(Photo by Getty Images. The Ringling Bros. and Barnem & Bailey Circus arrived in DC this week; the Racing Presidents posed for pictures with the elephants - is that Livo on the far left? - on Tuesday. The Stephen Strasburg Circus won't be coming to town until the summer.)
"The official decision has not been made."
(Mike Rizzo, via Bill Ladson/MLB.com, 3/16/2010)
Oh, come on, Mike!
Despite that statement (above) by Mike Rizzo claiming the decision on Strasburg's immediate future hadn't been officially made yet, Rizzo made it pretty damn clear on XM/Sirius yesterday that...the decision about Strasburg's immediate future HAS been made:
"I do believe that (Strasburg's) learning curve is very, very fast but I do believe that there is a curve there so I'm leaning toward sending him to the minor leagues. I don't think that's a shock to a lot of people. I believe that he will be in the big leagues at some time this year if he progresses and stays healthy. And once he gets to the big leagues, of course, we believe he should not go back to the minor leagues. So that's kind of the progression I have with him."
(Mike Rizzo on XM/Sirius MLB Homeplate, via Big League Stew, 3/16/2010)
No surprise there. And as much as we'd love to see Strasburg break camp with the big club -- who wouldn't want to see the team head north with its best 25 players, including by far the best pitcher in the organization? -- we're on board with the decision to take it slowly with Baseball Jesus.
Meanwhile...
Speaking of "unofficial" decisions: apparently John Smoltz won't be ending his career in Washington (we're not even sure how serious a run Stan Kasten/Mike Rizzo made at landing him in the elusive search for veteran starting pitching). Smoltz is not "officially" retiring yet, he's reportedly staying in playing shape, but is entering the broadcast booth to do TV with the Braves, TBS, and MLB Network this season.
Mets interested in trading for Cristian Guzman?
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