Fleecing the Pirates So Easy, Even the Nationals Can Do It

The Nationals are in a bit of a quandary. They're trying to convince Mr. Everything, Stephen Strasbourg, to join their woeful franchise for something less than $50 million. Not easy when you're dealing with Scott Boras, who decided to open Rick Ankiel's negotiations with the entirely reasonable comparison between Ankiel and Babe Ruth. So before they know how much of the $50 million they'll have to spend on other talent (likely somewhere between $40 milly and, uh, zero), they'll have to beef up their roster to show they're serious about winning. But how? What franchise is actually lower on the negotiating totem pole than the Nats? Hmmm... someone with a rich history of giving away talent... Oh, hello, Pittsburgh, nice to see you! Washington is pursuing a trade for Pirates outfielder Nyjer Morgan, according to two sources late last night, including one source inside the Nationals' baseball operations. The teams began discussing this eight days ag...