nats 6, Hoyas 0.

And, in what probably doesn't amount to a surprise, we've got a bit of a lopsided matchup here at Space Coast Stadium. How so? Well, consider:

-- Top of the 1st: Jason Bergmann retires the side on a foulout to the catcher and two strikeouts.

-- Bottom of the 1st: The Nats' first four hitters all reach safely (Bernadina double, Belliard reaches on an E5 that landed in the fourth row of the stands, Zimmerman singles to right, Young singles on a blooper to shallow right that fell between three fielders). Then back-to-back doubles by Flores and Whitney makes it 5-0 before Georgetown starter Michael Gaggioli gets out of the inning.

This could be a long one...

Sorry folks: Due to technical difficulties, we won't be able to hold our previously scheduled live chat today. We'll give it another try next week.

Good morning from Viera -- quick turnaround from last night's exhibition opener in Jupiter, a 3-3 tie against the Marlins. The Nats make their Space Coast Stadium debut today against Georgetown at the unusual starting time of 11:30 a.m. Tickets are free to the public, so if anyone's in town and wants to watch some baseball, come on out.

Those who do attend the game will actually get to see some legitimate major leaguers. Manny Acta is fielding a competitive lineup, which I'm sure is a thrill to the Hoyas players who arrived at the ballpark a little while ago with wide eyes. Give credit to Mike Shapiro, the Nationals' senior VP of business affairs, who played in college at Georgetown and helped arrange for today's game.

OK, here's the Nats' starting lineup:

CF Roger Bernadina
2B Ronnie Belliard
3B Ryan Zimmerman
DH Dmitri Young
RF Austin Kearns
LF Garrett Guzman
C Jesus Flores
1B Matt Whitney
SS Ian Desmond

P Jason Bergmann

Josh Smoker, one of last year's first-round draft picks, will pitch after Bergmann. Interested to see how the 19-year-old lefty handles the situation.

We'll have some in-game updates for you along the way.

Yep, Game 1 of the Grapefruit League is in the books, and everybody loses (or wins, depending on how you look at it). Final score: Nationals 3, Marlins 3. Both managers agreed to call it after nine innings, not wanting to bother going into extras.

"It's not hockey," Manny Acta said. "We don't get a point. But we'll take a tie over a loss any day."

The highlights:

Lastings Milledge: 2-for-3, double, two runs scored, two stolen bases.

Elijah Dukes: 1-for-2, double.

Matt Chico: 2 scoreless innings, one hit, one walk, two strikeouts.

Garrett Mock: 2 innings, one unearned run, two hits, no walks, two strikeouts.

Chris Schroder: 1 perfect inning, three strikeouts.

That's all for tonight. Talk to you tomorrow from Viera, where the Nats host Georgetown at 11:30 a.m. Be sure to join in my live chat at noon, complete with in-game updates.

Those pesky Nats are at it again. Down 3-2 in the top of the ninth, they rallied to tie it on Pete Orr's bases-loaded infield single.

It's now 3-3 in the bottom of the ninth, with the specter of extra innings looming. The good news (for those of us who still have a 2-hour drive back to Viera ahead of us tonight) is that they never play more than 10 innings in spring training.

Hit a shallow fly ball to center field in his second plate appearance, then jogged back to the dugout and learned his work was done. Three innings in the field, successfully caught three throws from infielders. 0-for-1 at the plate with a HBP.

Meanwhile, Lastings Milledge, Wily Mo Pena and Elijah Dukes just put on a show in the top of the fourth. Milledge singled to left, stole second, stole third (without a throw) and then scored on Alex Escobar's sacrifice fly. Dukes followed by smoking a double to right-center, and Pena (who had been hit by a pitch) came barrelling around third. Slid in hard to the plate and appeared to possibly beat the throw but was called out by plate umpire Todd Tichenor.

Bottom of the fourth now, Nats lead 1-0. Mock on the mound for his second ining of relief. Josh Whitesell in at first base.

2 ip, 1 h, 0 r, 1 bb, 2 k. Not bad for a first outing, but his ball-to-strike ratio (16 of each) was not what you'd like to see.

Deja vu moment of the night: With two outs in the bottom of the second, Florida's Robert Andino hits a shallow fly ball down the right-field line. Nick Johnson tracks back, Elijah Dukes tracks forward and Felipe Lopez moves in from the side. Looked almost exactly like the play that broke Nick's leg. Thankfully, this time he deferred to Dukes. Probably a smart move, given that Elijah is built even more like a brick wall than Austin Kearns.

