With Josh Willingham and Scott Olsen Trades, Nationals Send Message to Fans

After a disappointing 2008 campaign in which they lost 102 games and finished with the worst record in all of Major League Baseball, the Washington Nationals are starting to look forward to next season.

On Monday night, General Manager Jim Bowden made his first big move of the offseason. Washington acquired outfielder Josh Willingham and left-handed pitcher Scott Olsen from the Florida Marlins for second baseman Emilio Bonifacio, minor league pitcher P.J. Dean, and shortstop Jake Smolinski.

"It shows that [the team has] a commitment to winning," said Bowden of the deals. "A commitment that we're going to continue to go in the right direction and we're not just going to wait for the farm system to develop players here. We said when we were building up our development and scouting that one of the means of using it would be for trading, and we've lived up to that."

The trade materialized at last week's General Managers meetings, and it was no secret going in that the team needed to address the talent level on the major league squad. 

Washington sorely needed another starting pitcher and a bat with some pop, and the Florida Marlins—playing the part of small-market franchise—have been actively dangling arbitration-eligible players. Both Willingham and Olsen fit that bill, thus Florida, in a cost-cutting measure, made them both expendable.

Tuesday afternoon at Nationals Park, Bowden introduced both of the newest Nationals.  They each made brief statements, took media questions, and reflected on what has been a crazy past few days while looking ahead to life with the Nationals.

Olsen, a 24-year-old left handed starting pitcher, was introspective upon being traded. 

"I've never been traded before so this is all new for me," said Olsen. "Meeting all the new people here, everybody's been great.  It's the same game no matter where you're at and I look forward to playing here and being a National and try to win. "

Willingham, no stranger to the Nationals or to their fans by virtue of playing for Florida the past few seasons, quipped, "I'm really looking forward to moving forward with the Nationals.  You talk about the plan they have for this team and I'm going to believe in it."

He added, "You know what you'll get from me. I'm going to play hard every day. I love playing the game—I think that's the most important part. Just to have an opportunity to play in this stadium of this caliber, it's brand new and think it's going to be a good opportunity and I'm looking forward to it and I appreciate the opportunity."

The fiery Olsen is ready to step in and be a leader for Washington. "You want to be the ace no matter where you're at. I think that at least for me I apply myself so that I can be out there every five days. I don't like missing any starts and as part of an ace that's what you've got to do."

Wednesday's deal deviated from Washington's current rebuilding plan, which is to build from within with draft picks and low-level talent.

Willingham, 29, appeared in 102 games last season and hit .254/.364/.470 with 15 home runs and 51 RBI. He has a career .266 batting average and slammed a combined 57 home runs in 2006 and 2007—his first two full seasons in the league.

After a season when the Nationals were in desperate need of some power hitting, the addition of Willingham gives them a bat with power potential in the heart of the order.

If there's one conundrum with this trade—assuming that Willingham plays in the outfield—it's that something will have to give with Lastings Milledge, Elijah Dukes, or Austin Kearns.

Willingham could also play first base, which would displace Nick Johnson, who is recovering from wrist surgery. But Bowden stated emphatically, "We acquired him as a corner outfielder, not as a first baseman."

Willingham expanded on his position with the squad during the press conference by simply noting, while being open to platooning at other positions, "I'm a left fielder as far as I know. The past three years that's where I've played exclusively. I've done some catching before and was an infielder before that. I'm comfortable in left field now. I can play other positions but that something I haven't discussed."

Olsen went 8-11 with a 4.97 ERA in 2008 over 33 starts and 201-2/3 innings in 2008. His numbers last season were somewhat of a regression from his rookie season and Olsen has a history of physical confrontation with teammates, a drunk driving arrest, and perhaps a sordid reputation.

However, he's looking to turn the page on his checkered past. "I knew something had to change.  It just started off slow and you just try to keep yourself out of situations where there might be a problem.  I think that's the biggest thing with this maturing and everything that everybody claims that I've done. It think it comes down to one thing and that's just don't be in a situation where something might happen."

Despite it all, he represents a major upgrade over most of the other candidates for the Nationals' 2009 rotation. He's completing his third full of year of service, and his best year was in 2006, in which he won 12 games.

Bonifacio, acquired from Arizona at last year's trade deadline for reliever Jon Rauch, was slated to be the Nationals' starting second baseman and leadoff hitter, but was outplayed down the stretch by Anderson Hernandez and Alberto Gonzalez.

Blessed with speed, the switch-hitter batted .243, stole seven bases, and had 14 RBI. However, he looked over-matched at the plate at times—especially as a right-handed batter.

He's versatile and can play multiple positions, but may be delegated to bench or platoon duty in Florida, as currently All-Stars Dan Uggla and Hanley Ramirez man the infield at second base and shortshop, respectively. Bonifacio has primarily played in the outfield during winter league play this season.

Dean, 22, pitched for Class A Vermont, going 4-1 with a 1.57 ERA in 10 starts. Smolinski, 19, played for the Gulf Coast Nationals, Vermont, and Class A Hagerstown, and hit .271 with four home runs and 33 RBI.

Nationals' Vice President and General Manager Jim Bowden knew after the lackluster season that saw a multitude of injuries, losing streaks, and fan discontent build, a change had to be ushered.

"It shows the commitment from ownership and from Stan Kasten, our president," said Bowden. "We're really determined on winning for our fans.  This is a huge message to send to the Washington Nationals' fans.  But remember, these guys are still very young, they're in their 20s, so we control them for three more years. This was not a trade and rent-a-player for a year. These are two players that can spend a long time playing here."

He added, "We're all embarrassed by the season we had last year.  Its strictly unacceptable.  You want to talk about injuries or lack of depth or whatever it was—it's embarrassing and except for the first pick overall we're getting in June, we don't ever want to have that happen again. We're on a mission to continue the plan and bring winning baseball back here to Washington."

This article first appeared at DCSportsBox.com, written by David Nichols and Anthony Amobi, Senior Writers for DC Sports Box.