The Washington Nationals signed Brad Lidge to a 1 year deal in which he will receive a chance to play his old squad often this upcoming season. Lidge joins the team after being a closer in Philadelphia for the Phillies. The one year deal will pay him 1 million dollars and will give him chances to earn more based on his performance. Lidge will have to shown that statistically he is still a worthy pitcher to have around after a huge drop off last season.

Lidge had decent numbers in the years of 2002 through 2008. In those years, he won 25 games compared to 20 losses. Lidge also had a good 3.10 ERA in that timespan. Even more amazing was his strikeouts per 9 innings, which was 12.5 during that time. In comparison, since 2009, he has only earned one win to eleven losses with a 4.73 ERA and 9.9 Ks per 9 innings. This would be the reason why Lidge got just a one year contract for the Nats.

Up until this point Lidge has made the all-star team twice and helped the Phillies win a World Series in 2008. In that year Lidge was a perfect 48 of 48 in save opportunities. He will now have a different skill set as he will try and set-up Nationals closer Drew Storen who saves 43 games for Washington last season. You can bet he will love to play his old team and show them that he has still got it in him as well. Since both are in the NL East, he will have plenty of opportunities to do just that.