Daniel Cabrera Goes to Washington; Interest in Tim Redding?

It has been slow on the Mark Teixeira sweepstakes since Thursday night's meeting with the Red Sox down in Texas. There's not much else that has come out from the media besides more speculation; however, an ex-Oriole has found a new home -- not too far from the one he just left.

According to Bill Ladson of the nationals.com website, Baltimore's former, but inconsistent fireballer -- Daniel Cabrera -- has found a home in the Nation's Capital as a member of the Washington Nationals.

He and Washington have agreed to a one-year contract, pending a physical.

I only wish the best of luck to him. The Nationals may be a place where he gets his career on track, and may figure it out thanks to a change of scenery. There might be a good chance that the Washington Nationals highly regarded pitching coach Randy St. Claire can work some wonders on the tall righty.

There's also talk that Baltimore might be looking at right-hander Tim Redding -- who was incidentally not tendered a contract by the Washington Nationals. He recently had off-season surgery to repair his toe and was 13-17 with a 4.53 ERA in 48 starts with Washington. He was often mentioned in trade rumors, notably, with the Colorado Rockies at the trade deadline in 2008, as well as this offseason in exchange for speedy outfielder Willy Tavares.

A reason for the decision made by the Nationals could be that Redding – who made $1 million in 2008 – would have been eligible for a raise in arbitration. The Nationals could try to sign him for a lower salary. Baltimore thinks they could use the righty as a stopgap for a season until some of the younger arms in the minors are ready for the major league level.

A nice benefit -- he'll most likely come cheap. Redding is a decent pitcher who started off strong in 2008, going 7-3; however, he lost eight games in the second half and struggled with a 6.82 ERA -- as well, he always seemed to hit a wall in the middle innings of a game.

A tip of the hat of Ian of Sox and Dawgs for shooting me an email while sick in bed...