Vargas To Make Mets Debut Tonight

Justin Terranova at The New York Post writes about Claudio Vargas and his debut for the Mets tonight against the Nationals:

It may be a downgrade for Claudio Vargas to go from pitching against Triple-A competition to "softball girls," but he will deal with it.

Vargas makes his Mets New York Mets ' debut tonight against the Nationals (7:10, SNY, WFAN) two days after Nelson Figueroa's struggles were followed by a tirade against the same team that led to him being designated for assignment.

I love the softball girls comment so I had to include it. Vargas has his chance to impress us all tonight and we should all keep our fingers crossed for him because it is a game that they are going to have to win.

Acta On Maine

John Harper at the Daily News writes about the Nationals manage Manny Acta and his opinion of John Maine:

"I consider him one of the top pitchers in the league," Acta said. "When he has that fastball working, it's almost like an invisible fastball. That's what we call it in the dugout, because it looks invisible sometimes."

Livan Wants To Be Nats Opening Day Starter

Bill Ladson at Nationals.com rites about Livan Hernandez and how he now wants to pitch for the Nationals and be their opening day starter:

Wednesday, Hernandez said he would like to play for the Nationals and be their Opening Day starter on March 30 against the Braves at the new Nationals Park.

Hernandez, 32, indicated that he wants to play where he is happy and he enjoyed his time with the Nationals/Expos for three-plus years. His time with Washington came to an end on Aug. 7, 2006, when general manager Jim Bowden traded him to the Arizona Diamondbacks for pitchers Matt Chico and Garrett Mock. The Nationals were looking to rebuild their farm system when the trade was made.

"I was the Opening Day starter when the Nationals came to Washington [in 2005]. It would be nice to have that same feeling [at the new park]. Sometimes, it's not about the money. It's how you feel," Hernandez said by phone. "I would love to go to Washington. There are things to do over there. Maybe the [Nationals'] budget [is low]. I'm willing to work with anything."

2008 Predictions

Matt Wease at Prototrade gives his predictions on how the NL and AL will shape up and here is what he had to say about the National League East:

NL East- this is the true toughest division in baseball. it is one of the few with any real depth to it. the phillies have the best infield in baseball (howard, utley, rollins, feliz) while the mets have the best rotation (santana, martinez, perez, maine, hernandez). atlanta, despite glavine's return, doesn't have the same offense it had in his first tour there. washington is getting better, as is florida. looks for the mets to take this one with philly biting at their heels. atlanta will finish third followed by washington and then florida.

Milledge Trade Comes In At #3

John Donovan at SI.com writes about the three most lopsided trades of the off season so far and the Lastings Milledge trade came in at number three:

The Nationals landed Lastings Milledge in a trade from the Mets. I refuse to believe that this one-time untouchable suddenly got that bad that quickly. I mean, what is he, Andy Marte? And getting Milledge for a backup catcher (Brian Schneider) and mediocre outfielder (Ryan Church)? Ow.

Nationals Like Pelfrey

At Rotoworld they write about the Nationals interest In Mike Pelfrey and what they have to work with:

MLB.com reports that the Nationals are shopping Austin Kearns and Felipe Lopez for starting pitching.

Kearns is more expendable after Monday's trade for Elijah Dukes gave the Nationals four outfielders for three spots. Washington is said to be interested in Mike Pelfrey of the Mets and Kevin Slowey of the Twins.