Breathe a sigh of relief, everyone.

Garrett Mock now pitching for the Nats. Still scoreless in the bottom of the third.

How about this one: On the first live, in-game pitch he's seen in 18 months, Nick Johnson was plunked!

High-and-tight fastball from Marlins left-hander Scott Olsen, appeared to get Nick on the right arm or hand. No worries: He's fine and immediately trotted down to first. Not exactly what any of us wanted to see, though. At the very least, he could have gotten one swing in.

The rest of the top of the first for the Nats: Guzman single to center on the first pitch he saw. Lopez single to right. Milledge grounds into a 5-4-3 double play. Johnson HBP. Pena deep drive to the center-field warning track caught for the third out.

Matt Chico tosses a clean bottom of the first, getting Cameron Maybin to ground out, Alfredo Amezaga to fly out to the wall in left (nice catch by Wily Mo against the fence) and then striking out Mike Jacobs swinging.

Because the Nats are playing Wednesday night in Jupiter, Mark Zuckerman's weekly live chat will shift to Thursday at noon this week. Mark will be taking your questions while the Nats are playing Georgetown University in an exhibition game at Space Coast Stadium. Send yours in now to natsmailbag@washingtontimes.com.

Good afternoon from Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter, where the Cardinals just wrapped up their exhibition opener against Saint Louis University as the undercard to tonight's Nationals-Marlins exhibition opener. This is a great facility here, maybe the best one in Florida. The Marlins and Cardinals each have their own spacious clubhouses and offices behind the outfield fences, and then there are about 10 practice fields off in the distance, more than enough for both teams to work out at the same time.

My only complaint about this place is the press box, which is perfectly nice enough, except for the fact that it's impossible to get an unobstructed view of the field from any seat. There are wide window frames and posts every three feet or so, not to mention a concrete post right in the middle of the box. Trust me, I've been coming here since 2001, and I've tried every seat in the box. It's impossible to get a perfectly clear view. Given tonight's key storyline -- Nick Johnson's first game in 18 months -- I've decided to sacrifice a view of home plate, third base and the left-field corner in exchange for a clear view of first base.

So apologies in advance if I'm unable to write about Wily Mo Pena making a diving catch down the left-field line. You can't write what you don't see...

Speaking of spectacular catches, check out this video. This has got to be the most amazing catch I've ever seen. I've watched it about five times now, and I still can't believe the guy pulled this off. Willie Mays and Jim Edmonds, eat your hearts out. ...

So yet another layer of the steroid story unfolds, this one with Congess asking the Justice Department to investigate whether Clemens committed perjury about using performance-enhancing substances when he testified before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee several weeks ago.

If they conclude there is enough evidence to charge Clemens, we could have two of baseball's biggest stars simulanteously in court standing trial for perjury -- Barry Bonds and Clemens.

This shows how foolish everyone who thought the Mitchell Report would bring closure to the steroid controversy was.

This will go on and on and on. There will be other players in the future who will want to tell their story -- or their stories about teammates -- when they are out of the game, out of the limelight and out of money. Each one will add a new layer.

And then, of course, is the potential supernova of the steroid controversy -- the Hall of Fame vote for these guys. If Bonds and Clemens are indeed done with baseball, then, they, along with Sammy Sosa, will all be eligible for the Hall of Fame voting in the same year.

Being a Hall of Fame voter myself, I should at least parlay that into an appearance on Larry King.

According to reports, the testimony by former teammate Andy Pettitte about his conversations with Clemens seems to have sunk Clemens. But Clemens' foolishness about denying being at this party at Jose Canseco's house hasn't helped. Supposedly a photo exists showing Clemens at the 1998 party, and then there was the nanny's testimony that they were at the house and the family spent the night there.

Clemens had used a sworn affadavit from Canseco saying that Clemens was not at the party. Here's what Clemens said about Canseco when Canseco's steroid book came out in 2005: "When you're under house arrest & you have ankle bracelets on, you have a lot of time to write a book."

But, when Canseco is your ticket out of jail, you might as well get fitted for the orange jumpsuit.

Manny Acta's lineup for tonight's exhibition opener against the Marlins has been announced. I have to admit, I came pretty close to nailing it yesterday, with only a couple of differences (I didn't realize they've been given permission to use a DH in a National League game). Anyways, here you go...

