Patterson & the Prospects

From Bill Ladson comes the utterly unsurprising but still sad news that John Patterson is retiring from baseball at the age of 30. The former Nationals "ace" starting pitcher experienced another setback during rehab of his perennially injured right forearm. J-Patt was very good with ocassional flashes of dominance during the 2005 inaugural season. This was probably the finest outing of his Nationals career, and Dave and I were privileged to see it.

After 2005 recurring injuries took a toll on Patterson, who pitched a total of 72 innings over the next two seasons. The Nats took some heat when they cut ties with John in March of last year, but an attempted comeback with the Texas Rangers fizzled after yet another mysterious bout of forearm pain. It's an unfortunate way for a little piece of Nats history to leave the big stage, but NTP wishes John and his family nothing but the best in the next phase of their lives.

Meanwhile...

BBA's list of the Top 10 Nationals Prospects is here! The always excellent NFA is doing the legwork to try to piece together the full Top 30. Three pitchers and three outfielders made the top 10, and Smiley Gonzalez is the lone middle infield representative, which goes a long way to explaining the 2-year extension of GUZMANIA! in the Nation's Capital.

As expected, 2009 rotation candidate Jordan Zimmermannnnnn tops the list, followed by talented but erratic LHP Ross Detwiler, rehabbing 1B Chris Marrero and raw OF Michael Burgess. Beyond Zimmermannnnnnnnnnn (and perhaps Detwiler) all ten are a long way from major league ready. It should go without saying that the addition of two Top 10 picks in June 2009 will greatly improve the list.