Welp.

The less said about the sweep by the White Sox, the better. I'm going to assume you've already heard the bad news and all the details you want, so let's move on to the big news of the day: John Lannan getting optioned to Harrisburg, his roster spot being filled by Syracuse closer Joel Peralta.  Word is he was sent to Harrisburg instead of Syracuse because of his previous work with Harrisburg pitching coach Randy Tomlin; more details from Mark Zuckerman here. Jenn at Nationals Fangirls bids John a fond farewell and hopes to see him again soon. So do we all.

The long losing streak has brought out a number of calls to make with the pink slips, make some trades for younger talent, and rebuild for next year. A good example of this is Steve at Fire Jim Bowden; Harper at Nationals Baseball thinks likewise. David Pinto observes that Strasburg hasn't lived up to his moniker of Baseball Jesus.

On a happier note, Patrick Reddington spends five minutes with closer Matt Capps. Also, five minutes with Tyler Clippard.

Brian Oliver has a weekend roundup posted for the farm teams, and a lot of other interesting stuff. to go with it.