SS Cristian Guzman
2B Felipe Lopez
CF Lastings Milledge
1B Nick Johnson
LF Wily Mo Pena
DH Alex Escobar
RF Elijah Dukes
3B Kory Casto
C Chad Moeller

P Matt Chico

First pitch is at 7:05 p.m. in Jupiter. Since the game isn't on TV or radio, I'll try to give some in-game updates here on the blog. Obviously, the main guy everyone will be watching is Nick Johnson, who is playing in his first organized ballgame since breaking his right leg 18 months ago. As stated yesterday, the plan is for Nick to play three innings and possibly get two at-bats.

Meanwhile, have I mentioned how cold it is here today? No, seriously. The high temperature's barely going to crack the 50s, and tonight it will drop into the 30s. I know, I know -- I'm not allowed to complain about the weather in Florida while the rest of you poor saps are still stuck in winter in D.C. But this is pretty unusual for these parts. Besides, I didn't even bring a jacket with me!

With so many players and coaches in camp, the Nationals have to use up just about every available uniform number. In fact, there are only three unused numbers this spring between 1 (Willie Harris) and 93 (Devin Ivany): 13, 20 and 33.

Thirteen, of course, is the kind of number someone has to request. It's not going to be self-imposed on anyone.

But 20 and 33 have been unofficially retired by the Nats. We previously knew about 20 (for Frank Robinson) but we didn't know about 33 until yesterday. Turns out the Lerner family requested the number not be used to honor Senators great Frank Howard.

Classy move, to say the least.

Because the Nats are playing Wednesday night in Jupiter, Mark Zuckerman's weekly live chat will shift to Thursday at noon this week. Mark will be taking your questions while the Nats are playing Georgetown University in an exhibition game at Space Coast Stadium. Send yours in now to natsmailbag@washingtontimes.com.

Today's workout (delayed by a morning meeting with officials from the players' union) has wrapped up. Couple of items worth mentioning...

Shawn Hill looked sharp once again, showing no signs of reason for anyone to be concerned about his right arm. His trademark sinker again had guys baffled, and not just the non-roster scrubs. No, the guys facing Hill today were Lastings Milledge, Wily Mo Pena and Elijah Dukes. None of them made solid contact, unless you consider a broken bat blooper to center by Milledge solid contact. "All right, we went 1-for-11!" Milledge exclaimed at the end of the round.

Also, Nick Johnson (along with other players) practiced sliding for the first time. I hate to reveal this, because Nick has looked so good in everything else he's done so far in camp, but he did not look comfortable at all on his three slide attempts into a mat along the right-field line. Now, Nick would be the first to tell you that even before he broke his leg, his sliding technique was far from perfect. (I've never seen anyone else who manages to get dirt on both the front and back of his uniform on the same slide!) But today's attempts were very awkward looking, and Nick was slow to get up from them and kind of limped a bit as he walked away.

"It went okay," he said. "It could have been better. I was never a good slider in the first place.
I think it will be a little better when game time comes, where I have to just get down there and do it. Just during a game, just go. I can't be thinking about it. If I think about it, then I will be a mess."

Fair enough. Let's see how he does in actual games starting tomorrow night before we rush to any judgments.

Finally, Baseball America has released its Top 100 Prospects list for 2008. Surprise, surprise: Three Nats farmhands have made the list. Chris Marrero ranks 27th, Ross Detwiler is 51st and Collin Balester is 86th. Only Balester (95th) was on the list last year, though then-Devil Ray Elijah Dukes was included as well at No. 79.

Bobby Bonilla was in the house this morning, making it rain.

Bobby Bo, who now works for the Major League Baseball Players Association, was in the Nationals clubhouse at Space Coast Stadium with checks to hand out from the association to players (the union held a meeting with the players before practice).

"I'm here to put smiles on their faces," Bobby Bo said.

Bobby Bo put smiles on a lot of faces over his playing career. His reputation may have been burnt because of the problems he had in New York with the Mets, but at every other stop, he was a positive presence in the clubhouse and well-liked by fans.

They loved him when he first came up in Pittsburgh, and he had a big impact on the Orioles the year and a half he played in Baltimore, firing up what had been a dead clubhouse.

When he was with the Marlins and won a World Series in 1997, the chapter of the Baseball Writers Assocation of America voted him their good guy award. And I can say over the 15 years I've covered baseball, I never enjoyed covering a player more than Bobby Bo.

My experience has been that most of the time a guy is worse than the image people have of him. Bobby Bo is the exception to that rule.

The exhibition season kicks off tomorrow night against the Marlins, and the Nats' travel list for the game in Jupiter has been posted. Most of the regulars will make the trip, except for Ryan Zimmerman, Austin Kearns, Dmitri Young and the injured catchers. Manny Acta wouldn't come right out and announce his starting lineup, but it may look something along these lines...

