Bryce Harper to visit Dr. James Andrews

Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper is eligible to come off the disabled list on Tuesday, but that appears to be the longest of long shots at the moment.

Per Amanda Comak of the Washington Times, Harper will visit noted orthopedist Dr. James Andrews on Monday.

Comak also tweeted that "Harper did some running in the pool today and his knee still swelled so the #nats want to see what Andrews sees and says."

"#Nats still insist Harper's injury is bursitis, not worse. Surgery to remove bursa sac would be last resort, would add several weeks to ...," CSN Washington's Mark Zuckerman tweeted.

In 44 games, Harper is hitting .287 with 12 home runs and 23 runs batted in.

Bryce Harper not in lineup on Monday

Earlier this month, Nationals right fielder Bryce Harper had a face-first collision with the outfield wall at Dodgers Stadium.

Since then, Harper (knee) has missed several games and he left last night's game against the Phillies early after aggravating the injury.

It's something that Harper expects to deal with all season.

“It probably won’t get better until the offseason,” he said, per James Watson of the Washington Post. “I just have to deal with the pain and try to keep in there every day and see what happens.”

According to Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post, Harper is not in today's lineup against the Orioles.

Kilgore went on to tweet that Harper passed an MRI, but he was diagnosed with bursitis in his knee and he may return as a designated hitter during the series with the Orioles.

Harper is currently hitting .287 with 12 home runs and 23 runs batted in.

2013 Fantasy Baseball Rankings - Top 50 Outfielders

In the vast majority of fantasy baseball drafts this season, the first player selected is going to be an outfielder.  While that much is certain, the specific outfielder that goes first overall is much less of a lock.

Although Detroit Tigers third baseman Miguel Cabrera could make a strong argument that he should be the first overall pick, the decision for most fantasy owners will come down to Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun or Los Angeles Angels outfielder Mike Trout.

That said, it's like choosing between a Rolls Royce or a Bentley.  In other words, there's not really a wrong choice.

As the unanimous choice for American League Rookie of the Year, Trout finished second in the AL MVP voting behind Cabrera, the first triple-crown winner of my lifetime.  Not only did Trout get six of the 28 first-place votes over the triple-crown winner, he began the season in the minor leagues.

Despite playing his first 20 games of 2012 in the minors, the 20-year-old (now 21) made the most of his opportunity once he was called up.  Trout hit .326 with 30 home runs and 49 stolen bases in only 139 games.  In addition, he scored 129 runs and finished with 83 runs battted in.

Imagine what his stat line would have been had he started the year in Anaheim.

Adding in his minor league numbers, his 2012 totals over both levels were 150 runs scored, 31 home runs, 96 runs batted in and 55 stolen bases.

Like Trout, Braun is a player that will help fantasy owners in all five roto categories and both players had 30/30 seasons in 2012.  Trout had a 30/50 season; Braun actually had a 40/30 season.

In fact, Braun has back-to-back 30/30 seasons under his belt.

Since being called up in 2007, Braun has hit above .300 in all but one season (.285 in 2008) and .319 or better in four of those six seasons.  In addition, Braun has scored more than 100 runs in four consecutive seasons and driven in more than 100 runs in each of the past five seasons.

Perhaps he won't steal 30-plus bases for a third consecutive year, but Braun is a lock for a line of .300/100/30/100/20 with upside in all five of those categories.

Can CarGo Go For More than 145 Games?

In addition to Braun and Trout, several outfielders should go in the first round of drafts including Colorado Rockies outfielder Carlos Gonzalez.

The glass-half-full view with CarGo is that he has three consecutive 20/20 seasons despite playing 145 games or less in each of those seasons.

Of course, the glass-half-empty view is that he has averaged only 135.7 games per year over the past three years.

If healthy (or close to healthy) for a full season, Gonzalez can post a monster stat line.  Back in 2010 with 145 games played, he posted a career-best line of .336/111/34/117/26.

As a career .299 hitter, a lot would have to go right for him to approach the .336 average he had that season, but he certainly has a shot of repeating his production in the counting statistics if he can set a new career high in games played.

