Don't F*** This Up

Alright, everybody stay calm. Just hand us the lease agreement and nobody has to get hurt. Shut your piehole Reinsdorf, thanks for the $20 mil, but don't think we didn't notice that nothing got done until you left town. And Catania, I don't want to hear one word out of you... not one word. Sit there and vote "No" like the irrelevant independent-former-Republican you are, but keep quiet. Tony Bowtie, Croppzilla... feel free to take a victory lap after you hand over the agreement. We are suitably impressed with your collective political acumen, but God help you if you screw this up at the 11th hour. Nice and easy now, just hand it over...

Elsewhere: Banks of the Anacostia concisely summarizes the mood of Nats fans, MissChatter analyzes the deal, and Curly W looks at the still-rocky road ahead.

And Flights of Angels Sing Thee to Thy Rest

The long expected departure of reliever-turned-starter Hector "El Matador" Carrasco has finally arrived. St. Barry reports that Carrasco inked a 2-year, $6.1 million deal with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim of California of the United States of North America of planet Earth. (I will not, will not, will not call them the L.A. Angels, Artie Moreno can change the team's name to the Rio de Janeiro Beach Bunnies, but they'll still play in Anaheim. Just like the Mighty Ducks. Here endth the rant.)

No word on what the Nats were offering El Matador contract wise, but you can bet it wasn't in the neighborhood of 2 years at $3 mil/yr. That's Marlon Anderson money. Like Esteban Loaiza, Hector was a Type B free agent, so we're in line for the Angels 1st round pick, though it's more likely we'll end up their 2nd rounder.

A Hazy Shade of Winter

Baseball's Winter Meetings kick off next week in Dallas ('cause when I think baseball, I automatically think Dallas. But seriously, Saskatoon was all booked up?) Trader Jim at the Winter Meetings is like a Weight Watchers class touring a Marshmallow Peeps factory; it's going to go bad and it's going to be messy. Rocket Bill Ladson has JimBo's shopping list: 2 starters, 2 sluggers, a leadoff hitter and a backup catcher. (Actual line from the article: "Backup catchers are hard to find." Now that's comedy.) Notably absent from the list, cold fusion and world peace.