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Could Nationals Trade Cristian Guzman?

By Luke Adams 2 | April 1, 2010 at 7:44pm CDT

After the Nationals named Ian Desmond their starting shortstop at the beginning of this week, Cristian Guzman's role with Washington became a little less clear. Guzman will make more money ($8MM) in 2010 than any National not named Adam Dunn, and is without a starting job. If Desmond holds his own as an everyday starter, the club will be paying $8MM to a utility player.

It's not an ideal situation for the Nationals, but it would be a challenge to move Guzman. In addition to his price tag, the 32-year-old also possesses ten and five rights, meaning he would have to approve any trade the team worked out.

Guzman has said he won't request a trade, and GM Mike Rizzo has insisted that Washington is not attempting to deal him. However, the switch-hitter could provide some value to a contending team as a utility man. In 1359 plate appearances for the Nats since 2007, he has hit .305/.334/.423, and while Fangraphs rates his shortstop defense as consistently slightly below average during his time in Washington, his positional flexibility could come in handy. Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post writes today that the Nationals are trying Guzman in right field in hopes of getting him a few more at-bats.

We've already seen questions this spring regarding the health of star infielders such as Jose Reyes and Brian Roberts, and the Rangers reportedly looked into acquiring Guzman during their search for infield help. It's not hard to imagine depth or injury concerns inspiring a team to make a move for Guzman this season, despite his hefty contract. Do you see it happening? Which club could you imagine pulling off a trade? And what might the cost be, in terms of both money and talent?

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Discussion Washington Nationals Cristian Guzman

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33 Comments

  1. Guest 2960

    15 years ago

    It would have to be a bad contract swap in my opinion. Maybe when Brett Wallace is ready an Overbay/Guzman swap? What else can I think of…

    If he struggles, Bonderman/Guzman
    Eric Chavez/Guzman
    Jose Guillen/Guzman
    Montanez/Guzman (Nats eat part of his salary)

    Reply
    • j6takish

      15 years ago

      Bonderman makes more than Guzman and is more of a risk factor. They would have to move either Everett or Santiago also, I don’t know seems like more trouble than its worth

      Reply
      • Guest 2962

        15 years ago

        Well if Adam Everett isn’t hitting, the Tigers are in contention, and if they are having trouble scoring runs, I don’t think they will hesitate to acquire a bigger bat. I’m not saying that Guzman is a bigger bat but he’s a better offensive shortstop than Everett even if Everett is one of the best defensive shortstop’s in the game.

        Reply
  2. ELPinchy

    15 years ago

    I don’t think I’d like it but i could see the Redsox giving him a look as a back up middle infielder. Since Lowrie has mono and Tug is currently their best option. I just don’t know how they’d want to eat all that cash until they do something about Lowell.

    Reply
    • redsandyanksfan

      15 years ago

      What about swapping Lowell for Guzman just a striaght swap and have Lowell at first with either dunn in right and willingham in the left or vice versa

      Reply
      • Comment_and_Chill

        15 years ago

        nope.

        Reply
      • ELPinchy

        15 years ago

        well there is still about 6million accounted for there that I don’t think the Nats would like to pay. i’d have to assume that the Nats would prefer a young player or to just dump that contract entirely.

        Reply
        • jwsox

          15 years ago

          makes no sense dunn is a wayy better defensive 1st basemen than he is an out fielder(not saying much!) Like at 1st in terms of defense he is probably the bottom 5% and in terms of corner out fielders he is the in the bottom 1%…granted it does give them more offense but still not worth the errors all over the out field

          Reply
          • ELPinchy

            15 years ago

            Just as your comment makes no sense as a reply to mine.

            Reply
            • jwsox

              15 years ago

              it makes sense i was saying that dunn is a better 1st basemen than he is an out fielder, its not saying much because he is just bad defensively

              Reply
  3. bbxxj

    15 years ago

    How about Guzman for Jose Guillen + 4M to make it an even money deal. Royals need a real shortstop and the Nats need a right fielder. Neither are great players but would be upgrades to their respective teams.

    The Royals could then just call up Kila Ka’aihue to 1B/DH with Bulter. I’m not too sure the Nats would do this deal as Guillen’s defense is pretty bad but he would be a sure offensive upgrade (thats kinda sad) over some of the youngsters they might throw out there.

