page_title: History of the Washington Nationals
section_title: 2010
hierarchical_section_title: History of the Washington Nationals / History / Seasons / 2010
caption_attribution_description: English: Stephen Strasburg
context_page_description: The Washington Nationals are a Major League Baseball team formed in 1969 as the Montreal Expos. In 2005, the Expos moved to Washington, D.C. and were renamed the Nationals. The franchise won the National League pennant in 2019, and has won its division five times. They won the World Series in 2019 against the Astros in game 7.
context_section_description: On April 5, 2010, President Barack Obama kept up a tradition of sitting U.S. Presidents by throwing out the ceremonial first pitch on opening day in Washington.
  On June 7, 2010 the Nationals selected Bryce Harper of Southern Nevada. Harper was expected to break the contract record set by Stephen Strasburg. Harper is also a client of Strasburg's agent Scott Boras. With 26 seconds left to sign, Harper and Boras agreed to a $9.9 million, five-year contract, falling short of Strasburg's 15.5 million over four years.
  On June 8, 2010, the first overall pick, Stephen Strasburg had his major league debut, attracting a sellout crowd of 40,315. Strasburg struck out 14 batters in seven innings, giving up just 2 earned runs in a win over the Pittsburgh Pirates. The 14 strikeouts were a record for the Nationals—the most in a single game by a National since the franchise moved to D.C.
  On July 29, 2010, the Nationals traded Matt Capps to the Minnesota Twins for Wilson Ramos.  Ramos was considered to be the top catching prospect in the American League.
  On July 30, 2010, the Nationals traded infielder Cristian Guzmán to the Texas Rangers for two minor league pitchers. Guzmán had to approve the deal because he has 10-and-5 rights (players with 10 years in the major league and five consecutive years with their current team cannot be traded without their consent).
  On September 6, 2010, the Nationals won their 60th game of the season, eclipsing their win totals from the 2008 and 2009 season (finishing with 59 wins each time). September call-up Danny Espinosa hit two home runs including a grand slam in the Nationals' 13–3 win over the Mets at Nationals Park.
  On September 20, 2010, the Nationals recorded their lowest attendance ever since they came to Washington, with just 10,999 in attendance for a game against the Houston Astros. The poor attendance continued during the whole series, with fewer than 12,000 on September 21, fewer than 13,000 on September 22, and 14,633 on September 23.
  On September 23, 2010, team president Stan Kasten announced he would resign at the end of the season. Kasten did not explain in detail his reason for resigning and said, "It's just time to be doing something else."
  On November 10, 2010, the Nationals unveiled a new logo and uniforms.
  On December 5, 2010, the Nationals signed Jayson Werth to a seven-year deal worth $126 million.
caption: Stephen Strasburg during his major league debut.
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