September 30, 2012; Tampa, FL, USA; Washington Redskins tight end Fred Davis (83) runs with the ball against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during the second half at Raymond James Stadium. Washington Redskins defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 24-22. Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Free agent TE Fred Davis has been on the open market since March 12 and so far hasn't found any takers. In fact, there is little evidence any real biding war for Davis' services has begun and the player is understandably a bit upset about this state of affairs. 

On the NFL Network Davis recently said: 

“A lot of people are looking at the [Achilles] injury and that stuff,” Davis said on NFL Network. “I definitely feel like whatever team signed any tight ends right now, I’m gonna make them regret anything that they do – AND the Redskins, too, as well – because I know I’m gonna go out here and I’m gonna do what I have to do. And I’ll bet you next year’s gonna be a good year for me. This is The One right here. This is The Big One. You ever watch Fred Sanford? He had The Big One. That’s what this year is for me. Elizabeth, I’m coming!”

My memory of the Sanford and Son tv show is hardly perfect, but I thought "The Big One" referred to a heart attack Fred Sanford was always pretending to have. Not sure what it means if Davis is promising this year will be his year of the fake heart attack. Is that good or bad? I suppose a fake heart attack is vastly preferable to a genuine one.

Davis has met with the Cleveland Browns and Buffalo Bills and has an upcoming meeting with the NY Jets. It seems nobody has made him a good offer yet. 

The Redskins want Davis back, but they are clearly prepared to let him leave and want to get him at a bargain price -- at least for the 2013 season -- because of Davis' recent injury and his suspension for drug abuse before that. [Davis' next drug use suspension, if it ever happens, would last for one full year.] 

This has been a tough market for free agents that did not go in the first few days. Most teams are strapped for cap space and the ones that do have some room do not seem inclined to risk it on players who have a fair bit of baggage -- like Davis. This is certainly not the free agent payoff Davis was hoping to land, so his frustration is understandable, but threats about making teams regret not signing him will not increase his payday. It's isn't just the Redskins who have decided Davis is not worth a big contract right now, it's the entire NFL. 

The Redskins need help at tight end. Right now they have Logan Paulsen, a restricted free agent earlier this month until he re-signed wth the team, and Niles Paul, a converted wideout who didn't inspire confidence with his mastery of the new position. Bringing back Chris Cooley is possible, but not preferable. A healthy Fred Davis would be a big help to the Redskins offense and its young quarterbacks. 

It appears as if the best thing Davis can do is sign a one-year deal for as much money as he can get [or a deal that is, for all intents and purposes a one year deal] and then stay healthy and out of trouble. And produce big-time on the field. If he does those three things, Davis' payoff will come, just a year later than he hoped. 

Granting his wishes, the Washington Nationals have unconditionally released starter Chris Young. 

As we said in our Nats Link article this morning, Young wanted to opt out of the contract he signed because of his desire to start in the major leagues.  He knew that was a long shot opportunity with Washington because the starting rotation was already set with Stephen Strasburg, Gio Gonzalez, Jordan Zimmermann, Dan Haren, and Ross Detwiler.

Young had a pretty good spring and should be a consideration for clubs in need of a starting pitcher.  In 4 starts, Young was 1-0 with a 2.25 ERA.  He allowed 4 earned runs over 16 innings. 

She only reported for the Nationals for one season, but Kristina Akra will be missed. You will still be able to watch Ms. Akra, as the MLB Network is her new home.

New MLB Network host Kristina Akra, who served as a reporter covering the Washington Nationals for MASN in 2012, will appear across MLB Network's studio programming and make her MLB Network debut on MLB Now on Monday April 1.

MASN has not announced who will take Akra's place.

MLB Network's live game schedule for the 2013 season will begin with the Tampa Bay Rays' home opener against the Baltimore Orioles on Tuesday, April 2 at 3 PM. Washington will be featured on Friday, April 12th, when the Atlanta Braves come to Nationals Park.

A few Weeks ago, I posted a link in this column to an article that identified three questions for the Nationals in 2013.  One of those questions was regarding a possible sophomore slump by OF Bryce Harper.  I was pretty critical of that article given the player Harper is and has become.  The Spring is proving that to be right.

Yesterday, Harper went 3 for 3 in Washington's 6-4 loss to Houston.  That perfect day at the plate raised Harper's spring batting average to .459 having collected 28 hits in 61 at bats in 22 games.  Certainly doesn't sound like a slump is on the way for the 20 year old phenom.  Of Harper's 28 hits, he has 5 doubles, 1 triple, and 3 home runs.  So plan ahead if you want this non-slumping Harper to be in your office or room.  The Nats announced that the Harper bobble head is set for June 23 at Nationals Park. 