Onward and Heyward

After a disappointing and injury-plagued (shoulder) sophomore season in 2011, Atlanta Braves rightfielder Jason Heyward had a breakout season last year.

Not only did he play a career-high 158 games, but the J-Hey Kid set career highs in hits (158), home runs (27), runs scored (93), runs batted in (82) and stolen bases (21).

Heyward is expected to move to second (from third) in the batting order this year so it's likely that he scores a few more runs but drives in the same or maybe fewer runs.

Only 23 years old and as a former top prospect, Heyward should continue to improve his overall game and fantasy production.

A Teenager No More

At only 19 years old, Washington Nationals phenom Bryce Harper won the National League Rookie of the Year award in 2012.

Like Trout, Harper made his big league debut last season on April 28th and for the (not quite) full season, he hit 22 home runs and stole 18 bases.  In addition, he finished fifth in the league in runs scored (98).

Harper carries positive momentum with him as he enters his second season.

In his final 12 regular-season games last year, he hit .415 with three home runs, eight runs batted, 11 runs scored and five steals.  In 19 games this spring, Harper is hitting .396 with three home runs, eight runs, 12 runs batted in and two steals.

While we may be a season or two away from the day that Harper becomes a perennial MVP candidate, he has all the physical tools and virtually unlimited potential.  With Trout's monster season as a 20-year-old last year, maybe we're not as far away as some would think.

Here are my top 50 fantasy outfielders (based on Yahoo! eligibility):

1. Ryan Braun, Milwaukee Brewers
2. Mike Trout, Los Angeles Angels
3. Matt Kemp, Los Angeles Dodgers
4. Andrew McCutchen, Pittsburgh Pirates
5. Carlos Gonzalez, Colorado Rockies
6. Jose Bautista, Toronto Blue Jays
7. Josh Hamilton, Los Angeles Angels
8. Giancarlo Stanton, Miami Marlins
9. Justin Upton, Atlanta Braves
10. Bryce Harper, Washington Nationals
11. Jason Heyward, Atlanta Braves
12. Adrian Gonzalez, Los Angeles Dodgers
13. Matt Holliday, St. Louis Cardinals
14. Jacoby Ellsbury, Boston Red Sox
15. Adam Jones, Baltimore Orioles
16. Jay Bruce, Cincinnati Reds
17. Alex Gordon, Kansas City Royals
18. Allen Craig, St. Louis Cardinals
19. Yoennis Cespedes, Oakland Athletics
20. Shin-Soo Choo, Cincinnati Reds
21. Ben Zobrist, Tampa Bay Rays
22. B.J. Upton, Atlanta Braves
23. Alex Rios, Chicago White Sox
24. Michael Bourn, Cleveland Indians
25. Desmond Jennings, Tampa Bay Rays
26. Curtis Granderson, New York Yankees
27. Carlos Beltran, St. Louis Cardinals
28. Melky Cabrera, Toronto Blue Jays
29. Mark Trumbo, Los Angeles Angels
30. Austin Jackson, Detroit Tigers
31. Nick Markakis, Baltimore Orioles
32. Martin Prado, Arizona Diamondbacks
33. Carl Crawford, Los Angeles Dodgers
34. Shane Victorino, Boston Red Sox
35. Carlos Gomez, Milwaukee Brewers
36. Hunter Pence, San Francisco Giants
37. Nelson Cruz, Texas Rangers
38. Andre Ethier, Los Angeles Dodgers
39. Josh Willingham, Minnesota Twins
40. Ichiro Suzuki, New York Yankees
41. Ben Revere, Philadelphia Phillies
42. Mike Morse, Seattle Mariners
43. Norichika Aoki, Milwaukee Brewers
44. Michael Cuddyer, Colorado Rockies
45. Alejandro De Aza, Chicago White Sox
46. Angel Pagan, San Francisco Giants
47. Adam Dunn, Chicago White Sox
48. Nick Swisher, Cleveland Indians
49. Dexter Fowler, Colorado Rockies
50. Brett Gardner, New York Yankees

For a second opinion, check out Duncan Sanford's outfielder rankings. (Or view our consensus third basemen rankings here.)

