Earlier this afternoon the Nationals officially completed a trade which will bring them OF Nyjer Morgan from the Pittsburgh Pirates and left handed reliever Sean Burnett.  The Nationals gave up still young, but troublesome Lastings Milledge and reliever Joel Hanrahan to get the deal done.

Morgan is having a very solid season at the age of 28 batting .277 with 18 SB, 27 RBI and 77 total hits and is playing very solid defense as well.  Burnett has been a pretty solid reliever appearing in 38 games, pitching 32.1 innings to a 3.08 ERA and should help a troubled Nats bullpen.

Milledge will now play for his third team and hope to have the luck and success everyone thought he would for years now.  He is still only 24 years old and has the potential to put up All-star numbers.  He was demoted to the minors this year after failing to produce in the leadoff spot for the Nationals.

Hanrahan has had a rough season after being named the closer in spring training.  He only recorded 5 saves before being removed from the role.  The Nationals had been using a more closer by committee type approach and it is unclear how Pittsburgh will utilize the former starter.

Weigh in on your thoughts on the trade in the comments section

looks probable

According to both MLB Trade Rumors and The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette,

LMillz to Pitt?

the Pirates and Nationals are close to a deal of Nyjer Morgan for current minor leaguer Lastings Milledge.  NLEC had first linked to the Post-Gazette on Saturday night regarding this rumor, but at that point the Nats did not want to include Craig Stammen.  The details of this trade are still unknown, but we will update you as we see the details, this would be the Pirates second deal of the day.

A Philly again

The Philadelphia Phillies have acquired Brian Mazone from the Los Angeles Dodgers organization according to Beerleaguer.  He was with the Phillies organization for the previous three years.  This year he spent time with AAA Albuquerque as a relief pitcher, Jason Weitzel of Beerleaguer does not know whether he will be a starter or reliever at AAA for the Phillies.  No word on what Philly gave up for him, but you can assume it wasn’t much.

Bastardo to 15 day DL

The National League East’s injury problems continued yesterday as the Philadelphia Phillies made a move many were expecting by sending rookie LHP Antonio Bastardo to the disabled list according to ESPN.  He will be retroactived until his last start on Thursday and this trip to the DL is because of a strained shoulder suffered during that outting against the Rays.  For the time being Sergio Escalona is back with the big league club, but speculation by many, including here at NLEC is that one of AAA prospects Carrasco or Carpenter will be called up for Bastardo’s start on Thursday.  You have to wonder if depending how the prospects do in his absence if this intensifies efforts for a trade, stayed tuned to NLEC for more.

Ham Ram gets NL Player of the week

Fresh off the announcement that he was the National League Co-Player of the week , Hanley Ramirez went 3 for 4 with a run scored and an RBI bringing his average to .339 on the season while the Marlins defeated the Nationals 4-2.  This game was tied until the bottom of the eighth inning as there was a great pitched game by former Marlins Scott Olsen and Ricky Nolasco who appears to be turning his season around.  Nolasco(5-6) went eight innings of four hit ball while giving up only two runs and striking out eight.  Since being sent down to the minor league squad in late May with a 9.07 ERA in nine starts, Nolasco has a 1.80 ERA in five starts and is 4-1 in those games.  After Olsen pitched seven strong innings for the Nationals in his first start back from the disabled list, Ron Villone(3-5) went two thirds of an inning giving up what would eventually be the winning run to the Marlins.  Leo Nunez got the final out to record his third save of the season for the Marlins.  The Marlins moved into second place in the National League East with the victory and the series continues tonight.  For more Nationals news visit Centerfieldgate.

What could he be thinking?

The New York Mets continued their downward spiral on Monday night as they lost their fourth straight game, falling three full games behind the Phillies and even falling behind the Florida Marlins in the National League East.  Formerly undefeated Fernando Nieve(3-1) only lasted into the fourth inning this time, giving up eleven total hits and three earned runs and one home run.  The game was kept close until the Brewers broke it open in the final three innings getting seven runs off the final three Mets relievers, and those turned out to be important.  In the sixth inning, Brewers third basemen Casey McGehee made up for a Luis Castillo like error by hitting a grand slam, putting the Brew Crew up seven to three at that time.  Braden Looper(6-4) worked 6.1 innings against his former club only giving up one earned run and three in total and even contributed an RBI single.  Trevor Hoffman was summoned unexpectedly in the ninth inning to pick up his 18th save after Carlos Villanueva could only record one out while giving up five hits and three runs and making the game much closer than it actually was.  The two teams continue the series tonight at 8pm in Milwaukee and the Mets hope that ace Johan Santana can break their losing streak.  For additional Mets news, go to The Real Dirty Mets Blog.