Speaking of Harper, Federal Baseball notes that Bryce Harper stars in a new TV commerical for MLB for Openign Day, titiled "I Play for October."  Wanna see the commercial?  Scroll to the bottom of this article.

Adam LaRoche collected 2 hits yesterday including his 3rd spring home run.  Wilson Ramos also collected 2 hits, raising his spring average to .300 (10 for 30).

Chris Young pitched 4 effective innings in his final game with Washington, as he has opted out of his contract.  Young allowed just 2 hits, 1 walk, and 1 run.  You can't blame Young for opting out, the guys wants to pitch in the majors and has had an effective spring.  He knew when signing on with the Nats in the off-season that his opportunities in DC were limited.  Mor eon the Young opt out:  Wash Times, CSN Washington,

“I’m realistic that the roster is full. I understand that,” Young said. “We’ve talked about maybe trying to work something to where I can stay. We’re not there right now. But there’s interest from other clubs. I just have to weigh all the options and see what’s best for me and my family.

“I love it here. I would love to stay. This has been just a terrific spring training, being around a great group of baseball people. There’s nothing negative to stay about this place – maybe that they 15 pitchers deep. I’d like to work  something out if I could be here. But if not, I understand the circumstances.”

After Young departed, normally effective reliever Craig Stammen was pounded by the Astros for 6 hits and 5 runs over 1.1 innings.  OK, get it out of your system now Stammen. 

Neon Tommy blog writes an NL East preview.  For the record, they believe the Nats will finish first and collect 102 wins.  Our predictiosn for the season are coming soon. 

District Sports Page has published a round table on the coming Washington Nationals season, that sits just 6 days away. 

Nats manager Davey Johnson is not confident that Henry Rodriguez will be ready for the start of the season.  Rodriguez has complained of elbow soreness.  That could be good news for veteran JC Romero, signed by the Nats last week.  In fact, given the miniscule roster spots actually in contention, Romero could be the surprise, given he just arrived.  More on Rodriguez and Romero.   That spot may be the only thing left to accomplish in the final 6 days.   

The Nats have also outrighted Carlos Rivera to the minors. 

Dan Haren is hoping to return to his work horse status this season with the Nats. 

Adam Kilgore wrote on prospect Steve Souza and whether he may be prepared for a breakout season in Harrisburg (AA).  Speaking of minors, the Syracuse (AAA) roster is beginning to take shape.  More morning readings from Nationals Prospects. 

New Bryce Harper opening day TV commerical from MLB. 

The Grizzlies could do nothing to stop John Wall tonight

No Bradley Beal. No Nene. No Trevor Ariza. No Martell Webster. No AJ Price. No problem.

With almost half the team on the shelf with injuries or the flu, Washington Wizards point guard John Wall knew he had to take over the game tonight if his team was to defeat a Memphis Grizzlies team that came into tonight with a record of 47-22 and the top overall defensive ranking in the NBA. And that's just what Wall did, scoring on outside jumpers, midrange pull-ups and 19 of 24 free throw attempts to finish with 47 points, 8 assists, 7 rebounds and only 2 turnovers. It was too much for the Grizz, as the Wizkids triumphed 107-94 at the Verizon Center tonight. The win improves Washington's record to 26-44, 19-17 at home. It was Washington's first win over the Grizzlies since 2010.

The outburst led Washington Redskins QB Robert Griffin III to take note on Twitter. 

47 Points 7 Rebounds AND 8 assists!?!?!?!? OK I see you @john_wall #DCTakeOver

— Robert Griffin III (@RGIII) March 26, 2013

"I don't even know where to begin," Wizards head coach Randy Wittman said in his postgame press conference. He said the Wizards discussed playing tonight's game with only nine healthy players, emphasizing the need to believe a win was possible and playing hard and recklessly. "This is an incredible win for us," he added. 

"That was incredible performance," Wittman said of Wall. "He carried us... That was incredible." Wall set or tied four different personal records tonight, with 47 points, 13 made field goals, 19 free throws made and 24 free throws attempted. 

The Grizzlies were playing without center Marc Gasol and the Wizards took advantage early and often, feeding the ball into Emeka Okafor, who had a major strength advantage over Ed Davis. Okafor responded by hitting 9 of 15 shots for 21 points and 9 rebounds. Apart from Wall, Okafor was about all the Wiz had tonight on offense. Chris Singleton, starting for the first time since the Clinton administration, scored 10 points and grabbed 7 rebounds, while Cartier Martin scored 9 points and pulled down 6 boards off the bench. The Wizards were also forced to start Trevor Booker, who managed only 7 points and 4 rebounds. 

