John Lannan has started 128 games for the Nationals over the last four seasons, and last year he made 33 starts and posted a solid 3.70 ERA.

So you guess that he would be frustrated if the Nationals bumped him from the rotation this spring.

You would be correct. Lannan's heading for the minors this weekend, and he's not super-thrilled ...

John Lannan releases statement saying he told Mike Rizzo "a trade would be the best solution for everyone in both the short and long term."

— Mark Zuckerman (@MarkZuckerman) April 4, 2012

Lannan (or perhaps his agent) wrote an extensive e-mail, which was released to the public; you can read the whole thing in Zuckerman's story. He's not demanding a trade, perhaps because he's not in any position to demand a trade. He's going to report to the Nationals' triple-A Syracuse affiliate, and start for that club on Sunday.

But you can't blame him for wanting to pitch in the majors. And he might be there tomorrow -- with the Nationals, or some other club -- if not for his 1.4 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Even for a ground-ball pitcher like Lannan, that's a little scary. He would make a perfectly good fourth or fifth starter for many clubs, but the Nationals just have better options at the moment, with No. 5 starter Ross Detwiler perhaps having more upside than Lannan.