The Washington Nationals have signed reliever Brad Lidge to a one-year deal worth $1 million, plus incentives, a league source told ESPN.com's Jayson Stark.
Lidge will likely pitch as one of the Nationals' setup men in the 2012 season. Closer Drew Storen saved a franchise-record 43 games last season, while Tyler Clippard posted a 1.83 ERA with 38 holds. Lidge would be a viable option for the Nationals in the seventh inning.
In 2011, he pitched in 25 games for the Phillies, posting a 1.40 ERA and serving as the team's setup man to closer Ryan Madson. He spent several months recovering from elbow injuries, during which he lost his closer role. But Lidge never complained, and returned to become one of the more trustworthy setup men in baseball.
In his four seasons in Philadelphia, he saved 100 games with a 3.73 ERA and 228 strikeouts in 193 innings. His stats are skewed by a horrendous 2009 season in which he lost all eight decisions, blew 11 of 42 save opportunities, and posted a 7.21 ERA, the highest single-season earned run average by a closer in major league history.
But he was sensational in 2008, his first season with the team after signing as a free agent from the Houston Astros. He converted all 41 save chances in the regular season, recording a 1.95 ERA, plus seven more in the postseason. The Phillies captured their first world championship in 28 seasons. Lidge finished fourth in the NL Cy Young voting and eighth in MVP voting.
With Houston, Lidge was very in consistent, ranging from absolutely dominant (6-5, 1.90 ERA, 42 saves, and 157 strikeouts in 94.2 innings in 2004) to downright dreadful (1-5, 5.28 ERA in 2006).
The 35-year old reliever will have an opportunity to remain in the National League, where he has spent his entire career. He'll even remain in the NL East.
But this time, he'll be throwing that wicked slider against the Philadelphia Phillies, instead of for the Philadelphia Phillies.
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