From Billy T. in Silver Spring:
Please explain Manny Acta's late-inning defensive strategy. I understand using Fick for Young for first base defense, but why does he pull Church from left field? By using Langerhans, he's not only shortening his bench but inserting two nearly automatic outs in the lineup.
Mark Zuckerman:
This has come up a few times recently, and Manny went through a detailed explanation of his strategy a couple of weeks ago when asked. Basically what it boils down to is this: If the Nats have a lead in the eighth inning or later, even if it's only one run, he wants his best defense out there. That means Fick or Batista at first base for Young, and it usually means Langerhans in left for Church. Acta knows it could backfire if his team blows the lead and needs the offense later on, but he says you can never assume you're going to lose, always have to assume you'll win (and put yourself in the best position to do so). Not that Church is a slouch in left field, just that Langerhans is very good.

From JP's Fan and Proud of It:
Any word about John Patterson? Is he still up in Toronto? Huston Street's treatments took 18 days and I guess we were assuming Patterson would be there about that same length of time, but it has now been 3 weeks if he is still there. Is there any news at all? I would like to see him back pitching for the Nats before the end of the season.
Mark Zuckerman:
As a matter of fact, Patterson was back at RFK for the first time yesterday. Sadly, he left the building before the clubhouse opened to the media at 3:30, but I'm told he played catch and is generally optimistic about his situation. I'm hoping he's here today and talks with us, because I'm dying to know more about his whole experience in Toronto and where he thinks he goes from here. And yes, he definitely needs to try to pitch again this season if he wants to convince the Nats to keep him around in 2008.

From B. Prophet in Reston:
Now that the trade deadline has passed, which team helped itself the most and which team missed a chance to augment its roster because it did not want to give up prospects?
Mark Zuckerman:
Without question, the Braves were the biggest winners at the deadline. John Schuerholz went out and acquired the best available hitter (Mark Teixeira) and best available reliever (Octavio Dotel) without really giving up too much. (I do believe Saltalamacchia is going to be a good player, but with Brian McCann already behind the plate, there was no place for him in Atlanta.) Plenty of deadline-day losers, but how about the Yankees? Trading away one of your best relievers (Scott Proctor) for a backup infielder (Wilson Betemit)? Did Brian Cashman forget how they won those four World Series way back when -- with a great bullpen?

From Brian in Alexandria:
Mark, my question is bit involved. I found it interesting that Bowden made the "treading water" comment with regards to the player development improvements. While the Nationals have dramtically improved their farm system, from what I understand it's still has a ways to go to reach middle of the road in MLB. With that in mind, how are the Nationals going to keep the ball rolling in player development with only their normally allotted picks. They had 5 of the top 100 in 2006 and 6 of the top 100 in 2007. At this point, the Nationals will only have 3 of the top 100 in 2008. It's tough to rebuild without the premium picks given the uncertainty of the draft. (This does not take into account any picks they'd lose signing a Type A free agent like Andruw Jones this off-season). How do the Nationals see to a continuation of the rebuilding effort?
Mark Zuckerman:
Wow, that is quite an involved question, though also quite astute. ... You are correct that the Nats' farm system is far from completely overhauled, though they've done a really impressive job in the last year to restock with pitching. And yes, top draft picks are the surest way to rebuild. But every team only gets so many top picks. The really good organizations are the ones that draft gems in the later rounds. That's where the Nats' overflowing scouting department fits in. The more eyes they have, the more players they can scout, the better players they can draft (not only in rounds 1-3 but in 4-10 as well).

From Tim W. in Herndon:
Jim Bowden didn't make any trades at the deadline and instead signed two players with some value to multi-year extensions. Grade his performance -- or non-performance -- over the last 7-10 days.
Mark Zuckerman:
Well, I'd say the re-signing of Belliard for $3.5 million over two years was seen as a good move. And I'd say most people agree that it wasn't worth trading Cordero and Rauch unless he was really blown away with an offer (which he wasn't). The move that surprised most people was the re-signing of Dmitri Young for two years and $10 million. Don't the Nats already have Nick Johnson at first base? Well, technically, yes. But I'm picking up signs from different corners of the Nats' front office that they're not convinced Nick will ever return to his old form. If that's the case, $5M/year for Dmitri to play first base isn't such a bad deal. And even if Nick does come back, Dmitri's contract isn't so large that he couldn't be traded down the road.

From Carolyn Sutton:
Just wanted to say thanks for the great article on Joel Hanrahan in Sunday's paper!
Mark Zuckerman:
Thank you for the kind words, Aunt Carolyn (sorry, Joel spilled the beans that you're part of his family). I have to say, I was quite impressed with his pitching performance Saturday night in New York. It's too bad he couldn't have been rewarded with a win. Definitely looking forward to watching him pitch again later this week. The Nats may have a real find here, people.

From Donald Sanger in Falls Church:
Wow, I didn't realize the Nats were over .500 for the last three months! Do you think that's a sign they may actually contend next year in the new ballpark?
Mark Zuckerman:
Well, I'm not going to go that far. I will say that top people in the organization do believe this team is further along than they thought it would be a year ago. The young pitching is the main reason for that. But this team still has some gaping holes. It desperately needs a center fielder. It desperately needs Felipe Lopez and Austin Kearns to play up to their capabilities. It desperately needs Ryan Church (or someone else) to seize the left field job for good. Given all that, contention next season next season may be too much to ask for. But 2009? That seems like a reasonable goal for this organization.

Wow, looks like we've run through all the questions already. What's up with that? Go tell your friends, your families, your co-workers, your neighbors, strangers you meet on the Metro to join us next week! Until then...