2B Lopez
SS Guzman
1B Johnson
LF Pena
RF Dukes
CF Milledge
3B Casto
C Moeller or Nieves
P Chico

Besides Chico, the other guys scheduled to pitch are Garrett Mock, Rob Bell, Joel Hanrahan, Brian Sanches and Chris Schroder.

One caveat: It's supposed to be cold (by Florida standards) and possibly rainy, so there could be adjustments based on that. Acta said Johnson will play three innings and possibly get two at-bats.

Here's the other pitchers of note who are scheduled to throw over the next few days:

Thu vs. Georgetown: Jason Bergmann, Josh Smoker, Collin Balester
Fri vs. Marlins: Tyler Clippard, Jason Stanford, Mike Bacsik
Sat vs. Orioles: John Patterson, Dennis Tankersley, Steven Shell, Ray King, Jon Rauch, Chad Cordero
Sun split-squad at Astros: John Lannan, Mike O'Connor, Joel Hanrahan
Sun split-squad at Orioles: Garrett Mock, Rob Bell, Mike Bacsik

For those wondering where Shawn Hill is on that list, he's going to throw twice more to live hitters in BP and then make his game debut on Wednesday the 5th at the Cardinals. And for those who want to look way down the line, that would put Hill on a five-day schedule that has him starting Opening Night at Nationals Park, with Patterson as the No. 2 starter, Chico as the No. 3, Bergmann as No. 4 and Lannan as No. 5.

Obviously, don't read too much into that yet, because much can change between now and the end of March. But it's sure fun to speculate, isn't it?

The Nationals have released its roster of food vendors that will have stands and carts at the teams's new ballpark this season.

On the food side, the team confirmed that Ben's Chili Bowl will sell chili dogs, half-smokes, vegetarian chili and turkey burgers at the stadium. Barbecue restaurant Red Hot & Blue, which has several restaurants in the area and had a presence at RFK Stadium, will also be at the new ballpark, along with Hard Times Cafe. Kosher Sports will also return, selling grilled hot dogs and garlic knishes. Boardwalk Fries, founded in Ocean City and based in Columbia, will sell their famous fries, plus chicken fingers.

Fans looking for drinks can go to Cantina Marina, which sells specialty frozen drinks along with tex-mex and Cajun food and has operated on the Southwest Waterfront since 2003. And those spectators looking to warm up during those chilly spring games can buy cappucino, esspresso or latte from Mayorga Coffe, which will have four carts throughout the ballpark.

Looking for treats? Well, there's tropical snow cones from Krazee Ice, founded by two women entrepreneurs in Maryland. There's La Piccola Geleteria if you want a gelato, and there's ice cream from Gifford's, the most famous ice cream parlor in Washington.

Also, Noah's Pretzels will sell "Curly W" pretzels, as well as special gluten and casein-free pretzels. A portion of all sales of Noah's pretzels will got to fund autism research in the Washington, D.C., area.

No, I don't mean good-looking *that* way. (Not that there's anything wrong with that.) I'm talking about the way Ross Detwiler and Collin Balester looked throwing to live hitters this morning. In a word: impressive.

Both young hurlers threw in front of Manny Acta, who watched closely and on a few occasions had to step back from the cage and compose himself upon seeing some of the nasty pitches those two threw up there. Balester was probably the more consistent of the two, rarely missing his spots. Detwiler was wilder, losing several pitches high and outside. But his best pitches (a hard inside fastball to a right-handed hitter and a sharp breaking ball) were absolutely dynamite and left the guys in the batter's box looking silly.

I still don't see either guy making the Opening Day rotation. There's just no reason to rush them. But I fully expect to see both in the big leagues at some point this season.

The Mid-Atlantic Sports Network announced it will broadcast 80 baseball games in high-definition this season, split evenly between the Nationals and Orioles.

The network said all six interleague games between the Nats and O's will be in HD, as well as the Nationals' first game back after the opener and the road swing: April 7 vs. Florida. The complete schedule of HD games will be published in the next two weeks.

MASN said that the "Nats Xtra" and "O's Xtra" pre-game and post-game shows will return and that 160 will be produced on location at the ballparks, up from 64 last season.

This is the first year MASN has rolled out HD broadcasts, and the 80-game schedule leaves 242 that will be shown in standard definition. The Nationals and Orioles are among the few teams remaining in baseball that do not have all their games broadcast in HD.

