Arbitration goodies

Sorry, I've been traveling all week trying to report some stories that will appear in that crazy $.35/$.50 edition, and the Journal obviously suffers when that happens. But while we were away:

Tim Redding settled before submitting arbitration figures. He'll make $1 million with up to $200,000 in bonuses -- $25,000 each for 25, 27, 29 and 31 starts and $25,000 each for 180, 190, 200 and 210 innings.

Those don't seem like very risky numbers for the Nats. Redding's no shoe-in to be in the rotation (though he could certainly make it), and he's only once made more than 17 starts in a season and has never reached 180 innings. If he does, then that means he'll be pitching pretty well, and it'll be money well spent.

So that leaves two: Jon Rauch and Felipe Lopez. And judging by the numbers they exchanged, I'd guess something would get settled on each of them.

Rauch: Wants $1.4 million. Club offered $1.1 million. He made $455,000 last year.

Lopez: Wants $5.2 million. Club offered $4.9 million. He made $3.9 million last year.

And for those who are wondering who will join the Nationals for the second leg of their Winter Tour -- appearances at the Auto Show, etc. -- it'll be that guy Redding.

Enjoy your long weekend. We'll get you some actual juicy stories here coming up. Imagine that.