We mentioned the rumor in today’s Nats Roundup, but now it’s official: the Nationals just put the finishing touches on a trade, sending once-promising outfielder Lastings Milledge and out-of-sorts reliever Joel Hanrahan to Pittsburgh in exchange for utility outfielder Nyjer Morgan and middle reliever Sean Burnett. Milledge, who had been toiling in Triple-A Syracuse for most of the year, will likely be remembered by Nationals fans as potential lost — after all, there was a…

It’s never good when a team is swept in a series. It’s also never good when a team gives up a 9th inning lead. It takes a special team to get swept in a series by giving up three straight 9th inning leads. This rare feat was accomplished by the Nationals over the weekend, as they dropped three games to the Marlins. The result is that three pitchers from the bullpen, Saul Rivera, Steven…

In Trader Jim’s first move of the off-season, the Nationals have traded catcher Brian Schneider and outfielder Ryan Church to the Mets for outfielder Lastings Milledge. Milledge batted .272 last year with 7 HRs, 29 RBIs, .341 OBP and .446 slugging, though he only accumulated 184 at-bats. Church had similar averages last year, but with almost 300 more at-bats only had 8 more homeruns and 41 more RBIs. Schneider only hit .235 last year, with…