MASN, which now reaches 5.2 million homes, said it expects all HD games to be shown on the HD tiers of its cable and satellite partners. Listings for the HD channels will be available before the season begins.

All of MASN's announcers and reporters will return for 2008, with the exception of Don Baylor.

- Tim Lemke

The Nationals' plan for catcher Jesus Flores is to send him to Class AA Harrisburg so he can play on an everyday basis and get more experience. Before being picked up as a Rule V player last year, Flores, 22, had never played above Class A ball.

As a Rule V draftee, the Nationals had to keep him on the major league roster all year or send him back to the team they plucked him from, the New York Mets. Flores made it easy, having a very solid year for someone with such little experience, batting .244 with four home runs and 25 RBI in 180 at-bats and not hurting them behind the plate.

But the Nationals signed two free agent All-Star catchers in the offseason, Paul Lo Duca and Johnny Estrada, paying them a total of $6 million, and those two are slated to be the one-two major league catchers this year. But both are recovering from surgeries -- Lo Duca a knee and Estrada his elbow and knee -- and neither will be ready to play come the start of exhibition season tomorrow night against Florida, according to manager Manny Acta.

Acta says both will be ready to play come Opening Day. But don't be surprised if one or the other or even both are still on the shelf and Flores stays on the major league roster.

My experience has been that teams and players always downplay injuries and present a more optimistic than realistic picture of when a player will be ready to play -- in other words, things are always worse than they appear to be. This could be an exception, but I would not be surprised if either Lo Duca or Estrada were on the disabled list come the start of the season in Washington.

Flores isn't crazy about the notion of being in the minor leagues. "I am just getting here trying to do my job, preparing myself and try to show them that I can stay in the big leagues," Flores said. "I know Estrada and Lo Duca are All-Star catchers, but everyone is here for that one job, and that is what I want."

It would be a tough adjustment for anybody. He goes from Class A to the majors, where they have people to do everything for you -- take care of your luggage, have your equipment ready, flying from city to city -- all sorts of amenities, back to the minors, where it is bus rides and taking care of yourself, for the most part.

And now Flores, instead of moving into the new ballpark, faces the prospect of going to Harrisburg, where the ballpark, on City Island in the middle of the Susquehanna, is a wonderful place to watch a game, but the clubhouse is so small it could fit inside one of the lockers -- not locker room but lockers -- at the new clubhouse at Nationals Field. It has a hatch door on it, like a submarine, to make sure the clubhouse can be sealed shut so it doesn't get flooded (which happens often along the Susquehanna).

The exhibition opener, that is. I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that Matt Chico won't be on the mound at Nationals Park on March 30 against the Braves. But he will be there Wednesday night in Jupiter, when the Nats and Marlins kick off the Grapefruit League. Manny Acta wouldn't divulge any other pitchers slated to appear in the game, nor would he announce his starting lineup. But he did say Nick Johnson will start against Florida lefty Scott Olsen, marking Johnson's first baseball game since he broke his right leg on Sept. 23, 2006.

Otherwise, not too much news to report so far this morning from Viera. I wasn't here yesterday, took the opportunity to drive down to Port St. Lucie to visit Mets camp and talk to ex-Nats Brian Schneider and Ryan Church. You can read my full story about those two here, but since I couldn't get everything they said in the paper, here's a few extra nuggets from them...

BRIAN SCHNEIDER
On how long it took him to get used to the idea of being on the Mets:
"It took a little while, just to let it soak in and realize I wasn't going to be playing with all those guys again. And I liked it in D.C. My wife liked it. A lot of good things were going on there. So it took a little while, but when it came down to it, it could have been a lot worse. This is a great place to get traded to. We're going to win right away."

On the disappointment of not being around to see the Nats' transition into the new ballpark:
"There's lots of disappointment. I was close to a lot of guys on that team. I still hang out with some of them in the offseason. The fans were great to us there. I was looking forward to opening that stadium there. That would have been great. There's a lot of good people in that city I'm going to miss, no doubt about it. So yes, I was disappointed. But at the same time, we've got a chance here to win right away. We're going to be real good here. This is just a good position to be in."

RYAN CHURCH
On his tenure with the Nats:
"Up and down. I had my moments, good and bad. But all in all, I don't regret anything. I went out last year and proved that I could play hurt. I just enjoyed it and appreciated everything they ever gave me."

On whether he felt he got a fair opportunity in Washington:
"In a sense. I kind of felt a little weird, especially last year when they made a trade [for Wily Mo Pena] and I kind of got put on a back burner. But there's a business side to everything. I'm not going to dwell on it. I'm not going to burn any bridges. I'm thankful to them for the opportunity they gave me."