Other positions: C - 1B - 2B - 3B - SS - OF - SP - RP

To keep track of our updates, follow us on Twitter @EDSBaseball, LIKE us on Facebook and/or add us to your Google+ circle.

Nationals, Zimmerman agree to six-year extension

The Washington Nationals and third baseman Ryan Zimmerman have agreed to a six-year contract extension, per ESPN's Buster Olney.

According to the report, the deal includes an option for the seventh year, which means that Zimmerman, who was under contract through 2013, could be a National through 2020 based on the new deal.

"All along, all I've wanted is to be able to stay with the Nationals, which I consider my hometown team, and help the franchise become a winner while also being compensated fairly," Zimmerman said in a statement Saturday. "I'm from Virginia, I was drafted by the Nationals and I've seen this organization make great progress since I signed here. I want to see it through to the ultimate goal of winning a World Series."

Zimmerman, who was the franchise's first draft pick in the post-Expos era, played in only 101 games and set six-year lows last year in runs scored (52), home runs (12) and runs batted in (49).

In our fantasy rankings, we have Zimmerman as the fifth-ranked third baseman.

Nationals, Gio Gonzalez agree to extension through 2016

The Washington Nationals announced via Twitter that they have agreed to a contract extension with starting pitcher Gio Gonzalez through the 2016 season.

In addition, there is a team option for the 2017 and 2018 season as well.

Gonzalez, who was acquired for four prospects last month, would have been eligible for arbitration this offseason.

In the past two seasons, Gonzalez has won 15-plus games, pitched 200-plus innings and posted a sub-3.25 ERA each year. Last season, he set career highs in wins (16) and strikeouts (197) and a career low in ERA (3.12).

Among qualified pitchers, Gonzalez ranked 11th in MLB in K/9 (8.78) last season. But only Toronto's Brandon Morrow (10.19), Seattle's (now New York's) Michael Pineda (9.11) and Detroit's Justin Verlander (8.96) had a better K/9 among A.L. starting pitchers.

That said, only Pittsburgh's James McDonald had a worse BB/9 (4.11) than Gonzalez (4.05) last year among qualified starters.

Derek Jeter homers for 3,000th hit

Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter homered for his 3,000th career (regular-season) hit off Rays starting pitcher David Price.

Jeter, who is the 28th player to reach the milestone, became only the second player to homer for his 3,000th hit. As noted by SI's Joe Posnanski, Wade Boggs was the other player.

In addition, Jeter becomes the first player in franchise history to reach the milestone while collecting all 3,000 hits as a Yankee.

Here are the other 27 players to have reached the milestone in Major League Baseball history:

1. Pete Rose (4,256)
2. Ty Cobb (4,189)
3. Hank Aaron (3,771)
4. Stan Musial (3,630)
5. Tris Speaker (3,514)
6. Cap Anson (3,435)
7. Honus Wagner (3,420)
8. Carl Yastrzemski (3,419)
9. Paul Molitor (3,319)
10. Eddie Collins (3,315)
11. Willie Mays (3,283)
12. Eddie Murray (3,255)
13. Nap Lajoie (3,242)
14. Cal Ripken (3,184)
15. George Brett (3,154)
16. Paul Waner (3,152)
17. Robin Yount (3,142)
18. Tony Gwynn (3,141)
19. Dave Winfield (3,110)
20. Craig Biggio (3,060)
21. Rickey Henderson (3,055)
22. Rod Carew (3,053)
23. Lou Brock (3,023)
24. Rafael Palmeiro (3,020)
25. Wade Boggs (3,010)
26. Al Kaline (3,007)
27. Roberto Clemente (3,000)

The next closest active player to reach 3,000 hits is Nationals catcher Ivan Rodriguez, who has 2,842 hits as of yesterday.

When it's all said and done, how high will Jeter finish on this list (vote on our poll here)?

Ryan Zimmerman to go on the 15-day disabled list

The Washington Nationals will place third baseman Ryan Zimmerman on the 15-day disabled list (DL), per Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post.

Zimmerman, who strained his oblique on Saturday, sat out of Sunday's game and would be eligible to return as early as April 24th.

