The Nationals bullpen performed well in July, finishing 8^th in FIP, 4^th in K/BB, and 4^th in xFIP despite placing 11^th in ERA out of National League teams.

The recently departed Matt Capps will be missed. He had a strong July, leading the bullpen in K/BB and FIP, and ending up second in xFIP. His season K/BB and xFIP were each 2^nd on the team. His 26-4 SV-BS and 2.74 ERA also look nice.

Either Sean Burnett or Drew Storen is now the best pitcher in the bullpen with Tyler Clippard not far behind. All three are benefiting from low HR/FB% (Storen has yet to allow a home run), though they are also each sporting 2+ K/BB ratios. Look for Clippard to have an improved August after his bad luck in July (.338 BABIP, 46.9 LOB%) left with an ugly-looking ERA of 7.90 for the month and one blown save for good measure.

Miss Iowa himself Miguel Batista had an ugly-looking July ERA (6.30) driven by a .411 BABIP allowed. His FIP (4.71), xFIP (3.62), K/BB (3.67), and start looked much, much better.

Forgotten man Doug Slaten continues to give good performances (4.16 FIP, 4.06 xFIP in July, 3.75 FIP, 4.71 xFIP season) for the Nats and has been rewarded with a spiffy 3.68 ERA on the season.

Buster Olney of ESPN.COM tweeted today that the Washington Nationals have placed slugging first baseman Adam Dunn on waivers today, giving at least one team in baseball another shot at trading for the player.

HOW WAIVERS WORK

After the trade deadline many players are placed on waivers to test the level of interest in various talents. Now all of the Nationals League teams will have a chance to put a claim on Dunn, and then all of the American League teams will have a chance as well. The team who claims him with the worst record gets priority and is allowed a chance to work out a deal with Washington to acquire him.

If the Nationals do not like any deal they are offered, they can pull Dunn off of waivers.

If somehow, and this is very unlikely, Dunn passes waivers, meaning no teams put a claim on him, then they are free to trade the slugger to whoever they want before the end of August.

WHAT IT ALL MEANS

Many players get put on waivers between Aug. 1 and Aug. 31 and we never hear about it. For Nationals GM Mike Rizzo, it is simply about keeping the organization's options open. While the club would certainly like to work out an extension with Dunn, putting him on waivers gives them at least one more chance at trading him.

Because Nationals League teams get priority over American League teams, it isn't likely that the Detroit Tigers or the Chicago White Sox will have the chance to place a claim on him. However, the San Francisco Giants had shown interest in acquiring a bat down the stretch, so many believe that the club will at least attempt to make a move.

When the Nationals moved Matt Capps before the trade deadline to the Minnesota Twins, the question that circled around Nationals Park was if right-handed pitching prospect Drew Storen was ready for the pressure of the ninth inning role.

This is the role GM Mike Rizzo and manager Jim Riggleman had long hoped Storen would end up in. Once it became clear the Nationals could get maximum returns on Capps, the front office decided a move needed to be made. And locking up Twins top-catching prospect Wilson Ramos was too good to pass on.

Let's look at Storen's numbers. In his 33 innings this season, he has allowed 26 hits while walking another 14 batters, which equals out to a 1.21 WHIP. WHIP is a very important stat to look at when considering a closer because the best relievers keep runners off the basepaths. Putting runners on base is the easiest way to allow runs, even if your stuff is dominant.

Top Closers Career WHIP In The Last Decade

Jonathan Papelbon: 0.99 WHIP
Mariano Rivera: 1.00 WHIP
Billy Wagner: 1.00 WHIP
Francisco Rodriguez: 1.15 WHIP

Storen has surrendered only nine earned runs on the season and has punched out 28 batters, allowing only four doubles, which represent all of his extra base hits allowed. Apart from allowing base runners, avoiding the long ball is also another strong sign of a great closer. While he has only pitched 33 innings, his ability to keep the ball in the park has been very solid.

Livan Hernandez (8-7, 3.12) earned the win for the Nats going 7 1/3 innings allowing five hits and one run, while striking out five and walking just one...another vintage Livan start. The toughest inning for the pitcher was the bottom half of the second when, with one out, Mark Reynolds got a rally started with a line drive single to left field. With Reynolds on first, Stephen Drew then singled to right field allowing Reynolds to reach third and putting the Nationals in a tough situation with runners on first and third and one out. Livan couldn't keep the D-Backs from letting that runner reach home thanks to a fielders choice to second by Gerardo Parra, allowing Reynolds to put up Arizona's first and only run.