On the difference in media attention in New York:
"I'm soaking it in. I'm loving it. In D.C., I was used to like four or five of you guys. My first day here, I meet a couple of them. And then I turn around and it was like 40 people. And I had to answer the same stuff over and over every day. It's eye-opening, but it comes with the territory. You've got to embrace it and enjoy it, because you never know how long it's going to be around."

In Nationals manager Manny Acta's Sunday morning session with reporters, he touched on the look we all got at Shawn Hill pitching live batting practice on Saturday, his relationship with Odalis Perez, volunteered a vote of confidence to third base coach Tim Tolman, who also organizes spring training camp, and the competition for second baseman Bret Boone making his comeback.

Manny on Hill: "He threw the ball very well. Obviously the first day of live BP those guys are at such a disadvantage, the hitters, but the way he was able to command his pitches and throw the ball with the freedom that he did...that is what makes him so good. One of our coaches is telling our hitters, 'Don't worry about it guys. He's still a month and a half away from getting sharp.' "

Manny on Perez: "He is in very good physical shape. the best I have seen him in 10 years. He lost some weight and is in great shape...we know each other. He pitched for me in winter ball, and he pitched for me in the World Baseball Classic. We have always been friendly to each other....I think he feels that I know him better than probably other guys. But the same thing is going to be expected out of him. He will still have to go out there and prove to us that he can make this club and help us out."

Manny on Tim Tolman organizing spring training: "He does a tremendous job. He did it for four years in Cleveland with more players than what we have here. It is not easy. That's why he is a guy that I trust with that job and trust during the season, too." (no one had asked Manny about Tolman's work during the season as third base coach).

Manny on Boone and the competition among infielders Felipe Lopez, Ronnie Belliard and Cristian Guzman: "Bret is not actually competing with all of those guys. He is competing against himself first. He wants to find out if it is still there. He is competing against himself, and obviously before competing with any of those guys, he's got to overcome that and make sure he is ready to go and compete at the level that he used to."

Ever wonder what us writers do to pass the time during those long morning workouts? Well, while watching the new-look outfielders (Wily Mo Pena, Elijah Dukes, Lastings Milledge, Justin Maxwell) standing in a row shagging flies the other day, someone mentioned how this team suddenly has itself a full linebacker corps. That led to several of us deciding to try to put together a full football squad of Nationals players.

Below is what we came up with. There was some disagreement about a few guys but most everything was consensus. We tried to prevent anyone from playing on both sides of the ball, but obviously Dukes and Pena (if not others) would be capable. (Dukes was actually a standout running back and linebacker in high school.)

So here you go: the Nationals' starting football lineup ...

QUARTERBACKS

Ryan Zimmerman (Has the arm, the physical attributes and the leadership qualities)
Aaron Boone (Savvy veteran backup)
John Patterson (Project who you keep working with, hoping he'll eventually develop into a star)

RUNNING BACKS

TB Lastings Milledge (Speed with some power to boot)
TB Cristian Guzman (Surprising speed, low center of gravity)
FB Jesus Flores (Seems like he could create an opening for Milledge)

WIDE RECEIVERS

Justin Maxwell (Size and speed, a great athlete)
Willie Harris (Short and fast, a real deep threat)
Ryan Langerhans (Sure-handed posession guy)

TIGHT ENDS

Austin Kearns (Has bulk to block, legs to run routes and hands to catch tough passes)
Jason Bergmann (He wanted to be a QB, but we ran out of slots)

OFFENSIVE LINEMEN

LT Dmitri Young (Who else would you want protecting Zimmerman's blind side?)
LG Ronnie Belliard (Stocky frame and a tough mentality to boot)
C Paul Lo Duca (Captain of the O-line, calls out the assignments)
RG Ray King (Though the new slimmed-down version isn't as ideal as the old one)
RT Lenny Harris (Had to turn to the coaching staff to come up with another big guy)

DEFENSIVE LINEMEN

DE Jon Rauch (Who wouldn't want a near-7-footer swatting down passes?)
NT Johnny Estrada (The immovable object, perfect in a 3-4 defense)
DE Joel Hanrahan (Surprisingly big man)

LINEBACKERS

OLB Wily Mo Pena (The next coming of Lawrence Taylor...)
OLB Elijah Dukes (...then again, so's this guy!)
ILB Garrett Mock (Big man in the middle, plus he's Dukes' new best friend)
ILB Nilson Robledo (We needed another big man, so we picked the Nats' bullpen catcher)

