Today marked day three of the National Winter Caravan.
The first stop was the Nats season ticket holder Hot Stove Luncheon. The event was attended by the Nats largest collection of players yet on the tour. There was a panel Q&A moderated by David Gregory, host of NBC's Meet the Press (and Nats' season ticket holder).
Nats President Stan Kasten, GM Mike Rizzo, Manager Jim Riggleman and All-Star 3B Ryan Zimmerman spent a good 45 minutes getting grilled by the collected season ticket holders in the sold out event.
They took questions ranging from the possibility of re-signing Adam Dunn (in the audience, who gave a standing ovation to the question with a knowing glance to owner Mark Lerner), steroids and Sammy Sosa (Riggs was his manager in 1989, and said that baseball was "naive" back then) and Zim's off-season dietary plan (no, he didn't diet, but according to the questioner he "looked great").
Mr. Kasten responded to all sorts of questions with his standard earnestness.
Q: What about those pesky Phillies and Mets fans?
A: We just want them to go home sad when they lose.
Q: What about the big red tent blocking the view of the Capitol?
A: There are plenty of view of the Capitol in the stadium if you'd rather watch that than the game.
Q: What about the long lines at the concessions?
A: We don't like 'em either, and we're still trying to figure it out.
We caught up with Rizzo after fans were invited to get autographs from their heroes.
The highlights: He's still pursuing Orlando Hudson, but the two sides remain apart. He still thinks there are options if they can't work it out with Hudson. He said Cristian Guzman will be healthy at spring training. He said Ian Desmond will be a "very good" shortstop in the majors very soon. He just didn't know if very soon meant opening day, September, or next season.
He thinks newly signed pitcher Miguel Bastista will compete for the 4-5 spots in the rotation, but also is comfortable sending him to the pen. And he said Jesus Flores has not started throwing yet, but will start a throwing program soon, maybe to coincide with spring training.
Later in the evening, the players went across town to take in a Washington Capitals game. They all signed autographs for an hour before the game started, then enjoyed a spirited 4-1 Caps victory.
Oh, and for the record, Dunn was sporting a pretty sweet off-season beard (see below). Not quite as awesome as this, but up there.
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