Earlier this week, the Nationals dodged a bullet when former baseball hero Sammy Sosa opted for likely retirement rather than take Washington’s admittedly measly non-guaranteed $500,000 offer. Bully for the Nats, who won’t have to see wasted green on the bench and whiffs at the plate, but still, it’s a sign of the straits in which the club finds itself that one of the major attempted deals of the offseason was a throwaway contract…

Last night at the National Press Club, Nats fans got a few minutes of Nationals president Tony Tavares’ time. He appeared with the W. Post’s John Feinstein, NPR’s Scott Simon and moderator Marvin Kalb, as part of Kalb’s semi-annual “Kalb Report” interview show/discussion panel. Besides the always-hot topic of steroid abuse, one of the evening’s big subjects was Sammy Sosa and published reports that D.C. came thisclose to getting him. Responding to talk that another…