Nationals getting proficient at doing nothing

February 9, 2:19 PMWashington Nationals ExaminerJohn Dugan

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Seeing as the Nats have done precisely squat of value since the Scott Olsen/Josh Willingham deal, I thought about headlining this post with "MANNY RAMIREZ SIGNS WITH NATIONALS" just to rope you in. But I didn't want to mislead you poor souls, who suffer enough having to follow this team make non-move after non-move while plenty of solid options sit there waiting for offers. So let's zip around and see what's happening in Nats-land, shall we?

• The team signed Scott Olsen to a one year, $2.8 million deal. A good price for a good pitcher, and they can always extend the deal if they see him performing (and behaving) to standards.
• Shawn Hill won his arbitration case and will make $775,000 this year. Not a big chunk of change by any means, but interesting that the arbiters (arbitrators? What's the preferred nomenclature here?) saw Hill's sterling 1-5 record and 5.83 ERA last year and decided he needed nearly double his '08 salary.
• Odalis Perez to return with minor-league deal. His solid 2008 would lead one to believe he's in good shape to make the rotation, which might bump Collin Balester down to Triple-A to start the year ( as Rotoworld points out). A starting rotation of Olsen, Perez, John Lannan and the recently signed Daniel Cabrera is at least interesting, if not a guaranteed success.
• Adam Dunn and Orlando Hudson, still out there. Hudson is being more coy about his options and offers, but Dunn's demands are right out there - and they are patently absurd. Really, four years and $56 million to hit .250 and strike out 200 times? I love Dunn's OBP and power, but not for $14 million a year. Get that number down around $11 million and it's more intriguing. Also, if the Nats offered Dunn a deal earlier this winter, and the oaf is STILL sitting on it, isn't it time to retract? It's pretty obvious he doesn't want to play in Washington unless his only other option is DH in the Carolina League. Also, he doesn't want to play first base, which makes him nearly worthless to the outfield-bloated Nats, Cut the cord, Jim Bowden.
• Nats still not pursuing Manny Ramirez. ESPN's Bill Simmons has been crowing that the Nats should throw $100 million at Manny over 3 years and make themselves a national story. That price tag sounds too high to me, but I agree with the sentiment. There's no reason the Nats can't use some of the money they had earmarked for Mark Teixeira and go after Manny - and it would take far less money to get Manny than it did for the Yankees to nab Teixeira. Plus, adding Manny opens up trade possibilities to de-clog the Nats' outfield - with, say, the Nick Swisher deal that was rumored recently. Manny in the outfield and Swisher at first base ... now that's a lineup I could follow everyday.