However, Kilgore notes that the Nationals "hope" that Zimmerman will be able to return in three weeks.

With Zimmerman out, Alex Cora, who started Saturday, and Jerry Hairston will split time at third base. Meanwhile, Jayson Werth is expected to move into Zimmerman's third spot within the batting order.

In the three seasons from 2008 to 2010, Zimmerman missed a combined total of 81 games.

With two of the top three fantasy third basemen (Zimmerman and Tampa Bay's Evan Longoria) on the DL, one player to consider adding is Detroit's Jhonny Peralta, who's eligible at third base and shortstop.

Through nine games, Peralta is hitting .379, but he's a career .264 hitter that hit above .276 only once.

That said, Peralta, who is owned in only 30 percent of Yahoo! leagues and 46 percent of ESPN leagues, has driven in 80-plus runs in each of the past three seasons.

Ryan Zimmerman to miss a few games with abdominal strain

Washington Nationals third baseman Ryan Zimmerman, who has an abdominal strain, is not in today's lineup and will likely miss a few additional days, per MLB.com's William Ladson.

With three consecutive games with two hits per game, Zimmerman has raised his average on the season to a team-leading .357.

Alex Cora is starting today's game at third base and hitting eighth in the lineup, per Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post.

The Nationals play the Mets today, have tomorrow off and then begin a three-game series against the Marlins on Tuesday.

Fantasy Baseball: 2011 Third Basemen Rankings

Third base isn't exceptionally deep, but a couple of solid options (Boston's Kevin Youkilis and Seattle's Chone Figgins) will earn eligibility at the position in April.

Here are our top 15 fantasy third basemen for 2011:

1. Evan Longoria, Rays: Everywhere you look, Longoria will likely be the top-ranked fantasy third baseman and you'll likely need a top-five to have the chance to draft him. As the third-overall pick in the 2006 draft, Longoria is still only 25 years old with plenty of upside. In other words, a season of .294-100-33-113-15, which are his career highs, (or better) is certainly possible in 2011. (And hopefully there won't be any more stolen AK-47 stories this year.)

2. David Wright, Mets: After a disappointing 2009 season, Wright was shy of a 30-20 season by exactly one home run and one stolen base. By hitting a career-low .283 last year, Wright ended a streak of five consecutive seasons of hitting .300-plus. In other words, if things fall into place, Wright has as good of a chance as any third basemen to finish with a line of .300-100-30-100-20.

3. Ryan Zimmerman, Nationals: Zimmerman missed 20 games last season, but he set career highs in home runs (33), runs scored (110) and runs batted in (106) while playing 157 games in 2009. Although he won't steal many bases, he will provide a boost in all of the other four categories.

4. Alex Rodriguez, Yankees: A year older? Who isn't, right? Granted, A-Rod is nowhere near the all-around fantasy stud he once was and he hasn't played more than 138 games in any of the past three seasons. That said, Rodriguez has posted 30-plus homers and 100-plus runs batted in every season since 1998 including in the past three seasons. In my opinion, he's sliding to a point where he could out to be a bargain in most drafts.

5. Kevin Youkilis, Red Sox: Although he's not yet eligible at third base, he will be at some point in April depending on your league's eligibility requirements. Here's what I wrote about Youkilis in our first base rankings, where he's No. 7: "Over the past five seasons, Youkilis has not played more than 147 games in any year. Provided he stays healthy for a full season, Youkilis could/should put up around or more than 100 runs, 100 runs batted in, 30 homers while hitting .300."

6. Adrian Beltre, Rangers: Beltre, who turns 32 years old in April, is now entering his 14th season in the big leagues. Only twice in his 13 years has he hit over .300 with 28-plus home runs and 100-plus runs batted in. Coincidentally, both of those seasons happened before getting a big contract. While he has the skills to do it a third time in his career in 2011, I'd like to see back-to-back strong seasons from Beltre before I'm a buyer at these prices.

7. Jose Bautista, Blue Jays: Bautista led all of baseball in home runs last year with 54, which is nearly equal to his home run output from 2004 to 2009 (59 home runs total). While a repeat performance is highly unlikely, there's a good chance that he can follow up last year's league-leading performance with 35-40 homers in 2011.