Washington did all of their damage early, scoring one run in each of the games first three frames against D-Backs starter Rodrigo Lopez (5-10, 4.64). Lopez's only two walks of the night were issued to the second and third batters of the game when Adam Kennedy and Ryan Zimmerman were given free passes with one out. After an Adam Dunn strikeout in which the bat never left his shoulders, Josh Willingham took it upon himself to drive in Washington's first run of the game on a single to center field. It was "The Hammer's" 54^th RBI of the season.

The Nationals second run came from Ivan Rodriquez in the unlikeliest of fashion by driving a slider that got too much of the plate over the wall in left while leading off the top of the second. It was Pudge's second home run of the year and 307^th of his career.

The third and final run for both teams came from a more familiar source, Adam Dunn. His solo shot in the top of the third gave the Nationals a 3-1 they wouldn't relinquish. The home run was his 26^th of the season, tying him with Albert Pujols and Miguel Cabrera for third most in all of baseball. It was also his 67^th RBI of the season, ranking 10^th in the NL.

Harper, 17, made several updates on his Facebook page referencing the fact that he plans on going back to College of Southern Nevada next season to win a "National Championship."

Maybe playing for CSN aroused Harper's sense of duty and respect for his teammates-nay, friends. Seeing mere mortals grapple with such banalities as not hitting 500 foot home runs aroused in Harper realizations of how extraordinarily blessed he is to be so talented and to accept, with humility, his moral duty to bring a even a brief flicker of joy into the lives of his comrades in the form of a D-1 NCJAA Championship.

More believably, Scott Boras could be looking for leverage in negotiations with the Nationals. That, or-and this is what I hope is true, the page could be a fake.

At any rate, it seems the consensus is that the Nationals have likely not yet begun serious negotiations with Harper because Boras likes to wait until the deadline to get deals done. Those who followed Stephen Strasburg's signing are familiar with his tactics.

This means that if you are a Nationals fan, the weekend before and the day of August 16^th will be completely filled with fear, dread, doubt, and worry-even more so than usual.

Even if Bryce Harper does not end up signing, however, the Nats will still receive the second overall pick in next year's draft which will be stocked with good pitching prospects. Harper himself could even still be available. Then we can relive the nightmare again.

Ryan Howard has become the latest victim of the Phillies injury bug.

The big first baseman sprained his left ankle rounding second in Sundays game against the Nationals. The Phillies were riding high having won nine of their previous eleven, so the team hopes Howard won't be sidelined for too long. Despite leaving the game with crutches, Charlie Manuel says that Howard could possibly return for their next series against Florida. That would be good news for Phillie fans but you have to wonder how this injury will affect him for the remainder of the season. Chances are that he will probably favor it at times, giving him even less mobility in the field and making his trips on the base path even more nerve-wracking.

The Marlins did something they have been meaning to do all season, get help for their miserable bullpen.

Florida acquired left-handed reliever Will Ohman from the Baltimore Orioles in exchange for Rick VandenHurk. This move is not the cure to all their problems, but it is a step in the right direction. In 51 games with the Orioles this year, Ohman posted a 3.30 ERA with 15 holds and 29 strikeouts. The move gives manager Edwin Rodriquez a much more reliable left handed arm out of the bullpen, an asset the team has been lacking all season. Ohman is lights out against lefties, holding them to just a .226 batting average. This could quietly be one of the best moves of the deadline.

Braves Blast takes a look at his teams trade deadline moves.

Atlanta picked up Rick Ankiel and Kyle Farnsworth in a deal with the Kansas City Royals in exchange for Gregor Blanco, Jesse Chavez, and Tim Collins. I like the Ankiel pick up, I feel like many people wrote him off while with the Royals, but doesn't that happen to everyone who goes to Kansas City? Although he is injury prone, having spent a majority of the season of the disabled list due to strained right quadriceps, Ankiel is still a threat at the plate and could take this chance with a division leader to rejuvenate his season. This is Farnsworth's second stint in Atlanta having played for them in 2005. Farnsworth has had an incredible season thus far sporting a 2.42 ERA with 36 strikeouts in 44.2 innings pitched. The move solidifies an already outstanding Braves bullpen, of course a little reliever depth never hurt.

With three starters in Stephen Strasburg, J.D. Martin, and Luis Atilano, as well as reliever Tyler Walker all on the disabled list, GM Mike Rizzo had recall left hander John Lannan from Class AA Harrisburg and outfielder Justin Maxwell from Class AAA Syracuse.

