THE BELTWAY BOYS: Is It Worth It?

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Is It Worth It?

Earlier this year, Rockies GM Dan O'Dowd and our own Jim Bowden spent a great deal of time trying to work out a deal that would have brought Preston Wilson to the Nats. The cost? Too much. Entirely too much. As part of the package, the Nats would have had to give up Ryan Church, who was has having a "Rookie of the year" campaign until he was hurt two weeks ago. He still may. I was totally against this trade. The last thing we needed, I thought, was another outfielder who was going to strike out 150 takes this season.

The talks have renewed the past few days and the cost for Wilson has gone down considerably; J.J. Davis and Zach Day. The question seems to be the amount of Wilson's contract the Nationals would have to pick up. I'm more inclined to go with this deal now if the team can get it done.

Nick Johnson has again shown that he just might not be able to stay healthy for an entire year. By making this deal, the Nats would have an outfield rotation of Wilson, Brad Wilkerson, Ryan Church, Marlon Byrd and Jose Guillen. If Johnson can't play, Wilkerson can always take over for him at first base. This move would give the Nationals a glut of outfielders, but too many is better than too few. If needed, the Nationals could package Junior Spivey and one of the extra outfielders for pitching if it becomes needed later in the month.

Aubrey Huff is another outfielder who is available, but he isn't putting up his usual offensive numbers, and while he plays several positions, he doesn't play any of them very well, and the Nats are a defense first type of team.

The Nats need a bat, and an arm. Wilson could provide the bat. Now let's see what we can do about the arm.

# posted by Farid Rushdi @ 10:34 AM

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Rasner Rocks For Yanks

What was it that Jim Bowden said when he lost Darrell Rasner to the Yankees through waivers last winter? Wasn't it something like, "C'mon, it wasn't like he was going to make an impact at the major league level?" Well Jimbo, it seems like some of your "minor" transactions are coming back to haunt you.

Rasner, a 6'3" righty from Carson City, Nevada, was waived February 11th by the Nationals, just a couple of weeks before the start of spring training. He was picked up and assigned to 'AAA' Columbus. He had some injuries this year, but it didn't effect his pitching. In 58 innings for the Clippers, Rasner went 4-0, 2.76. But wait. There's more.

Pitching on Sunday against the Twins, Rasner pitched 6 strong innings, allowing just 1 run on 6 hits. In two starts, he's now 1-0, 1.17.

What do you always like to say, Jim, something about "You can never have enough pitching?" Let's see, you waived Rasner, and he's starting for the Yankees. You waived Claudio Vargas, and he's starting for the Diamondbacks. You waived Byung Young Kim, and he's starting for the Rockies. You traded Tomo Ohka for a guy no longer in the major leagues, and he's starting for the Brewers.

Jim, if I were you, I'd stay away from the waiver wire. Seems like you haven't figured it that it's supposed to help the team, not hurt it.

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Big Changes, Little Names

Big happenings? Nah. Just happenings. Zach Day was designated for assignment by the Colorado Rockies and Capitol Punishment is reporting that the Nats have claimed him off the waiver wire. So we ended up getting Preston Wilson for nothing. That's nice. Billy Traber, he of the tight leash, was sent down to New Orleans and replaced by Mike O'Connor.

That's all well and good, but don't look to any of these moves making a difference in the play of the team. But hey, it's something to talk about. Right?