This afternoon, the Washington Nationals were excited to announce that they’ve firmed up their staff after coming to terms with veteran right-hander Chien-Ming Wang a one-year deal.

The team obviously felt that swinging Wang into their rotation would provide a rock-solid presence to a group who, all potential aside, is a bit on the amateur side. Wang’s numbers last year in limited experience — 4-3 with a 4.04 ERA in 11 starts — were promising, and the front office is a believer in the power of recovery time.

“I was very pleased with his progress and overall production last year and am anxious to see what he can do with a completely healthy offseason at his disposal,” said Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo.

After a long stretch of inactivity, Wang shot to life in August and September, notching four wins in his final nine outings of 2011. For the Nats’ sake, we hope Wang can resume the pace he once displayed while in New York between 2006 and 2007, and that his extension and release issues have sorted themselves out.