WASHINGTON -- Manager Frank Robinson said he agrees with the Lerner Group when it said that building the farm system was top priority. Robinson has always said that the Minor Leagues are the lifeline of a franchise.

During his four-plus seasons as manager of the Nationals/Expos, Robinson has seen prospects such as Cliff Lee, Grady Sizemore and Jason Bay traded away for veteran players, who lasted with the team for a year or less. It has often bothered Robinson that some of the veterans, in return, have been traded for suspects. In the Cliff Floyd deal in 2002, for example, the Expos picked up right-hander Sun-Woo Kim and Seung Song. Kim was a mediocre pitcher for the Expos/Nationals and Song never played a game in the Major Leagues.

"You need a strong Minor League system. That way you don't have to go out over the winter and you have the people in your system to fill spots at the Major League level," Robinson said. "You don't have to go out on the free-agent market to try and fill five, six spots to have a good ballclub, to be competitive.

"You have prospects in your system for two reasons only: To play on the Major League level with your ballclub. The other is to trade to get something you need because you are not always going to be able to spend the money to get [a player] or promote somebody. That's what the Minor League system is for."

Asked how long it could take to build a farm system, Robinson believes it will take two to three years, as long as the organization is patient. He used the Braves as the model franchise.

"Dealing with the Braves, when I was with the Orioles, you couldn't touch their A prospects, their top prospects," Robinson said. "They would walk away from a deal before you could get any of those players. Those are the players they had marked that probably will be playing with us within a year or two years."

Injury report: Shortstop Cristian Guzman, on the disabled list because of right shoulder problems, arrives in Washington on Thursday night and he is going to work out for Robinson and general manager Jim Bowden on Friday to determine if he will go on a rehab assignment in New Orleans.

The Nationals are going to test Guzman by having him make awkward throws in the hole. If he can't do those kinds of drills, Guzman will have surgery and be out for the season.

"There are going to be a lot of balls in the hole. We are going to see the arm. We are going to see if he is physically able to play," Bowden said. "If he's able to play, we'll assign him to New Orleans and get him ready. If he's not able to throw after this longer period, then we'll go to the next step and go from there. It's May. We have given him enough time to work on it."

Catcher/first basemen Robert Fick, on the disabled list because of right elbow surgery, will return to his rehab assignment at Double-A Harrisburg on Friday. He will play for the Senators for 13 more days. He already has played for the team for seven days. He had stopped because of shoulder tendinitis.

The plan is for Fick to play behind the plate, first base and the outfield. He also will leadoff in all the games he plays in order to maximize his at-bats.

John Patterson, on the disabled list because of a forearm injury, threw three shutout innings in an extended Spring game on Wednesday. He allowed four hits, while striking out four batters. He said he didn't feel any pain in his forearm, but it's weak. He will pitch five to six innings for Class A Potomac in a rehab start on Monday.

She is OK: Nationals outfielder Jose Guillen said his girlfriend is OK after she was robbed of $12,000 in cash on Wednesday evening. She was not hurt in the robbery. Guillen said she was cashing his check for him and the money was going to be sent to the Dominican Republic.

"I was just sending the money to the Dominican. She has got the money, she is coming out, she has the money in her purse and she got robbed. That's it," Guillen said.

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Stats of the day: Entering Thursday's action, the Nationals have two pinch-hit home runs, which ties last year's mark for Washington pinch-hitters.

Did you know? Entering Tuesday's action, 1,443 home runs have been hit at Robert F. Kennedy Stadium in 11 seasons.

Coming up: The Nationals return to Robert F. Kennedy Stadium to start a three game series against the Pirates. Last year, Washington went 5-1 against Pittsburgh.

In Game 1 on Friday, right-hander Zach Day will get the start for Washington, while right-hander Oliver Perez gets the nod for Florida.

Day will face the Pirates for the second time in his career. He has given up two runs in two innings against them.

Day and pitching coach Randy St. Claire came up with a plan to help limit any more shoulder problems for the right-hander. They are making sure that Day's arm angle is a little lower in order to take pressure off the shoulder. Day had muscle spasms in the back of the shoulder, but he didn't feel any pain in his last start against the Cardinals.

The mechanics worked during at least the first four innings on Sunday, as he gave up one run and threw just 47 pitches. In the past, he might have been in the 80-pitch range by then. Day then gave up three runs in the fifth inning, but those runs could have been avoided.