Mike Rizzo

There are all sorts of con men. Frank Abagnale forged checks. Victor Lustig "sold" the Eiffel Tower. Christophe Rocancourt masqueraded as a Rockefeller. Then there are all the Baldwin brothers not named Alec. One of the best modern flimflam artists has been scheming in full public view for years. He drives nice cars and wears fancy suits and makes millions by liberating funds from unsuspecting rubes who willingly hand over money. He ought to be on the FBI's top 10 most-wanted list. Instead, he appears on ESPN.

The innings clock is ticking on Stephen Strasburg, and if Washington Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo sticks to his plan, a perfectly healthy pitcher capable of dominating a game every time he steps on the mound is going to be nothing more than a postseason spectator. Rizzo's plan, in place since before the start of the season, is to limit Strasburg to somewhere between 160 and 180 innings, which means the 24-year-old righthander has about four or five starts remaining. None of them will come against the Phillies, not that it matters to them at this point.

  VIERA, Fla. - Jason Marquis has pitched 10 years in the big leagues. And in each and every one of those seasons, the team he was with - the Braves or the Cardinals or the Cubs or the Rockies - has gone to the National League playoffs. Don't rush out to get a bet down on the 31-year-old righthander extending his streak, though. He signed with the Nationals last December. And while it's true that hope springs eternal and that you never know and that there is a lot of talent on Washington's roster, the reality is that the Nationals aren't going anywhere but home this October.

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. - This day was coming, that is for sure. From the beginning of the off-season, the Phillies had done their best to downplay Jayson Werth's value while Scott Boras had done his best to market his client's virtues in free agency. Werth was destined to be somewhere other than Philadelphia for the 2011 season. But this? Werth agreeing to a seven-year, $126 million deal with the last-place Washington Nationals? No way. Yet it's true. On Sunday, Werth agreed to an incredible deal that sent shock waves around baseball as team executives and agents arrived for the annual winter meetings that officially begin Monday.

Davey Johnson was announced as the manager of the Washington Nationals yesterday, 3 days after Jim Riggleman stunned the team by resigning. Johnson will manage the rest of the season and his first game will be tonight against the Los Angeles Angels in Anaheim. He has been a senior adviser with the team since 2009, though he hasn't managed in the big leagues since 2000 with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Johnson also agreed to a 3-year consulting contract through 2013 that will allow him to remain with the team and help select a successor for next season.

WASHINGTON - Our Park. The Series. That was the only message being advertised Wednesday as the Washington Nationals took batting practice in their home ballpark along the Anacostia River. The plea for ticket sales, visible on every last bit of electronic advertising space in Nationals Park, had nothing to do with the Arizona Diamondbacks, the team Washington was playing in a three-game series that concluded Thursday night. It was all about the long-awaited weekend series against the Phillies - the team whose fans have piled into buses and invaded the nation's capital in recent years.

WASHINGTON - Just when the Washington Nationals were showing signs of success and stability, along came the surprise announcement that manager Jim Riggleman was quitting because he wasn't happy with his contract. The Nationals completed a sweep of the Seattle Mariners on Thursday afternoon, winning, 1-0, in the bottom of the ninth on Laynce Nix's sacrifice fly. They have won 11 of 12 and have moved above .500 this late in the season for the first time since 2005. But no one was talking about Jason Marquis' awesome slider after general manager Mike Rizzo delivered the news of Riggleman's exit to the players in the clubhouse after the game.

The Cedarbrook Country Club team of pro Terry Matter and amateurs Mike Rizzo, Sal Paone and Dick Perrotti won the Philadelphia PGA's Pro-Senior Amateur Tournament with a score of 36 points yesterday at Indian Valley Country Club. The competition was scored under the modified Stableford system, in which a double bogey counts as minus-2 points, a bogey as minus-1, a par as zero, a birdie as plus-2, an eagle as plus-4 and a double eagle as plus-7.

New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said closer Mariano Rivera informed him this week that he is unsure if he will play again or retire, according to a report by ESPNNewYork.com. After he crumbled to the turf and tore his anterior cruciate ligament in Kansas City in early May, Rivera vowed he would return in 2013. Now, with his 43d birthday next month and as he has worked very hard during his rehab to return, Rivera has the familiar tug of possibly wanting to stay home with his family and call it a career.

The Washington Nationals traded outfielder Nyjer Morgan to the Milwaukee Brewers yesterday for minor league infielder Cutter Dykstra and cash. Morgan became expendable once it became clear that Rick Ankiel and Jerry Hairston Jr. would platoon in centerfield. Ankiel will start for Washington on Opening Day. "It wasn't really what he didn't show as what Ankiel did show," Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo said. "Ankiel showed us he can go get the ball in the outfield. His arm is really a weapon.