Lannan returned Sunday and started for the Nats in their game against Philadelphia going five innings allowing seven hits, two runs, and striking out three. The positive statistic to take out of this outing is that he only walked one batter. In 80 innings pitched this season, he has walked 36 batters and struck out 27, obviously that's not the ratio Washington was expecting from their Opening Day starter.

If it were up to Rizzo he would have left Lannan in Class AA due to the fact that he hasn't shown much improvement in the minors except for a better strikeout to walk ratio, but the injuries made gave him a change of plans. In seven starts for Harrisburg he posted a 1-4 record with a 4.20 ERA, struck out 28 and walked 10 in 40 2/3 innings pitched.

I think it's a little early to say Lannan has got a case of the dreaded Steve Blass disease, despite his ugly record in the minors we have seen some improvement with his control. But now that more than half of the starting rotation is sidelined, expect to see Lannan on the mound for the Nats every fifth day.

A week that began with swirling rumors about the clubs top two sluggers ends with two unexpected deals, an international signing, and a walk off bomb from 'Mr. Clutch,' Ryan Zimmerman.

Teammates surround Ryan Zimmerman after the third baseman hit a three run walk-off home run in the bottom of the 9th inning Saturday night to help the Nationals win 6-5 over the Philadelphia Phillies. The homer was Zimmerman's seventh walk-off shot in his young five year career.

GM Mike Rizzo didn't budge and stood by his claim that he had to be blown away to give up his top slugger. Dunn will still be a free agent at seasons end, raising the question...where do they go from here? Will they extend him or let him walk?

There was an interesting development with the Chicago White Sox involving the recently acquired Edwin Jackson for Dunn, but Rizzo didn't think it was enough; the Nats wanted another player or two in that possible deal for him to pull the trigger. Jackson is a above average starter...at times, but he isn't worth dealing for Dunn straight up.

I think it would be a mistake for the Nats not to extend Dunn, who would they bring in to replace his bat in the order? Certainly, he has the reputation of striking out too much and being a poor fielder but that shouldn't take away from all of the good things he can bring to a team. Baseball in Washington is heading in the right direction and some NL East rivals are becoming aware of this, Dunn is someone they can build around, being a popular figure in the clubhouse and the city.

Cristian Guzman and Matt Capps were the only victims of the mid-season trading deadline, each going to contenders and having big responsibilities with their new teams by filling in for injured stars with Guzman picking up for Ian Kinsler and Capps for Joe Nathan.

The Detroit Tigers are currently 6 games out of the American League Central with mostly their lackluster pitching staff to blame (6^th most runs allowed in the AL).

Evidently the Tigers are more intent on bolstering their offense, particularly by acquiring Adam Dunn (.393 wOBA).

The Tigers already have a good offense (.333 wOBA) but acquiring Dunn will certainly improve it. Such an acquisition would potentially allow the Tigers to bench Ryan Raburn (.277 wOBA) and move the surprisingly productive Johnny Damon (.360 wOBA) back to the outfield (a risky proposition to be sure).

This could improve the team wOBA by a few points, enough to pull away from the White Sox but not to catch up to the Twins. Even by acquiring Dunn, the Tigers offense would still likely not be able to make up the edge the White Sox have in pitching, much less the Twins. That dashes the Tigers hopes of winning the division.

And even if they were able to make up the difference with the Sox, the Tigers would have no hope of catching up with the likely division winners, i.e. the New York Yankees or the Tampa Bay Rays. Trading for Dunn simply does not make sense for the Tigers.

The Chicago White Sox

If the White Sox acquire Dunn for Edwin Jackson as rumored, they will improve their offense while letting their very good rotation take a hit (4.12 xFIP). With a team wOBA of .330, worse than the Tigers and Twins, this seems like a worthwhile proposition.

Thickening the plot further is the White Sox luck thus far. They are winning the division, but the Pythaogrean Formula predicts that they really should be trailing the Twins by 1.5 games and that they will finish 3 games out of first at their current pace.

To buy some insurance against their luck and to strengthen their chances of winning the Wild Card should Minnesota take the division, the White Sox seem like they really need Adam Dunn, especially considering their shaky DH situation: Mark Kotsay with a .286 wOBA and the unsustainable efforts of the young Brent Lillibridge .479 wOBA in 29 PAs. They should be desperate to get Dunn.