ESPN Keith Law Blog

Jon Rauch works with a fringe-average fastball that's fairly true, and doesn't get great downhill plane on it despite his size. His best secondary offering is a curveball that gets some swings and misses, but he succeeds largely because he has plus command and control. He'll need to be even more precise with his fastball location since he's moving to one of the best hitters' parks in baseball in Arizona. He gives the Diamondbacks another late-game relief option with Brandon Lyon struggling, Chad Qualls nicked up and Juan Cruz on the disabled list. But with everyone healthy and pitching up to their abilities, Rauch would probably become the fourth-best option in the D-backs' bullpen.

For Washington, getting just Emilio Bonifacio for Rauch has to be seen as a letdown, although it's better than their trade-deadline results from 2007. The Nationals chose not to make any moves at that deadline, re-signing Dmitri Young and Ronnie Belliard to bizarre contract extensions while asking for so much for Rauch and Chad Cordero that teams were unwilling to even negotiate the prices down. One year later, Cordero's value has evaporated, Young and Belliard have both performed worse since signing their deals (with Young missing time on the DL due to back problems and issues with his weight, both not shocking developments at all), and now Rauch has fetched a utility infielder. Bonifacio can run and has a quick, slashing stroke, but his baseball instincts are poor and he's far too aggressive at the plate. He doesn't project to hit for enough power to play second base every day on a contending club. He's athletic enough to move around the diamond and serve as a pinch-runner, but it's a stretch to see him as a regular.

Meanwhile, learning nothing from the Young/Belliard mistakes, the Nationals re-upped Cristian Guzman for two years and $16 million. Guzman was a cipher in the first year of his four-year deal, then missed 2005 and most of '06 due to injury. His hot start in 2008 has masked the evaporation of his power (he's slugging .360 since June 1), and he has never had a lick of plate discipline. Like Young and Belliard before him, he was a candidate to be moved, not to be re-signed. Bad teams should not be locking up their mediocrities to long-term deals, but rather should be looking to convert them all into any kind of young players.

Flipping Rauch for Bonifacio, even if the return seems disappointing, is absolutely better than committing to Rauch for another two years, especially given his health history and the unpredictable year-to-year performance of relievers.