8. Casey McGehee, Brewers: Only two other third basemen -- Longoria and A-Rod -- have more runs batted in than McGehee (149) since July 1, 2010. While he won't steal bases, like most third basemen won't, McGehee will help in the other four statistical categories in standard 5x5 categories at a very reasonable cost.

9. Aramis Ramirez, Cubs: Last year, Ramirez hit only .241, which was lowest batting average since 2002. From 2004 to 2009, Ramirez hit .289 or higher every season including .300-plus in four out of six seasons. Although Ramirez only played 124 games last year, he drove in 100-plus runs in all five seasons in which he has played 125-plus games since 2003. Provided he can stay healthy, a bounce-back season seems reasonable.

10. Pablo Sandoval, Giants: Sandoval broke out in 2009 -- hitting .330 with 25 home runs and 90 runs batted in. Although he had a disappointing season in 2010, Sandoval is only 24 years old, lost a substantial amount of weight in the off-season and shortened his swing. Based on his average draft position of 127 from Mock Draft Central, Sandoval seems to offer more reward than risk this season.

11. Pedro Alvarez, Pirates: There's no doubt that Alvarez has tremendous upside and potential. Although Alvarez struck out in 34.3 percent of his major league at bats last year, he combined for 29 home runs and 117 runs batted in between Triple-A and the big leagues.

12. Martin Prado, Braves: Prado, who played mostly second base and some third base last year, is moving to left field for the Braves and soon will be eligible at three fantasy positions. In a career-high 140 games last season, Prado hit .307 and 15 home runs with 100 runs scored.

13. Michael Young, Rangers: Young, who is a career .300 hitter, hit 20 home runs in back-to-back seasons for the first time since the 2004 and 2005 seasons. While he may or may not hit 20-plus homers in three straight seasons for the first time in his career, Young is one of the more consistent hitters in the game.

14. Mark Reynolds, Orioles: The good news? Reynolds is the only player in baseball to hit 100-plus home runs and steal 40-plus bases during the past three seasons. The bad news? He's hit .234 during that span while striking out an average of 213 times per season.

15. Ian Stewart, Rockies: Stewart isn't going to win a batting title any time soon and missed about a quarter of the 2010 season. But with good health, Stewart has the power to hit 25-30 home runs in an offense that features two of baseball's elite hitters: Carlos Gonzalez and Troy Tulowitzki.

Feel free to send fantasy baseball questions to me via Twitter at @EDSBaseball or post them in our fantasy baseball forum.

See our other fantasy rankings for infielders: C - 1B - 2B - SS

Ian Desmond wins Nationals' SS job

The Washington Nationals have named rookie Ian Desmond as the team's starting shortstop to begin the 2010 season.

“This is one of those moves that we can make to help the club this year and in the future,” [Nationals manager Jim] Riggleman said.

Provided Desmond doesn't struggle too much in the role, Cristian Guzman, last year's starting shortstop, will remain a utility player that could certainly be dealt mid-season.

"We have not made any calls and we haven't taken any calls about a trade," Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo said about Cristian Guzman, per Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post.

Guzman, who's in the final year of his two-year contract, hit .284 last season after hitting .316 in 2008.

Through Sunday's game against the Braves, Desmond leads the Nationals in runs batted in (14) this spring.

Nats sign Strasburg to four-year deal

The Washington Nationals have signed Stephen Strasburg, the top overall pick in this year's amateur draft, to a four-year deal worth $15.1 million, according to Ben Goessling of The Washington Times.

The record-setting deal was signed with only a minute to spare before the Monday midnight deadline.

"We are proud to have him in the organization, and we're very happy to add him to a growing list of young, upsided right-handed starters," acting general manager Mike Rizzo said. "It's a big day for the Washington Nationals. It's a big day for the fans of Washington, D.C. And it's a big day for the city of Washington."

The previous record deal was given to Mark Prior when the Cubs signed him to a $10.5 million deal in 2001.