The Wizards led by 2 points after one quarter, as he scored 10 points on 5-7 shooting in the first. Wall scored another 16 points in the second quarter, including a killer crossover dribble leading to a layup that tied the game at 55 heading into the locker room. 

Wizards scored the first 8 points of the third quarter to take a 63-55 lead before Ed Davis hit two free throws and Tayshaun Prince cut the lead to four with a short hook shot. However, Garrett Temple spotted up in the corner and John Wall found him behind the three point line. Temple hit the shot and the Wiz went back up by 7. The Grizz answered immediately with their own three to get the lead back to four. Mike Conley got a layup blocked by John Wall, but Prince grabbed the rebound and put in an unopposed layup to cut tthe Wizards lead to two with 5:32 left in the third quarter.

The Wizards called timeout to regroup, but Chris Singleton committed an offensive foul to turn the ball over, but Quincy Pondexter committed an offensive foul on Cartier Martin. On the other end Emeka Okafor made a power move to the basket for a layup and drew a foul. He missed the free throw, but the lead was back up to four at 68-64. The Wizards fed the ball to Okafor again and he hit a short hook in the lane over Davis to put the Wiz up by six. Mike Conley caught a screen and hit an open jumper to knock the lead back down to four.

The Grizz tied the score at 72 before Wall fed Kevin Seraphin for a short jump hook in the lane. However, Jan Vesely fouled Jerryd Bayless on a drive in the paint and the Memphis guard hit both free throws to tie the game at 74. Wall drove to the lane and drew a foul from Bayless, hitting both free throws to give the Wiz a two point lead. The shots gave Wall 30 points on the game, a new season high. Neither team could do anything with their final possession of the quarter and the game went to the fourth quarter with the Wiz up 76-74. 

The Grizzlies hit the first shot of the fourth quarter to tie the game, but Wall hit an 18-foot jumper to put the Wiz back up and then led a one-on-three break and the Grizzlies paid him the honor of fouling him as he shot a 14-foot pull-up despite having the advantage of numbers. Wall hit both free throws to give him 34 points and the Wizards a four point lead. Austin Daye responded with a fadeaway shot to cut the lead to two, but Cartier Martin got his first field goal of the game with a nice drive and score at the hoop. 

Cartier Martin hit a 3-pointer to put the Wiz up by five before the teams traded turnovers and John Wall was fouled driving to the hoop for a dunk. Wall made only one of two free throws, putting the Wiz up by six. The Wiz went up by ten, 91-81, when Cartier Martin hit an open 3-pointer off a missed layup by Mike Conley. It looked like Wall and Conley got their legs caught up together after Conley stole a lazy pass and drove to the hoop, but no foul was called and Martin took advantage of the open look. Grizzlies coach Lionel Hollins went berserk on the sidelines at the non-call, but was forced to call a timeout to gather his troops as the Verizon Center crowd erupted. The ten point lead was Washington's largest of the game to that point, the result of a 9-3 run over 2:20 of court time. 

Wall got a new career-high of 40 points moments later when he hit a fadeaway 20-footer with a hand in his face as the shot clock expired. It was a truly clutch shot by a player bailing out his team on a key possession. The shot put the Wiz up 94-83. On th other end Zach Randolph got called for a foul and a technical foul when he slapped the ball out of Chris Singleton's hands after the play was concluded. Wall hit the free throw to put the Wiz up 95-83 and then Singleton hit one of two to give the Wiz a 13 point lead. 

Jerryd Bayless scored quickly on a layup to cut the lead to 11 with 3:30 left and then the Wiz turned the ball over on a pass into Okafor. A 3-pointer by Quincy Pondexter cut the lead to 8 before Wall got fouled on a drive and the Wizards called timeout to give their star guard a rest. 

However, Wall misssed both free throws, a sure sign of fatigue and the Wiz eight point lead looked precarious. Bayless hit two free throws on the other end to cut the lead to 96-90 with 2:30 left. Singleton traveled on the other end, the 12th Wizards turnover of the game. Bayless hit a fadeaway jumper to cut the lead to four before the Wiz called timeout. The Grizz used a 9-0 run in little over a minute to seize control of the game. 

The Wiz fed the ball into Emeka Okafor and he made a good spin move on Davis to draw the foul and get to the line. Okafor hit both free throws to put the Wiz up by six with two minutes left. However, Bayless hit another outside shot to cut the lead to four again. Wall dribbled around and drew the double team and fed Okafor open at the top of the key. Okafor sunk the shot to give the Wiz a six point lead. Bayless drove to the hoop and missed a layup as Okafor defended the basket. Ed Davis was called for his 5th foul going over the back of Trevor Booker for the rebound. Booker, a 57 percent free throw shooter on the season, hit one of two to put the Wiz up 101-94 with 1:24 to play. The Grizz called timeout. 

