There is a sense within the Nationals organization that a new sheriff is in town. His name is Mike Rizzo, and he'll act as general manager until Nationals president Stan Kasten makes a permanent hire. In some corners of the club's hierarchy, there is an expectation that Rizzo will address the dysfunctional nature of the team's roster sooner rather than later.
"He's going to clean up over there, where cleaning up needs to be done," one source said.
In all likelihood, that will mean paring down the team's glut of corner outfielders and first basemen. Consider the number of players the Nationals have collected who would be best suited to play left field, right field, first base -- or designated hitter:
- Nick Johnson, 1B (2009 salary -- $5.5 million): He played a total of 38 games last season after suffering a devastating leg injury at the end of the 2007 season.
- Dmitri Young, 1B ($5 million): Young hit .320 in 2007 and signed a two-year contract, then showed up woefully out of shape in 2008.
- Wily Mo Pena, OF ($2 million): He is still just 27 years old and has the body of a star, but his production indicates he's far from attaining stardom. In his past 484 at-bats in the big leagues, Pena has 15 homers and 142 strikeouts.
- Adam Dunn, 1B/OF ($8 million): He has consistently put up home runs and on-base percentage, and he appears poised for a big season.
- Lastings Milledge, OF ($452,000): Some scouts really like the adjustments he has made and believe he has a chance to be a pretty good player, but most talent evaluators believe he is much more suited to be a right fielder or left fielder, not a center fielder. (He is settling in as the center fielder, Ben Goessling writes.)
- Elijah Dukes, OF ($415,500): His talent is staggering. So are his off-the-field concerns. Dukes put up good numbers last year, accumulating a .386 on-base percentage with 13 homers in 276 at-bats.
- Austin Kearns, RF/LF ($8 million): The luster is gone after seven seasons and 762 games. Kearns batted just .217 with a .316 slugging percentage last season. It's hard to imagine him surviving once the corner-outfield game of musical chairs stops.
- Josh Willingham, LF ($2.95 million): He has some pop and value, but it's hard to imagine what former GM Jim Bowden intended to do with him, given the wealth of corner guys on his roster.
- Willie Harris, OF/INF ($1.5 million): He played in 140 games for the Nationals in 2008, most of them in the outfield, and did a nice job.
- Ryan Langerhans, OF (minor league contract): He is a solid defensive outfielder and had a .380 on-base percentage last year in 111 at-bats.
"I know [Rizzo] wants to change the feeling around the club," one talent evaluator said. Unloading one or two of the corner outfielders from a roster that is probably about three or four corner guys too deep will be a start.
Meanwhile, the Nationals
signed Kip Wells.
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Buster Olney
