Nats Enquirer

Guz and his bunions ready to derail the Ian Desmond Era

 

(AP Photo. Blame it on the bunions!)

"Cristian has something to prove this year because of all the rumblings and grumblings about the way he plays defense. Nobody has even asked if the ailments or foot issues contributed to his lack of range. It was a question that was missed. I think he will show that he can help the team defensively. He is not a defensive liability."
(Stanley King - Cristian Guzman's agent, via Nationals.com, 1/13/2010)

According to MLB.com's Bill Ladson, the Nationals may be leaning towards Cristian Guzman as the team's starting shortstop going into 2010, in the event that they're able to make a deal for a second baseman:

If the Nationals are able to sign Orlando Hudson or Adam Kennedy to play second base, Cristian Guzman most likely will remain at shortstop.

Of course, the working assumption -- make that, hope -- around NatsTown has been that Ian Desmond would be given every opportunity to win the starting job at short, and Guzman would play second in the absence of a 2B acquisition in the offseason, or spend his final days in Washington as a backup for Desmond and the real, live second baseman. Not so, reports Mr. Ladson. What changed?

But fear not, Desmondites: there is hope. Stanley King, Guzman's agent, offered up the following in the Ladson story:

"Cristian has expressed that he is willing to help in any way the Nationals see fit..."

Does that include retiring before the start of the season?

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Fair to Middlin'

(Photo by Reuters. Pitchers and catchers report on February 19th. Orlando Hudson isn't a pitcher or a catcher, but we'd feel a whole lot better with the O-Dog in the fold going into Spring Training, that's for sure.)

Middle Infield, that is.

John Paul Morosi reported earlier today on FoxSports.com that the Nats are willing to give Orlando Hudson a 2 year deal. If the price is right:

One person with knowledge of Hudson’s market believes Washington would be willing to make him a two-year offer at the right price.

But maybe the price isn't right, which is why Bill Ladson is reporting (via Twitter) that the Nationals are interested in Adam Kennedy:

The #Nationals have interest in 2B Adam Kennedy. I'll have more on nationals.com.

Ugh. We'll take the O-Dog's glove, thank you very much.

On a related note, in an interview with Mr. Ladson on Nationals.com today, Ian Desmond defended his reputation of an inability to make routine plays at short, indicating that he's ready to go:

"I feel totally comfortable at shortstop. Go back to any Spring Training I've been in, I've always played good defense. I've been solid. I felt like I've played very well. I played very good when I went to the big leagues, I thought. When the routine ball came to me, I felt like I made the plays. I'll be the first to admit, I'll make errors on crazy plays that most people wouldn't even try to make."
(Ian Desmond, via Nationals.com, 1/12/2010)

Sounds good, Ian. But from where we're sitting, it seems Mike Rizzo has no choice but to upgrade the middle infield defense somewhere to remove any questions from at least one of two slots up the middle. Even if it means overpaying for Orlando Hudson. Everybody could sleep a little easier at night with Hudson at second, leaving Guz and Desmond to fight it out for the starting job at SS. Doesn't that seem much more palatable than penciling in Desmond at short and Guz at second, closing your eyes, and hoping Desmond really can be an everyday shortstop and Guzman can play second? Of course it does!

Then again, there's always Felipe Lopez. Or Ronnie Belliard.

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Close, But No (Cuban) Cigar

 

(AP Photo. Here at The Nationals Enquirer, we completely ignored the entire Aroldis Chapman storyline this offseason, figuring it wasn't worth our time because, well, he was going to land anywhere but Washington. In fact, we can't even tell you which guy wearing the C cap in the photo above is Chapman. Is it the older, dumpy looking guy on the right? Funny, he doesn't look 21.)

"Well, at the end, it came down to money, but we went pretty hard. We made a very, very attractive offer. It wasn't quite like what the final offer was apparently, but we were very aggressive ... for a kid who has not yet thrown a pitch [in the United States]."
(Stan Kasten, via Nationals.com, 1/11/2010)

Just Don't Blame Ted Lerner!

Big deal, small market. Nats lose to Reds in bidding war for Chapman.

Mike Rizzo to Nats fans: Don't call Ted Lerner a cheapskate and/or blame the Lerner Family for falling short in the Chapman Sweepstakes. Thank you:

"We had the second-highest offer on the table... We thought it was first. ...At a certain price point, the risk-reward wasn't worth it. We went up to a price point I was comfortable with, and at the end of the day we fell a bit short."
(Mike Rizzo, via Nationals Journal, 1/11/2010)

Well, because we ignored this little storyline completely over the course of the offseason, I guess we probably shouldn't complain that the Nats didn't step up and outbid the Reds (!?) for the services of the 29 21 year old (*wink* *wink*) flamethrowing Chapman. But...we'll go with the Nats Triple Play answer to the question: "should the Nats have shelled out $30M for a Chapman lottery ticket?"

Yes. And only partly because it's not my money.

Meanwhile...

Unlike Randy Winn, Doug Davis would like to play in Washington in 2010.

Ben Goessling is up and blogging over at MASN Sports dot com.

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Nats players pulled guns on each other during 2009 summer BB gun fight?

"I now realize that there's no such thing as joking around when it comes to guns -- even if unloaded."
(Gilbert Arenas, via Washington Post, 12/5/2010)

With the storm surrounding Gilbert Arenas and his firearms collection blowing at gale force -- yet another jab at the fragile little collective ego of DC sports fans  -- it turns out that the Arenas/Javaris Crittenton gunplay incident isn't the first time DC pro athletes have joked around with guns with teammates in recent months. A "source" sent us links to a couple of YouTube videos (shot last summer) allegedly showing National Adam Dunn being shot with a BB gun; first by himself (above), then by Ryan Zimmerman's little brother (below). The footage is extremely grainy, but our source tells us that the big guy in the hat holding the beer and playing the role of target is Dunn. Ryan Zimmerman supposedly held the camera, while his younger brother played the role of trigger man. Here's the second video:

Maybe Gilbert should've brought BB guns to Verizon to pull off his little joke on Crittenton?

Meanwhile...

Congratulations to Ben Goessling on his new gig as Nats beat guy at MASN. This is fantastic news for Nationals fans.

Next up, Zuckerman on the Nats beat at the Post?

How many days 'til pitchers and catchers report?

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