Bayless tried to draw a foul on a shot, but the shot missed badly and no foul was called, probably because it was Bayless who jumped into the defender. Wall drew yet another foul, this one from Darrel Arthur, who fouled out on the play. In addition, a Grizzlies assistant coach drew a technical foul and Wall calmly sank the shot for an eight point lead. He then cooly sank hit both free throws from the Arthur foul to increase the lead to 104-94 thanks to a 6-0 run in 25 seconds. 

Bayless got another shot blocked as he drove to the hoop, effectively sealing the game. Wall then crushed the life out of Memphis by hitting a 3-pointer as the shot clock expired, leading game announcer Steve Buckhantz to shout "DAGGER!" in jubilation. The Wiz stole the ball on the other end and ran out the clock as Wall sauntered around the court, urging the crowd to cheer louder. The Wiz finished the game on a 9-0 run. 

Washington's aggressiveness on offense was critical to winning the game, as the team hit only 7 shots from the field in the fourth quarter, but made up for it by sinking 14 free throws. 

There has been a lot of talk lately about whether or not John Wall deserves a max contract from the Wizards -- much of it coming from Wall himself. There has been no shortage of doubters, but tonight Wall shut the doubters up for one night, at least. 

Free agent cornerback Antoine Winfield is scheduled to visit Redskins Park on Wednesday. Winfield, who turns 36 years old in June, was a first round pick of Buffalo in the 1999 NFL Draft. Winfield spent five seasons with the Bills before signing with Minnesota as a free agent in 2003. Winfield has spent the last nine seasons with the Vikings and was a Pro Bowl selection following the 2008, 2009 and 2010 seasons.

Winfield is seemingly a perfect fit in Washington, still proficient in press coverage and strong against the run. Winfield had 101 tackles last season and reportedly did not allow a single touchdown pass. The Redskins are looking for secondary help after cutting DeAngelo Hall for salary cap reasons. Washington did add free agent corner E.J. Biggers last week, but are looking for more help opposite returning starter Josh Wilson.

The Redskins have four corrnerbacks currently on their roster with a realistic chance of making the 53-man roster in September. Wilson, Biggers, Richard Crawford and Jerome Murphy. Washington is expected to address the secondary in next month's NFL draft, with even bigger question marks at both safety positions.

Follow Tom Blaz on twitter at TheRecruitingEagle    https://twitter.com/RecruitingEagle

Can't let this quote go by without reproducing.  This comes via Corey Masisak on Twitter.  Follow Corey. 

"Right now I am scoring goals and I'm king of the world.  Couple of weeks I was almost in toilet.  Maybe they forgot to flush me."

We have been awaiting the return of Alex Ovechkin all season. 

No, not from injury.  From mediocrity. 

And he has arrived.

Suddenly, the Washington Capitals, who seemingly looked destined for a top draft pick and a missed playoff season , are in the running for a playoff spot and a possible division title.  The Caps sit just 5 points out of the Southeast Division lead and just 3 points out of the 8th playoff spot.  Credit can be spread through the roster for a resurgence.  The team looks as if it has finally grasped the system of new head coach Adam Oates.  They look as if they now understand their roles within the system.  They are executing much more effectively.  All that is true.  However, much credit also lies with the heavily criticized team captain, Alex Ovechkin. 

Ovi took criticism from every direction, including this blog and from this writer.  Lately, he has transformed himself into, well, himself of years past.  Ovechkin is scoring.  Ovechkin is assisting.  Ovechkin seems energized.  That can only be good news for the Caps going forward.   

This week, Ovechkin was selected as the NHL's First Star of the Week. He is in the midst of a five point scoring streak and a five game goal scoring streak.  His 8 points in the last four games have sparked the capitals to back to back wins over Southeast leading Wiunnipeg and a big win over the 8th playoff spot holder New York Rangers.  Huge wins.  Ovi has put together 8 goals and 8 assist in the month of March, that saw the Caps improve to 8-5 for the month.  Since the awful 4-0 shutout loss to Carolina on March 12, where Ovi never even recorded a single shot on net, Ovechkin has not had under 4 shots on net since then.  Since that ugly loss to Carolina, Ovi has recorded 7 goals, 4 assists, 35 shot son goal, and 22 hits in 7 games.  Even more important, with a surging Ovechkin's also comes the rising of Nicklas Backstrom.  During the Ovi's five game scoring streak, Backstrom has recorded 2 goals and 5 assists for 7 points. 

When Ovechkin is producing, Line 1 is producing.  When Line 1 is producing, the Caps win.  That is precisely what they missed in the earlier part of the season.