Rizzo wouldn't discuss a possible September call up for Strasburg saying, "We're not going to go into that right now." But if he is called up, it'll be the first time the top overall pick plays in the majors in the same year in which they were drafted since 1989.

Strasburg was nearly unhittable at San Diego State where he struck out 195 batters in 109 innings last year. He went 10-1 with an ERA of 1.32.

Adam Dunn hits # 300

Washington Nationals slugger Adam Dunn has hit his 300th career home run today.

He hit the home run off rookie phenom Tommy Hanson, who had a scoreless innings streak of 26 before Dunn's homer.

Dunn becomes the fifth fastest player to reach that milestone (4,145 at bats). The only four to reach that milestone quicker are Babe Ruth, Mark McGwire, Ralph Kiner and Harmon Killebrew.

On May 26th, Dunn recorded his 1,000th hit against the Mets.

Zimmerman hit streak at 27 games

Entering last night's game against the Arizona Diamondbacks, Washington Nationals third baseman Ryan Zimmerman had a 26-game hitting streak.

After getting no hits in his first three at bats, Zimmerman hit a solo home run for his fourth at bat (eighth inning).

The Nationals won 2-1 and have now won four of their last five games.

Zimmerman will look to extend his hitting streak to 28 games at 4:10 p.m. ET today.

Forty-two players have hit safely in 30+ consecutive games, fifteen players have hit safely in 35+ consecutive games and only six players have hit safely in 40+ consecutive games. Of course, the record was set by Joe DiMaggio (56) in 1941.

Little League to pay Elijah Dukes $500 fine

Washington Nationals outfielder Elijah Dukes was late for Saturday's Marlins' game. Since he was late, the Nationals benched him and fined him $500.

Dukes was late after making an appearance at a Little League event.

By baseball-player standards, Duke is getting paid a paltry salary of $415,500. But he can certainly afford a $500 fine.

"The point is, this guy gave back to our community, and now he's in a hard spot. We need to help him," said Jim Mraz, the Great Falls LL president, according to The Washington Post. "It's not a question of whether this guy can afford the 500 bucks. We're just trying to send a message to our kids: He was here for us. Now we've got to be there for him."

Said Mraz: "You're a little stunned. Like, 'Whoa, wait a minute.' Here's the game of baseball -- it's got steroids hanging over it, all these issues. ... Needless to say the Nats kind of need help with what they're doing. I could see if he was out trying to do something small or private, but he just came into my community and gave us a shot in the arm."

What a surprise! The Great Falls Little League is run better than the Washington Nationals. No wonder the President invited the Chicago White Sox for a visit -- not the local team.

Marlins sweep Nats for an 11-year first

The Florida Marlins are owners of baseball's best record after playing a dozen games (11-1).

And for the first time in 11 years, the Marlins swept a series in which they were trailing in all three games heading into their last at bat.

The last team to win three consecutive games after trailing heading into their last at bat were the 1998 Detroit Tigers.

''We stole a game yesterday, we stole another one today, we stole one the first day,'' [Marlins catcher John] Baker said Sunday. He delivered one of the clutch hits in the latest comeback. "It's kind of like Crime and Punishment, isn't it? We're worried sneaking off the field that we're going to get arrested for stealing these games.''

The Marlins won the World Series in 1997. The Marlins won the World Series in 2003. If they continue their six-year trend, they are due to win another World Series in ... 2009.

With only 150 games to go, there's still a chance that the Mets, Braves and Phillies will pass the red-hot Marlins. But, then again, could they be this year's Rays?

Nats, Zimmerman close to 5-year extension

Per the Washington Post, the Washington Nationals and third baseman Ryan Zimmerman are close to a five-year extension worth $45 million, which could be announced within the next few days.

In February, Zimmerman signed a one-year deal worth $3.325 million. The extension would replace this year's contract with four additional years that would run through the 2013 season.

Zimmerman said of the Nationals: "I love playing in D.C. I love this city. I think this organization is going in the right direction and hopefully we'll do something to where I can be here for a long time. But like I said before, I'm not involved in any of that stuff now, and as far as I'm concerned with it's over with until next offseason."

Through April 18th, Zimmerman is hitting .277 with nine RBI in ten games.