Ron Villone News

The Nationals did not offer arbitration to any of their free agents, which include catcher Josh Bard, right-hander Livan Hernandez, outfielder Austin Kearns, left-hander Ron Villone and first baseman Dmitri Young.

Xavier Nady was dealt from the Pirates to the Yankees in 2008. An X-Man sequel? The Pirates have made initial inquiries on free-agent outfielder Xavier Nady, as well as reliever Ron Villone and shortstop Bobby Crosby, though none of those inquiries is known to have moved past that stage.

On the day that legitimately competitive baseball clubs were deciding whether to offer arbitration to their talented free agents, the only news out of NatsTown is that the team will not be handing out cash to the veteran free agent dreck that clogged last year's roster.

Austin Kearns, Ron Villone and Dmitri Young all filed for free agency on Friday, thus taking care of the entire slate of eligible players for the Nationals.

The day after the end of the World Series marks the unofficial beginning of the offseason and the official start of free agency, which means it's decision time for Major League clubs.

In this June 14, 2009 file photo, Washington Nationals manager Manny Acta walks back to the dugout after taking left-handed pitcher Ron Villone out of the baseball game in the eighth inning against the Tampa Bay Rays in St.

ATLANTA, Oct. 4 -- Unwatchable at the beginning, unbeatable at the end, unorthodox without interruption, the 2009 Washington Nationals finished their poorest season with their best effort. On Sunday, before the Nationals split for the winter, they set one final ambush on conventional expectations, turning a meaningless game into a compelling one and concluding their season with a 15-inning, 2-1 victory against the Atlanta Braves.

Nothing, really, hung in the balance Sunday afternoon at Turner Field, but somehow, the game became a loopy delight. A bullpen that earlier could only blow leads on this afternoon couldn't let up a run. Fielding a starting lineup composed entirely of players who'd seen time this year in Class AAA, the Nationals, who started the year with a seven-game losing streak, ended it with a seven-game winning streak.

Ron Villone was with the Yankees when Phil Hughes and Joba Chamberlain first came up to The Bronx and has kept an eye on both of his former teammates over the past two years as their roles -- and performances -- have reversed.

Maxwell drove a full-count pitch from Rodriguez barely over the wall in left field.

"Where do you go? Where do you look? You look at yourself first. Tonight it was me.

With one week remaining in the Washington Nationals' season, shortstop Cristian Guzman might have played his final game in the field and reliever Sean Burnett his final game on the mound.

Guzman could be used as a pinch hitter in select situations, interim manager Jim Riggleman said before Saturday's loss to the Atlanta Braves, but his 'tender' right shoulder could keep him from playing shortstop again in 2009. He has not been throwing during pregame activities. Because he cannot take the field, his pinch-hitting opportunities would be limited to a pitcher's at-bat. Riggleman has not ruled out shutting down the veteran for the remainder of the season.

Two years in a row now, the Nationals have lost at least 100 games, redefining the old maxim regarding Washington's place in war, peace and the baseball standings.

With their latest loss, a 7-6 defeat against the Dodgers Thursday night, the Nationals fell to 52-100, a mark nearly as ugly as the game itself. Eleven pitches into the night, they trailed 4-0. Their starter was pulled after three innings. This being a cheap knockoff version of clean baseball, even when the Nationals battled back to tie, everything promptly unraveled at the worst possible moment.

Nothing in baseball says 'there is still hope' quite so loudly as the September debut of a fresh-faced kid with a future, the dirt of a couple dozen minor league fields still coating his glove, the spring still in his step despite the late date. Watch him strut around the clubhouse. Look at him zip around the diamond. Get about six more just like him, and maybe you've got something -- yes, even the Washington Nationals.

That was shortstop Ian Desmond on Thursday night, those fresh legs exploding through a hanging curve, then propelling him around the bases as if the ball that just left the park in the fifth inning was rattling around in the corner -- and still having enough left in reserve to push him up the dugout stairs for a curtain call a moment later. That was hope.

Ryan Howard's double-play grounder ended a wild ninth inning in a steady rain, as Washington survived to down Philadelphia, 8-7, and salvage the finale of a three-game set at Nationals Park.

Adam Dunn hit his 36th homer for the Nationals, who gave up five runs in the ninth before Ron Villone got Ryan Howard to ground into a game-ending double play with runners at the corners.

One morning last week, just hours after another of his team's recent losses, Jim Riggleman began his day same as always: coffee, newspaper. Riggleman is a baseball man, his life set to its daily patterns, but he also likes constancy, and right now his job provides precious little of it. So Riggleman uses his mornings to compensate.

In Chicago, back in town as the interim manager of the Washington Nationals, Riggleman opened the curtains of his hotel room overlooking Michigan Avenue and glanced outside. It was misting. Some cars used their wipers; some didn't. Riggleman thought for a moment, debating as you do when you already know the answer, and concluded the rain wouldn't bother him.

Do you think Jim Riggleman deserves to be the full-time manager of the Nationals? -- Kevin H., New York There is no doubt in mind.

Once again, the Washington Nationals' bullpen showed it struggles mightily to keep games under control.

The Cubs' Kosuke Fukudome hits a broken bat single off Washington relief pitcher Ron Villone in the eighth inning of the Cubs' 9-4 win Wednesday at Wrigley Field.

A day after the Nationals signed their No. 1 Draft pick, Stephen Strasburg, to a record contract, it appears that acting general manager Mike Rizzo has not secured that role for the longer term.