DEFENSIVE BACKS

CB Felipe Lopez (Good speed on the outside)
CB Barry Larkin (Even in retirement, he looks like he can still move)
SS Jesus Colome (Bigger than you think, probably could lay someone out over the middle)
FS Shawn Hill (Might be lacking in speed department, but he makes up for it with savvy)

SPECIAL TEAMS

K Saul Rivera (Kickers are always little guys, and Saul's tiny)
P Nick Johnson (Surgically repaired bionic leg should be able to boot 60-yarders)
KR Willie Harris (Fastest guy on the team)
PR Felipe Lopez (Probably second-fastest guy)
H Chad Cordero (Cause we needed a holder)
Pete Orr, Rob Mackowiak (Wedge-busters/Steve Tasker types)

COACHING STAFF

Head coach: Manny Acta (Gives great pregame speeches)
Off. coordinator: Randy St. Claire (Genius schemer stays up til 3 a.m. creating gameplan)
Def. coordinator: Jose Rijo (Gets just as fired up as the players)
Special teams coach: John Stearns (Just flat-out nuts, a requirement for the job)

So what do you think? Could these guys beat the Redskins?

First off, one quick thought after watching this morning's workout: Shawn Hill is capable of being good. Really, really good.

Hill was one of several pitchers who threw to live hitters today for the first time this spring, and the right-hander downright looked dominant against Rob Mackowiak, Ryan Langerhans, Garrett Guzman and Jason Dubois. Hill, an admitted perfectionist who can find even the smallest thing about himself to nitpick, said his offspeed pitches could use a little work. But his sinker -- his bread-and-butter pitch -- was sharp as ever. Not one of those four hitters made even remotely solid contact against Hill during the BP session. Not one. When one of those guys (I can't remember if it was Mackowiak or Langerhans) took a nasty sinker on the corner, Manny Acta yelled out: "Sientete!" (which roughly translates to: "Take a seat!").

Afterwards, I asked Langerhans how Hill looked to him.

Ryan's response: "Like he's ready to throw his first start of the season."

Meanwhile ... as we all know, the Nats and Ryan Zimmerman have had mutual interest in signing a long-term deal. There's no fear of Zimmerman leaving town -- he can't become a free agent until after the 2011 season -- but it's become a common trend for teams to lock up really good young players well before they approach free agency. So the Nats and Zimmerman and his agent, Brodie Van Wagenen, began talking last spring. Little progress was made, and the Nats exercised their right to renew Zimmerman's contract and paid him $400,000. The two sides have resumed talks this spring, but again, there's been little progress and Van Wagenen has suggested the Nats are likely to renew Zimmerman's contract again.

All along, the Nationals front office has remained mum. Until today, when Jim Bowden offered up the club's take on the situation for the first time:

"We've made it very clear to [Zimmerman and Van Wagenen] that if Ryan is willing to sign a contract that is similar to what all the other good young players are signing for -- and there's been a whole bunch of signings, as you all have seen in the last year -- if he's willing to do a market signing, we are prepared to do that with him. We're not going to set all new markets with him. We're not going to change the pay scale of Major League Baseball for one player.

"But there have been so many signings, whether you look at [Troy] Tulowitzki or [Robinson] Cano or [Brian] McCann or [Grady] Sizemore, so many that are all in the same range, and our organization is prepared to do that. And in the range of what everyone else has signed. We are prepared to do that like everybody else. And we have communicated that to Brodie.

"At this point, no, we're not close. But, again, there's always going to be time, and the other thing we all know is we have control of the player for four years no matter what. So we have a four-year security blanket with him. They know that if they ever want to do a market deal based on whatever the market is, then obviously we are prepared to do that."

For comparison's sake, here are the contract terms for those other four players:

-- Tulowitzki: 6 years, $31 million. Signed last month following his rookie season. The breakdown: 2008: $750,000, 2009: $750,000, 2010: $3.5 million, 2011: $5.5 million, 2012: $8.5 million, 2013: $10 million, 2014: $15 million club option or $2 million buyout.

-- Cano: 4 years, $30 million. Signed this month following his third big-league season. The breakdown: 2008: $3 million, 2009: $6 million, 2010: $9 million, 2011: $10 million, 2012: $14 million club option or $2 million buyout, 2013: $15 million club option or $2 million buyout.

-- McCann: 6 years, $26.8 million. Signed in March 2007 following two big-league seasons. The breakdown: 2007: $500,000, 2008: $800,000, 2009: $3.5 million, 2010: $5.5 million, 2011: $6.5 million, 2012: $8.5 million, 2013: $12 million club option or $500,000 buyout.