    Reply
    • Koby2

      15 years ago

      As long as the Nats take Betancourt I’m all for that idea. Of course they Royals would have to thrown in some more money…

      Reply
    • Comment_and_Chill

      15 years ago

      im pretty sure the nats dont want jose guillen back

      Reply
      • gwells

        15 years ago

        this^^

        Reply
  4. giantsrainman

    15 years ago

    I could see the SF Giants being interested. Freddy Sanchez is going to start the season on the DL and be out for all of April and maybe longer. This means the Giants backup 2B/3B/SS Juan Uribe is now the starting 2B with their infield depth now coming from Mark DeRosa (the starting LFer) and Eugenio Velez (a backup OFer who really has no business playing IF ever again). Neither of these are viable alternatives to backup Edgar Renteria at SS.

    Since the Giants are looking to trade Fred Lewis maybe Guzman and cash to the Giants for Lewis would work out.

    Reply
    • bobbippitybob

      15 years ago

      this one actually makes some sense

      Reply
  5. Bravoboy10

    15 years ago

    Let’s play Pass The Contract!
    Washington acquires: Cory Hart
    Kansas City acquires: Jeff Supan and Christian Guzman $3mil from WAS
    Milwaukee acquires: Jose Guillen and Yuniesky Betancourt and

    Change of scenery for Hart and upside for Washington, Guillen might put his head on straight playing for a decent team and Betancourt becomes a backup for Weeks and Escobar, Kansas City gets a veteran starter and solid SS. All contracts expire at seasons end except Hart.

    Reply
    • Koby2

      15 years ago

      That’s a decent scenario, especially if it saves us from spending on…Washburn….

      Reply
    • Bravoboy10

      15 years ago

      Sorry Betancourt has until 2012

      Reply
    • Comment_and_Chill

      15 years ago

      id agree to it. lets make it happen hehe

      Reply
      • gwells

        15 years ago

        i think this would be great for the nats and KC.

        i can’t see any reason milwaukee would do this. i doubt they’re going to give up on hart yet, and not just to get rid of suppan’s contract only to end up with guillen and betancourt. if i was a milwaukee fan, i’d be pissed if that happened.

        Reply
    • jwsox

      15 years ago

      why would the brew crew give up on hart to get jose guillen and betancourt..who are both just bad at what they do

      Reply
      • Josh

        15 years ago

        Betancourt and Guillen are two of the most worthless players around.

        Reply
  6. Pseudonymus Bosch

    15 years ago

    Doug Melvin “can’t comment” on reports that Milwaukee is going to trade Corey Hart to Washington. jsonline.com/blogs/sports/89729342.html

    Reply
  7. alxn

    15 years ago

    Why did the Nats sign Adam Kennedy again?

    Reply
    • hisownfool

      15 years ago

      They weren’t convinced that Ian Desmond was ready to take over for Guzman at SS. They planned to play Guzman at SS and Kennedy at 2B. When Desmond picked in spring training from where he had left over in September, he mooted their calculations.

      Reply
      • sjberke1

        15 years ago

        Also, they were rather thin in middle infield. Without Kennedy, if either Guzman or Desmond go down, they’d have to play Alberto Gonzalez or Willie Harris at second or short (or bring Pete Orr back from AAA once again).

        Reply
  8. Redbirds16

    15 years ago

    The question is, who needs an overpaid, solid hitting, poor fielding utility man? Or rather, who needs Felipe Lopez who didn’t bother to sign Felipe Lopez?

    I don’t think Guzman gets dealt til midseason, if at all. The Nats are looking to dump salary, not trade bad contracts.

    Reply
    • gwells

      15 years ago

      the nats *shouldn’t* be dumping salary. their payroll isn’t that high and their revenues aren’t that low. they should eat all but the league minimum if they can get anything of real value for guzman (and he’ll accept the trade, he does have 5/10 rights). that $8m is a sunk cost. nobody else is going to pay it. so they’re going to eat that money whether he stays on the team or gets traded. so if the opportunity to trade him for anything useful comes up, they should take that opportunity.

      Reply
  9. notin

    15 years ago

    Cristian Guzman for Mike Lowell and $4mill…

    Reply
  10. Chris

    15 years ago

    Mike Fontenot, Blake Parker and Chris Carpenter for Guzman. Have our line-up like
    C- Soto
    1B- Lee
    2B- Theriot
    3B- Ramirez
    SS- Guzman
    RF- Fukudome
    CF- Byrd
    LF- Soriano

    Guzman
    Fukudome
    Lee
    Ramirez
    Byrd
    Soriano
    Soto
    Theriot

    When Starlin Castro gets a call up we could trade Guzman or use him as a speedy bench guy.

    Reply
  11. thegrayrace

    15 years ago

    If Furcal keeps up his awfulness, the Dodgers may be interested…

    Reply
  12. jphenix2002

    15 years ago

    not that this would happen, but I’d like to see Detroit grab Guzman to platoon with everett. Would the Nats take Santiago in return? Sure it would be trading down but he is a cheaper backup infielder.

    Reply

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