Washington has signed Miguel Batista, late of Seattle, to a minor league deal. He turns 39 next month. Last year he went 7-4 with a 4.04 ERA in 56 relief appearances for the Mariners. Before last year he had mostly been a starter, though he’s spent some time as a swingman and was exclusively a reliever in 2005 for the Blue Jays.
Recently the Nats said that they’re looking for “a Livan Hernandez type.” Though they apparently don’t think Livan Hernandez fits that description, Batista is probably a reasonable facsimile in that he generally stays healthy and isn’t all that good anymore. Oh, and I’m assuming his crime novels and poetry are better than Livan’s.