-- Sizemore: 6 years, $23.45 million. Signed in March 2006 following his rookie season. The breakdown: 2006: $500,000, 2007: $750,000, 2008: $3 million, 2009: $4.6 million, 2010: $5.6 million, 2011: $7.5 million, 2012: $8.5 million club option or $500,000 buyout.

Here's a surprising little development on an otherwise unspectacular Saturday morning: Bret Boone has been promoted to major-league camp, just five days after signing a minor-league contract.

Evidently, the soon-to-be 39-year-old second baseman, who had been in retirement since February 2006, is in shape and looked good enough to convince GM Jim Bowden he deserves to be among the big leaguers.

"He saw what he needed to see," said Boone, who was supposed to participate only in the minor-league, accelerated development camp while working his way back.

Whether this development means Boone is actually going to be in the running for the starting second baseman's job remains to be seen. Personally, I doubt he's a serious contender. The Nats are perfectly content to go with either Ronnie Belliard or Felipe Lopez as the starter, and Boone gives them nothing coming off the bench (especially when he says he's not interested in playing any other positions). I think this has more to do with Bowden wanting to let Boone play in some big-league games, where he'll get more exposure, thus increasingly the likelihood some other team would want to acquire him.

Meanwhile, Odalis Perez arrived at camp today and made it clear he wants to win a spot in the Nats' Opening Day rotation. The veteran lefty had offers from Washington and Boston, but decided to go with the Nats because of the opportunity they presented to him. "I understand Boston is a winning team, but at some time I just wanted an opportunity to be in the big leagues," he said. "I don't even think about the money. I just want to be in the big leagues."

Perez said he had been working out back home in the Dominican Republic for 2 1/2 months, so he comes to camp in shape and ready to go. "I want to show people I've still got a lot to give."

Photo Day -- when all the news outlets and baseball card companies take their stock pictures of everyone -- just wrapped up, so players will be taking the fields soon for another workout. More to come later...

The Nats held their first full-squad workout of the spring today, and well, all I can say is that the highlight of the day was the final round of batting practice, featuring a monster display from Wily Mo Pena, Elijah Dukes and Lastings Milledge.

Pena absolutely crushed the ball, hitting more homers than I could keep track of, including several that reached the batting cages well behind the left-field fence at Field 1 of the Nats' spring training complex. "Oh, mercy!" exclaimed Jim Bowden at one point, basically putting into words what all the rest of us were thinking.

Dukes was impressive in his own right, tattooing balls all over the field, though he was a little less consistent than Pena. But on one particularly well-struck ball to the right-center field gap, Bowden yelled out: "That's Dave Parker right there," comparing Dukes to the perennial Pirates All-Star from the '70s.

Milledge doesn't have the kind of sheer power that either of those two has, but he impressed in his own way, showing he can use all three fields while showcasing some occasional pop himself.

Good stuff all around, and at the end of the day you can't help but wonder just how dramatically different the Nats' lineup could be this season.

A helicopter circled around the fields at the Nationals training complex for several minutes, and I joked with team president Stan Kasten: "Is that Nats One? Did Bowden get bored with the Segway?"

Then it got a little strange. It seemed as if the helicopter was going to land right on one of the practice fields at the complex. It did land, but just beyond field 2, at a law enforcement facility.

Kasten calmed down the masses. "All is well," he declared.

Today's Florida Today -- not to confuse anyone, the daily paper here in the area -- has a front page story about how spring training and the presence of the Nationals has been an economic boon to the area.

The paper reports that spring training in Brevard County generates an economic impact of $3.5 million, according to Rob Varley, the executive director of the Space Coast Office of Tourism.

It also says that the Nationals generate $1.4 million of that money, based on estimates supplied by Nata VP of business affairs, Mike Shapiro. He estimates the organization spends $40,000 on food and restaurant costs.

There were no estimates about the bar bills for sportswriters.

Yeah, I know pitchers and catchers have been here for a week, but as Manny Acta put it this morning: "It's a totally different animal today. This is when spring training really starts."

Yep, position players have arrived, taken their physicals and today they'll all be out on the field for the first full-squad workout of 2008. Not that anything that dramatic is likely to take place, just a lot of baserunning and fielding drills, plus plenty of batting practice. But there's something about the sight of more than 70 ballplayers stretching and warming up together on one field that is a bit more inspiring than a mere 40 pitchers and catchers.