The official press release is out. The Nationals have indeed purchased the contracts of outfielder Ryan Langerhans, right-hander Brian Sanches and left-hander Charlie Manning, optioned lefty Matt Chico and righty Chris Schroder to Columbus and transferred Ryan Wagner from the 15-day DL to the 60-day DL.

What does it all mean? Well, we'll see what Manny Acta and Jim Bowden have to say soon, but the hunch here is that Langerhans (who was hitting .306 with 10 doubles, three homers and 24 RBI at Columbus) will be a backup outfielder here. Which means Elijah (.067) Dukes probably will get the bulk of the starts in right field, with some occassional help from Rob Mackowiak, and Wily Mo Pena will continue to start in left field, with some help from Willie Harris.

Pitching-wise, Manning (1.96 ERA, six saves at Columbus) gives the Nats a legitimate left-hander in the bullpen. Chico was a starter masquerading as a reliever, so he'll go back to the minors and get to actually work on things as a starter. Sanches (0.98 ERA, seven saves at Columbus) wouldn't seem to give much of a different look than Schroder, who pitched fine up here until he blew up during that awful sixth inning Wednesday night against the Phillies. But the guy was pitching so well in the minors that he obviously deserved a shot. Schroder, unfortunately, heads back down for the third time this season.