If interested in helping the NLEC, please contact mrose@nleastchatter.com

Phils looking for Wang?

According to  Nova Fantasy Sports, and other published reports, the Phillies sent scouts to Citi Field last night to watch former Yankee ace Chien-Ming Wang.  If he is made available, the Phillies are rumored to be VERY interested in acquiring him, the same is also said about Red Sox’ Brad Penny.  Stay tuned to NLEC for more info on this.

Martis to AAA

To make room for Scott Olsen to return from the disabled list, the Nationals have sent Shairon Martis to Syracuse according to Federal Baseball as well as ESPN and MASN.  Martis had won his first five decisions before recently losing three decisions in a row.

Scott Olsen will be activated before the series with the Marlins this week.

Lidge returns to action

The Phillies won their first series since taking two out of three from the Mets in early June by beating the Blue Jays 5-4 in Toronto yesterday.  Jamie Moyer(6-6) went five innings while giving up four earned runs, but giving up three earned runs in earning the win for the Phils.  Brian Tallet(5-5) went slightly longer than Jamie Moyer, giving up the same number of earned runs but because of an unearned run, took the loss in this game.  Brad Lidge worked a shaky ninth inning to get his first save since returning from the disabled list, his 14th of the year.  The Phillies will take Monday off before heading to Atlanta to take on the Braves on Tuesday.

Rivera joins the elite 500 save club

During the nightcap for Sunday’s games, the Mets were hoping to manage one game in this edition of the Subway Series against the Yankees.  Unfortunately, mental issues stopped them from doing that early in the game once again.  Livan Hernandez(5-3) worked seven innings, while only giving up three runs in the first inning of a game in which Daniel Murphy, the young and unexperienced first basemen made another odd play.  In the first inning, on a ground ball, he decided to throw to third to hope to get a tag down on Jeter rather than taking a sure out at first base which likely made a huge difference in the game.  Chien-Ming Wang(1-6) got his first win of the year with just over five innings of two run ball, but was not the Wang of old yet.  Mariano Rivera worked 1.1 innings and got an RBI to earn his first RBI of his career on a bases loaded walk and earn his 500th save of his amazing career.  The Mets hope that returning to regular National League play this week will allow them to right their ship, check out The Real Dirty Mets Blog for more information.

Fredi is concerned

The Florida Marlins managed just four hits yesterday against the Tampa Bay Rays in the finale of their three game set and interleague play.  After a successful week against the Yankees and Orioles, the Marlins could not manage a win versus the defending American League champions.  David Price(2-2) worked 6.1 innings while only giving up two hits and one run, but five bases on balls to get the win, as Andrew Miller(2-4) gave up all five Rays runs in the same amount of time.  J.P. Howell who had earned wins in the first two games of this series, got the last two outs of this game on strike outs for his fifth save of the season.  The Marlins welcome the last place Nationals into Miami this week for a three game set.

Chipper and Garret go yard

Tommy Hanson continues to impress everyone and show that he is the phenom prospect he was supposed to be.  Hanson(4-0) went six innings of two hit ball to get his fourth win in five starts this season for the Braves.  The closer revolving door for the Braves let Mike Gonzalez get his ninth save of the year in a 2-1 Braves win with Rafael Soriano getting the hold today.  The Braves were propelled to victory but two solo home runs by Chipper Jones and Garret Anderson and that’s all the pitching needed.  Brad Penny(6-3) worked six strong innings only giving up the solo shots in taking the loss.  The Braves will welcome in the Phillies tomorrow night, check out The Braves Baseball Blog for more information.

The Nats celebrate a win

The Nats were another NL East team which was looking to avoid a sweep at the hands of an AL East team yesterday.  Like the Braves, the Nationals managed to get the win and avoid the series sweep by the Orioles.  Adam Dunn hit yet another monster home run and John Lannan(5-5) pitched another solid game into the eighth inning to get the win for the Nationals.  Mike MacDougal picked up his third save of the season while David Hernandez(1-2) went 5.2 innings pitched while giving up three runs in taking the loss for the O’s.  The Nationals will travel to Miami and take on the Marlins this week, more will be available at CenterfieldGate.

Make sure to check back later for the NL East Series Preview for this week.

According to MLB Trade Rumors and MASN sports,  The Washington Nationals have sent current AAA outfielder Ryan Langerhans to the Mariners for AAA INF Mike Morse.  Check out MLB Trade Rumors for more, but at first glance, it seems a fairly even trade, with possibly a slight edge to the Nats.

The Nats receive the 27 year old Morse who had been hitting over .300 with 10 home runs and Langerhans stats are here, who is 2 years older and is hitting under .300.  This also allows the Nats to get rid of their huge log jam at OF and get some more infielders.