I think it’s safe to say that Jayson Werth has had an offseason to forget.

In early December, the Nationals outfielder was convicted of pulling a Sandy Berger, not by stuffing classified documents into his dress socks but for reckless driving — that is, getting clocked by a Virginia state trooper doing more than 105 mph on the Beltway. The presiding judge proceeded to sentence Worth to ten days in jail. (His appeal of the conviction is slated to be heard on February 3.)

Of greater significance for Nats fans, the Washington Post reports that Werth will “undergo surgery on the acromioclavicular joint in his right shoulder [tomorrow] and will require two to three months of rehabilitation, which could put the veteran’s availability for opening day in jeopardy.”

The shoulder first became an issue for Werth in early August after he banged into the right field fence while making a catch.

In other Nats news, Mike Oz of Big League Stew informs readers that the club has hired Rick Ankiel to serve as its “life skills coordinator” for its minor-league affiliates, presumably to counsel players on how to keep their heads on straight while attempting to make the climb to the big leagues. Oz cites a Nats senior official’s Tweet saying that Ankiel’s unusual professional baseball career arc played a role in the decision to hire him for the position, and then adds:

Ankiel arrived in the big leagues in 1999, throwing gas for the St. Louis Cardinals while he was just 19. He threw 33 innings that season, striking out 39 batters and proving himself an exciting prospect.
The next season, he was a Rookie of the Year runner-up, but he famously cracked in the postseason and couldn’t throw strikes. He was even worse the next season, getting sent all the way down to rookie ball because of his control problems. In three Triple-A appearances in 2001, he walked 17 batters in 4.1 innings. Ouch.
Ankiel needed Tommy John surgery in 2003, returned to the big leagues briefly in 2004, but things got interesting in 2006, when he decided to reinvent himself as an outfielder. He had a great arm and could hit, so it made sense. He was never an All-Star, but lasted seven seasons as an outfielder for the Cardinals, Kansas City Royals and Atlanta Braves among others, before retiring in 2013.

According to the Post’s James Wagner, Ankiel, who spent his 2011 and 2012 seasons on South Capitol Street, will “roam the system beginning in spring training.”