NATIONALS NOTEBOOK
Hernandez Hopes to Stay In Arizona
Wednesday, September 13, 2006; Page E07
PHOENIX, Sept. 12 -- On the day he was traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks, former Washington Nationals right-hander Livan Hernandez reiterated that he was disappointed to be dealt away because he wanted to throw the first pitch in the Nationals' new ballpark when it opens in 2008, a duty he performed when baseball returned to Washington in 2005 at RFK Stadium.
Tuesday, though, Hernandez expressed a new desire -- to stay in Arizona.
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VIDEO | Nationals Spring Training ON THE FIELD Jesus Flores' two-run, ninth-inning double gives the Nationals a 4-3 win over the Marlins. Notebook: The Nationals trade left-handed reliever Ray King, the most veteran member of their pitching staff, to the Brewers for a player to be named. Boswell: The statistics show a return to normalcy in baseball and the end of the Steroid Era. Minor Leagues: Justin Maxwell has come out of the slump he was in after straining an oblique muscle by sneezing and is now hitting .423 with 24 homers. NATIONALS REPORTBy the Numbers89: Errors for the Nationals through Monday. Through 138 games a year ago, they had 113 errors. Personnel Dept.OF Ryan Langerhans hit his first homer of a 14-game stint with Class AAA Columbus on Monday, just before he was called up. "I felt a lot more comfortable," he said. "My approach was a lot better." Langerhans will be used primarily as a defensive replacement. ... The club activated LHP Micah Bowie, who hadn't pitched in the majors since June because of a hip injury. ... The club announced that Centerplate would replace Aramark as the concessionaire at the new ballpark in 2008. Quotable"He certainly was a good influence on our young pitchers, had a lot to do with some of their developments. Our clubhouse was a better place with Ray King a part of it." -- GM Jim Bowden NATIONALS JOURNALBarry Svrluga provides the latest news on the Nationals. MULTIMEDIA Podcasts: Postgame audio from Barry Svrluga and video from Washington Post Live. Slideshow: A crowd of 40,389 pack into RFK Stadium to open up the 2007 baseball season. Photos: Manny Acta returns home. Webcam: Check back daily and follow the progress of construction on the stadium. |
"Hopefully, I stay here a long time," he said. "I want to. I hope it happens. It's a great city, and it's a great organization, too."
Hernandez, who will pitch in the series finale Wednesday against the Nationals, is 2-4 with a 4.25 ERA in six starts for Arizona. He said he has settled into being with his new team -- the fourth of a major league career that began in 1997.
"I'm comfortable," he said. "It's a lot of good guys. I think everybody's great guys there [in Washington], and same here. It's a young team, and everybody's got a good relationship."
Hernandez has one year remaining on his contract in which he will earn $7 million.
Homecoming for New Vice President
Mike Rizzo, the Nationals' new vice president of baseball operations, said he is having a warm homecoming this week. "Everybody's been great -- even the elevator operators," he said. Rizzo worked for eight seasons for the Diamondbacks and is credited with helping build one of baseball's strongest minor league systems.
To get the Nationals to that point, Rizzo realizes he and other front-office members have an extremely long way to go. "It takes time," he said.
Rizzo's mission over the remainder of the regular season is to prepare the Nationals to seize some of the top scouting and player development talent in the game. To hire a scout or coach under contract with another club, the Nationals have to get permission from the opposing team and MLB to begin talks. "It's a very regimented process you have to go through," Rizzo said.
The Nationals, however, will not be raiding the Diamondbacks' scouting staff. Teams typically allow a grace period of at least a year before pursuing former colleagues.
