Nationals Have Six Players For Four Spots

Sound like a party at Paris Hiltons house!

I guess if they keep Nick, Austin is the odd man out? Might Seattle be a destination?

Looks like the Nationals just want to get as many players from the Reds as possible. (Mo Pena, Dunn, Kearns)They might as well pick up Griffey and Corey Patterson. Maybe Pete Rose will be their 3rd base coach.

They already have Corey Patterson.

I think they do have Corey Patterson in camp.

Braves should give Washington a call.

lol..that is hilarious! I didn't even know that they picked Patterson up. Looks like Griffey is next.

give the mariners somebody.. you know you want washbum

If the Nats want to improve their offense, I think the best scenario would be to play Dunn at LF and Johnson at 1B. Both are good OBP guys, and Johnson was a decent defensive 1B.
That would leave 2 OF spots, CF and RF. Pena would be the odd man out, for sure. Harris might be plugged into as a super utility type, for when Johnson goes down.
That leaves 4 more players for 2 spots. I think that the Nats will keep Dukes and Milledge, as both are still young, and cost controlled for the next few years.
Kearns is practically a Nick Johnson clone, except they play different positions. We all know he won't be long with the Nats anyway. Willingham, on the other hand, was a nice addition, but now that Dunn has been signed, he'll probably go to. (Unless the Nats just want to get rid of Johnson, then Willingham will either be inserted in LF or 1B).

I like how Bowden is thinking: Get what you can and worry about the consequences later. Of course, it was his fault he's in this mess in the first place, but it would be interesting to see what he does with this.

The Nats know they play in the National League without a DH right?

If you told me the Nats and O's were going to switch divisions, then okay, it makes some sense, otherwise this is just silly....which of course it is.

Its one thing to have no value in a guy like Kearns/Pena, but its another to somehow find a way to make their value even less while at the same time paying a guy $10 million per year when no one else was offering that much.

Solid all around really.

I like how Bowden is thinking: Get what you can and worry about the consequences later. Of course, it was his fault he's in this mess in the first place, but it would be interesting to see what he does with this.

Posted by: BleedinBlue | February 12, 2009 at 11:47 AM

You aren't by chance of member of congress?

Why would anyone want kearns?

Johnson has seen short time in LF actually (only two games) and they were thinking about putting him there a few years ago, but obviously its a moot point now with injury problems.

C Josh Flores
1B Adam Dunn
2B Willie Harris
SS Christian Guzman
3B Ryan Zimmerman
LF Josh Willingham
CF Lastings Milledge
RF Elijah Dukes

Bench: Ronnie Belliard, Austin Kearns, Wily Mo Pena, Wil Nieves

They still wont win with their pitching but if they go with that lineup, they will be a scary team to face.

A trade with the Giants/Dodgers could be an option depending on where Manny ends up.

Really, what is Bowden thinking? With Bavasi out, Bowden and Wade seem to be the last men standing from that horrible class of senseless GMs we saw emerge in the mid-late 90s (i.e. Duequette sp? , Littlefield, LaMar, Malone)

"They won't get anything for Kearns, they'd probably have to release him, but they could probably get a solid young piece for Johnson or Willingham."

Pretty sure lots of teams would love to have "Hammer" Willingham. Boston was looking hard at him before the trading deadline last year as a 4th OF and he could start for an awful lot of teams.

Maybe find somebody to send Dukes to before he either beats his live in spouse, or gets into trouble with the law for some other reason for the umpteenth time again.

Flores is the everyday catcher in Washington, as he should be.

He's got upside offensively, and he was okay defensively. Willingham would be a massive downgrade, considering defense.

Flores is the type of cheap talent that this team needs to give playing time to.

I disgree with the title...combined I see 3 maybe 3-1/2 players for 4 spots. Leatherpants is once again prove his worth (or lack thereof)

Milledge and Dukes should EASILY have starting spots. Absolute locks, no question there.

Willingham and Dunn are also locks. I could see a trade of Willingham at the deadline.

And, Bowden has done a good job this offseason.

Olson/Willingham is a questionable move, but he got MUCH more than he gave up. Either guy could net some nice stuff at the trade deadline.

Odalis Perez on a minor league deal when Wolf/Garland got millions. That's great right there.

And then Dunn.

Patterson is a minor league signing, not a big deal.

"Trade Johnson to SF for Sanchez or Lowry..."

Maybe for Lowry. Maybe. Definitely not for Sanchez. The Giants have internal options and don't need to trade away someone like Sanchez for one year of injury-prone Nick Johnson. And they wouldn't, actually. They've already stated over and over they won't be trading for one year rentals.

I can see a Lowry for Johnson trade working out for both teams. Sabean has already said that he wants to keep Sanchez, so he's the favourite for the 5th spot. And Johnson is a much more commodity than Ishikawa or Browker.